The Star Malaysia

Confinemen­t lady took care of 12 babies in 18 months

- Compiled by LIEW JIA XIAN, Junaid Ibrahim and r. ARAVINTHAN

A MALAYSIAN “confinemen­t lady” who was stuck in Singapore due to the Covid-19 travel restrictio­ns managed to take care of 12 babies within a span of 18 months, China Press reported.

The 57-year-old woman, who wished to be known only as Lee, has been a confinemen­t lady for the past 16 years.

A confinemen­t lady takes care of both mother and baby during the confinemen­t period after childbirth.

Lee went to Singapore on March 17 last year as one of her customers was ready to give birth, and she had to take care of her during her first month post-delivery.

Initially, she had planned to head back to Malaysia after a month, but since the movement control order was implemente­d on March 18 last year, she had been staying in the republic since.

With the recommenda­tion of her previous customers and her sharing on Facebook, she managed to get hired and has taken care of 12 babies in 18 months.

Lee, who is a single mother herself, has three sons and a daughter.

“Only my eldest child is in Singapore and my other children are in

Malaysia,” she said.

“We can only keep in touch through video calls,” she said, adding that she is thankful that her customers are nice and considerat­e.

“They treated me like family and some even wrote thank-you cards when I left.

“Being a confinemen­t lady can be tiring and stressful, but I am grateful to meet many kind customers who eased my burden.

“When I am not working, I will meet up with other confinemen­t ladies from Malaysia,” she added.

> Malaysian actress Lin Min Chen could not help it and burst into tears as she missed her family when she celebrated Chinese New Year alone in Taiwan early this year, reported Oriental Daily.

With her high popularity overseas, the 31-year-old showbiz star has spent most of her time in Hong Kong and Taiwan for work.

As she had to undergo the compulsory quarantine most of the time, she jokingly dubbed herself the “queen of quarantine”.

Due to her busy schedule, she has not returned to Malaysia for almost a year.

Even though she was busy and homesick, she faced that time with a positive mindset.

She admitted that it is hard for her to head home as she has many jobs in Hong Kong and Taiwan, in addition to the serious Covid-19 situation in Malaysia.

However, she said she feels more relieved as her family is fully vaccinated and have been isolating at home.

The actress said that she communicat­es with her family through video chats to relieve her homesickne­ss.

She hopes to make it home for a reunion dinner with her family next year.

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