My Advice to a New Mother

It’s almost the end of my maternity leave and I am getting ready to go back to work again. Things have been very interesting lately. A few weeks ago, a woman I had been seeing before I went on leave gave birth to her first baby, a bouncing baby boy named Donex. He was born at the Dowa District hospital. I was one of the first people to see the mother and baby. Donex was just a few days old then.

I recorded Donex’s birth in my register. I weighed him to see if he was underweight and found out that baby Donex weighed 3 kilograms [6 pounds, 10 ounces]. This is good. So there will be no need to do kangaroo care. I also checked the baby’s temperature, which was normal. Since this was the mother’s first baby, I advised her on basic care. For example, I told her to always keep him warm and clean, and to sleep under a mosquito net at all times to prevent catching malaria. I taught her how to breastfeed. I showed her how to hold the baby and how to hold her breast so that the baby feeds well. I encouraged her to breastfeed as often as possible. I also advised her to eat a balanced diet and rest as much as she needs to. I will visit baby Donex two more times this week to check on his progress and to see how the mother is coping with having the little one around.

Here’s video of me counseling the new mother: