Caring for mother and baby

New mothers are assured of excellent care during confinement to help them recover

and regain strength and wellness.

Offering bundled mother-care and baby-care services, each package is handled by a trained confinement woman, whom Zamzana refers to as a postnatal therapist.

Mother-care services include confinement-compliant food, postnatal massage, “bertungku” (a traditional Malay treatment using a hot compress to warm up the body, help expel wind and improve blood circulation), “bengkung” or girdlewearing (worn after each massage to improve body shape), herbal bath, traditional vaginal steam or “bertangas” (for healing purposes and fertility) and body scrub.

Confinement food provided by the company.

HIGH DEMAND

Pantang Plus has 40 postnatal therapists aged between 25 and 60, catering to customers throughout Malaysia as well as overseas such as Australia, United Kingdom and the Middle East.

From only four bookings a month, the business has an average of 15 bookings a day now.

Pantang Plus employees have between five and 30 years of experience in postnatal massage and taking care of mothers during confinement.

“Our aim is to make a confinement woman a professional career.

“We don’t call them makcik tukang urut

(masseuse) and regard them as postnatal therapists,” says Zamzana.

“Our therapists undergo a training module and are groomed to be professional and look presentable.

“We also encourage our therapists to go for courses in beauty and wellness to improve their knowledge and skills,” she says, adding that some of the therapists earn up to RM4,000 a month.

HELPING UNWED MOMS

As a social enterprise, Pantang Plus is determined to help unwed mothers, particularly teenagers.

Besides basic parenting skills, it provides an avenue for the young mothers to learn skills to earn a living.

“Most of them are left alone to cope with their new life. And that triggered us to reach out and make a change,” says Zamzana.

“We use part of our profits to empower these young mothers to make a living. And we’ve just finished training 10 young mothers to be mobile postnatal therapists.”

“They have the option to set up their own business or work with us.

“Pantang Plus is more than just a business,” says Zamzana. “It’s about helping people to better their lives.”