New parents inducted by "Mothers"

Just as one prepares to give birth by taking childbirth education classes, there is also the need to be ready for the emotional changes and challenges that come with parenthood, according to the Director of 3 Mothers organisation, Veronica Molope.

The organization recently hosted a parenting workshop in Mmopane, designed to empower new parents with skills to execute their new job in a healthy way.“The pace of life can be really fast, and people don’t have time to sit down and wonder about parenting approach? ” Molope said. The workshop gave parents the opportunity to “make their parenting a little more intentional.”

The session tackled topics on personality development of children, common ailments in children, baby massage skills and sexuality during pregnancy and post delivery, as well as how men and women are different, amongst others. Motheo Theriso, 44, said he has gleaned bits of parenting advice from a variety of sources in the past, but was eager to develop a more complete foundation of parenting skills.

Having that foundation, he said, can make the unpredictability that comes along with raising a child more manageable.Mpho Ndlovu, 29, liked that the workshops connected her to other parents. She noted that it’s not always easy to find time to connect with her peers at that level.“I found it more reassuring that I was not the only one going through that, I was able to see other parents that were going through that exact same thing, and get feedback on how they to handle it.”

She said every parent has something they can improve on when it comes to raising their kids and it’s important for parents to make developing those skills a priority.“You only have one shot, you only have one chance to make these little kiddos be the best they can be,” she said.

The ultimate goal of the parenting workshop, according to Molope, was to help parents feel more confident dealing with any obstacle they might face so that they could focus on developing healthy, positive relationships with their kids.“Things aren’t going to be absolutely perfect, there is always a new challenge, but at least they have more skills to deal with those challenges, and a feeling of what to do if they are getting stuck,” Molope said.

3 Mothers is owned by three Batswana licensed midwives who also possess Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA) accreditation, and they offer pregnancy education to expecting women and their companions in line with the reduction of Maternal and Child Morbidities and Mortalities. The directors are also members of the Childbirth Educators Professional Forum of South Africa.