Supporting Mothers and Babies — Globally
At Early Life Nutrition Alliance, we believe every baby deserves the healthiest possible start to life.
While our primary work focuses on strengthening the nutrition workforce, our commitment to the first 1000 days extends beyond clinical education. Through our partnership with Compassion International, the ELNA community helps support maternal and infant nutrition initiatives in regions where access to care is limited.
At Early Life Nutrition Alliance we’re PASSIONATE about giving babies a head start in life. But, while we strive to help you give your baby a head start in life, we are also working to provide poverty-stricken mummas and babies in Africa a head start in life too!
Around 2.7 million infants in Tanzania have stunted growth due to undernutrition, with more than 600,000 suffering from acute malnutrition.
Education and resources are important, but as you now know, the poverty cycle can’t be broken when baby’s aren’t being nourished during their first 1000 days. Poor nutrition during this time leads to a future of poor immunity and inadequate brain development.
That’s why we’ve partnered with Compassion to support our Early Life Nutrition Alliance Mum’s and Bub’s Centre in Mbulu in rural Tanzania. The Centre identifies vulnerable pregnant mummas and provides critical support such as nutritious meals, medical care, skilled birth attendants, immunisations, as well as education and support to establish good hygiene, sustainable income strategies and good lifelong nutrition.
Our Centre is changing the lives of hundreds of families in Mbulu, and we’d love your help.
Why this work matters
Undernutrition continues to affect millions of mothers and infants worldwide. Nutrition during the first 1000 days plays a foundational role in immune development, growth, and long-term neurodevelopment.
By strengthening practitioner capability while also supporting community-based maternal and infant health initiatives, ELNA’s model helps address both sides of the early-life nutrition equation:
- building workforce capacity
- extending care to communities facing barriers to access
Our collective impact
Last year, support from the ELNA community reached mothers and babies across multiple Compassion-supported centres in Indonesia, including Batu, Gihon, and Delada.
Across these centres, mothers were able to access integrated support during pregnancy and early infancy, including nutrition support, health monitoring, and early-life care during this critical developmental window.
Our impact continues to grow as the ELNA community expands.
Countries supported to date
With the support of our global community, maternal and infant nutrition initiatives have now been supported in:
- Tanzania
- Rwanda
- Indonesia
- Bangladesh
- Sri Lanka
- Peru
Our focus for this year is the Philippines, while continuing support in Indonesia through our ongoing partnership with Compassion International.
Sustaining impact through membership
In addition to cohort-based program impact, ELNA’s mentorship model helps sustain ongoing maternal and infant support.
Through our One Mentorship → One Mother Supported approach, active membership contributes to continued care for mothers and babies during the first 1000 days.
This integrated model allows professional growth and global impact to strengthen together.
Annual Impact Update
Each December, we share a brief summary of our collective impact — including regions supported, program highlights, and the ongoing difference made possible by the ELNA community.
This reflects our commitment to transparency, accountability, and values-led growth.
This work is delivered in partnership with Compassion International and is made possible through the collective participation of the ELNA community.