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Higashi-Yodogawa Ward in the city of Osaka has started a project in which women with experience raising children volunteer to help prevent new mothers from feeling isolated.
These experienced mothers can provide advice to women facing child-rearing issues. The ward government hopes this will prevent dire situations such as child abuse or abandonment.
One of the volunteers, Toshimi Shinjo, began visiting a woman with a newborn daughter in mid-December last year. The woman asked Shinjo, 54, if she should have her baby vaccinated for diseases, including hepatitis B.
“You should ask a public health nurse or hospital about technical things,” Shinjo told her, gently adding, “We’re right here in the neighborhood, so we’ll be here for you to rely on if you get worn down.”
Shinjo herself raised four daughters, but never had anyone close by she could consult with.
She remembers losing sleep when her babies cried at night or needed their diapers changed, and feeling worried about her parenting skills.
She volunteered because she wanted to put her experience to use by assisting others.
“Even when [a new mother] doesn’t know what to do, having someone in the community to talk to comfortably will definitely be reassuring. We want to have honest conversations and support their parenting together,” she said.
The employment rate among mothers with preschool children in Higashi-Yodogawa Ward, which has a population of about 170,000, was 50 percent in fiscal 2013, an increase of about 10 percentage points from five years ago. The spread of non-regular employment and low wages are seen as factors.
Of the ward’s roughly 92,000 households, 8,151, or about 8.8 percent, have one parent — an increase of 2,112 households from 20 years ago. Without support from family or the community, many mothers are struggling to manage work and parenting.
The ward had about 450 child abuse consultations in fiscal 2014 — 2.5 times more than the average among the city’s 24 wards, and 4.4 times the number from five years ago. Some of those incidents involved parental guardians and others.
Neighborhood support
To improve the situation, the ward launched the project in December last year. Neighborhood volunteers make visits to homes to provide support to parents. The initiative is separate from the aid provided by midwives, public health nurses and other specialists.
Under the revised Child Welfare Law that was enforced in April 2009, municipal governments are required to make efforts to visit households with newborns and meet with mothers as part of the “hello baby” initiative.
Based on the revised law, many municipalities started having public health nurses, midwives and other specialists perform these visits. In 2013, visits were conducted by 1,660 municipalities, or about 90 percent of the nationwide total.
According to the city of Osaka, very few municipalities nationwide have nonprofessional members of the community providing support to parents.
About 40 female volunteers who have their busiest child-rearing days behind them and are familiar with their communities were certified as staff for conducting home visits in the ward’s 17 districts.
After going through a three-month training program, the volunteers provide advice and information to new mothers until their children turn about 6 months old.
About 1,200 mothers in the ward are eligible for the program. The volunteers also explain the system for birth registration, and are dispatched to mothers upon request.
(The Japan News)
