A 2-month-old baby bathing for the first time in 3 days was realized from an Instagram post that her mother happened to see.
A month ago, Shizuoka City experienced a series of large-scale water outages due to heavy rain.
It was the thoughts of midwives and other volunteers and the spread of social media posts that helped them save their families who were living in anxiety every day.
Large-scale water outage lasting 12 days
Shizuoka Prefecture, where Typhoon No. 15 approached, experienced record heavy rain from September 23rd to 24th.
In Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka City, a large-scale water outage occurred.
It took 12 days for water outages to be lifted in all areas.
Baby won't take a bath
It was a family with a baby that was in trouble because of the water outage.
One of them is Miyu Yoshida (31), who lives in Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka City.
She lives with her husband, her eldest son Harutaro (2), and her second son Toraomi, who was two months old at the time.
On September 24th, the water supply was cut off at my house, and all of my relatives living in the same ward also had their water supply cut off.
Yoshida-san had trouble with Toraomi-kun's bath.
I wonder if Toraomi-kun's skin, which is prone to sweating during the hot weather, will be okay...
I wanted to give him a bath somehow, but even public baths do not allow children who are not in diapers to take a bath.
I warmed drinking water in the microwave and made it into a hot towel, and wiped Toraomi-kun's body to survive the spot.
(Ms. Miyu Yoshida)
"I couldn't do everything from milk to bath to laundry, so it was my first time, so I was worried. I sweat a lot, and my neck and diapers get stuffy, so I feel sorry for my child. I was full of thoughts."
“There are midwives in your city” Posts found
Meanwhile, Mr. Yoshida became worried and started looking for information on support on Instagram.
That's when I found a post about "Mokuyoku Volunteers".
The content that you can take a bath at the maternity hospitals in Aoi Ward and Suruga Ward, which are adjacent to Shimizu Ward, was spread on Instagram and Twitter.
On September 26, two days after the water supply was cut off, I called the maternity hospital with a feeling of desperation.
On the same day, I went to the midwife's office and asked Toraomi-kun to take a bath.
It was my first bath in 3 days.
After taking a bath, Toraomi-kun was sleeping comfortably in the living room of the maternity hospital.
Mr. Yoshida himself took a shower and finished washing.
"It's hard, isn't it?" When I got out of
the shower, Ms. Sachiko Konagai, a midwife, brought me tea and cookies.
Mr. Yoshida was able to spend a relaxing time in a quiet place for the first time in a long time.
More than anything else, Mr. Konagai's thoughtfulness made him happy.
(Ms. Miyu Yoshida)
"Mr. Konagai treated me with kindness that seemed to wrap me up, and my heart became very warm, and I am filled with gratitude. After this, when I was looking at Instagram, I saw, 'People who became victims this time.' I would like to be the next supporter.”
I want to protect my baby and my family
Ms. Sachiko Konagai, a midwife who gave Toraomi-kun a bath.
She is the president of Shizuoka Midwives Association.
The reason why the Midwives Association decided to volunteer for Mokuyoku was that immediately after the water supply was cut off, a midwifery hospital in Shimizu Ward received a request to "at least give a bath to just the baby."
After urgent discussions, it was decided that 12 midwives would start volunteering for mokuyoku from the 26th, two days after the water supply was cut off.
If I post for no reason...
Mr. Konagai decided to make a post on the SNS Instagram asking for use in order to let many families know about volunteering.
About four months ago, I used a photo of a baby born at this maternity hospital taking a bath and called out, "For those who are having trouble with the water outage, you can take a bath."
I have around 200 followers.
I thought the effect would be limited.
However, the post received a lot of comments.
“Please let me share”
“I will spread the word through stories.”
The information spread not only on Instagram, but also on Twitter, etc.
In the week ending October 2nd, 104 families and 290 people visited 12 maternity homes, which greatly exceeded expectations.
(Shoko Konagai, Chairman of Shizuoka City Midwives Association)
"I don't know how much there is a need, but when I tried to do what I could, I was surprised to find that more people were having trouble than I had imagined. By thinking about the disaster area and spreading the information, the information reached the parents who needed it, so it was really helpful."
Expert: "I immediately took action after grasping the needs"
According to Mieko Kataoka, chairman of the Japanese Society of Midwifery and professor at St. about it.
He points out that the movement of Mokuyoku volunteers spread this time because the midwives accurately grasped the needs of families with babies in the midst of continuous water outages.
(Professor Mieko Kataoka, Graduate School of St. Luke's International University)
"It can be praised for being able to understand the needs and feelings of babies and families when the water supply was cut off and act immediately. This experience probably spread throughout the country among midwives." We need to make use of the lessons learned from this disaster for future disasters, and spread them so that midwives can work anywhere in Japan.”
Disaster prevention measures for families with babies
The Japan Society of Midwifery recommends the necessary stockpiles for households with babies and measures to be taken in the event of a water outage.
□ Diapers
need to be stocked for 7 to 10 days □ A slightly larger size is needed for growth
□ Stock up on baby wipes □ Stock up
on powdered milk and liquid milk as usual.
Also confirm in advance Breastfeeding using a paper cup
□ When water is cut off, "partially wash" dirty parts of the body such as the buttocks and neck Foam soap, washing bottle, towel, diaper, waterproof sheet, wipes, moisturizing
The Japanese Society of Midwifery has created videos on disaster prevention measures for families raising babies and released them on YouTube.
In this video, the method of breastfeeding with a paper cup and the method of "partial washing" of the body when the water supply is cut off are also introduced in detail.