Creating and maintaining meaningful relationships

Our goal for this session is to identify and understand the importance of your circle of social support.

img Reviewing Your Chat With Zuri Zuri taught you how to make the best of your social relationships. These friends and family can be very supportive during the good times and bad times.

Identifying Unhealthy Thoughts

Have you ever had the thought that people don't care about you? Thoughts like this hurt us because they lead us to pull farther away from people. And when we pull away from others, they pull away from us. This can leave us feeling isolated and alone.

Here are a couple examples of the negative thoughts some women have, and how these thoughts make it hard to develop healthy relationships with others:

Unhealthy Thought Makes Us Feel/Do Which May Result In
No one likes to talk to me Start avoiding other people May lose important source of social support
Everyone else is better than me Avoid making friends Become isolated
img Writing Prompt When have you felt isolated from others? What led to this isolation?

Replacing Unhealthy Thoughts with Healthy Thinking

We can find flaws in just about everyone, and they can find flaws in us. Sometimes it helps to look past what makes us different and open up to new opportunities for friendship. Having regular contact with even just 1 or 2 people may bring you joy and support when you need it most. This is a good thing for your baby who will depend on you on good days and bad. You are worthy of friendship. Let's start turning negative thoughts into healthy ones.

Healthy Thought Makes Us Feel/Do Which May Result In
Everyone is born equal, why should I feel inferior Feel more confident to meet new people Develop support network to help in times of need
For the sake of my baby, I will make an effort to reduce tensions with my family Take steps to improve family relationships Less stress and better health for you and your baby
img Writing Prompt What are the things about you that make you a good friend?
img Let's Practice Practice is a big part of the Healthy Moms program. We must learn how to Think Healthy, and practice is an essential part of learning.

1. Identify Your Social Support

Use the image below to think about the people in your life who can support you during your pregnancy and after the baby is born. Who is your main support in your family? What about in your community? Write their names down under “Family” and “Community”.


Writing Prompt What type of support do you want from family, friends, and your community?

2. Eating a Healthy Diet

img Writing Prompt Review your previous diet chart. How can people support you in preparing food and meals?

Create a chart like this in your notebook and use it to monitor your diet.

Breakfast Lunch Snack Dinner
Ex. Tea, porridge, banana Chips and sausage Mandazi Ugali, beef stew, sukuma wiki
Day 1

Day 2

3. Making Time for Rest and Relaxation

img Slow Breathing:
  • Relax your body. Inhale for 3 seconds and exhale for 3 seconds.
  • Do this 2 to 3 times per day for 10 to 15 minutes each time.
img Singing or Humming Your Baby to Sleep:
  • Imagine that you are cradling your baby to sleep by singing or humming a lullaby
  • Try to do this 3-4 times a day
  • Soon it will feel natural
img Walking:
  • Follow a gentle walking pace.
  • Do this 1 time per day for 15 to 20 minutes.
img Sleep:
  • Let your mind relax
  • Try to sleep at least 8 hours a night and take a daily afternoon nap.

Create this chart in your notebook and track how often you try the rest and relaxation activities.

Did you practice slow breathing today? Did you go for a walk today? Did you get a full night’s sleep? Did you sing or hum?
Day 1 Yes / No Yes / No Yes / No Yes / No
Day 2 Yes / No Yes / No Yes / No Yes / No

4. Keeping Track of Your Mood

Remember, keeping track of your thoughts and feelings is a great way to see how you change and grow over time. So at least once a day, imagine the 10-step emotion ladder from Session 1 and rate how you are feeling. On the bottom step (1) are women who feel very sad and blue. On the top step (10) are women who feel great with no sadness. Which step best shows how you are feeling?

Create the following chart in your journal. If you are feeling very happy—as happy as you have ever been—you might tick the box for a 9 or 10. If you are having a really tough day, you might tick the box for step 1 or 2. Tick whatever box is right for you. Just remember that low numbers mean more sadness, and high numbers mean more happiness.


img Writing Prompt How have interactions with other people brightened your day?
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