Maternal Heart Health

Pregnancy-related deaths have risen over 140% over the last three decades and cardiovascular disease is the leading cause 

Mama Check Your Pikin

Early Detection of Congenital Heart Disease in Children

Cardiac Surgery

Cardiac interventions for the most vulnerable populations

Training Heart Health Champions

Trainings for CHEWs, Nurses, Physiologists and Doctors

Paint & Health™

Healing, hope, and joy for stroke survivors and children with heart conditions

Mama Check Your Pikin

Saving Children’s Hearts Through Early Detection, Community Care, and Coordinated Treatment

Mama Check Your Pikin is a community-based health innovation designed to prevent avoidable deaths from congenital heart disease (CHD) among children living in low-income urban communities in Nigeria.

The Hidden Crisis

Every year, more than 40,000 children are born with congenital heart defects in Nigeria, yet over 80% are never diagnosed or treated in time. Many die from conditions that are entirely treatable if detected early.

Mama Check Your Pikin exists to change that by finding heart problems early, guiding families through the health system, and ensuring children get the care they need, regardless of income or location.

The Problem

Congenital heart disease is one of the leading causes of preventable child mortality in Nigeria and across Africa.

Most children with CHD are:
• Diagnosed too late, often after severe complications develop
• Repeatedly misdiagnosed at primary care level
• Unable to access specialist tests like echocardiography
• Lost within fragmented referral systems
• Excluded from care due to cost

In high-income countries, 85–90% of children born with CHD survive into adulthood.
In Nigeria, the opposite is true not because treatment is impossible, but because early detection and coordinated care are missing.

Our Solution

Mama Check Your Pikin moves heart care upstream from late emergency rescue to early community-based detection and action.

The programme works across four connected levels:

1.⁠ ⁠Community & Caregiver Awareness

2.⁠ ⁠Frontline Health Worker Screening

3.⁠ ⁠Portable & Digital Diagnostics

4.⁠ ⁠Coordinated Referral & Care Pathways

 

Who We Serve
Mama Check Your Pikin focuses on:
• Infants and children (0–10 years) living in low-income urban and peri-urban communities
• Families surviving on less than $5.50 per day
• Mothers and caregivers with limited access to health information
• Overstretched primary healthcare providers
Secondary beneficiaries include health systems, which benefit from fewer late-stage emergencies and better use of specialist resources.

 

Our Vision

We envision a future where:
• No child dies from a treatable heart condition because of poverty or geography
• Mothers are empowered, not helpless
• Primary healthcare is a gateway to survival, not a dead end
• African cities build child survival systems that work
Mama Check Your Pikin is a step toward that future.

 

Partner With Us

We work with:
• Community organisations
• Health workers and clinics
• Donors and foundations
• Corporate partners
• Governments and public health systems

Together, we can save thousands of children’s lives — early, equitably, and at scale.

Because every child’s heart deserves a chance to beat strong.