The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is raising its investment in maternal and newborn health care, a strategy Melinda Gates said gives donors “more bang for your buck” in working to improve global health, reports The Seattle Times.

Speaking Monday on a conference call with members of the antipoverty charity ONE and Melanne Verveer, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, Ms. Gates cited efforts such as promoting breast feeding during a child’s first six months, which can increase immunity and reduce exposure to disease.

“To do that costs about $2 to $7 to save a life,” compared to the much larger later cost to treat a malaria or AIDS patient, she said.