Care and support
Making sure that babies get the right kind of care, nutrition and stimulation is the best chance society has at breaking the cycles of poverty, violence, alcohol- and drug abuse.
Ensure they get the necessary immunisations from birth to 2 years. Make sure you always take their Road To Health Booklet to clinic or hospital, as it keeps track of your child’s immunisations which shows doctors and nurses your child’s growth. You need to take your child for immunisations at birth, 14 weeks, 9 and 18 months.
Develop a support system. Make sure you have other new parents to talk to and make a point of talking to them or seeing them at least once a week.
Express and accept your negative feelings. It's normal to feel bad sometimes when you're adjusting to a new baby.
Focus on your positive feelings. Look for ways in which you do feel good and pay attention to those, too.
Take breaks by yourself, with your partner, or with another adult. No one can work at a job nonstop without some time off every day.
Keep your expectations realistic. No one can do it all, let alone do it perfectly. Work toward reasonable, achievable goals, whether dealing with feelings, doing housework or losing your pre-baby weight.
You, the pregnant mom, and the baby are influenced by a safe and nurturing environment:
- Remember your baby can recognize your voices even before birth.
- Your baby needs to hear both mom and dad’s voices, feel their touch, make eye contact and see them smile.
- Your baby picks up stress even before birth - domestic violence is harmful for your baby’s developing brain
- Babies can calm down when mom and dad talk quietly and hold baby close for comfort.
- Feeling safe and loved is very important for your baby’s emotional and brain development.
- The different ways dads and moms play and talk with their baby helps baby to learn more, without needing expensive toys.
- Mom is more able to respond in a caring way to her baby if she has a supportive partner.
- A safe environment helps your baby to explore and learn.
Ensure they get the necessary immunisations from birth to 2 years.
Make sure you always take their Road To Health Booklet to clinic or hospital, as it keeps track of your child’s immunisations which shows doctors and nurses your child’s growth.
Get booklets here:
You need to take your child for immunisations at birth, 14 weeks, 9 and 18 months. View immunisation schedule here: