MummyNanny Blog: Your Guide to Postpartum Confinement & Nanny Care

New mothers often experience fatigue and weakness during the first few weeks after giving birth, making it difficult for them to care for their newborns, prepare meals, and keep the house in order. This is where Confinement Nannies come in, providing postpartum care, nutrition, and support to help new mothers recover. However, hiring a Confinement Nanny can be a strain on a tight budget. This article will explore why new mothers need Confinement Nannies, where to find them, and how much they cost, as well as tips on how to reduce confinement care expenses. It also covers the process of hiring a Confinement Nanny, including the average prices, work permit, and other miscellaneous fees, and offers tools and resources to help new mothers navigate the process. Contents Why do I need a Confinement Nanny? Where can I find a Confinement Nanny? How much do I need to hire a Confinement Nanny? How can I reduce Confinement Care Expenses? Most new mothers (Mummies) find themselves to be extremely weak and tired during the first few weeks after delivery. “It was as if 80% of my life force was drained”, says Janice, a Mummy who talked to MummyNanny about this topic. “All I wanted to do was sleep”. As a Mummy, more uninterrupted sleep and good nutrition equal faster recovery and milk production. However, that will hardly be the case if you have to wake up every 1–2 hours to attend to a crying baby, prepare 3 sets of nutritional meals to stay alive and do house chores to keep the living space from falling apart. That is why every Mummy deserves Postpartum Confinement — the 28-day period where they can lay back and let someone else handle any interruption to their recovery. Unfortunately, the financial costs involved in hiring such a person (a Confinement Nanny) can strain those on a tight budget. “Never stay alone in the house with the baby”, Janice warns. “If possible, get help with even taking your bath. Mummies can easily lose their balance in the bath and that is not something you want to experience”. The need for an experienced pair of hands goes way beyond taking care of the baby and cooking. There is postpartum massage, information about the dos and don’ts, guidance on caring for the baby in preparation for life after Confinement, as well as mental and physical support — the kind that can be offered only by a previous Mummy. According to Janice, “Staying indoors for a month without regular company can easily lead to depression”. You can get a Confinement Nanny by recommendation from family members, friends, colleagues or online forums. Another way to get a Confinement Nanny is through social media groups or Agencies. Last but not least is the Confinement Nanny Listing, a platform for Confinement Nannies to showcase their job portfolios and contact information so that Mummies can easily find them in one place. There are three sets of expenses when it comes to hiring a Confinement Nanny: (i) salary; (ii) application fees for a work permit, levy and medical insurance (this only applies when the Confinement Nanny is a foreigner and requires a work permit); and (iii) miscellaneous fees. Besides work permit, levy and medical insurance fees, every other fee varies depending on the Confinement Nanny in question. As of September 2022, the average prices of hiring a Confinement Nanny in Malaysia, Singapore and Other Countries for 28 days are RM7000, S$3700 and $4800, respectively. Bear in mind that Confinement Nannies often ask for higher salaries if the job falls within a festive season (e.g., Chinese New Year) or if they have to take care of twins or triplets. Current salary distributions can be found on the Pricing Page. Mummies residing in Singapore are required to apply for a visa and health insurance for Confinement Nannies from Malaysia. The following figures were recorded at the time of writing: Work Permit: S$35 per application Levy: S$60 per month (Singaporean babies) or S$300 per month (non-Singaporean babies) Medical Insurance: around $100 to S$250 These applications are pretty straightforward. Refer to The Step-by-step Guide on how to apply for a Work Permit for your Confinement Nanny in Singapore. Just like salary, the miscellaneous fees you will be charged entirely depend on the Confinement Nanny in question. Some include: Ang Pao (usually presented at the beginning and end of the job) Transportation Stairs Cooking for family members Postnatal Massage Family Laundry House chores Ensure that you keep written documentation of the agreed salary and miscellaneous fees to avoid misunderstandings in the future. The Confinement Nanny Job Scope Generator is a free tool designed for this specific purpose. Contact several Confinement Nannies and choose from the least expensive. Contrary to popular belief, a high salary is not an indication of high experience or good job performance. Moreover, some Confinement Nannies are willing to charge less than their normal salaries to cover certain slots for the year. However, finding a lot of Confinement Nannies, contacting each of them, sorting them according to their salaries and interviewing the selected ones can be overwhelming. A hack to this is to simply auction your job on the Confinement Nanny Job Auction platform. The platform is free for Mummies to use and it alerts Confinement Nannies to place their bids once an auction starts. Depending on your preference, the auction can last from a few hours to a couple of days. Once the auction ends, you can contact the Confinement Nannies with the least bids. You can also view their profiles on the platform to get more insight into their work experience and skills. “I set my budget as RM6000 for 28 days and 8 Nannies placed bids less than RM5000”, said Mrs Sally, a Mummy who recently auctioned her job on the platform. Another Mummy said “I believe many mums will benefit from this. I’ll give it a try since there’s nothing to lose.” Some Confinement Nannies offer flexible part-time packages which allow them to work during hours specified by the Mummy. Some Mummies ask for assistance with the baby at night so that they can get enough sleep while others prefer the Nanny to work during the day. You can use the search options in the Confinement Nanny Listing to find a Confinement Nannies who offer part-time packages that suit your preference. You can consider this option if you have relatives like grandparents, parents or in-laws, who are knowledgeable in preparing confinement meals. However, not everyone will find it convenient to dedicate their time to prepare a minimum of 3 meals per day for 28 days, so keep that in mind when you explore this option. You can opt for delivery service if you are unable to get someone to prepare confinement meals at home. There are now lots of confinement meal catering services that provide a complete menu for 28 days. Besides helping you to minimize costs, having your meals delivered to your doorstep can also be a convenient option for those who do not want to go through the hassle of buying special ingredients, obtaining the necessary kitchen equipment and having the required cooking environment. You’ve got this covered if you have a maid at home. Otherwise, your husband can take charge during this period. If your husband is not able to dedicate enough time to this, you can also get a part-time helper who can come in for a couple of hours a day to put things in order.

Finally, the platform we’ve all been waiting for is here! We bring you MummyNanny, a platform that connects Mummies with the most suitable freelance Nannies for a better home confinement experience. As a Mummy, you can now find all your stay-home confinement Nannies in one place and contact them without any hassle. We provide you with advanced search features to find Nannies based on the languages they speak, where they reside in, their estimated daily salary and their skills. We also provide you a money-back guarantee to put your mind at ease when looking to hire a freelance confinement Nanny. Our money-back guarantee ensures that any down-payment (excluding the service fee) that was made through the MummyNanny payment system will be refunded in case the Nanny is unable to start the job. We know that it is very important for you to get a Nanny that best meets your confinement needs and specific requirements. Nannies you find online can tell you all about their job experience when you contact them. You can also get to know about Nannies and their abilities through relatives, friends and colleagues. However, you will not be able to verify these claims or decide whether the Nanny meets your personal requirements without seeing a tangible proof of their work. That is why our goal is help you to make better hiring decisions by showing you the Portfolios of each Nanny’s previous jobs, which will include samples of their work as well as comments and recommendations by registered Mummies who have already experienced their services. A Nanny's Portfolios are a collection of well organised records that demonstrate the competencies of the Nanny. Each of the Nanny's Portfolio contains first-hand reviews, recommendations and photos uploaded by the Mummy who employed the Nanny for that job. Portfolio entries are grouped in different categories that are relevant to assess a Nanny's knowledge and skills for providing the required confinement services and experience. Since Portfolios are added for every job, they also contain the most recent skills acquired by the Nanny. MummyNanny takes quality very seriously, that is why Nannies are ranked based on Nanny Rank and Experience Points. When you search for Nannies on MummyNanny, the Nannies will be displayed in a list starting from those with the highest Nanny Rank or Experience points, depending on your preference. Whenever a Nanny is hired for a job, the Mummy ranks the Nanny’s cooking skill, baby care skill and mummy care skill. The Nanny Rank is the average of all the Nanny’s cooking, baby care and mummy care ranks. Experience Points indicate the number of jobs that have been successfully completed by the Nanny. Once you make a down-payment for a Nanny through the MummyNanny payment system, a Portfolio will be created for the job. You will have the opportunity to rank the Nanny’s skills as well as provide reviews and recommendations about the Nanny in the Portfolio for public viewing. The Nanny will also have the opportunity to provide reviews about the job experience in the Portfolio. As a Nanny, you can now create an online presence for yourself as a brand. This is a great chance to be discovered by Mummies wherever they are. MummyNanny also provides you with the ability to create a Portfolio for each job you complete. With portfolios, you can show Mummies actual proof of your work experience and keep record of all your jobs. Portfolios provide tangible proof of your work history, experience, relevant skills, and abilities, which demonstrates to Mummies that you are qualified for the job and meet their specific confinement requirements. Portfolios are also a great way to keep track of your accomplishments and take note of when you have acquired key competencies. However, putting together a complete Portfolio can take quite a while, especially if you are a Nanny who is always busy on a job. Always making sure that the Portfolio is up-to-date can even be more challenging. But sit back and relax, because MummyNanny is here for you. Whether you are a Mummy or a Nanny, joining MummyNanny is free! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us and we will be thrilled to assist you in any way we can. Thank you! The MummyNanny Team