Walezi Pamoja (Nurturing Together): Giving Brains A Healthy Start Through A Network for Breastfeeding Support

Breastfeeding is one of the most powerful interventions to reduce child deaths and promote cognitive development. In Kenya, less than half of infants are exclusively breastfed for 6 months. Women are faced with misinformation, a lack of social support and limited access to expert nutrition consultation. To address these issues, we will test three tools by combining them in an online support network - “Walezi Pamoja" (Nurturing Together) - for mothers in Africa's most internet-connected country. Our social-media based platform will (1) link mothers in chat groups for peer support (2) launch and test an intelligent “chatbot" to provide verified guidance on breastfeeding and nutrition, and (3) provide a link for mothers with more acute breastfeeding challenges to a free teleconsultation service from local lactation consultants. Walezi Pamoja will help us test these highly-scalable digital tools that make high-quality breastfeeding advice cheaply accessible to the most vulnerable women.