Chronicle Editor
Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Health Reporter
A cute tiny newborn baby clings to Sister Jan Johnston nee Millar for warmth as she tries to familiarise herself with the new environment at Bulawayo’s Mater Dei Hospital.
Unbeknown to her, the warm and gentle hands that are carefully holding her 1,9kg body will be the same to hold her own babies decades later.
The baby and her twin are part of the hundreds of babies who have had a chance to experience the love and care of Sister Jan.
With years of experience as a nurse, antenatal care teacher and a doula, Sister Jan has become a household name for many new mothers in Bulawayo and beyond.
From taking new mothers through the journey of motherhood and running a baby clinic where she ensures that babies go through all the necessary vaccinations, she has also helped a lot more women through labour and delivery.
Born in Zambia back in 1956, Sister Jan says she is part of the fifth generation of nurses in her family and wanted to be a nurse as early as when she was five.
She completed her secondary education at Townsend High School before embarking in her journey which she describes as the most fulfilling in her lifetime.
“So yes, I am the fifth generation of nurses and unfortunately the line ends with me because my one daughter is a chef and the other one is a teacher. I was educated here in Bulawayo I went to St Peters School which is now the Adventist Dentist Practice and then Townsend before I left for my nurse training at Greys Hospital Pietermaritzburg, South Africa from April 1974 to April 1977,” says Sister Jan as she recalls how it all started.
“I came back and worked at United Bulawayo Hospital with the late Sister Mathison, my mentor in private wards.
After six months I went to the United Kingdom to do my midwifery course for a year,” she said.
Sister Jan says the first babies she helped deliver and care for in Bulawayo turn 42 this year.
“So, I came back again and worked at Lady Rodwell which was absolutely wonderful and I enjoyed taking care of my babies. The experience promoted me to further my studies and I did a special course in child care in Cape Town that same year.”
She says after the course, Mater Dei Hospital offered her a job and she worked for just six months and went back to the United Kingdom to work as a maternity nurse for the same period.
“The back and forth went on. I would enjoy working at Mater Dei Hospital and then back to the UK as a maternal nurse. These jobs gave me good money for the pleasurable job I was doing and I made sure that I lived life to its fullest,” she said.
For Sister Jan one of the most rewarding moment of her career was when she got a job at Falcon College at their Sanatorium.
“Within a few months I met some boys who shared their stories of how I had helped deliver them back in the days. It was so fulfilling to take care of these big boys that I helped deliver back in the days, not knowing the cycle would still continue,” she smiles.
Her Falcon journey came to an end when she had to take care of her two daughters back home in Bulawayo who are now aged 27 and 25.
After that, she was also afforded a chance to take care of pupils at White Stone as a nurse until 2004.
In 2006 Sister Jan started birth classes and so far, she has helped more than 400 women with advice and tips to handle ailments that come with pregnancy, motherhood and taking care of babies.
Again, she was delighted to see her former Falcon pupils bring their wives for the classes, giving her yet another chance to reconnect with the ‘bigger’ babies she helped deliver.
By that time, she realised she would do the full cycle for many of her clients and gladly used the opportunity to demystify some of the myths that come with motherhood especially for her clients of colour.
“Antenatal care prepares for motherhood which can be overwhelming hence the need for one to get reassurance that they are normal and able to bear all the challenges that come with having a baby. I enjoy calming all the fears that mothers have and knowing they can count on me even during the night so they enjoy the priceless gift of motherhood,” she says.
“I have also learnt a lot about the African culture from my clients who often leave my place relieved after hearing that some of these beliefs are not true. The most common is one is on drinking cold beverages during pregnancy which to some causes one to shiver during labour. One is likely to shiver during labour when they have pushed for a prolonged time and it does not have anything to do with what they ate or drank during pregnancy,” she says.
“I love my African clients, they are amazing and have taught me a lot and quite frankly they appreciate all the help I render to them despite having different cultural backgrounds,” says sister Jan.
She adds that she enjoys seeing fathers being actively involved in the care of their babies, a culture which was not very applauded back in the days.
On breast feeding, sister Jan says mothers should do their best to ensure their babies are well fed and if possible, try and only give breast milk.
She says one of her memorable experiences in 1985 was when a woman donated a whooping 51 litres of breast milk to preterm babies at Mater Dei Hospital.
“Then HIV and Aids was not as prevalent and we used to store her milk and give it to preterm babies as she has lots of milk. In total she donated 51litres and was in the Chronicle for that as her kind gesture helped many babies,” she says.
Sister Jan says despite challenges, she will continue running the baby clinic and helping mothers as long as she can although she turns 65 this year.
“I love what I do and nothing gives me more pleasure than taking care of babies and ‘coaching’ their mothers. In terms of advice, I would say members of the public should never ever compare their babies and secondly, they can read all they want on baby care but should never google symptoms as they can be stressful, rather they should consult knowledgeable people.” — @thamamoe.
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