Baby wearing

Monday, August 30

Brietta came to clinic with me this morning so she could see the protocol for infant saliva collection. While we were waiting for mothers to arrive we walked around the hospital grounds and then along the road near the hospital. It was so fun having Brie see everything with fresh eyes. She had her camera out and was snapping pictures of things that I’ve already started taking for granted, but that I was totally fascinated by when I first arrived. I was really glad to capture some of the things that I would’ve forgotten to take pictures of.

When we got back to the clinic our first mother was just arriving and unwrapping her baby from her back. Mother’s all over Ghana carry their babies in a very similar fashion (young girls and boys will also carry their siblings like this). They use a cloth or sometimes towel and, with the baby placed on their back, they first tuck the cloth like you would a towel after getting out of the shower. Then they tie the bottom part of the towel around their waist; this supports under the baby’s bottom. After seeing this countless times, I wanted to try it! One of the babies today was pretty calm and not scared of me, so I asked her mom if she wouldn’t mind me carrying her. Naadu helped place the baby while I bent so my back was parallel with the ground. The baby is so used to being carried this way that she actually helped the whole process by placing her hands on my shoulder blades, sort of holding on, and her feet on either side of my waist. She’s only about 16 months old, but sort of clung on while I tied the cloth. It was surprisingly easy and really comfortable. She felt all snuggly back there and felt really secure even though it was just a cloth that was securely tucked. When I wanted to take her off, I twisted her to one side and she totally leaned and placed both of her hands around to my front so that I could easily swing her onto my hip. It was so fascinating to watch this little infant be so comfortable with the process and know exactly what to do.