Local nurse launches business to provide expecting mothers with care packages
Kamila Atherley, founder of ‘Mila’s mommy and me’
Kamila Atherley, founder of ‘Mila’s mommy and me’

FOR many pregnant women, the most exciting time of their journey is the last days of their pregnancy as they are preparing to welcome their little one into the world.
It’s a time filled with joy, fear and sometimes anxiety. Cognisant of this, being a mother herself and a nurse stationed in the maternity ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Kamila Atherley has been providing a service of pre-packed hospital care packages for expecting mothers.

The service which is the first of its kind offers expecting mothers a pre-packed bag of all the essentials they will need for themselves and a newborn baby when it’s time to go into labour.
The 33-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that after working in the hospital’s post-anaesthetic care unit for some time, she would often see many new mothers not knowing what they need to pack in their maternity bags to prepare for labour.

“I was placed in the maternity unit and during that time I noticed that [there were] some patients that for some reason or the other, they have to belong in the ward or persons in some situations where they don’t have much and sometimes you have persons who would come in the hospital with too much stuff or too little,” she said. “I decided that it would be a good idea if I pack bags with all the essentials that mothers would need for their trip to the hospital.”

A few of the packages that are available by ‘Mila’s mommy and me’

Atherley disclosed that she had the idea for some time and had been sitting on it since she was uncertain if the initiative would be welcome.
“I didn’t want to start because of a few reasons- one, because I didn’t want to do the business as just a part-time thing, I wanted in the future to expand.”
Nevertheless, the young woman noted that she decided to launch her business in July 2020 in the height of the epidemic, which proved to be the perfect timing since many persons were confined to their homes and many pregnant women were advised to take all necessary precautions to safeguard themselves and unborn child or children.
“That was the ideal time for me to launch, because persons were scared to go out because of the virus,” she said.
Wanting her business to be more than just a part-time service, Atherley disclosed that she recently began taking a management course to further her knowledge in business management to build her business.

She said that the goal is to expand her services and business to reach as many mothers as possible.
The care packages consist of all the necessities an expecting mother would need; each bag has a complimentary sanitiser and face mask.
Atherley noted that the packages are affordable and mothers can customise their packages also.

Additionally, the packages come along with a booklet with information for both expecting mothers and fathers.
She disclosed that she is currently adding some more information to the booklet for expecting fathers and for new mothers on how to take care of themselves and postpartum depression.
“I’m editing right now. It has information for both mommy and daddy as in how daddy can support mommy during the pregnancy,” she said, adding: “There’s information on how to give the baby a bath, on breastfeeding, how to take care of the baby’s navel cord. I also have information about the importance of vaccination of the baby,” she explained.

Atherley disclosed that her business is currently skyrocketing and the support she has been receiving from customers has been both rewarding and encouraging to provide the best services.

“It has been great. I have many persons who have been interested call to say that they’re glad that I’m doing and that they’ve never seen it done in Guyana and their [sic] very much in support of it,” she said.

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