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Counsellor Atiqah Halim (2017 Batch)

BMSG Editorial Team

February 22, 2018

By BMSG Editorial Team

As part of recognising the work of our volunteer counsellors, we will be featuring our counsellors regularly in our monthly newsletter. Our counsellors come from all walks of life, which adds diversity to our counsellor team. This month, we feature Atiqah Halim, a working mum of 3 boys who recently gave birth to her youngest baby.

Atiqah (in pink) with her family.

Tell us more about yourself!

Hi, I’m Atiqah. Mum of 3 boys. Currently working with the Civil Service College. In my free time, I organise play dates and blog about my experiences travelling with young kids in tow.
How long have you been a breastfeeding counsellor?

I attended training to be a counsellor since March last year. We assumed duties as counsellors from June 2017. So it’s been about 7 months or so.
What inspired you to become a volunteer counsellor?

I realised that a lot of new mums out there are not getting the right information and support that they need when it comes to breastfeeding matters. In my own personal capacity, I try to provide nuggets of information to friends, family and colleagues but these were purely based on my experiences breastfeeding my 2 older boys. Since this is a topic that I was passionate about, I felt there was space to do more, and then I happened to chance upon BMSG’s advert calling for more breastfeeding counsellors and decided to go for it.
What were some of the most memorable moments you had in your counselling work?

My counsellor duties include managing the BMSG helpline and Facebook support group during my allocated shifts as well as conducting Breastfeeding & Going Back to Work workshops. I have conducted two workshops so far, and it was meaningful because you get to meet mummies (and daddies) who are so eager to learn and get support for their breastfeeding journeys. Having gone through 2 rounds of “going back to work post-maternity leave” myself, I felt there was plenty I could share from my own as well as other mummies’ experiences on how to make that transition. I also enjoy the phone counselling calls because of the “personal touch” and it feels great to know that you have helped to alleviate some of the anxiety that mummies have during their breastfeeding journey.
How do you juggle between your responsibilities at home, at work, and your counselling duties?

I must say I’m very lucky to have an excellent support network back home. My mum takes care of my babies in their first 2 years, just so I can return to the workforce. Now, both my elder kids are attending full day childcare but my dad will fetch them from school and bring them back to their place. There’s no pressure on my part to have to leave work on time and fetch them from their childcare. Also, since I gave birth to #1, I’ve made arrangements for part-time help with the household chores. That has been helpful too, as we can spend our weekends with the kids and not worry too much about all the chores that needed to be done back home. My husband has been an excellent form of support, too. On days that I have to be in office early because of work, he handles the kids in the morning by himself and I must say he’s really awesome at it. I don’t have much to worry about when I’m away at work because I know the kids are well taken care of – at home, in school and at my mum’s place.

The counsellors’ training for 2018 will begin this month! We wish our trainee counsellors all the best and we look forward to having you with BMSG. Interested in becoming a counsellor? Look out for our trainings, which are held annually, in 2019!

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As the sole breastfeeding charity in Singapore, BMSG is a reliable, credible and trustworthy organisation that is thoroughly invested in normalising the act of breastfeeding in the local community. We desire to empower breastfeeding mothers and families by providing them with evidence-based information through mother-to-mother support.

We are a one-stop first-contact organisation where we are right at the frontlines- meeting breastfeeding mothers at any point during their journeys. We will also refer them to trusted breastfeeding professionals such as International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) and doctors who are well-equipped to support breastfeeding mothers. In addition, we have also consistently reached out to our policymakers such as Members of Parliament Louis Ng, Carrie Lim, Sun Xueling, and have also diligently attended closed-doors focus group discussions on women. Our members are known to be approachable, friendly and reliable as we take great pride in providing a community for breastfeeding families to rally together. As of now, such a rare and unique experience is currently exclusive to BMSG.

Hailing from the social service sector, BMSG wholeheartedly believes in altruism. Our main objective is to help facilitate and drive education for a breastfeeding nation. We are also experienced mothers who possess considerable breastfeeding knowledge and are professionally trained in counselling. Our Executive Committee members and BMSG Volunteer Breastfeeding Counsellors are passionate and well versed in breastfeeding developments around the world.

We advocate for unconditional positive regard, where we believe parents are always actively seeking to do what’s best for their children. This belief will be reiterated constantly across our counselling services and resources provided on the website and all our social media pages.

As a charity and support group in the social service and health sector, we are not driven by profits or agendas that will adversely influence how we share information and provide support for mothers. We also respond actively to breastfeeding-related developments in our country, such as producing position statements on breastfeeding in public or responding to conversations that happen in the public sphere that may affect breastfeeding mothers. We gave out employment support kits to 200 companies in 2021 to help them provide an inclusive and nurturing environment for breastfeeding employees who require specialised facilities.