why postpartum care?
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
There is a lack of continuous care during the postpartum period in South Africa; many women birth in a clinic or hospital and are sent home with their new baby with little idea of how to recover and take care of a newborn. Additionally, midwives attending home-births are often stretched thin and could benefit from having a skilled “assistant” that can provide additional support in the first week; reporting back when and if needed.
This type of specialised postpartum care has been nationally implemented for three decades with huge success in the
Netherlands; research has shown that early skilled postnatal care is critical to promote healthy mothering and family practices, such as exclusive breastfeeding, good nutrition, appropriate hygiene, emotional wellbeing and general newborn care.
Professional postpartum care provided in the first postnatal week
is aimed at meeting the mother’s needs, in a flexible and personal manner. Together with the mother, the trained Professional Postpartum Care Provider (PPCP) will create a plan that examines the mother’s expectations and wishes with regards to the kind of care she would like and to discuss potential cultural differences in postpartum and newborn care.
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
experience motherhood as powerful
A PPCP provides one-on-one, non-judgmental, emotional and practical postpartum support for the mother and newborn in the first week/s after birth. The PPCP oversees the recovery of the
mother and the development of the baby and implements appropriate hygienic practices. Additionally, a PPCP is trained to know the difference between normal and abnormal postpartum situations in order to alert the appropriate caregiver (hospital,
clinic or midwife) if needed.
The PPCP offers a broad range of professional skills to promote
and nurture healing and help with practical tasks to allow the new mother to rest, recover and care for her new baby. She offers evidenced-based information on emotional and physical recovery from childbirth, normal newborn development, infant feeding, infant soothing and coping skills for new parents. The PPCP assists with newborn care, family adjustment, and when agreed upon, meal preparation, and light household chores and is trained to provide appropriate referrals when necessary.
The PPCP helps to encourage mobilisation of social support, advocates positive coping skills, encourages self-efficacy and helps manage realistic expectations which all lead to improved health-seeking behaviours.
WHAT DOES A POSTPARTUM CARE PROVIDER DO?
HOW IT ALL STARTED
Jacky Bloemraad-de Boer is the fearless leader and trainer of the Professional Postpartum Care (PPCP) Training in South Africa.
Combining her skills as a Midwife, Doula, Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner, Nutritionist, Herbalist, Educator and Author, she has over 20 years of experience specialising in maternal health.
Jacky’s extensive personal experience of providing postpartum care as a holistic midwife and her experience of working in the Netherlands with the unique ‘kraamzorg’ practice, has inspired her to begin the Professional Postpartum Care (PPCP) Training in South Africa. The training has its foundations strongly rooted in her experience of the ‘kraamzorg’, which is an integral part of the Dutch maternal healthcare system and is notably covered by health insurance (medical aid). It was introduced in the Netherlands to improve both short and long term outcomes for mother and baby and every new mother receives eight to ten days of home-based postpartum care as standardised practice given by professional care providers called, ‘kraamverzorgsters’.
“The red thread linking all aspects of my work is my heart’s longing that each and every woman receives care, which allows her to experience pregnancy, birth and motherhood as empowering and powerful. " — Jacky
blog
Think of our blog as your best friend. The one you
can learn from, laugh with, cry with, and discover all the things we have in common as newborn parents, with. The friend that makes you say “Oh, you too?!”.
Our PPCPs have all had their own unique postpartum experience, and so everyone contributes to the blog to share their knowledge, stories and anecdotes with you.
FIND YOUR PPCP
We are so proud to introduce our practising and certifying PPCPs! Read about their journeys to this special work and find out more about the additional skills and services each one has to offer.
Lelethu Bonongo
“Let yourself feel like a pampered queen; you deserve to be given good care.”
Area: Stellenbosch,
Cape Town
Area: Cape Town &
surrounding suburbs
Sherelle Hamman
“It’s a little bit emotional,
a little bit practical,
a whole lot of wonderful.”
Dawn de Jager
"The moment a child is born, a mother is born too."
Nadia Maheter
“I am committed to honouring your choices.”
Tulani Postpartum Care Services
“Our hearts were inspired to serve families with newborn mothers and babies…”
Noloyiso Williams
"Having someone
who understands rather
than judges you, is a spectacular experience."
Area: Cape Town; Redhill, Fish Hoek, Southern Suburbs, Southern Peninsula & CBD
Sheereen Yunus
"Nurturing the woman
who has brought life
onto the earth."
Elaine Zeeman
"I am there to mother
the mother and father,
while they care for
their baby."
Want to become
a PPCP?
events
An important part of our world is collaborating and networking with other healthcare professionals to ensure support for every
aspect of postpartum healing and recovery. We hope to grow
these events bigger and better every year, and to see the
positive impact on maternal healthcare, ripple outward into
every corner of our beautiful country.
Click below to see some photo’s from our first event that took
place on 14 March 2020: The Complete Maternal Journey.
contact us
Any questions and inquiries are welcome to set your mind at ease or learn more! We are committed to taking the mystery out of it all and making postpartum care a part of every birthing woman's life. No need to be shy — say hi!
