In 2004 Pat Mc Mahon a registered Nurse from Ireland got lost in a slum area in the city of Varanasi Northern India. He found a child called Tiza literally dying of malnutrition. He took her to a small private hospital that he knew. At that moment the project began and Tiza’s life was saved.

Treatment of severe malnutrition was in the hospital until 2013, at which point the project was the first in the city to be given local government approval to treat malnutrition in the villages with ‘Ready to eat food’ (RUTF). The project for the first time had no walls.

In the villages, it became clear that that malnutrition had its origins in the unborn babies whose mothers were malnourished. In 2015 the project began targeted nutrition to mothers. Nourished mothers means nourished babies. The success of the maternal nutrition program has led to preventing and not just treating malnutrition. ‘Mothers First’ is what we have become.

‘Nutrition for All’ is the advocacy wing of ‘Mothers First’. Established in 2015 it seeks to be a strong advocacy voice for greater focus to be given to maternal in global nutrition targets and the Sustainable Development Goals.