Five years ago, on November 17th, 2014, I had the good fortune to travel to Rwanda to take part in the First Kangaroo Mother Care Product Forum at the bequest of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I didn't seek this invitation out. They found me, and it is an honor I will always treasure.
The KMC Product Forum was part of a larger conference that brought together researchers, policymakers and VIPs from a wide variety of fields to share research on the benefits of skin-to-skin mother care, and to figure out a way to use the knowledge they had accumulated in a practical way to save lives and promote the health and well-being of newborns and their mothers.
In the midst off all these VIPs, it was hard to keep my little light shining. I questioned why I was there and if I had anything to offer at all, and yet I knew that I had something that none of the others had, and that was 'the practical' application of skin-to-skin mother care; a tool that held a tiny newborn, hands-free, against its mother's chest.
In my presentation to a committee, I did my best to let my little light shine. I quite simply told the story of how 'necessity became the mother of invention' as I honed my skills as a postpartum doula.
The committee was gracious, but I left knowing that I was on my own, much as a new mother is left on her own to figure things out.
Five years have passed, and I'm happy to report...I'm not alone...and my little light is shining bigger and brighter with every passing day.
Nesting Days is a family business...something I had always wanted. And then there is...YOU...the families that have found their way to my 'doorstep' and who have spread the word, not just about Nesting Days, but about how love can change the world.
On World Prematurity Day 2019 the journey continues...may our little lights shine all around the world. ❤️👶
Warmly,
Julie, Chief Mother Officer
The KMC Product Forum was part of a larger conference that brought together researchers, policymakers and VIPs from a wide variety of fields to share research on the benefits of skin-to-skin mother care, and to figure out a way to use the knowledge they had accumulated in a practical way to save lives and promote the health and well-being of newborns and their mothers.
In the midst off all these VIPs, it was hard to keep my little light shining. I questioned why I was there and if I had anything to offer at all, and yet I knew that I had something that none of the others had, and that was 'the practical' application of skin-to-skin mother care; a tool that held a tiny newborn, hands-free, against its mother's chest.
In my presentation to a committee, I did my best to let my little light shine. I quite simply told the story of how 'necessity became the mother of invention' as I honed my skills as a postpartum doula.
The committee was gracious, but I left knowing that I was on my own, much as a new mother is left on her own to figure things out.
Five years have passed, and I'm happy to report...I'm not alone...and my little light is shining bigger and brighter with every passing day.
Nesting Days is a family business...something I had always wanted. And then there is...YOU...the families that have found their way to my 'doorstep' and who have spread the word, not just about Nesting Days, but about how love can change the world.
On World Prematurity Day 2019 the journey continues...may our little lights shine all around the world. ❤️👶
Warmly,
Julie, Chief Mother Officer
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