A new programme shows that it is possible to simultaneously improve nutritional health of both mothers and infants within the existing health system.

The Alive & Thrive has implemented the programme with the help of the Bangladesh government, and non-governmental organisation BRAC. Canada funded that maternal nutrition programme.

It was based on the WHO’s new 2016 Guidelines on Antenatal Care (ANC) that includes nutrition interventions that are proven to support a healthy pregnancy and birth experience.

Until now, there has been little experience in how to mainstream the maternal nutrition on a larger scale. The results show that integrating maternal nutrition into the Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health or MNCH programmes is both “effective and attainable”.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) had conducted the independent review which was disseminated on Wednesday in Dhaka.

IFPRI Research Fellow Phuong Hong Nguyen said they found it was “feasible and significant” to address “multiple dimensions” of nutrition during pregnancy and deliveries through an “existing” maternal, neonatal and child health platform.

She termed the model “effective” and said this “could be adopted and expanded for integration into the health system in Bangladesh and in similar context in other countries”.

The programme was focused on the entire 1,000-day “window of opportunity” — from a woman’s pregnancy through her child’s second birthday.