Goa Khabar : To commemorate the World Breastfeeding Week and as a part of the core course in Fundamentals of Human Development, the students of the First Year in Home Science had two enriching sessions on ‘Lamaze – Exercises to Ease Labour and Birth’ and ‘Breastfeeding – Benefits and Overcoming Challenges’ on the 1st of August.
The sessions were facilitated by Child Birth Educator and Breastfeeding Peer Counselor, Anna Coelho, who helps new mothers in hospitals, homes and even online in preparing for labour and birth and overcoming challenges in breastfeeding.
In the first session, Coelho explained about how the Lamaze method works, that it is not elimination of pain but the management of pain. She demonstrated certain exercises that aid in delivery and breathing techniques to facilitate pain management during contractions and birth. She shared instances from her own life and involved the students in practically trying out some of the methods. She also used creative teaching aids to explain what happens during labour and delivery and emphasized on how awareness and knowledge empowers couples to make choices about aspects of their delivery and birth experiences.
In the second session, Anna Coelho explained the benefits of breastfeeding for the baby, the mother and the environment. With the help of creative teaching aids, she explained how breastfeeding works biologically and psychologically. She emphasized on the importance of colostrum and the ‘golden hour’ for breastfeeding after birth and how to check if the baby is getting enough milk as this is the most common concern new mothers have. She mentioned some of the challenges people face and how to overcome them, sharing her own lived experiences. She also demonstrated different breastfeeding positions and spoke about how working mothers could continue breastfeeding as per the theme of this year’s Breastfeeding Week “Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for all.” All-in-all, both sessions were very informative and received the keen attention and active participation of the students. The program was coordinated by Assistant Professor (Human Development), Dr. Nadisha Coelho.
