FEED THAT BABY- Idea Series Part 1

Last week during a work field trip at a health facility in the Eastern Cape I observed something from which I drew some important lessons.

There was a young mother who had come with her new born baby to receive some services from the clinic. She was being attended to by a male nurse and I saw them walking toward the waiting area where other mothers were sitting. Though I couldn’t hear their conversation their actions gave the story of what was taking place.

The nurse spoke to one of the (older/more experienced) mothers to illustrate how to hold the baby in a way which ensured it could suckle properly. The young mother was told to hand over her baby to the older mother so she could hold the child. As she was doing so the nurse was explaining and pointing out the ideal cradling position and tilt of the head. He would then check with the young mother if she was taking note of the instruction.

After observing all this, there were some key lessons which stood out for me which I decided should be shared on this platform.

Lessons learnt

a) In life there are times we give birth to ideas, concepts etc but we might not have the ability to nurture them and see them grow to their full potential. There is need for people to come alongside us (like the nurse) to take us through the paces.

b) Those who come alongside us might not necessarily be the ones who will teach you, but they are there to connect you with those who can assist you or give you information leading you to getting the assistance.

c) Certain things you might assume should come naturally (i.e. mother knowing how to suckle their baby) might not necessarily work that way. Just because you gave birth to the idea doesn’t mean you can fully develop it and implement it all by yourself. It’s been said, “Being independent is a sign of growing up and being interdependent is a sign of maturity.”

d) You need to be humble in order to receive guidance. Pride causes you to think you ‘know it all’ yet this might result in adverse results for your baby (idea, concept, strategy etc). The baby might end up being malnourished and underdeveloped (not reaching maximum potential) just because of pride.

e) For babies to grow as they should, there is a specific way they should be held, fed, nurtured etc. Same goes for your ideas, concept or strategy- if you try to take shortcuts or try reinvent the wheel, you might end up not deriving the most you could have or wasting precious time.