Healthy families and thriving communities
A well mother is fundamental to healthy families and thriving communities. A mother’s physical, mental, and nutritional wellbeing directly influences pregnancy outcomes, infant survival, child growth and development, and lifelong health. Evidence consistently shows that when mothers are healthy and well supported, their children experience better physical, cognitive, emotional, and social outcomes, making maternal wellbeing a cornerstone of lifelong health and wellbeing
The transition to motherhood is a sensitive period, a time of heightened neuroplasticity for the mother and their infant. This makes the perinatal period a uniquely important window of opportunity for intergenerational change, not simply a time of risk.
In maternity care when the focus shifts from managing illness to actively promoting health and resilience, a woman’s understanding of the birth process, emotional manageability, and personal meaningfulness is enhanced. This approach minimizes medical interventions and fosters highly positive childbirth experiences.
When we support a woman and provide respectful maternity care, we protect both the woman and the child. By protecting a child in their earliest years, we are investing in the adult they will become and in the parent they may one day be themselves.
- Bohingamu Mudiyanselage, S., et al. (2024). The impact of maternal health on child’s health outcomes during the first five years of child’s life in countries with health systems similar to Australia: A systematic review. PLoS ONE, 19(3), e0295295.
- Ferguson Sally, Deborah Davis, ‘I’m having a baby not a labour’: Sense of coherence and women’s attitudes towards labour and birth, Midwifery, Volume 79, 2019, 102529, ISSN 0266-6138, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2019.102529Mudiyanselage SB, Wanni Arachchige Dona S, Angeles MR, Majmudar I, Marembo M, Tan EJ, Price A, Watts JJ, Gold L, Abimanyi-Ochom J. The impact of maternal health on child’s health outcomes during the first five years of child’s life in countries with health systems similar to Australia: A systematic review. PLoS One. 2024 Mar 8;19(3):e0295295. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295295. PMID: 38457392; PMCID: PMC10923423.
- Tol, W. A., et al. (2020). Impact of maternal mental health interventions on child-related outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33070789/ Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences.
- World Health Organization. (2025). WHO recommendations on maternal health.