By Helena Asamoah-Hassan | Project Leader
Reading, a new Pastime for Pregnant Women
Humanity is blessed with able librarians. Lawrence is a librarian in his City’s library which is situated at the heart of the city. He had been observing within the user community that pregnant women in the vicinity are given to sadness, depression, anger and aggression and this was having a negative effect on people around them at home, at the workplace and even in the library when they come to use the library facilities for themselves or when they bring their older children. These negative behavioral traits might have been caused by hormonal changes brought on by pregnancy, lifestyle changes and other uncomfortable conditions associated with pregnancy. It is known that the library is not a hospital and he had never noticed this challenge nor thought about how libraries could assist pregnant women.
When he attended the INELI SSAf program he was exposed to the modules on Innovation and My Library Making a Difference. He learnt from the program that innovative programmes are meant to solve real-life challenges within the community through the provision of targeted information services. Also, to give birth to an innovative programme, one needs to engage stakeholders within the community.
He reached out to a hospital in the community where women went for antenatal checks. The library got a time slot to talk to the women. The library also sought out celebrities within the community who agreed to use the time slot given to the library at the hospital to read stories to the pregnant women and share tips on their health status and how they could use reading to grow a mindset that did not focus on the discomfort and changes within their bodies but rather on possibilities. The stories are carefully chosen to make them laugh while passing on knowledge that assures them that pregnancy is not a type of illness. Also the library sources for reading materials which are given to the pregnant women to take home to continue reading and bring them back on their next visit.
The women are however given a choice on whether they wish to be a part of the activity or not. This gives them the freedom to choose.
Up to 54(fifty-four) women have participated in the activity. They report that the sessions at the hospital and the books they take home lighten their moods and help to make pregnancy more bearable. They also report that the stories read to them have lessons on mood management and how to focus on positive things rather than letting everything irritate one or cause one to flare up. Nurses at the antenatal centre also report that they enjoy the sessions and gain information from the reading sessions on how to better assist pregnant women to cope with their moods.
Lawrence is elated about this program and says that “Personally, I feel fulfilled that I can link up with different stakeholders to run this programme. The INELI SSAf training has given me the strategies for recognizing the information needs of my user community as well as the confidence, boldness and ability to think critically outside the box in providing relevant information services to my diverse community. I will replicate this in another part of my community” Congratulations. Lawrence. Learning is useful when it is applied to solve challenges and he has done that.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
