Maxfield Park health staff stage second pre–Mother’s Day uplift for family planning mothers

Women who arrived at Maxfield Park Health Centre last Friday expecting only their usual contraceptive or related family-planning care instead walked into an unannounced pre–Mother’s Day gathering mounted by the facility’s team.

“This morning when I came here I was sort of feeling down. I came to do an assessment and saw the event, I was filled with joy; I felt appreciated. Sometimes mothers are underrated by some people but at Maxfield clinic I truly believe that mothers are rated, not just for Mother’s Day, but overall. You come to clinic, the nurses treat you well and the doctors are always there to attend to you,” Janessa Cunningham told the Jamaica Observer after the programme.

Cunningham, 21, spoke about the weight of parenting and said the activity helped her feel renewed, more sure of herself, and emotionally lighter.

“Motherhood is hard sometimes, but pushing forward every day, getting talks from doctors and nurses saying, ‘Keep pushing forward, don’t give up,’ it brings a joy in me to still be a mother, to be there for a child, to push forward, to be great in life,” she said.

Fellow client Keneisha Ennis said the setup caught her off guard.

“This was a surprise. I felt really good, so excited and shocked. It’s a good look for me, because it’s the first time I am seeing something like this. Motherhood is very rough at times; sometimes I feel frustrated, I feel like giving up,” she said.

Jheanell Condappa, a midwife at the site who serves as registered midwife manager and who conceived the outreach, told the Sunday Observer this was the second time the centre had held it.

“At the Maxfield Park Health Centre we have a pre-Mother’s Day treat for all our family planning patients. We started it last year, but it’s not the same patients. There’s nobody [here] today [Friday] that was here last year so it is good to know that it’s different persons experiencing something for the first time.

“It was a surprise because we made them stay outside, we set up the area, and then we ushered everybody in, so when they came in they were all surprised. We gave them little tokens but also some empowering sessions,” she said.

Condappa said the programme carried the banner ‘I celebrate me,’ aimed at women she feels society often sidelines or leaves wrestling with a sense that they are not enough.

“The session was really empowering them to not wait on anyone to celebrate them. We’re going to start celebrating ourselves. We’re going to love ourselves. We’re not waiting for validation, we’re going to value ourselves and know that what we’re doing is worthy.

“So even though we are here to provide health care, we’re looking at a holistic approach because an empowered woman is a great woman…once you’re empowered you will make better choices, so that is the aim of this session — not only just to say, ‘Okay, happy Mother’s Day’ but to empower women,” said Condappa.

She noted that even with Mother’s Day marked each year, numerous mothers who use the clinic say they have never been celebrated at all.

“One person cried because she has never gotten anything before. You’d think that at some point, a mother must get something but they don’t always get anything, or even just the words spoken, ‘Happy Mother’s Day.’ We had two other patients…one in particular, today [Friday] is her first time coming here…she’s never had this before. Today [Friday] made her feel extra special,” Condappa recounted.

Across nineteen years in the sector, she said a recurring lesson has been how many mothers battle self-acceptance and then lean on partners or relatives for affirmation.

“I’ve seen a lot of teenage mothers, or young mothers, they don’t feel worthy. So, even though we have our sessions and we’ll be talking to them and telling them they are doing a good job, we do realise that they’re still seeking that external validation,” she said.

Condappa said mothers should be encouraged that “life is not about rearing children, it's about living too”, adding that many women are pressed to believe that life revolves around raising children.

“You see a woman, she might appear bitter and miserable because she never lived. So, I believe that I’’m getting opportunities to meet these patients younger or sometimes middle age, I want to encourage them that they have to know when they are done having children and then they can live.

“Go on the trips, go to Panama, go to Dominica Republic, explore Jamaica. Tourists come here to explore; a lot of us have never gone more than two parishes and we have 14. It’s like I want to re-culture them to know that we should live, too. And in living, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune,” she said.

Mothers marked the occasion at the Maxfield Park Health Centre on Friday. Mothers Keneisha Ennis (left) and Janessa Cunningham flank Registered Midwife Manager Jheanell Condappa at the Maxfield Park Health Centre last Friday during a session that recognised mothers ahead of Mother’s Day.