Daw Zin Mar Win from Yae Ngan Village in the Natmauk Township, the Central Dry Zone

The journey of motherhood is not always easy, especially when it comes to ensuring the health of both the mother and the child. For Daw Zin Mar Win, a 25-year-old mother from Yae Ngan Village in the Natmauk Township, the Central Dry Zone in Myanmar, the worries about her pregnancy and the health of her expected baby were overwhelming. However, her fears were soon alleviated when she learned about the positive impacts of improved nutrition on mothers and newborns through the Social and Behaviour Change Communications Trainings (SBCC).
The training, which was provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in collaboration with its partner organization in the Magway region, aimed to actively engage pregnant and breastfeeding women to promote good nutrition practices, enhance individual behaviours and household practices through collective actions of Mother to Mother Support Groups (MtMSGs), ultimately contributing to improved dietary diversity of mothers and children. Daw Zin Mar Win took a keen interest in all the topics covered during the training, but the topic of nutrition during pregnancy and breastfeeding over a 1,000-day spectrum was particularly important to her. She saw this as an opportunity to learn more about how to ensure the health of her expected baby and her own health.
Aside from learning during the sessions, the opportunity arose to generate discussion and share lessons learned with other expectant and breastfeeding mothers, while also exchanging feedback and practices. Daw Zin Mar Win also enjoyed the cooking demonstrations and immediately implemented them at home to ensure maximum preservation of nutrients.
According to Daw Zin Mar Win, the learning opportunity was extremely important for her and her baby. She and other 25 pregnant and breastfeeding village women attended the training sessions without fail, learning about improved cooking demonstrations and other vital nutrition topics during the last five months of her pregnancy.
When asked about the challenges she encountered during the training, Daw Zin Mar Win mentioned none, as she felt the training was conveniently arranged right at her doorstep, and the learning acquired was paying off. She has fully adopted the methods learned to her breastfeeding. Daw Zin Mar Win claims her happiness grows every day with the good health of her baby, for which she credits her knowledge about nutrition and good cooking practices.
Her father, Mr. U Yan Aung, a farmer and her closest aid in all household chores, also shared his impressions on his daughter's newly acquired knowledge in nutrition. He says that his daughter always shares her knowledge from the trainings, and then mobilizes them to apply the improved cooking methods at home. Mr. U Yan Aung is so impressed by his daughter's knowledge that he takes care of the baby himself while she attends the trainings, besides helping her with domestic work while she is breastfeeding.
Daw Zin Mar Win's story is a testament to the transformative power of education and knowledge. Through the SBCC training, she not only learned about the importance of good nutrition during pregnancy and breastfeeding but also became a change agent for transforming cooking practices in her community. Her story is an inspiration for expectant and breastfeeding mothers to take an active interest in their health and that of their babies, while also being the change they want to see in their communities.