PERSONAL HYGIENE FOR WOMEN (Part 7 of 8) Hygiene during Pregnancy

Introduction (5 minutes)

• Welcome the participants
• Remind the participants of the purpose of the course (the general objective, the number of sessions, the expected outcome)
• Introduce today session (objective and how long it will be)

 Ice-breaking game (10 minutes)

• Explain that you are going to do an ice-breaking game to warm up the participants and to help them to improve their listening and concentration skills during the session.
• Ask everyone to stand up in a scattered way
• Tell them that you are going to make some continuous rhythm. They have to hear the rhythm carefully. If the rhythm:
  • fastens, they have to move fast.
  • slows down, they have to move slow
  • stops, they have to stop moving.

• Remind them to be careful of not pushing each other
• Do this game for 3 to 6 minutes
• Conclude the game by thanking the participants for their participation.

Main activity (70 minutes)

Careful: the projector should be installed before the beginning of the activity, so there is no pause in the middle to install it.

Part 1: Review of last workshop (10 minutes)

• Show them the picture that they drew in the last workshop and ask them if they remember what we discussed in our last workshop. Encourage everyone to participate.

Part 2: Hygiene during pregnancy (30 minutes)

• Before going straight to the explanation of pregnancy, introduce the concept of reproduction:
• Reproduction: It is the biological process by which new individual organisms “offspring” are produced from their “parents”. Humans pass some characteristics of themselves to their next generation through the reproduction system. We do this through our genes the special carriers of human traits. The genes that parents pass along are what make their children similar to others in their family, but also what make each child unique. These genes come from the male’s sperm and the female’s egg. Refer to picture 6.1 to explain them better.
• During pregnancy, women should be especially careful about personal hygiene. Pregnant women sweat more and have more vaginal discharge than non-pregnant women (due to hormonal changes), and they may be more vulnerable to infection by germs in the environment. Keeping the body clean helps prevent infection. Handwashing with soap is the most important hygiene action she can take, especially before preparing food and after going to the toilets. If possible, a pregnant woman should wash her body every day with clean water especially her genital area.

Show the video Pregnancy advice from the folder Health promotion for mothers and babies of the Ideas Cube. Translate or explain the video by taking pauses.

 

• Divide them into groups and provide each group with a pen and paper.
• Give them 15 minutes to draw what they have understood seeing the video. They can draw fruit + veg, hospital, soap, etc.)
• Ask each group to present their drawing and explain to others
• Provide an overall summary of the things they have drawn

Part 3: Eating well with little money (20 minutes)

The biggest cause of poor nutrition is our lack of understanding about a balanced diet. Following a proper diet plan does not mean spending a lot of money. For example, a person who wants to buy protein could buy eggs/chicken instead of buying beef. Here are some ideas that families can use to eat better with little money.

Blood and organ meats like liver, heart and kidney have a lot of iron and may cost less than other meats. Fish and chicken are as healthy as other meats and usually cost less especially for a family that fishes or raises their own chickens. Eggs have a lot of protein, iron, and vitamin A. Eggs give more protein for less money than almost any other food.

When vegetables are boiled or steamed, some of the vitamins from the foods go into the cooking water. Use this water to make soups.

Part 4: Living a healthy lifestyle (10 minutes)

As well as eating well and keeping good hygiene, pregnant women need to get enough sleep and rest every day. This will help them to avoid developing high blood pressure, and swelling of the feet and ankles. Good rest also helps to stay strong and gives the fetus a better chance of being born healthy.

Pregnant women should also be advised to avoid lifting heavy things; direct contact with people who are sick, especially if they have vomiting, have diarrhea or rashes; strong chemicals or their fumes (e.g. chemicals used to kill pests in the fields); non-essential medicines; medicines such as cough syrups, laxatives and pain relievers that have not been prescribed by a health worker.

Conclusion (5 minutes)

• Thank the participants for their involvement and concentration during the session.
• Summarize what was learned during the session (what is reproduction and pregnancy, how to maintain hygiene during pregnancy)
• Collect feedback from the participants by asking questions like: “Do you feel like you learn something during the session?” “Do you think this new knowledge can be useful to you?” “Were you comfortable during the session?”
• Give the participants the date and the location of the next session, make sure everybody will be available. If not, find a more convenient time and place so everybody can be here.