Morocco’s First Certified HUG Teacher Shares The HUG!

Zahra Bouchibti is a baby massage and baby-wearing instructor in Casablanca, Morocco. Recognizing how much education and support young mothers need in her country, Zahra looked for ways to deepen her knowledge. “In Morocco," she writes, "there are NO activities for babies and mums, no trainings for mothers, no nothing!” Zahra discovered HUG Your Baby on the Internet and has just completed training as a Certified HUG Teacher. 

"I am happy to report that things are changing in Casablanca since I started offering my baby massage workshops. Mothers are sharing at the workshops and with each other on social media. Now, I receive messages on Facebook with questions about a baby's sleeping or eating. I am honored that people have come to consider me an “expert” on babies; however, I felt I needed more training to satisfy and answer the mothers I work with. This was what led me to HUG Your Baby, which I first found through a Google search.

The more I learned about it, the more I saw that HUG Your Baby is such a beautiful concept! It is a practical, easy-to-understand tool that helps parents understand and connect with their babies.

As I went through The (online) HUG training, I gained a better way to describe ideas I already knew but found difficult to explain. Now I realize that during my infant massage workshops, I would see babies send out an SOS, but I did not have the ability to explain these signs to the mothers. After the HUG Your Baby training, I have new language and understanding to share with mothers, and a better approach to answering their important questions.

During my first Hug class I helped a mum calm her crying baby. Then she was surprised to learn the difference between her baby's "Active/Light" and "Still/Deep" sleep patterns. Not only was this information very interesting for her; it helped her solve many of the problems she was experiencing!

In my infant massage workshops I always talk about respecting the baby and not beginning the massage if the baby is not ready. The HUG information helped me explain how to notice and avoid over-stimulating a baby. Now, I can share this knowledge more effectively with mothers in my classes.

Incorporating Hug Your Baby information into my baby massage workshops has helped the mothers understand their babies better. It has also helped me feel more confident as a teacher and an “expert” in Casablanca’s growing baby world.

I am very, very happy to have done this training and to be introducing HUG Your Baby to mothers in Morocco. I have learned a great deal, and I hope to serve my country better with these important, new ideas."