section 2
Protecting your baby from sickness
0-3 months
meeting
9
Let’s review:
Once the meeting starts, welcome everyone and ask the participants: • ¿Who can help us remember what we talked about in our last meeting? • Who was able to do the activity at home that we asked you to do at the end of the meeting? How did it go? • Does anyone have questions or concerns after doing the activity?
What are we going to learn?
How shots and vitamin A help the baby grow and strengthen his or her defenses. Let’s talk about it! We are going to look at some pictures and talk about what we know about this subject.
What prevents the babies in your community from getting the shots and the vitamins they need?
Why is it important to get your baby’s shots? Why is vitamin A important for your baby?
section 2 / 0-3 months • meeting 9
34
Activity:
“The shield” In this game we are going to pretend we are shields against common contagious diseases. WHAT WE’LL DO: Ask the participants if they know the names of the common contagious diseases that affect children.
What we’ll need: • Blank cards or pieces of paper • Masking tape
Write the names participants mention and any others they miss on pieces of paper or cards; for example: polio, measles, convulsive cough, etc. • Then ask participants to make a circle. Tape the cards with the names of the diseases to the shirt of some of the participants and asks them to step out of the circle. Next ask that a small child or a mother with a baby sit in the middle of the circle. • Tell the participants who stepped out of the circle to try to get back in to “steal the baby” while the participants in the circle try to keep them out. The group can play and laugh for a while. • When the group is done they sit down and reflect on what to do in real life to protect children from sickness. Include topics like cleanliness and hygiene (things related to dust, chicken and dog feces, dust mites) but also vaccination and vitamins. Ask the group what foods have vitamin A in them. Other Suggestions: • Make a list of the vaccines that children need at this age and discuss some common reactions the babies might have and how to deal with them. • For the next meeting ask each mother to bring their baby’s vaccination card to check if they are up to date with their vaccinations
Summing Up:
What did we learn today? Now, we’ll review what we discussed today. • How do you feel after this meeting? Why? • What are the two most important things you’ve learned today? • What will you do differently based on what you learned during the meeting? • What did you like the most? Are there things you didn’t like? • Do you have any remaining concerns or questions about what we talked about?
Facilitator’s Manual
35 To finish, what would you recommend to improve today’s meeting when we do it again with another group. (Explain that answering this question will help the meeting be even better in the future for parents with small children.)
To do at home:
• Check what areas in the home need to be kept cleaner to protect the children. • If the baby is behind on her vaccinations, take her to the clinic. • If there’s a vaccination campaign in your area, encourage your friends and neighbors to take their children to be vaccinated. • Nursing mothers should try to eat more foods with vitamin A.
Basic information for the facilitator: Learning more about protecting your baby from sickness: 1- The body defense system: The human body has police officers (white blood cells) that make
sure intruders (germs) do not cause harm to our bodies.
2- Vaccines: Have germs that are dead or weak. They are not capable of causing diseases but help
white blood cells (the police officers) to recognize when the real germs enter the body. Then the white blood cells can capture and kill these harmful germs.
3- Immunization: Is very important. Every child should complete a series of immunizations during
the first year of his or her life and a few more that are needed after the first year. All parents and caregivers should follow health workers’ advice on when to complete the required vaccines. • Immunization protects against several dangerous diseases. A child who is not immunized is more likely to suffer from illness, become permanently disabled or become undernourished and possibly die. • It is safe to immunize a child who has a minor illness, a disability or is malnourished. • All pregnant women and their newborns need to be protected against tetanus. Even if a woman was immunized earlier, she needs to check with a health worker for advice on tetanus toxoid immunization. • A new syringe must be used for every person being immunized. People should demand a new syringe for every vaccination. • Disease can spread quickly when people are crowded together. All children living in close quarters, particularly in refugee or disaster situations, should be immunized immediately, especially against measles. • The vaccination card of a child (or an adult) should be presented to the health worker every time prior to receiving a vaccine.
section 2 / 0-3 months • meeting 9
36 Immunization schedule for infants* *Parents, caregivers and health workers should follow the national immunization schedule. **DPT protects against diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough) and tetanus. Age
Country
Immunization to be given
At birth
In all countries In some countries
BCG**, polio Hepatitis B
6 weeks
In all countries In most countries In some countries
DPT**, polio Hepatitis B and Hib Pneumococcal (conjugate) and Rota virus
10 weeks
In all countries In most countries In some countries
DTP, polio Hepatitis B and Hib PNeumococcal (conjugate) and Rota virus
14 weeks
In all countries In most countries In some countries
DTP, polio Hepatitis B and Hib PNeumococcal (conjugate) and Rota virus
9 months
In all countries In some countries
Measles (12-15 months in industrialized countries) Yellow fever, mumps and rubella
In all countries
Measles
15 months to 6 years
4- The role of vitamin A in our defense system:
Children need vitamin A to resist illness and prevent visual impairments. Vitamin A can be found in many fruits and vegetables, oils, eggs, dairy products, fortified foods, breast-milk, or vitamin A supplements. When children do not have enough vitamin A, they are at risk of night blindness. If the child has difficulty seeing in the early evening and at night, more vitamin A is probably needed. The child should be taken to a health worker for treatment with vitamin A supplements. Diarrhea and measles deplete vitamin A from the child’s body. Children with diarrhea that lasts for more than 14 days and children with measles should be given a vitamin A capsule provided by a health worker.
Facilitator’s Manual