Melinda Jacobs is a foster mother whose story has touched an entire country. She was only 21 years old when she took in her first foster child. Melinda became known to the Swedish people when she lost her foster daughter Esmeralda, called Little Heart, to the girl's biological parents where the girl was later found dead.
For a year, the documentary filmmaker My Sandström has followed Melinda, from life at home with a family of five in Vadstena to negotiations with politicians in Stockholm. Mammahjärtat paints a picture of a foster home. But it also depicts Melinda's fight to prevent the story of Esmeralda to repeat itself.