Our work

We deliver maternal and child health care differently. Proximity!

We deliver healthcare services directly to the doorsteps of underserved communities, eliminating distance as a barrier to accessing essential maternal and child health care. Our Proactive Doorstep Care model reduces delays in seeking, reaching and receiving care, especially in remote areas where health facilities are distant and transportation is scarce.

Our response to maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity is rooted in an integrated approach that prioritizes:

Community engagement to empower families and promote health-seeking behaviors.
Strengthening referral systems to ensure timely access to advanced care.
Building clinical capacity to enhance the quality of maternal and newborn care.

The Situation

Every two minutes, a woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth globally, and every 4.4 seconds, a child dies.

Malawi faces some of the highest maternal and under-five mortality rates, with 349 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births and 41.9 under-five deaths per 1,000 live births. Most of these deaths, primarily caused by preventable conditions like severe bleeding, infections, and pregnancy complications, occur in low-resource settings, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Poverty worsens maternal and child mortality by limiting access to quality care, leading to malnutrition, anemia, and other complications. Barriers such as poor access to healthcare, long distances, insufficient skilled birth attendants, and traditional beliefs delay care and worsen health outcomes. Addressing these delays is critical to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 in Malawi.

The opportunity

There is substantial evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of community-based primary health care in improving maternal and child health outcomes in low-resource settings.

solution

Wandikweza partners with public health facilities, which serve the majority of underserved women and newborns to deliver Proactive Doorstep Care.

Our approach

We respond to the “Three Delays” that contribute to high perinatal mortality rates by partnering with public health facilities for scale.

Our two main objectives

Address inequalities in maternal and child health outcomes
Strengthen health systems

Delay 1: in decision to seek care due to;

The low status of women
Poor understanding of complications and risk factors in pregnancy and when to seek medical help
Previous poor experience of health care
Acceptance of maternal death
Financial implications
Culture and religion

Delay 2: in reaching care due to;

Distance to health centres and hospitals
Availability of and cost of transportation
Poor roads and infrastructure
Geography e.g. mountainous terrain, rivers

Delay 3: in receiving adequate health care due to;

Poor facilities and lack of medical supplies
Inadequately trained and poorly motivated medical staff
Inadequate referral systems to the next level of care

Our Values

Prayer

No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven (John 3:27). We believe there is no other source than the sovereign will of God

Teamwork

We combine efforts to achieve a common goal. We create a culture that values collaboration and seeks out different perspectives.

Fun through work

We work hard and play hard. We believe it is important to not take ourselves too seriously. We try to have some fun while working.

Excellence

We provide our clients with the high quality health services. We put our whole hearts into the work we do, knowing that what we do matters to God and others.