“My name is Ciru Ciera I am the founder and CEO of Nurturing Moms a business that mainly deals with pregnant women and their babies.
Growing up, I wanted to be a pediatrician, with time I developed a keen interest in Nursing. I did my degree in Nursing at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia where I lived and worked for 5 years at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, then decided to return home as I had missed my family so much.
Since my Nursing registration was Australian, I got my Kenyan Nursing registration and started working at the Aga Khan University Hospital Accident and Emergency Department. I loved my job!! No day was the same. I worked with a great team of Emergency Nurses.
My go-getter attitude was fostered when I was growing up. I come from a very close knit family. I have an older sister and a twin brother! My parents were my greatest cheerleaders. They brought us up knowing that we had to work hard for what we wanted and we should have no apologies for speaking our minds and following our passions.
CHOOSING MY PATH ….
When I had my first born in 2012 my priorities completely shifted. I felt I wanted to spend more time with my son. I loved my job but the working hours were long. We did 12 hour shifts. You either did a day shift or a night shift. I would be away from home for about 14 hours! It didn’t work for my family and I chose to leave.
Motherhood means so much to me. Mothers play such a crucial role in the lives of their children. Nurturing children has its moments of despair and agony but with the same breath, it gives an amazing feeling of love and adoration. The Lord chose me to be a mother and I take this role very seriously.
I have 2 children. A 5 year old boy and a 3 year old girl. They are my pride and joy and I love them to bits. They drive me crazy some days but when I see them happy, smiling, confident, giving me hugs and telling me they love me melts my heart. I wouldn’t trade places with anyone or anything.
HOW I GOT INTO BUSINESS
Being a nurse I used to get so many questions from friends and acquaintances about pregnancy and their newborns and I wondered how I could turn it into a business. By 2014, I had had my second child and my neighbor who was an Obstetrician/Gynaecologist knew that I had successfully put my children on a routine and they were very settled children. She found this so amazing that she felt that I would be of great help if I talked to the mothers in her clinic seeing that I also had a Nursing background. I quickly said yes! And that is when I got the idea to start Nurturing Moms.
I always had a passion for pregnancy and the infancy period. On top of my nursing, I have a Master’s degree in Public Health from University of Liverpool, a certificate in Monitoring and Evaluation from AMREF, Nairobi. And I am also a certified Labour Support Specialist (Doula), Lactation Educator and a child birth educator with Lamaze international through Elizabeth Project International.
NURTURING MOMS
Nurturing Moms was born out of the realization of the huge gap of information for first time mums and their partners in all things pregnancy, child birth, breastfeeding and the entire infancy period.
Birth may very well be the most transformational experience a woman can have. I absolutely adore and respect this journey of birth and it’s my deep passion to help women and couples navigate through their most powerful rite of passage into parenthood. My desire is that this experience be a positive experience.
Almost all women will remember their birth experience regardless of the number of births they have had. My desire is that this memory be a positive reminder of their birth.
I came to the realization that most expectant mums and their partners spent more time at the doctor’s office waiting area than they did inside the doctor’s office. They had questions but by the time they went into the doctor’s office they were so tired of the wait that they forget all the questions they wanted to ask.
Nurturing Moms now comes in to bridge this gap of information through Child birth preparation classes. These are classes that cover almost everything from pregnancy, labour and delivery, breastfeeding and child care. These classes ran for 4 weeks every month.
PROVIDING LABOUR SUPPORT
We also realize the importance of labour support by having a doula present during a birth. The main purpose of a doula is to pregnant mums have a safe, memorable and empowering birth experience by being her biggest cheerleader throughout her labour process as well as providing comfort and relaxation techniques to manage pain and discomfort. Doula’s are important whether a mother has a cesarean section or a vaginal birth.
LACTATION SUPPORT
We also provide Lactation support. The idea that breastfeeding comes 2nd to nature and mums and babies are born knowing what to do isn’t entirely true. Yes women are born with breasts and have an instinct to put their baby on their breast. Babies are born with a sucking reflex and open their mouth to take in the breast but beyond that both mum and baby need to learn what to do with the breast and baby. So many mums experience breast discomfort, pain and give up on their breastfeeding journey. Nurturing Moms teaches mums and mums to be how to breastfeed their babies to help them have a beautiful and fulfilling breastfeeding journey.
MY BUSINESS JOURNEY…
Has been amazing!! I love what I do and I thank God that I found my passion and purpose for this life. The mums I support and have supported are such a blessing to me and just to be allowed to be their supporter through their journeys is an amazing privilege
Just to be there for mums and make their journey into motherhood and parenthood so much easier. You know you are passionate about something when you could almost do it for free!
I continue to have many gratifying moments like when a mum calls and tells you that you are the best decisions she has ever made.
Or when a mum who was struggling with breastfeeding successfully and exclusively breast feeds her baby.
When a mum in labour thinks she cannot push her baby out and successfully go through labour and delivers her baby thinking that she did it because of you but all the power was inside of her!
When a dad calls you and informs you that he is glad he had me with them during the labour process. The highs are really many! The only major low is when a mum doesn’t get the birth experience she envisioned.
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As a mum in business, balancing family and the business has not been easy; thankfully I get to plan my schedule so I’m mostly a present mum. The only time I cannot plan for is when a client goes into labour and I could be away the entire night or day but other than that lactation support and child birth classes are planned around my family. It works well. Babies grow so fast. I can only encourage all mums to embrace every stage of their development. Capture all the moments. Don’t be too hard on yourself. No mother is perfect we live and we learn.
I strive to be very organized and have a strict schedule for the kids. I have never had a live in nanny! I am therefore very hands on. My husband does also help out when he can so that makes the load lighter.
PARTING SHOT
There is a lot of fear around the unknown world of labour and birth. A lot of free advice is also given to mums. Using credible sources of information is so important –and that is why having a partner like Nurturing Moms is crucial. Attending a child birth class can be one of the best decisions you can make as an expectant mum. It prepares you for what to expect and in fact research has found that doula’s presence during labour positively impacts a mums overall labour experience, it decreases cesarean section rates by 50%.
A Doula is a professional trained in child birth, who will provide you with emotional, physical and educational support while you are expecting, experiencing labour and when you give birth. And that is what Nurturing Moms is all about and then some."
WANT TO GET IN TOUCH?
Facebook Link: Nurturing Moms
Email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Phone Number: 0789 817513
