To The Philippine Leaders – A Short Letter of Request from a Philippine Babywearing Advocate

I have sent this letter to the current leader of our country (well, sort of identical to what I have sent them both noon of March 10th this year. I have already received an acknowledgment email from their camp, and have yet to wait for the feedback from our leaders regarding my proposal.

I believe and it is very apparent that when a new baby is born, everybody wants to hold the child but nobody holds the mother. And I am also a great believer that to raise happy, healthy, and smart young generations, we need to make sure that mothers are happy and healthy by giving them ample support and guidance in rearing their children and taking care of herself as well. Isn’t it that a successful community is made up of successful families, and a successful family has a happy and sane mother.

when a new baby is born, everybody wants to hold the child but nobody holds the mother..

With that, I hope that in this administration, more support will be given to mothers and babies. And I hope babywearing, breastfeeding, and mental health will be included in that program. I propose that each newly-delivered mother will be provided a Nanay Kit.
This Nanay Kit will contain the following items:
1. A pack of sanitary napkins
2. A Small bottle of feminine wash
3. Vitamins and Minerals
4. A coupon for a mental health checkup.
5. A sling (patadyong, malong, short wrap, etc)
and more..

I think the first three items are self-explanatory. Item number 4, though we have access to mental health support, I think it’s nice to reassure the parent and remind them to get their postpartum mental health check-up. It would be nice to give fathers as well as they too may suffer from postpartum depression (though not widely being talked about, it happens and it is a reality that we tend to brush aside because we have this machismo culture that men should not cry or that they should be less emotional than their wives. However, some fathers feel that immense cloud of pressure once their child is born — worrying about how they are going to feed this new human being at least three times a day, 7 days a week, for like 21 years, more or less.

Now, for item number 5, yes, as an advocate, I believe that there is a need to reintroduce this life skill to our fellow Filipino mamas. My hope is that expectant mothers will be educated in the barangay health centers, during their prenatal check-ups, on how to use a sling and proper breastfeeding, and before they go home with their baby after birth, they will be educated again with the skills needed for safe and ergonomic babywearing.

I think this will be helpful to Filipino families, as a very strong advocate of babywearing and breastfeeding, I know the positive effects touch, skin-to-skin contact and breastmilk can provide to a child, to the family and to our society. Here are just some of the many positive effects:
1. Promotion of skin-to-skin contact, touch and babywearing improves the health of not just the baby’s but that of the mother’s as well. For the babies, it improves thermoregulation, respiratory and cardiac function. to that of the mother’s, it improves maternal mental health–which now prevents postpartum depression, anxiety, rage, and so on.
2. Skin-to-skin improves breastfeeding feats of the mother which will now create healthy babies, healthy families–thus less burden to our healthcare system.
3. Slings help parents multitask. With the help of slings, a mother can do multiple work not just at home, but can still function well even at the office with a child in tow, especially those with small babies who just sleeps most of the day–mothers will not be burdened to leave their child to the care of strangers, or spend money when they should be saving–now they can bring their babies to work. Slings make hands-free parenting possible. I, for one, taught in the classroom whilst taking care of my baby in a sling. I conduct lectures for doctors and nurses while my child is in a sling. I believe that this also empowers mothers–reminding them that they have a choice, with the right tool and specific skill set.
4. Weaving and textile-making is part of our culture and sadly it is slowly declining in the last couple of years. I believe that through this effort, we can help revive that dying industry as well. Slings can be made by our weavers and textile makers. This now can also create jobs.
5. Babywearing is part of our culture — though it is still being practiced by our IPs in the mountains and far-flung areas, the skill of babywearing is slowly losing touch — where people prefer expensive prams and cribs over close contact with their children.
6. Based on scientific studies, babywearing promotes secure attachment and they found out that babies are more altruistic. They noted that these babies grew up with lesser tendencies to commit crimes, they had lesser anti-social behaviors, and so on.

Yes, as you can see, the effects of babywearing have been not just intragenerational, but intergenerational and encompassing as well — it affects physical health, psychology, economy, culture, and safety.

I would like to discuss more about this advocacy and I am willing to share the knowledge and skills that I have, for free, to the community, especially to the BHWs, rural health doctors and nurses, in hopes of empowering our nation one carried baby at a time.

I really hope that this will be, if not widely implemented soon, will gain enough attention and awakening that we have to support families in this aspect as well. If we desire to create a better Philippines, aside from all the support that we have had from the government for years now, we have to remember the roles of our mothers at this level. As we, mothers, try to carry our children, we too, may feel, one way or the other, carried by the government through proactive and immediate support.

Looking forward to the reply of our President BBM and babywearing VP Sara Duterte.

I wish all the best for this administration to reach its goals and endeavors just like in the last 6 years with outgoing President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. This administration’s success, its loud message of unity to its people, and its smarts and actions are the success of the country beyond 2028. Let’s all help make it happen.

Let’s all hold the nation one safely-carried baby at a time.

Mahalin natin ang Pilipinas, ng sa gayon ay sama-sama tayong babangon muli.