How phone messages turned this Mumbai mom from a shut-in to a graduate
by Mission Motherhood posted in Parenting
American hospitals do everything they can to encourage breastfeeding: lactation consultants advise new mothers, doctors discuss the health benefits, nurses hand just-born babies to their mothers as quickly as possible after birth to feed. Still, new moms have problems breastfeeding. They?re scared, they?re in pain, but still, they know that help is just a phone call (or social media post) away.
But Kalpana, who lives in Mumbai, India, in the slum of Dharavi, didn?t have anyone to call when she struggled to feed her newborn. Alone, in pain, she didn?t know where to turn.
?I couldn't produce enough milk to feed my child,? she remembers. It?s a common problem in India?s poorer neighborhoods, where many moms don?t get enough food and water to keep their supply up. Helpless and desperate, Kalpana was alone -- no social media friends to hold her up, no easy access to medical advice. ?I used to panic having no one to guide me,? she says. When she became pregnant again, ?I was so stressed that I even thought of aborting my third child.?
Like many women, after her struggle she wanted to help other women who were wrestling with the same problems. So after 16 years of being a homemaker, she took a job as a Sakhi (?health friend?) for India?s mMitra program.
mMitra is a free service that delivers audio messages about pregnancy and baby health to women in disadvantaged areas of India. These twice-a-week messages, which were written with the h...
-------------------------------- |
|
COMPETITION: Win a 5-star Family Holiday in Limassol, Cyprus
27-04-2024 08:05 - (
moms )