Paula Laboissière        Reporter Agência Brasil

Brasília – Beginning in November, the Brazilian government’s subsidy program for the poor, Bolsa Família, will give women in extreme poverty who have babies of less than six months of age a new benefit ("bolsa"), that is called the Bolsa Nutriz (nutrition). The objective of this "bolsa" is to stimulate breast feeding.

And in December, the government will further expand assistance to include pregnant women, Bolsa Gestante, with the objective of stimulating prenatal care.

According to the minister of Social Development and Hunger Combat, Tereza Campello, both new subsidies will be worth R$32 each, which is the same amount poor families receive for children below the age of 15. However, the programs, Bolsa Familia, Bolsa Nutriz and Bolsa Gestante, all have a “ceiling:” the payments are limited to five children per family. Campello made the comments during the weekly EBC program, Bom Dia, Ministro, where cabinet members are interviewed. The program is broadcast live on radio and television.

Campello explained that norms for enrolling people in the new programs have not been defined, but that a partnership with the Ministry of Health, enabling Bolsa Nutriz and Bolsa Gestante to use the ministry's data base for their pregnant woman assistance program (“Programa Rede Cegonha”), is a possibility. Campello also announced some new numbers: between June and September of this year, 180,000 new families were enrolled in the program. The government’s goal is to enroll 800,000 new families living in extreme poverty by December 2013.

Bolsa Familia is a Brazilian government subsidy program for the poor. Families that have a per capita income of up to R$140 per month (that is, R$1,680, or US$1,000, per year) receive direct payments.

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English

Link - Bolsa Família: benefícios para gestantes e mães que amamentam começam a ser pagos este ano