Despite strong policy and program commitment, essential maternal nutrition services are not reaching enough women in many countries.

Despite recent improvements in maternal and child health, death rates for children under 5 remain high. Efforts must be made to attain the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for health and hunger.

Despite a favorable policy environment for maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MIYCN), frontline delivery of critical MIYCN interventions has been a sustained challenge in India’s public health nutrition programs.

The brief describes missed opportunities in India’s Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) programs and presents options to bridge the maternal nutrition gap in India.

This information card presents a sampling of results from formative research in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Interviews, observations, and household trials were conducted to assess maternal nutrition, breastfeeding, complementary feeding, and sanitation/hygiene practices.

Alive & Thrive conducted formative research to better understand the nutrition practices in Uttar Pradesh. We found that mothers can and will improve behaviors related to infant and young children nutrition when provided with social support and timely counseling.