Under the management of Sister Tshwanelo the Clinic Owner, Unjani Clinic Mayfield in partnership with Flourish celebrated the Unjani mommies for completing their flourish classes on Saturday, 26 October 2024 at the clinic.
Flourish it’s a programme of the Grow Great Campaign designed to support and prepare pregnant mommies in a caring and safe environment. They offer antenatal and postnatal classes that support, celebrate, and empower mothers throughout the critical first 1,000 days of a child’s life. The programme supports parents to provide responsive caregiving to their children.
Sister Tshwanelo mentioned that they have been in partnership with flourish network since 2022 and the baby shower is meant to appreciate the mothers for coming to the clinic and also acknowledge their dedication in attending all the 10 sessions offered by Flourish.
“We thought to ourselves as a clinic the best way to celebrate them is to offer them a graduation party and the best graduation to offer pregnant mommies is a baby shower,” said Tshwanelo.
Flourish host and facilitator, Mpho Matlou said the whole purpose of flourish is to try to eradicate stunting by 2030.
“Stunting is whereby a child doesn’t grow well. By avoiding it we are offering 10 anti-natal classes and postnatal sessions for mommies at no cost. We conduct our classes online using WhatsApp seeing that it is convenient and affordable,” Matlou elaborated.
She said during the WhatsApp group calls, they offer them support and just show up for them. These interactions also help with depression.
“You find that other mommies are left alone after conception and they do not have that needed support system.”
“We are gathered together to celebrate all the pregnant mothers and to re assure them that we here as their support system.”
“The first 1000 days of a child’s life (from conception to age two) is an opportunity to establish a foundation for children’s academic success, health and general well-being. Flourish helps moms optimise this window of opportunity in a way that is fun and memorable,” quoted Matlou.
Pregnant Mom, Thandi Nxumalo told Ekurhuleni News that her experience with the whole flourish journey has been beneficial to her.
“My experience with flourish has been amazing. It was a supportive environment where I got to learn from the other mommies. We discovered new things that we didn’t know how to handle from our previous pregnancies,” she said.
Nxumalo noted that we as blacks really don’t talk about our feelings, but with flourish, it has created a safe space for all the mommies to share their thoughts, feelings and also the programme allowed vulnerability.
“From my previous pregnancies, there was no emotional, physical and mental support and also interaction with other pregnant mommies because the places I used to go for my check ups there was no platform given for that,” said Nomvula Hadebe.
“They would only check the physical aspect of the mother and disregard the psychological and emotional aspects that come with the pregnancy. With flourish, we were able to socialise amongst ourselves as mommies and we would share the different struggles that each mommy faces and also be able to assist one another,” she continued to say.
The one aspect that stood out for Nomvula was that, for new moms you don’t have a clue of what labour is and what it feels like. But Flourish prepares you mentally and physically for it.
“They teach you important things to do prior and after birth, like your hygiene as mom and teach you about the body changes that you will experience.”
The ladies describe Mpho as friendly, kind, reliant, and always available in times of need.
“She never gets tired of the questions posed to her and she answers everything in detail for everyone to understand. And she always tests us first to see how much we know before she fills our cup,” said the happy mommies.
“We thank all the sponsors who helped made the day a success including Mama and Baba creations who honored the ladies with gifts,” ended Sister Tshwanelo.
The clinic encourages all mommies to start the flourish classes for their own benefit. For more information, you can visit the Unjani Clinic in Mayfield.
By Simphiwe Nkosi
