Post-natal doulas and midwives who do home visits can be a huge help for new mums. Getty Images
Post-natal doulas and midwives who do home visits can be a huge help for new mums. Getty Images

Post-natal care finally makes a mark in the Emirates



As a first-time mother, it's easy to think only as far as the birth. In fact, the really terrifying part starts when you leave hospital. There's breast-feeding to grapple with and the dreaded first bath. With no nurses to turn to and ask, yet again, how to change the nappy, it can be overwhelming.

Until recently, there has been little in the way of post-natal care in the UAE. Parents have had to rely mainly on the advice of friends and family to learn the ropes. And, once you are discharged from hospital, there are no routine checks of newborn babies or mothers carried out in the first days and weeks after birth (apart from the standard six-week check-up), unless you decide to go and see a doctor. All of that is changing, though. Not only is there a growing band of doulas on hand to offer support in the comfort of your own home, but community midwife services are also springing up in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, offering both clinic-based and at-home advice and education on everything from breast-feeding to infant health.

We look at the post-natal options for new parents. Help is now just a phone call away.

Abu Dhabi

Breast-feeding support

* La Leche League

This international support group, which is now in 65 countries, has been advising and educating women on the benefits of breast-feeding since the 1950s. The Abu Dhabi arm meets on the third Sunday of every month and covers everything from overcoming feeding difficulties to weaning.

Call Marie-Claire on 02 557 9588 or email marieclaire.lalche@gmail.com, or Noura on 055 542 2081, noura.laleche@gmail.com. For more information, go to www.llli.org.

* Corniche Hospital

This large maternity hospital has a well-staffed and friendly lactation centre, where breast-feeding mothers can come for help and advice. The clinic operates from 7.30am to 5pm Sunday to Thursday and from 7.30am to 2pm on Saturday. It also runs a drop-in service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2pm to 4pm.

Call 02 672 4900 to make an appointment. Visit www.cornichehospital.ae for more information.

Post-natal doulas

Though not medical professionals, doulas can provide vital post-natal support to new parents. As well as offering advice on breast-feeding, immunisations and paediatricians, they can also help out on a practical level. "The post-natal service is also about going to their homes and maybe making them some food," says Natalie Wells, a doula based in Abu Dhabi, "or taking the baby while they have a shower or get an hour's rest. We can also talk about any issues they have; just looking after them while they look after the baby, to give the mums and babies a really good start."

Call Natalie Wells on 050 580 8134 or go to www.doulababyabudhabi.com for more information.

Home visits

Arab Euro Home Nursing is currently starting up the first community midwife service in the capital. Janice Al Najjar, a UK-trained midwife, is training up a team of midwives who will conduct home visits to new mothers, and do everything from weighing the baby and helping with breast-feeding to checking the physical and emotional well-being of the mother.

Call Jan on 050 993 6556 or email janice@aehomenursing.com for more information.

Dubai

Breast-feeding support

* Breast-feeding Q&A

This active support group includes a lactation consultant, a midwife, a doula, a breast-feeding counsellor and plenty of breast-feeding mums. Most of its activity is online, where the latest research on breast-feeding is shared through its Facebook page. It also organises regular discussion groups and can, on request, carry out antenatal breast-feeding workshops. It can also offer free advice by phone (050 470 5577) from 5.30pm to 9pm.

Find the group on Facebook (Breastfeeding Q&A UAE) or email breastfeedingqa@yahoo.com.

General post-natal care

* Health Bay Clinic

This well-established clinic on Al Wasl Road has an excellent post-natal service, including six UK-trained midwives who provide on-site care for new mothers and babies, and also conduct home visits. There is a well-baby clinic with two paediatricians that see babies from birth up to 18 months, and a baby massage service for babies age six weeks and up.

Call 04 348 7140 or go to www.healthbayclinic.com.

* Cooper Health Clinic

A smaller version of Health Bay, Cooper Health Clinic also offers a wide-ranging post-natal service, including a well-baby clinic, lactation consultant and baby massage service. There is also the buzzing Baby Café, which takes place on the first and third Sunday of each month, where pregnant women and mothers can drop in for free advice from midwives on breast-feeding and other topics.

Call 04 348 6344 or go to www.cooperhealthclinic.com for details.

Home visits

* Deb Williams

The UK-trained midwife Williams works closely with Cooper Health Clinic, but also does home visits, where she can offer advice and education to new mothers on breast-feeding and infant care, as well as checking the well-being of the baby.

Call 055 925 8036 between 8am and 8pm.

* Cecile de Scally

De Scally, a midwife educator, does home and office visits where she helps to teach mothers about caring for their baby and about breastfeeding. Her main focus, though, is on sleep - and how to get it. "I believe in teaching them good habits," she says, "which teaches us about the baby's rhythm and routine, and then guiding them to sleep."

Call 055 588 6298.

Doulas

As well as offering pre and post-natal advice and support to mothers, the trained doula Silvia Winkler-Hebnes is one of only three people in the UAE who offer a placenta encapsulation service. This involves drying and grinding the placenta and, using a traditional Chinese method, encapsulating it so that it can be taken as tablets and in ointments. Benefits include increased milk supply, reduced bleeding and pain and prevention of post-natal depression.

Go to www.my-doula.com.

To contact other doulas in Dubai go to www.doulasofdubai.com

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THE DETAILS

Director: Milan Jhaveri
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FFP EXPLAINED

What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.

What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.

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There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Lamsa

Founder: Badr Ward

Launched: 2014

Employees: 60

Based: Abu Dhabi

Sector: EdTech

Funding to date: $15 million

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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World Cup final

Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region