By TANIA LAM
KUCHING: New mothers nowadays face challenges in having sufficient time to recuperate after giving birth. The confinement period, once a sacred time for rest and recovery, is now not always possible in today’s busy society.
As such, there has been a rise of centres offering professional postnatal care and services. Blessings Care Centre here is one of them.
Yesterday, not even overcast skies and a light drizzle could dampen the high spirits of attendees at the centre’s opening ceremony where Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah officiated.
Also present were the director of Women and Family Department Noriah Ahmad, members of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and members of One Stop Teenage Pregnancy Committees (OSTPC).
Various non-governmental organisations (NGO) also showed their support at the opening – Pink & Teal EmpowHer, Sarawak Single Mothers’ Association (Pitsa), and Carnation Club of Kuching and Samarahan, to name a few.
“Confinement month is a time when mothers rest, heal and bond with the baby,” said the centre’s business development director Ei Ling Tay in her opening speech.
She also hoped that the centre could cater to new mothers in need.
“We hope mothers can have at least one whole month of blissful rest here – call it a holiday, a honeymoon or a babymoon!
“Here at Blessings, we want to eliminate the common fear of confinement month and transform it into a pampering experience,” she further elaborated.
A dedicated team of trained nurses was also introduced to attendees at the ceremony.
When asked about some of their tasks, chief nurse Lee said that apart from general care of the mothers, the team would attend to birth wounds and help the mothers with their anticoagulant injections if they had undergone caesarean sections.
“We also have the usual daily care for the babies. We have to watch out for jaundice in the newborns. If they are too yellow, we would ask the mothers to take them for a follow-up at the hospital,” Lee told the New Sarawak Tribune.
Members of the NGOs at the opening ceremony also shared their thoughts on the postnatal care centre.
“It’s a good initiative by women for the community of mothers to prevent confinement stress,” said Nurul Jamaludin, a member of Pitsa.
Dr Joshua Taylor Thomas from Pink & Teal EmpowHer also had similar opinions, praising the centre’s holistic approach to postnatal care.
“There are lots of collaborative efforts such as with a photographer for baby photos and a company that makes jewellery out of breast milk – it’s the first time I’ve heard of it. There are also many experts here with knowledge on traditional Chinese medicine,” he said.
He also emphasised some of the issues that Blessings Care Centre should keep in mind.
“Postnatal depression or ‘baby blues’ is quite common in women nowadays especially those with a family history of mental health disorders,” Dr Joshua said.
“Seek help,” he stressed, referring to what mothers experiencing postpartum depression should do.
“They can seek psychiatric help from any nearby government clinic. Treatment is always available.”
