We’re here for new mums in those tricky early weeks

Health Concierge provides personalised health support to help eligible Medibank hospital members prepare for, or recover from, a hospital stay or treatment. Our Health Concierges are highly-skilled in providing exceptional support to people going through potentially stressful times. Isabella is a Health Concierge Specialist who connects with Medibank members who have recently given birth.

One of the best parts of my job is being to support new mothers in those first few months at home, when the challenges of the early days of parenthood are mounting.

As a Health Concierge Specialist at Medibank, the time I spend chatting to new mums about any issues they’re facing reminds me that often many parents feel as if the feeding, sleeping, or change in family routine issues are unique, but to any new parent out there I say: you’re not alone.

When you’re pregnant you see an obstetrician, GP or midwife regularly and that time can be used to answer any questions. But once you have the baby, you head home and in those first 6-8 weeks there’s a lot of questions going unanswered. Our job in the Health Concierge team is to have an in-depth conversation about parents’ needs at this potentially stressful time, help them to feel more confident in their skills, and provide them with trusted and reliable resources when they have questions.

For those that are trying to breastfeed, those early weeks can be a challenge, as both mum and bub have to learn how it all works. Many mothers are unaware that there are lots of services in the community to support and troubleshoot breastfeeding, for example lactation consultants or the Australian Breastfeeding Association, so it’s rewarding to be able to guide them in the right direction.

Sometimes I might be the only contact a new mum has with the outside world that day, so I try to provide the space for people to download any issues they have and guide them to useful resources to try and tackle each challenge.

I recently linked a new mother up with Life’s Little Treasures, an organisation which supports families with premature and sick babies. Her bub was in neo-natal intensive care, and it was a really emotional time. It’s important for Medibank to recognise that, show the family that we care, and offer her support where we can.

A few times I have been on the phone with a mum when a non-urgent medical issues arises. It’s great to be able to reassure parents by putting them straight through to 24/7 Medibank Nurse, a resource which they can come back to again and again.

As a Health Concierge Specialist, my focus is on asking some gentle questions of the mum about her own health, to remind her to take care of herself too, especially in those early days of tricky feeding schedules and little sleep. 1 in 6 women will experience postnatal depression, so it’s important to talk to a new mum about her emotional wellbeing and refer them to their doctor if they indicate that they are struggling. If they’d like me to, I can follow up with another call to touch base and help them to pursue their own health and wellbeing needs as well as baby’s.

There is so much information on the internet about birth and babies, but it can be hard to tell what is accurate and reliable information and what is fake news. We can help mums work out what information is relevant to their circumstances and what they need, and then point them to good evidence-based advice from Australian resources. This makes it a bit easier to find reliable information next time they have any questions.