IYCF Counselor - Aleppo Syria

MAIN TASKS:

Assessment:

• Conduct Focus Group Discussions and Needs Assessments to identify the specific needs and feeding gaps of adolescent mothers, and to inform the design of the mother-Baby Areas.
• Assess mother-child pairs to identify specific feeding support needs (through a Simple Rapid Assessment and if necessary, a Full Assessment);
• Assess the knowledge of the mothers before and after education sessions.

Counseling and Education:

• Provide tailored one-to-one counseling sessions to young mothers, in line with needs discovered in initial assessments, offering practical advice and education on key feeding issues;
• Provide one-to-one breastfeeding counseling for adolescent mothers experiencing difficulties breastfeeding, including supporting the relocation
• Integrate basic relaxation techniques, listening skills, and other basic MHPSS skills into the one-to-one counseling sessions, and refer young mothers needing specialized support.
• Counsel the young mothers on maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation;
• Provide preparatory counseling with pregnant girls for early initiation of breastfeeding and colostrum feeding, to prevent pre-lacteal feeds and bottle feeding;
• Ensure all mothers/caregivers/community are aware of the importance of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months;
• Provide adolescent mothers with practical advice on breastfeeding attachment and positioning and respond to any concerns or local taboos, myths, and misconceptions associated with breastfeeding;
• Counsel mothers on the appropriate time to introduce complementary feeding, and the benefits of continued breastfeeding and respond to any concerns or local taboos associated with complementary feeding;
• Educate young mothers on the quality, quantity, and frequency of complementary feeds to promote adequate weight gain;
• Lead group education sessions for adolescent mothers of children under two years old and contextualize messages for this specific age group
• Adapt education group sessions for adolescents, e.g. games, role plays, etc.
• Integrate basic MHPSS activities into the education sessions such as relaxation exercises, grounding techniques, etc.
• Consult with and involve the young mothers to share ideas in the group sessions, and over time support them to lead and facilitate the groups as agents of change.
• Arrange food demonstration sessions (on complementary feeding) to support key messages on dietary diversity, texture, amount, and ‘active feeding’ techniques.
• Discourage and educate mothers on the dangers of feeding bottles (also may exchange used bottles for cups);
• Provide ongoing guidance and support to mitigate the risks of artificial feeding such as cup feeding, preparation, and cleaning guidance.
• Contribute to the development of contextually appropriate IEC materials for local IYCF assessments, counseling, and message delivery.
• Utilize education materials on breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices, relaying accurate, practical, and specific advice for the mother’s needs;
• Promote the IYCF program for adolescent mothers to the community and stakeholders (location, time, activities, beneficiaries, etc.);
• Raise awareness of recommended IYCF practices to the community, gatekeepers, and key stakeholders, and provide regular feedback on the communities’ perceptions of the program;
• Conduct awareness on appropriate IYCF practices amongst other humanitarian actors in the locality
• Maintain strong referral linkages in the community.

Capacity Building and Training:

• Identify adolescent mothers to become peer educators or agents of change in their home villages, and support them to refer other young mothers;
• Identify Model Mothers and explore and replicate their best experiences in order to improve IYCF practices within the community;
• Train community outreach workers on nutrition screening, rapid IYCF assessments and best IYCF practices if relevant.

Referral and Coordination:

• Conduct referral mapping for referral to specialized services and keep it updated, visible.
• Ensure caregivers are aware of available services and advocate prioritization for caregivers, where necessary, in appropriate services and support;
• Refer mothers to specialized services and ensure a follow-up mechanism
• Refer all pregnant women to the next antenatal care services if not already informed;
• Identify/develop appropriate Information Education Communication (IEC) materials.

Reporting and Advocacy:

• Maintain records of mothers and children attending with counselling and education sessions, and all mother-baby pair assessments
• Submit monthly reporting of activities to the center coordinator.
• Document case studies regularly and share with team members;
• Play an active role in advocacy to promote proper IYCF practices, antenatal and post-natal checkups, importance of institutional deliveries, vaccination and growth monitoring.

Additional Tasks:

• Participate in other IYCF program duties as requested.