Sponsored
... Read More
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookie Policy.
Written By: Sponsored | Published : February 13, 2024 11:07 AM IST
Many consider parenthood the most strenuous, yet simultaneously rewarding thing in life. Creating a life and having a unique love connection between a parent and child is one of the strongest kinds of love that many people can imagine for themselves. However, new parents often need help in the earliest stages of raising their child, often this support comes in the form of a maternal child nurse. These specialised nurses are responsible for assisting parents with the rigours of their newborn until they can recover from the exhaustion and anxiety fresh from childbirth.
However, it isn't simply a matter of doing a Doctor of Nursing Practise (DNP) program online and then getting together with your nearest neonate. The job requires a special blend of patience and empathy, that can stretch even the natural limits of standard nurses.
Nursing is an inherently nurturing position. To be a nurse requires more than just medical knowledge, it requires an understanding of people. Bedside manners and empathy are integral to the job of a nurse. When people are in the hospital, it isn't because they want to be there, it's because they're sick, injured, or in a state of distress. Meeting these people with unsympathetic voices and unfeeling mannerisms is not only rude, but it's exacerbating their condition.
This is part of the reason nurses are so special and so important. Where other people would get fed up, impatient, or short, nurses have to maintain their clarity, calm, and kindness. They can't afford to have a breakdown during their shift because there are people that need them. Coupled with the fact that nurses regularly face violence and other bigoted behaviour from the very people they're attempting to assist makes their job all the more difficult.
Nurses are not only trained to deliver medicines, they're trained to take care of people.
Many new parents are at a loss. Yes, it feels wonderful to have created a life, this tiny, fragile legacy that carries half of you. However, it is important to remember that when you have a child, it's not going to go the way you expect it, even if you expect difficulties.
We've all likely heard the stories from our parents at some point. Stories of the things our parents had to deal with during our infancy. Cheeky moments, times when we just learned we could do a thing and thereby get an amusing or rewarding behaviour. Other times, when we've scared our parents by getting too close to an electrical outlet, or times when we've climbed something, or even just repeated diaper changes and demands on our time.
No one can truly anticipate what it is to have a child, and no words can truly express the stressful and demanding nature of those first few years; when a kid has all the curiosity in the world, but the self-preservation instinct of a potato.
Fortunately, there is always help, and although most new parents' instinct is to call their parents ("After all they raised me, right?") for help, however, the offspring's grandparents may not always be available or willing to look after a newborn; yes even their grandchild(ren).
A babysitter might be a new parent's first instinct in this scenario, after all, it's right there in the name; baby. They must be good at looking after babies. In some cases, yes. Some babysitters can be qualified to take care of babies and newborns should their parents have other engagements. However there is an option not many may consider or be aware of, nurse home visitations.
A study in July of 2023 showed that home visits performed by a nurse do not reduce child injuries or subsequent pregnancies - however, child language and problem mental behaviour at the age of two years old were consistently reported by the mothers to be better than those that had no nurse visit support.
The implications of the study are significant. That communication and behaviours can develop so much with the additional assistance appears to signify that a child's development increases exponentially when there are resources that reduce stress and offer assistance to new parents. Based on the evidence in the study, the British-Columbia Healthy Connections Project (the body that carried out the initial study) has recommended that a follow-up study be conducted to see what developmental benefits may occur after two years of age.
There is far more to parenting than simply hiring a nurse, however. Although free or subsidised programmes do exist to get new parents nurse assistance, you may not be in a state or area that offers such a program. For this reason, we offer the following tips.
Being a parent is stressful but it should also be rewarding. Knowing when you're reaching your limit is not just essential to your health, but to the health of your child too. When you feel that the responsibilities of parenthood are getting to you, practise some kind of self-care. This can be done with your baby. You can watch TV, take a walk, read to them, listen to some music. Taking a moment to relax does not mean neglecting your duties as a parent, and being a good parent means teaching emotional regulation techniques to your child. When better to start than from infancy?
Being a new parent is insanely demanding and exhausting, but aside from that numerous mental health conditions can follow a pregnancy and the birth of a child. You can mourn for the person that you were before you had a child, and you can experience postnatal depression. Make sure that you're aware of and open about how you're feeling so that you can get the appropriate support and resources that will help you be the best parents you can be.
Everything is hard the first time you do it, but taking care of life, something with a will and mind of its own that has no idea what is dangerous and what is safe, combined with the social stigma against "bad" parents and the fear of falling under that stigma; truly nothing is as hard as being a new parent.
Being a parent will be the single most challenging thing you ever do. Alongside this however, it should also be the single most rewarding. A nurse can help, and there are many resources for assistance for new families, it's important to realise that no one can tell you how to be a parent. It's too deep and demanding to be quantified that way. All you can do is learn as much as you can and trust in your medical team, and your instincts as a parent. We wish you the best of luck at whatever stage of the parenthood journey you're on.
Disclaimer: Above mentioned article is a Consumer connect initiative. This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of IDPL, and IDPL claims no responsibility whatsoever.
