How we Began and where we are going
Pat Mc Mahon, a farmers son got lost in a slum area in the city of Varanasi, Northern India in 2004. He found a child called Tiza dying of malnutrition. Tiza recovered and the journey began.
Tiza was saved and our Journey began.
Our first Lady
In 2015 Pat was traveling on the back of a mother bike delivering food to Malnourished children in the community. On the way he found this lady, heavily pregnant and malnourished.
Like Finding Tiza, this represented the beginnings of a new approach
Why Maternal Nutrition?
153.8 million women around the world are malnourished.
We follow World Health Othority guidlines for assesing maternal malnutrion. This means that when we dilliver food each month it is reacing those in greatest need.
Mothers First
Congo Update and our Call to Action
Mothers First flagship maternal Nutrition Program in India delivers targeted nutrition to 200 clinically malnourished mothers every month.
Since 2023 the program in India is fully funded by regular donations every month. Thank you,.
In March of this year we began a pilot program in Africa replicating the model we have developed in India. It is working!
Your individual acts of generosity not alone is sustaining the program but has allowed us to dream further.
Malnourished mothers receiving there food intervention within the local health centre in Nzulo Health Centre, Goma North East Congo April 2026
Program coverage 38 mothers every month.
What the Mothers themselves say about the intervention.
Mothers First in Somaliland
How we began and where we are now
The Listening Tent.
In 2023 Mothers First helped establish a Listening Tent — a safe, welcoming space where people could come together to share their stories. That simple tent became a cherished hub, a center for community and connection.
What they asked for
The community came up with 6 long term durable solutions
Durable Solution Progress
1 Training of traditional midwives
2 Build a Birthing Centre
3 Miro loans
4 Global Action Plan on Wasting
5 Dry Land Agriculture Project
6 Water and Sanitation
Discover Our Projects
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Mothers First was founded in 2004 as a small hospital specialising in severe malnutrition in children.
In 2015 we changed our approach to target malnourished pregnant mothers with a food based intervention. The program provides them with food and supplements delivered through the health system.
Our results have been not short of remarkable.
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In 2023, Mothers First established a Listening Tent to hear directly from a newly relocated community of more than 500 households.
Through this process, the community developed six key initiatives. Today, Mothers First works alongside three relocated communities, funding community-led projects that empower local people to address extreme poverty and improve maternal and family wellbeing.
Together, we have:
Built a Birthing Centre and Learning Centre.
Trained traditional birth attendants to improve maternal care.
Provided toilets and emergency shelter for the most vulnerable households.
Established microloan programmes to help families build sustainable livelihoods.
Created kitchen gardens to improve household nutrition and food security.
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In March 2026, Mothers First expanded its Mother Programme into Africa following a partnership formed when the founders of Mothers First and the Urembo Women Development Organisation met. Together, they extended the flagship Mother Programme to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The programme replicates the incentive-based delivery model developed in India and is currently providing nutritious food twice a month to 40 undernourished pregnant women.
We are a registered charity in Ireland.
Charity Number: CHY19325.
We are a registered charity in Ireland operating under the legal name of the Varanasi Children’s Program. We are currently transitioning to the name: ‘Mother’s First.’ Until this process is finalized, we will continue to work under this legal framework.
We are fully compliant with the charity regulator in Ireland.
Our annual accounts are displayed here to assure you that your money is going directly to help the vital work of Mothers First.
Apart from discounted accountant fees we have no administration costs in Ireland.
Annual Accounts
Accounts for 2025
Accounts for 2024
Accounts for 2023
Accounts for 2022
Accounts for 2021
Accounts for 2020
Accounts for 2019
Accounts for 2018
Accounts for 2017
Accounts for 2016
Accounts for 2022
Accounts for 2022
Accounts for 2021
Accounts for 2020
Accounts for 2019
Accounts for 2018
Accounts for 2017
Accounts for 2016
We have a vision to develop a Implementation framework which national governments and N.G.Os can replicate across Africa.
Despite the evedence currently the dillivery of Food based interventions during pregency is confined to Humanitarian Contexts. Mothers First is calling for a needs based intervention
The Policy Gap
Mothers First is Bridging the policy gap by demonstrating how this program can be integrated into a health care system outside the humanitarian context
The core ethos and strength of Mothers First is that we actively listen and respond.
There is one fundamental truth and that is the instinct of the Mother. It is to protect.
Therefore by protecting and giving strength to the most vulnerable Mothers, we are building the resilience of whole families communities and the world
7 minutes of Possibilty
Our Story- The Extraordinary story of Mothers First evolution over the past 22 years in 7 minutes
In this Interview in 2012 Founder of Mothers First retells the extraordinary and heart warming story of how Mothers First was founded and its ability to adapt and change.