As Kim Collins said, “Strive for continuous improvement, instead of perfection".
For the continuous improvement of skill set on counseling on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF), the National Nutrition Council-NCR (NNC-NCR) with the members of NCR Breastfeeding Friends (BFFs) conducted a half-day case management discussion on December 4, 2020.
Participated in by 29 NCR BFFs from the 17 local government units (LGU) in Metro Manila except Paraňaque City, the meeting aimed to provide a venue wherein members can share their experiences, learnings, and challenges encountered during online counseling. It was also attended by medical IYCF coordinators, Dr. Shari Sabalvaro (Mandaluyong City) and Dr. Cherry Navidad (Muntinlupa City).
Two (2) cases were presented during the session. Taguig City Nutrition Program Coordinator, Ms. Joann Espiritu presented the case of her client, Mommy Jonah from the Province of Iloilo. Mommy Jonah is a 29-year-old mother to a 1-week-old baby boy who is mixed-fed. Mixed feeding means the infant is given both breastmilk and infant formula. CNPC Espiritu discussed the concern of the mother and the recommendations she gave her on proper latching and how she can breastfeed despite having inverted nipple.
On the other hand, Caloocan CNPC Milagros Bejer discussed the case of her client, Mommy Cristina, a 33-year-old breastfeeding mother from Quezon City. She shared that the baby was born prematurely and was confined in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a private hospital. Mommy Cristina’s concern is her poor milk production and her difficulty in breastfeeding due to sore nipples. CNPC Bejer shared the advice she gave to the mother. She also endorsed Mommy Cristina to Quezon City Nutrition Office for lactation massage.
After each case presentation, Dr. Sabalvaro and Dr. Navidad gave their insights and recommendations on the case management done by the NCR BFFs. Follow-up discussions ensued on how the BFFs can further improve their counselling skills and case management.
NNC-NCR Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator Milagros Elisa V. Federizo also updated the group on the status of the online IYCF counseling project of the Association of City/District Nutrition Program Coordinators of Metro Manila as of December 01, 2020. She acknowledged the efforts of the Association and the BFFs for sustaining the project for almost eight (8) months since its launch in April 2020. Lastly, she reminded the group on the actions requested from them particularly in accomplishing promptly the google sheet tracker for documentation of counseling and other services provided to the clients.
The group agreed to regularly hold case management sessions with IYCF experts in 2021. NNC-NCR, in its commitment to continually assist the Association in this project will conduct next year an eLearning Refresher Course on IYCF and a webinar on online counseling techniques for the NCR BFFs.
You may read on this link the project details on how it started and how it works: https://nnc.gov.ph/regional-offices/luzon/national-capital-region/3750-ncr-bffs-provide-online-iycf-counseling-to-mothers
(TAR/NPC MEVF/NNC-NCR)
