Today marks the 8th birthday of our very popular child health clinic. Over the years we have seen many new parents that have gone on to be regular visitors with their subsequent offspring and become part of the Embrace Life family. We are often asked why did we start the clinic and we provide a service for free as a business. There are very easy answers for these questions and it started with a conversation between one of our Chiropractors and client who would become one of the business owners. Our Chiro observed that she was seeing many parents who were feeling lost in the parenting world, unsure of what to feed their baby, if the feeding was successful and needing advice and strategies for sleep and daily routines.
As a parent I had come to see the chiro for my 2 year old son who had broken his leg and was refusing to walk on it after the cast was removed. As a Child Health Nurse I was fascinated by the discussions around why parents were seeking out chiro’s for their babies and children and what other information and support they were looking for.
Through these discussions we decided to set up a drop in child health clinic, where clients of the chiropractic business could come and discuss and weigh their baby, get advice and reassurance that they were on the “right” track. We soon realised this service was of real benefit to the community and we opened another day. We now see between 15 – 20 families in our 2 hour clinics twice a week. They come with breastfeeding and formula questions, sleep and behaviour questions and they come just to see the reassuring face of someone who remembers them and their story.
The benefits for parents is the provision of comfort, information and reassurance. These simple concepts that we provided by having a consistent healthcare professional on a weekly basis offered crucial tools to enable parents to navigate the parenting maze, to feel more confident and less stressed.
Our story is one of passion for happy, healthy families that feel confident that they are doing a good job. By weighing a baby and offering a listening ear and a reassuring hug, the parents that have come to see us have blossomed and when I look around our health and wellness centre today I see many of these families with happy, healthy school children.
Our Free Drop-in Child Health Clinic takes place Monday and Friday mornings from 9.30am to 11.30am and everyone is welcome.