Moms and babies living in poverty are highly vulnerable to disease, malnutrition and even death.
Compassion’s Survival program delivers critical care to both moms and babies, including necessities like prenatal and postnatal care, medical checkups and nutritious meals.
You can help protect moms and babies by giving to Compassion Survival or becoming a child sponsor to provide ongoing care.
How Poverty Impacts Mothers & Their Little Ones
Every single day in 2023 alone, over 700 women died from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth around the world (according to the most recent data).
And sadly, 2.3 million newborns died within the first 28 days of life.
According to the World Health Organization, skilled delivery at birth, quality postnatal care, adequate nutrition and other medical treatments can save many of these lives. However, for moms and babies living in poverty, those necessities are often impossible to get.
Some moms live in remote communities without close access to physicians or medical facilities. And others lack the financial resources needed for things like food, clean water and even diapers, let alone medical checkups and medications.
These moms live in constant fear over their health and that of their children. Many spend countless hours each day seeking what food and water they can find. Others must work grueling, life-threatening jobs even while pregnant, placing themselves and their babies at an even higher risk.
Sadly, many moms still suffer the unimaginable loss of their children simply because of poverty.
Hope Is Found in All of Us
It’s easy to read those truths and feel as if hope were lost for the vulnerable around the world. But God has given each of us a mandate to care for the impoverished. And it’s a call we take seriously here at Compassion through our Survival program.
Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. — Psalm 82:3, NIV
Compassion Survival: Caring for Moms & Babies
Through Compassion’s Survival program, we partner with local churches around the world to offer the critical care moms and babies need to not just survive but thrive. Through Survival, moms receive necessities like:
Home visits: Mothers are visited monthly in their homes by Survival specialists who support them as they prepare for, love and care for their babies. During these visits, we monitor both mom’s and baby’s health, providing further care when needed.
Care before, during and after birth: Moms and babies receive prenatal and postnatal support, water, nutritious food, diapers and more. We also provide critical medical care as moms deliver their babies, as well as necessary immunizations.
Education and mentoring: Through parenting workshops, we teach moms how to care for themselves and their little ones. Plus, moms receive income generation opportunities, empowering them to provide for their growing families.
Moms and babies receive this lifesaving care up until the baby’s first birthday — the most vulnerable time in a child’s life. After they reach this important milestone, babies transition to our child sponsorship program, where they receive ongoing support from someone like you!
Through sponsorship, the local church provides for the child’s immediate needs, introduces them to the hope of the gospel and prepares them for a brighter future by offering:
Safe community.
Disaster relief.
Education.
Protection from abuse.
Medical care.
Nutrition support.
By providing consistent care from birth and beyond, children can reach their full potential, becoming thriving followers of Jesus equipped with the tools to overcome poverty.
Meet Joshua: A Little Life Changed in Honduras
Baby Joshua was born into an impoverished community in Honduras. Sometimes, he would tense his little body and turn purple, filling his mom’s heart with fear. “The future I thought my son would have was hopeless,” she says while remembering those scary moments.
It was through Compassion Survival that Joshua received a medical checkup, resulting in a heart disease diagnosis. He also received the care he needed following his diagnosis. Now, he’s a playful and affectionate little boy who’s growing happily and healthily.
“For me, the Survival program means a possibility that I didn’t have. Before he entered the program, Joshua was a quiet boy. He didn’t move; he was ill. And the difference now, when he entered the program, he’s active, happy and he shows affection.” — Joshua’s mother
How You Can Care for the Most Vulnerable Today
At Compassion, we want to reach as many mothers and babies as we can in the countries we serve. And we can’t do that without you. There are three key ways you can care for moms and babies from right where you are: praying, donating and sponsoring.
Praying for Moms & Babies
In 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV), we’re encouraged: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.”
God hears us when we pray for those in need. This truth should inspire us to pray for the precious moms and babies in need of love and care. Not sure how to pray? Here are some specific prayer points:
Pray that moms and babies receive the support they need, such as medical care and nutritious food.
Pray that moms and babies around the world hear the good news of the gospel.
Pray that Compassion can continue expanding to reach more of the most vulnerable.
Donating to Compassion Survival
Another way to make an immediate impact is by donating to the Survival program. It’s through your donation that local churches can care for moms and babies in their communities.
Your gift will be used to deliver life-giving necessities, from medical checkups and nutrition support to basics like diapers and milk.
Sponsoring a Child for Ongoing Care
Once a child reaches their first birthday, they’re registered into Compassion’s child sponsorship program, which delivers consistent, ongoing care.
Through child sponsorship, a child receives monthly physical, mental, emotional and spiritual support. And when you sponsor, you’ll receive letters and photos from the child’s Compassion center so you can watch them grow.
In a survey of 99 Compassion program alumni in the Dominican Republic, 97% said they were released from poverty in Jesus’ name.
Joining us in our mission to care for the most vulnerable makes an eternal difference. Not only will you offer right-now support to moms and their babies, but you’ll share with them the hope found in Jesus, changing their lives forever.
