Why Sabahan Mothers Prefer Little Penyu Essential

Is this product safe for my baby? This is a question no doubt many mothers have asked before and will continue asking for products marketed for infants, children and toddlers. In recent years with news portals front page peppered with news of asbestos contaminated baby powder, negatives effects of petroleum jelly based products, allergies and the general distrusts in commercial products it is not surprising that many parents seek natural, gentle alternatives when purchasing baby products for their precious little jewel.

Fortunately Sabahans are lucky in this regard, as they have available locally, a very promising product that is safe, gentle and natural. Mothers in Sabah swear by this product as the positive reviews throughout is a testament to their commitment to provide an alternative product to parents. Manufactured locally, with a heartwarming backstory and the drive of a mother wanting the best for her children, Little Penyu Essentials is now the preferred alternative product for vapor rubs and boo-boo cream among many Sabahan mothers.

Little Penyu Essential is founded by a mother of 2, Norfaranina Zaki, she is the CEO of LP Group Sdn. Bhd. and she is also a certified IAIM Infant Massage Instructor. The name Little Penyu Essentials originates from her successful Little Penyu Baby Swim Spa, which is the first baby swim spa in East Malaysia. It is a facility utilizing water therapy concept where babies can float and swim in a safe and supervised water environment which helps encourage brain development, motor movement and strength even before a baby starts crawling. The spa, located in Metrotown, Kolombong also offers additional services such as Kids Spa for children aged 4 to 12 years old. They also hold IAIM (International Association of Infant Massage) infant massage classes for parents to learn baby soothing massages and be encouraged to be hands on throughout the process as an opportunity to nurture closer bonds with their child. They also have an open door policy welcoming all breastfeeding mothers to the spa for to breastfeed their baby.

Little Penyu Essentials with their 3 main products under the Little Penyu Essential brand have captured the hearts and love of Mothers wanting the best products for their children. Formulated from high quality all natural ingredients and manufactured in a certified facility with stringent quality control they have introduced to the market their Little Penyu Infant Natural Vapor Rub, Junior Natural Vapor Rub and Boo-Boo! Balm.

What makes their product special is in their formulation of ingredients which are specially designed to be child safe and friendly. Conventional vapor rubs and other similar commercial products typically have Eucalyptus Oil, Peppermint Oil and Menthol as their primary active ingredients. However, these ingredients might not be suitable for infants or children as it may have too strong of an effect causing burning/cold sensation and discomfort as infant skin is much more sensitive and fragile compared to adults.

I use Little Penyu Essential Infant Vapor rub on my baby Noah in England. Its pretty cold there!

Recommended to rub under feet as well to prevent from cold. 

Little Penyu Essential Vapor Rubs are formulated with gentle Fragonia and Rosalina Essential Oil, which is known as a kid friendly version of Eucalyptus Oil. Another unique selling point of Little Penyu Essential Vapor Rubs is that they are petrolatum (petroleum jelly) free and menthol free, which means a less messy and more pleasant feel to the skin without sacrificing the nose congestion busting abilities which plagues almost ALL parents during flu or cough season. Both Infant and Junior series of the vapor rub are similar except for an additional ingredient – Fir Needle Essential oil in the Junior version of the vapor rub, which gives additional fighting power against sore throat and respiratory infections for the more active 4-12-year-old. Fir Needle Essential Oil is also used to fight fatigue and muscle ache, very useful to rejuvenate an active child.

Insect bites, scrapes, cuts – these are things that every parent wish their baby didn’t have to go through but like many things in the natural world, some things are unavoidable. Alas, such is the life of babies, toddlers and children. Running around (or crawling) without a care in the world while parents try their utmost to keep them from harm. Parents know the inevitability of their child having the occasional bruise, scrapes, cuts from all their playing, crawling and tumbling about in the outdoors (even at home) and the pesky mosquito bites, ant bites etc.

Founder herself featured on TV to talk about Little Penyu Essential.

Norfaranina is seen here explaining about Little Penyu Essential to Jennifer Lasimbang, Assistant Ministry of Education & Innovation in a local exhibition. 

 

How wonderful that Little Penyu Essentials coincidentally also formulates their own special infant and child safe Boo-Boo! Balm for all the scrapes, cuts and insect bites your precious one might unfortunately go through in their rough and tumbling plays while growing up. LP Essential Boo-Boo! Balm is a nourishing topical application ideal for a range of stressful skin conditions. It is formulated with premium Helichrysum essential oil. Helichrysum essential oil is a very good herbal oil which has a cool soothing feel and renowned healing effects when applied to the skin. It is extracted from Helichrysum flowers growing natively in the Mediterranean region.

This essential oil contains component ingredients that fights germs on the skin and hydrate the skin to stay smooth and soft. It will prevent skin infections with regular use. Helichrysum Essential oil is also commonly used to clear skin spots, rashes from sweat, blemishes and other skin infections. It will treat pimples, acne, eczema, etc and fade every kind of stretch mark away and leave the skin naturally clean. Basically, good for the kids and Mommy!  Additionally, Helichrysum Essential Oil used in LP Essential Boo-Boo! Balm when applied to exposed areas of the body can help reduce the risk of infections in form of bacteria and fungi. All these goes to show that the ingredients placed into the product is well thought out for the well being of the child and parents as well.

 

Like all other products on the planet, a product is only as good as the customer perceives it and fret not as LP essentials have no lack of glowing positive reviews and feedback by satisfied parents who by now would swear by the products by Little Penyu Essentials.

"Love it to bits! You know, ever since I got into EO I've been extra careful with eucalyptus oil and other oils yang sewaktu dengannya especially on babies. So LP vapor rub is just perfect!”

- Marilyn Mae Pain

“I love your Boo-Boo! Balm. I put on Evan’s mild scratches he got on his arm from playing hand fan and it went off after a day!”

- Jade Cheah

“This vapor rub did wonder to my two ‘cucu’. Actually, from Monday dah start asthma and brought to JMC and medication was given. By Thursday, it got worsen and nak bawa ke emergency but I told my daughter in law to try this vapor rub and it really ease their breathing”

- Anonymous testimony

It is a parent’s primary responsibility and on-going concern to be able to provide the best of anything for their young ones. However, due to many unclear situations, multitude of choices forced on parents and downright misinformation and dishonesty of marketers and large corporations. It can be increasingly difficult to identify what is “best” of any product. Fortunately, though, at the very least for the parents in Sabah and Malaysia selecting the best Vapor Rub and Boo-Boo! Balm will no longer be a topic of debate, but rather a straight up recommendation for Little Penyu Essentials’s Vapor Rub. 

For more information about Little Penyu Essential, kindly visit their website at http://www.lpessential.com/

Honest Truth About Confinement For A Modern Mom

The first question most people would ask before I delivered my child is “Who will help you with confinement?” and after the confinement they asked “How was your confinement?” Let me share with you my journey of confinement of 2 child birth with my parents.

Methods

To this modern day, there are many convenient confinement methods available for new mothers to choose from. From stay-at-home, hired a confinement lady at home, order take-away confinement food, stay at the confinement centre, there are many factors to consider about. For those whose parents or in-laws are available and able to travel to your place and help, the stay-at-home method is the most comfortable confinement one can experience. I stay at Labuan, but both of my parents live in Perak and my in-laws are in Kota Kinabalu. Hired a confinement lady? I doubted if I knew someone here. Confinement centre? No, there’s none available in Labuan yet. Get a helper? It’s expensive and it has some process to go through yet my mom doesn’t encourage me to have one. Order confinement meals? Not sure if it is a popular option compare to other cities like KL. 

I missed my parents and definitely my mom’s cooking, as well as seeing the only option that I have, I booked flights for my parents to come before the arrival of my first and second child as they were willing to help me through the confinement. My dad has just retired before my delivery, it just make it in time for him to travel to my place helping mom out with their first grandson. He was in-charge of driving mom to the market to shop for the freshest veggies and meats, having breakfast or afternoon tea at kopitiam (it is too boring to just stay at home with me everyday!), sometimes he helped with the laundry, clean up the house, boil water for me to drink and to bath and many more. My mom did the 3 meals cooking; my in-law and hubby did the dishwashing. 

Everyone in the house cooperated so well to make things in order so I can rest and recover with peace of mind. Confinement at home is the best method I have enjoyed so far, it is the most economic yet comfortable method I strongly recommend, if our parents were still fit and willing to help. Otherwise, you have to seek for referral for good confinement lady, helper or confinement centre. I also have a friend who helped his wife with the confinement alone when they were in the United States. The hubby prepared the dishes and did all the house chores by himself while the wife attended to the new-born. It is important for the new mother not to get stressed up throughout the recovery period feeling the helplessness or she will easily develop post-partum depression.

My mother, my strength. She is on her granny duty here. 

Practice

A few practices we need to follow according to the elderly’s advices that are surrounding the idea of not getting ‘wind’ entering our body and fell sick. The most common one is cannot bath and wash hair. I understood the practice of not washing hair is to prevent the moist of water from entering our scalp which leads to headache like what the old people said “masuk angin”. Traditionally before the hair dryer was invented and in the colder seasons for places like in China, the women have to avoid shower and wet their hair. 

They need to wrap themselves tight to keep warm as post-partum women were generally weaker hence to prevent cold. And also because we are physically inactive that is how confinement (like being kept in warm room – no air-conditioner, no direct fan) makes us sweat. Even the food and soup added with gingers or kunyit are also to help to increase metabolite rate to sweat and remove toxic from the body. However there’s also a saying that we should not sweat too much during confinement as that will open the pores as we sweat and the wind will enter body easily. So sweat or not, you make judgement yourself. 

When the practice passed down to our elder generation coming from China, we are still practicing these but at a hotter climate place in Malaysia, I just cannot accept that we are so hot, sweat a lot with oily hair but not allowed to bath. So here we take herbal bath to clean ourselves which is said can remove wind from the body. While bathing in the warm water, feeling the oily and itchy hair scalp, I secretly washed and dried it before discovered by my mom. It just made my following days so light and bright. Of course there are still some other confinement practices but I object very much on the washing hair-ban. Another taboo was that we were not allowed to touch tap water fearing the wind in the water (as it is unboil) will get into our body through fingers or feet. Apart from that, I am not allowed to bath later than 6pm.  I believe, as long as we get ourselves dry, clean and comfortable throughout the confinement period with enough rest and nutritious food intake, that is the best confinement for new mother and infant.

Ocean learning to eat on his own. Moments like this makes it all worth it!

Food

Chinese community is very particular on confinement food. Before I gave birth I have no idea why people care so much about confinement to the extent that needed to find a confinement lady to help out. My mom, although she did not have any experience helping in confinement, she learnt a bit here and there about the essence of confinement from her friends. My mother gets all the herbs ready to prepare my 30 days confinement meals, such as dang-gui, red dates, black beans, dang-sen, herbs I don’t know the names but you can easily asked the shop attendants at any traditional Chinese medicine hall to pack these confinement herbs for you to boil and drink. 

My mom also got me su-he wan (traditional supplement to relieve flatulence) and wild chicken wine. I heard the way she described the process of making the chicken drown in wine and jar filled with herbs made me chill – they said people drink it to remove wind from our body during confinement but to me this wine sounds not hygienic and I doubted if it will make me sick. Of course I didn’t take it, but food that are apparel and appetizing for me I’d definitely enjoy it to the max. The herbal soup that my mom made for me were just heaven, so nourishing and nutritious yet milk boosting! Having a healthy and nutritious diet throughout the recovering period is more important for new mothers. The Chinese herbs can be obtained cheaply as they are pack raw and in abundance amount. Similar items could be packed nicely by branded outlets but at a costlier price. It looks nice and convenient to drink. However, the same amount you may spend on the nice packaging I could use to buy more herbs and drink at a larger quantity.

When my husband is on daddy's duty. 

Hormone and Stress

Some are fortunate with their mothers or mother in law to help with confinement, some hire confinement lady and some stay at the confinement centre. When settling down to a new motherhood phase, things changed not only from the physical presence of a newborn, our emotional and mental changed significantly from the moment we stepped into the delivery room until we brought a baby out, when the care and attention are all given to the newborn, we forgot to rest, or maybe, can hardly truly rest.

I can’t recall when was my last time to sleep through the night since I became a mother. When people said confinement period is the time for new mother to rest, you must really capture the moment to rest together with the newborn even though you don’t feel sleep in the daytime but you’ll surely complaint the need to wake up every 2 to 3 hours just to feed and pump out the milk from the engorged breasts.

The strange thing at night is no matter how tired you are, you will still alert to the cries of baby and get up to feed her. I rarely seen my husband could get up by himself even the baby cries were just next to him. It is always the mother’s duty to make sure the baby is fed, asleep safely in her bed. However, to my comfort and little one’s sense of security, I put my baby next to me so I can direct feed him without needing to get up, bend my back to carry him up for breastfeeding. Compare to my first born, my second child has lesser feed at nights, calmer and we have longer sleep. Recalling the firstborn, our nights have never been easy, frequent nights up, burped him, carried him and walked around to put him back to sleep was like a routine for both of us. Perhaps because of co-sleep our bond is stronger until he could sense my disappearance when I left him sleeping alone!

The problem is, we new mother could rarely have “enough” sleep just like everyone wishes. Confinement is the time when people come around to help us to take care of the newborn’s from changing nappies to bath him, while we are recovering from delivery and adapting to the new motherhood routine and change of lifestyle. Without my mother’s and in-law’s help, although my husband could take care of me and baby, but I am sure their presence have sooth a lot of tension that comes with me, so I can talk to them to release stress. As my mother is the closest person to me whom knew my temper so well, I never hide my emotion with her presence. For many advises she and in-law had asked me to follow and not to do, many times I just ignored and followed my habit routine. There were times we both lost our tempers when some of the confinement practices I was disagreed with, although I knew it was for my own goodness, me as a hormonal imbalance woman couldn’t keep myself sane but easily triggered by just little small things. Until now I still feel sorry for the words and action I have done if that have already hurt my mom and in-law. You know you are balanced when you are not emotionally triggered easily. A simple question like “do you have enough milk or not?” is really annoying, whether or not you ask out of care or simple want to tease the mother for not supplying enough milk, this question is a big no no to mother. If we were lack of milk, there’ll be no stack of milk storage in the fridge, baby won’t sleep soundly, peep and poop so frequently. So, observed before you asked any silly or stressor question.

Confinement is a big time for many new mothers to recover from childbirth. The elderly says, once we get sick or did not recover properly at this time it could get worse in the later time. Whether or not it is true, we will find out when we are at the age. Nonetheless, elderly have their wisdom and they passed their knowledge or experience to the next generation. We the younger one could learn from their wisdom too because what they did is all because they care and love for their children.

Thank you to my mother and mother-in-law for taking good care of me and my little ones during the post delivery period. Every childbirth is a new journey for young mother and their presence in indeed a blessing regardless how demanding or naïve their daughter can be throughout the entire process. We learnt and grown by directly experiencing the emotions though.

Written By Kimlee Choy

Mother of two, Health & Counselling Teacher, Founder of Sustainable Urban Living Association Malaysia / FunLabuan.

MEET THE PRINCIPAL OF KINABALU INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

At the end of September, Kinabalu International School reopened for the new academic year and welcomed a new face to the school – Mr Ian Gross, the new Principal. We met with him to find out more about his background, his aspirations and sought advice on how best we can prepare our own children for the future world of education and work.

How long have you been teaching and where else have you taught? Have you been a Principal at other schools?
I became a teacher nearly 25 years ago and during that time I have been fortunate enough to teach in the UK, Czech Republic, Argentina, Thailand, Egypt, Bahrain and now Sabah, Malaysia. Having started as a science teacher I soon became a Head of Department and realised I enjoyed leadership and management within schools. It added a new dimension to the scope of my work and so I continued to progress up the career ladder. I have been in leadership positions, including School Principal, in a number of highly regarded and successful schools across four continents.

How are you settling into life in Kota Kinabalu?
Having lived in a number of countries previously, it was surprising how quickly we have all adjusted to a new city and a new life. Everyone has been so welcoming, friendly and supportive; it is as if we were returning to our home rather than starting fresh in a new one.

How would you describe the KIS community?
Supportive, caring, friendly, fun, open-minded and focussed.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Supporting and nurturing the next generation. Whilst it may be a cliché for an educator to say this, it is a cliché for a reason. I very much enjoy enabling and empowering others to achieve in whatever they are doing or working towards; whether it be our students or our staff.

What are the benefits to a local student of attending an international school?
An understanding of other cultures, global perception and understanding , supported personal and social development, greater participation in extra-curricular activities, a focus on global education, career and social opportunities… The list goes on. Feel free to pop into KIS so you can see for yourself how an international school environment could benefit your child.

You have moved around a lot in your teaching career and therefore needed to select schools for your children along the way, what advice would you give to parents when choosing a school?
Look for a school that has the education and the welfare of your child at the centre of its core purpose. Too many international schools are being built as an investment opportunity for the owners. KIS is one of a few international schools globally that is genuinely a not-for-profit school. All income generated by the school goes back into the development and running of the school. As the school develops, we make sure our mission and philosophy are used to guide our decisions and what is best for our children and the community at KIS.

What is your worst and best memory from your time at school?
Back in the last century when I was in school, the focus was on memory and obedience. Too much effort was made on facts and how much you could remember and then recall for exams. Students were expected to be quiet and not to question anything. The world has changed since I was at school, now children need to be confident in the skills of learning so they can continue to be life-long learners. Children need to have the skills to ask questions, as well as the skills for listening, information gathering and interpreting. As the world progresses and continues to change, we need children to be able to understand, adapt and thrive with these changes. My best memory? When I was five, my family dog, Timmy, followed me to school and stayed with me the whole day until I went home. I don’t think schools would allow that to happen today; but it certainly was fun at the time.

How do you envisage education changing over the next ten years?
I see schools moving towards an increased use of technologies to support learning. Exams will continue to move away from factual recall and focus on use of skills. Universities will become less rooted in bricks and mortar with more online courses becoming available to undergraduates. This will allow for greater choice of course and location for internationally minded students.

What must KIS do to keep up with this change?
It’s not so much about keeping up with change as it is about the preparation of our students to be able to face and cope with change. It has been said that schools are preparing children for jobs that don’t exist yet. It is imperative that we ensure the students at KIS have the skills and understanding to support them in an ever changing global environment, where they can be confident and successful individuals in whatever industry they choose to be in.

As parents it can sometimes feel that the world around us is changing so fast, both technologically and socially. The world in which our children will live and work feels unknown to us. How best can we prepare our children for the uncertainty?
It is uncertain for us as adults, but not for the children. Have belief in their abilities, support their goals and their ambitions. With the right preparation this generation will embrace the flexibility and resilience that is required of them. Make sure they are at a school that is approachable and gives you the information you require to help you to understand your child’s education and the direction it is taking them in, so that they have choices in their future. At KIS we educate and support our children to be adaptable and to be the adults of the future who will be making those changes; we are nurturing global citizens.


If you are interested in finding out more about Kinabalu International School, contact their Admissions Officer, Tina Koroh, to arrange a tour so you can see the school in action. Telephone: 088 224526, Email: admissions@kis.edu.my or visit www.kis.edu.my

9 TIPS TO HELP YOUR BABY SLEEP BETTER

My husband and our newborn Noah taken last year by Hannah William Photography

I'm pretty sure many have warned you about how little sleep you will get after your newborn arrived. They kid you not. James (my husband) and I have been gone through it twice and have experienced our "zombiefied" moments of not getting enough sleep. We don't want to scare you much but here are some tips that might be helpful for you!


1. SWADDLE
Newborn babies innately possess a startle reflex as is they are falling till about four to five months old. It causes baby to have jerking movements and baby will incidentally wake up. Swaddling helps prevent babies from startling themselves awake and helps them sleep better.

2. DREAMFEED
The meaning of dreamfeed is the feeding given to the baby right before you go to bed. This helps prevent baby from waking up just as you are about to go to sleep and many mothers believe dreamfeeding can really help a newborn baby sleep longer. This technique is great till about 4 months old.

3. SHORTEN NAP TIME 
Sleeping too much in the day time can really rob the night time sleep for baby. If your baby sleeps past 2-2.5 hours, do yourself a favour and go wake that baby up, feed him and keep him a wake for a bit before another nap.

4. WHITE NOISE 
For some strange reason, the sound of the fan helps baby to sleep. Some say, white noise
mimics the sound of the womb and its comforting for the baby. We have a regular fan at home which I use as well to help my son to sleep. So far it still works. He is 15 months now.

5. CREATE A ROUTINE
Train your baby to follow a routine. Wake up, eat, nap, bath and sleep about the same time everyday. This cycle will eventually teach your baby what is happening and what to expect. Babies are fast learners. This routine will also keep you organise so you have some time for yourself. I hope!

6. SMART DIAPER CHANGE
A skill we all need to have as parents. Do change your baby’s diaper before the middle night feeding to prevent baby from waking up too much after a feeding is done.

7. UNDERSTANDING YOUR BABY’S SLEEP PATTERN
The more you understand your baby’s sleep pattern, the better both you and baby can sleep.
Keeping a baby awake hoping to tired him out will eventually ended up in over-stimulation and
baby will experience difficulty falling asleep. Overtired baby will sleep shorter, not longer.

8. LAY YOUR BABY DOWN AWAKE, BUT DROWSY
Encourage your baby to sleep well in the long run is by helping him to learn how to fall asleep independently. It does sound easier than done, I know! Keep trying! As they grow older, falling asleep independently will eventually become reality.

9. BE PATIENT
We may unconciously have a habit of rushing our baby to sleep when they cry at night. Quite often, babies wake up babble for a bit and go right back to sleep. So don’t rush in when this happen.


I really hope some of these tips will come in handy for you. It's never easy taking care of newborn. And if you ever need someone to talk, I am here for you mama!

Email me at parentsavenue@gmail.com.

Love,
Stella Matilda

WHAT IS AN EPIDURAL?

Epidurals are a way of transferring an anesthetic to prevent pain signals from the spine to the brain. It typically includes injecting a small amount of anesthetic within the epidural space of the spine. The epidural space contains fluid and encloses the spinal cord. The function of the anesthetic is to numb the spinal nerves and therefore, block the pain signals.

Amidst the childbirth process, the medication is shot into the lumbar area, which is located on the lower part of the spine. If properly inserted, no more pain will be felt on the lower half of the body. With lower doses however, the movement of legs or even walking around will still be possible. Since a single injection doesn’t suffice through- out the entire labour, a catheter is commonly attached to a woman’s back and this fine plastic tube is fastened into the epidural space using a needle. The main function is to add more painkillers or anesthetic if necessary.

There are several ways to go about this, either it’s handled by the doctor, or the catheter is attached to a pump that provides painkillers in small amounts or, the pump may be controlled by the patient, lessening or adding it as needed. The dosage of the epidural is gradually increased to avoid injecting too much at once. The feeling of pain begins weakening 10 to 20 minutes after applied. Depending on the anesthetist, it sometimes takes time to place the injection in the right area, or they might not administer it at all.

HOW IS AN EPIDURAL PERFORMED?

Epidural may be applied only when the patient is awake.

1. Patients will be asked to sit up or lay on their side, being forward to curve their back.

2. Local anesthetic is injected into a small region of skin of your back to numb it before the actual epidural catheter is inserted.

3. The anesthetist will place a fine plastic tube into the epidural space in your back.

HOW POTENT ARE EPIDURALS?

Epidurals are proven to be efficient in reducing pain better than other forms of painkillers. Women who have applied epidurals experience minimal to no pain. According to statistics, 28 out of 100 women require additional painkillers during child birth if other alternatives of pain relief choices were used first.

HOW DOES THE EPIDURAL AFFECT THE BABY?

Any medication that a mom-to-be employs during labor will pass through their baby’s body via the umbilical cord. This consists of painkillers and anesthetics that’s delivered through epidurals. But, anesthetics lacks a strong effect on the baby compared to different painkillers that could be taken in consideration during the birthing process. Epidurals have no long-term drawbacks. Although, one difference is the use of epidurals may have a prolonged delivery time, this is due to some babies requiring a longer time to get into the right position when an epidural is used.

ADVANTAGES OF AN EPIDURAL

• For women undergoing labor, this method of pain relief has been found to be most effective.

• Top-ups can be provided by an experienced midwife, so no wait or delay is needed from an anaesthetist.

• Another positive attribute, moms-to-be will feel calm and thus, leave room for more control leading to a more positive birth experience.

• If an unplanned caesarean occurs, an epidural can be increased with a stronger anaesthetic although an epidural will most likely not heightened the need for a caesarean.

• Permits you to rest in the event that your labor is delayed.

• When different sorts of coping mechanism doesn’t suffice, epidurals can assist in helping you endure fatigue, irritability, fatigue and exhaustion. It allows you to stay relaxed, and concentrate on the process.

DISADVANTAGES OF EPIDURAL

• There’s a possibility it will influence your ability to pee and a urinary catheter may be needed

after the birth of the baby. It will be removed when the bladder is empty. But, if you’ve experi- enced a trying vaginal birth or caesarean you might need the catheter a little longer.

• Monitoring is required. Your baby’s heartbeat will be monitored constantly for 30 minutes, at least and after every top-up. Your blood pressure will also be taken every five minutes for 15 minutes to ensure the epidural gets to work. This is done be- cause the epidural can cause your blood pressure to drop.

• There’s a higher chance your baby might require assisted or instrumental delivery such as forceps or ventouse during the labor process.

• The pushing stage might be prolonged. Even if the cervix is fully dilated, you might not feel

the urge to push. With that giv- en, the midwife will encourage you to wait until feeling the urge

to push begins.

• There’s little chance of nerve damage, leaving with you a de- sensitized area on either your foot or leg, pin and needles, or a weakened leg. But this is an uncommon case, 1 in 1000

women stand a chance of developing temporary nerve damage, while for permanent damage, 1 in 24,000 women have a chance in this occurring.

Should you have further questions regarding epidural options for your birth delivery, please do speak to your doctor for advice. 

By Parents Avenue Team

A WINTER WONDER AT IBIS STYLES KOTA KINABALU INANAM

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah – 6 December 2018: Inspired by the magic of the festive season, ibis Styles Kota Kinabalu Inanam presents a blue and silver holiday of “Winter Wonder” to spice up the most wonderful time of the year. The hotel launched the festive season with their Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony on Saturday, 1 December 2018, marking the beginning of the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Mr. Gordon Seet, General Manager of ibis Styles Kota Kinabalu Inanam, together with their Hotel guests and Hotel associates, celebrated the ceremonial lighting of its 15-foot Christmas tree at the main lobby while being melodiously echoed with Christmas Carols, of whom the team of carollers are also an ensemble from the hotel’s own team of Talents. Displayed at the lobby along with the festive goodies that are available for sale such as the traditional roasted Turkey, roasted juicy whole Chicken, Chocolate Yule Log Cake, Classic Christmas Fruit Cake and not forgetting the freshly baked Gingerbread Cookies and 2-foot high gingerbread house.

Discover and indulge in traditional Christmas favourites at Gabion Bistro restaurant and be delighted with all-time favourites in our dinner buffet presenting Whole Roasted Turkey, Yorkshire Pudding and Beef Wellington as well as other favourites such as Hot and Spicy Chili Crab. Desserts include an array of sweet goodness such as Double Chocolate Cheesecake, Mango Cheesecake, Black Forest Cake, Chocolate Fountain and many more.

Priced at RM98 per adult and RM53 per child and senior citizen. Advance purchases is also available at RM65 per adult and RM35 per child and senior citizen until 21st December 2018. The Christmas Dinner Buffet at Gabion Bistro restaurant is available on Christmas Day, 25 December 2018 from 6.00pm to 10.00pm. 

From log cakes to savoury roasts, guests may select from a range of festive treats and handmade confectioneries available for takeaway at the Lobby from 1st to 23 rd December 2018.

Perfect for gatherings at home or as gifts for families and friends, highlights featuring classic Yule Log Cake, Classic Christmas Fruit Cake, Roasted Whole Turkey and Chicken as well as Gingerbread Cookies. Christmas carollers shall also be performing at the Hotel lobby every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7.00pm from 1st December 2018 onwards.


Here are some photos of what you can expect at Ibis Styles Kota Kinabalu this Christmas. Head on over for a wonderful dinner buffet with family and friends >>>

Call now to make bookings!!!

Follow them on Facebook: Ibis Styles Kota Kinabalu Inanam

SARAWAK SHELL BERHAD WINS GOLD AWARD FOR BEST PRACTICES IN LEAN MANAGEMENT

Y.B. Dr. Ong Kian Ming, third from left presenting the award to Jill Chieng, Sarawak Shell Berhad’s General Manager, fourth from left.

MITI acknowledges Sarawak Shell Berhad’s contribution towards lean management.

Kuala Lumpur – Sarawak Shell Berhad (SSB) was recently awarded the prestigious Malaysian Productivity Corporation (MPC) National Gold Certification for excellent practices in the area of Lean Management by the Ministry of International Trade & Industry (MITI) Malaysia. This is the first time such recognition has been accorded to an oil & gas company in Malaysia.

This certification is in recognition of SSB’s outstanding efforts for the continuous improvement in its lean management deployment journey which started in 2016.

“When the oil price dropped drastically towards the end of 2015, we knew we had to embrace an effective way of working to lean our processes, remove wastes and instil discipline in our cost management, to remain competitive. Two years into this journey has resulted in a leaner organisation that generates strong, positive cashflow year-on-year, in our upstream business. This national recognition is a true testament of the hard work and efforts taken by our dedicated SSB upstream staff in ensuring we remain a competitive oil and gas company in the industry and in creating our own future,” said Datuk Iain Lo, Country Chairman, Shell Malaysia.

Sarawak Shell Berhad’s General Manager, Jill Chieng who represented Datuk Iain Lo, Country Chairman Shell Malaysia received the award from Y.B. Dr. Ong Kian Ming, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of International Trade & Industry (MITI) Malaysia who was representing the Minister of International Trade and Industry Malaysia. Also in attendance to witness the award presentation were Tuan Hj Abdul Rahim Yusoff, the Deputy Director General of MPC and Khoo Choo Beng, the General Manager for Business Excellence, Sarawak Shell Berhad.

”Our Most Honourable Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched MITI’s National Policy on Industry 4.0, known as Industry4WRD on 31 October 2018. Industry4WRD will ensure our industries remain ahead and competitive in facing the challenges brought by the 4th Industrial Revolution. This national policy aims to pave the way for enhanced productivity, job creation and high-skilled talent pool, and ultimately, contribute to our economic prosperity and societal well-being. The Readiness Assessment for 4.0 will be conducted by MPC starting 2019 and it is a comprehensive programme to help firms assess their capabilities and readiness to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies and processes,” said Y.B. Dr. Ong Kian Ming.

Shell’s history in Sarawak dates back to 1910 when the company discovered the country’s first oil well, “Grand Old Lady”, on Canada Hill, Miri. This was followed by the discovery of the first offshore field in Baram in 1963. Shell then enabled the LNG business in Malaysia by building the world’s 1st commercial Gas -to-Liquids plant (Shell MDS) in Bintulu. In the downstream arena, Shell is the No.1 fuel and lubricants brand in the State through its operating company Shell Timur. Both Shell MDS and Shell Timur are joint ventures with the State Government of Sarawak. Sarawak Shell Berhad remains the largest multi-national oil and gas explorer for offshore, in the state.

Shell’s legacy in Sarawak goes beyond its business footprint. Shell continues to contribute towards the development of local talent and the growth of Miri and Bintulu from small villages to thriving cities. The organisation also continues to invest in scholarships, vocational skilling, environmental awareness, road safety initiatives and capability building through programmes for budding entrepreneurs.

MPC Deputy Director General, Tuan Hj Abdul Rahim Yusoff hopes that the recognition awarded to Sarawak Shell Berhad will motivate the rest of the industries across Malaysia, including Small Medium Industries (SMEs) to similarly adopt Lean Management processes as a stepping stone towards Industry 4.0.  

For further Media Enquiries, please contact:

PREMA JAYABALAN

Senior Manager, Media Relations and Issue Management, Shell Malaysia 

Email: prema.jayabalan@shell.com

About Shell – www.shell.com.my

Shell is a global leader in power, energy, and gas technology and is working to meet increasing energy demand and supply challenges by delivering smarter products and cleaner energy, infrastructure, and by developing new energy sources while addressing the impact on the environment. Malaysia is one of Shell’s heartlands. The history of Royal Dutch Shell in Malaysia started more than 125 years ago in Miri, Sarawak. Shell currently has a strong market presence in the upstream and downstream sector in Malaysia.