5.3.1  Fathers and other family members can help

Figure 5.9 Fathers can look after the newborn baby while mothers get some rest.

Encourage the partner to be around the mother at least for the first week of the postnatal period to provide emotional support and to take care of her and the baby (Figure 5.9). In the Ethiopian context, caring for the new mother is usually the responsibility of the grandmother and/or the mother-in-law. As they have already gone through all of these experiences, they are good at providing physical and emotional support to the mother and her baby. They can free her from the routine domestic chores, and this should be encouraged.