Project Lead(s): Anne Marie Chomat
Buena Semilla (Good Seed) is a community-based, participatory intervention that consists of women’s groups for mothers within the first 1,000 days of pregnancy and motherhood (from conception to two years postpartum). These women are the most marginalized and vulnerable within their communities (i.e. single mothers, experience of violence, poor social support, extreme poverty, psychosocial distress) and at a high-risk of mental disorders and poor pregnancy outcomes. The innovation consists of ten carefully articulated sessions facilitated by trained women peers which aim to improve the mental wellbeing, self-esteem, self-efficacy, coping strategies, problem-solving skills, knowledge, and social networks of new mothers– all critical intermediary outcomes for improved maternal and child health. Tackling maternal psychosocial distress among marginalized women in Guatemala: a community-based approach