Maternal, Newborn, and Adolescent Health

The effects over early brain development of a nurse home visitation program for pregnant youth and their families living in a poor urban area in São Paulo, Brazil

First Steps (Intera za Mbere): Promoting healthy early childhood development by extending holistic parenting education nation-wide through radio-facilitated peer learning groups, and by increasing access to emergent literacy materials.

A package of low-cost materials proven to help early cognitive stimulation will be made available online to support in-home interventions by community workers in developing countries, thanks to this project led by Christine Powell and Susan Walker of the Tropical Medicine Research Institute, University of West Indies. The materials can be used despite limited training by any qualified person (NGO, international agency, local government department) and include a curriculum, training manuals, books, play materials, and training videos, all tailored to the children’s culture.

Thula Sana was an early parenting intervention project in South Africa, which improved mother-infant interaction and infant functioning. Professor  Mark Tomlinson (Stellenbosch University) and colleagues will be investigating the long-term benefits of this intervention, which could significantly help efforts to reverse the loss of human potential in children living in poverty.

Eight-eight million young children worldwide are estimated to dropout before completing primary school education resulting in serious repercussions for human capital formation. Early Childhood Development interventions that prepare children for school may lead to reduction in early dropout.

Kidogo Early Years is a social enterprise that seeks to transform the trajectory of these young children by providing high-quality, affordable, early childhood care and education in urban slums.

Steps Brain Booster Program