Min-Sung
Kwon is a registered nurse and lactation consultant from South Korea. She
received her Master's degree in mental health nursing from the University of
Sydney in 2013 with a thesis focusing on postpartum depression. During her
Master’s degree, she found out that mothers need practical support from
professionals, and Min-Sung wanted to gain the required knowledge and skills to help
these mothers. Therefore, she continued her study in perinatal nursing with a particular focus on lactation support. She shares her story with us . . .
During my ongoing professional development, I met Jan Tedder and
her husband, Jim, in 2013 when they started their international HUG Your Baby teaching tour in South Korea. My first impression of Hug Your Baby was that the concept of a newborn’s language was evidence-based. In addition, I thought that it would
be very helpful in future to incorporate the HUG's ideas into my antenatal classes and my counseling
sessions with mothers.
After the lecture, Jan, a few of the participants and I had a
chance to visit a newborn unit. During the visit, Jan carefully examined the
babies and explained which Zone each baby was in. I saw the warmth and love Jan has when caring for babies. I was also impressed by her
enthusiasm to teach other professionals about a newborn’s
"Zones," "SOSs" (signs of over-stimulation), and amazing
abilities.
As a lactation consultant in a South Korean newborn hospital, I used The
HUG to help mothers with 3-5 day olds understand their baby's behaviors. I found that The HUG provided very important opportunities for
mothers to see their babies as capable individuals. After sharing the baby's
behavior I saw happiness, bonding, and love in these mothers' eyes. Currently,
I live in Brisbane, Australia, where I work as a home-visiting lactation
consultant and provide antenatal classes every two weeks. Since I learned about
HUG Your Baby, it has become easier for me to understand every baby’s behavior
and to provide evidence-based advice to the mothers I serve.
Many research studies confirm that misunderstanding a baby’s behavior can lead to various issues, including breastfeeding problem, and postpartum
depression. I hope that my use of The HUG as a lactation consultant
encourages mothers to learn more about their babies and to breastfeed
successfully. Furthermore, I believe that The HUG can boost the confidence of mothers
and decrease their risk of postpartum depression. I am really thankful, and
blessed, to help mothers and babies with Hug Your Baby.