The first 1,000 days are regarded as the most sensitive period in a child’s life, as it is marked by rapid physical and mental development with accompanying vulnerability to deficiency in care. How well or how poorly mothers, newborns, and infants are cared for during this time has a profound impact on their mortality, morbidity, and growth also known as the window period.
The project combines mobile health (mHealth) technologies with targeted and certified medical information for raising awareness and empowering families and communities, with the final goal of improving maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), thereby contributing to society’s long-term health, stability, and prosperity.
Wellness for Greatness is the implementation lead for the ‘First 1000 days of life’ project in Kenya and is supported by the Bruno Kessler Foundation (FBK), a Research Institute based in Italy. FBK, a scientific and technological hub in Artificial Intelligence, has laboratories and scientific infrastructures and a community of over 400 researchers, 140 doctoral students, 200 visiting fellows and thesis students, 700 affiliates, and accredited students combined. In the eHealth field, the FBK Digital Health Lab has gained experience in developing applications supporting healthcare management, including those based on services for pregnant women, such as managing gestational diabetes, among others.