Purple Basket Project • Flagship Intervention
Purple Basket Project
Encouraging early care. Easing the family burden. Giving vulnerable newborns a stronger start.
AFPNC’s flagship family-support intervention, designed to connect practical support with better maternal and newborn health.
The Purple Basket Project is AFPNC’s flagship family-support intervention, designed to connect practical support with better maternal and newborn health. It uses meaningful mother-and-baby support to encourage timely care, reduce pressure on families and help mothers and newborns remain connected to essential services from pregnancy through NICU care and post-discharge follow-up.
Why We Do the Purple Basket
Encourage early antenatal care
The Purple Basket serves as an incentive for pregnant women to attend antenatal care early and remain engaged with essential maternal health services, helping reduce the risk of preterm birth and other maternal and newborn health complications.
Ease the financial burden on families
NICU care and the period after discharge can place significant pressure on household finances. By providing essential mother-and-baby supplies, the Purple Basket helps families direct more of their limited resources toward treatment, medicines, transport and other urgent care needs.
Support continuity of care
The project encourages mothers and families to stay connected to health services during pregnancy, NICU admission, discharge and follow-up, when consistent care can make a critical difference.
What Is Inside a Purple Basket?
Each basket is designed around the practical needs of mother and baby. Contents vary according to available resources, beneficiary needs, cultural appropriateness, and accepted standards of care.
The emphasis is on meaningful quantities, not token support. A basket is designed to provide at least two weeks of practical support, while some packages may support a family for up to three months depending on the contents, available resources, and family needs.
Beyond the NICU
Purple Basket support can continue beyond admission. The project also reaches mothers and newborns returning for post-discharge and NICU follow-up care, helping families stay connected to essential services during a critical period in the baby’s growth and recovery.
The Impact So Far
Documented Purple Basket Reach
AFPNC has implemented Purple Basket interventions across seven regions in Ghana. In 2021, the Stop COVID-19 maternal and newborn project distributed 360 Purple Baskets through 36 health facilities across Ashanti, Ahafo, Western North and Bono Regions, reaching 720 mother-and-baby beneficiaries.
Implementation
An established implementation pathway connecting national, regional and district health structures with facilities, communities and families.
Engage. Consult and coordinate with Ghana Health Service leadership at the national level.
Plan. Work with Family Health and Child Health structures on priorities and implementation planning.
Localise. Engage Regional and District Health Directorates to coordinate delivery around local needs.
Identify. Work through health facilities and communities to identify eligible mothers, newborns and families.
Support. Distribute Purple Baskets alongside appropriate health education, family engagement and support.
Connect. Encourage continued engagement with health services, including NICU follow-up and child-welfare care.
Why Partner With the Purple Basket Project?
- Reduce pressure on families by helping provide essential items while parents meet medical and other urgent costs.
- Support continuity of care for mothers and newborns during NICU admission, discharge and follow-up.
- Invest in a proven intervention with more than 10,000 packages delivered and more than 20,000 mothers and babies supported.
- Work through an established implementation pathway connecting national, regional and district health structures with facilities, communities and families.
- Create practical, visible impact at a moment when families need support most.