Mum with triplets welcomes any help she can get |15 November 2014

Ashley Cafrine is a young mum of Bougainville who has just given birth to triplets. The babies -- two boys and a girl -- are one-month-old and they are her first children. The boys have been named Ashron and Asheel and the girl Ashelle.

Ashley is proud of her children but as is expected taking care of three kids is quite a demanding and daunting task. She has the full help of her boyfriend and whole family members especially her mum Anne Marie. Though she is coping as best as she can, Ashley would like to see more assistance from agencies, organisations or members of the public.

Seychelles NATION journalist met Ashley at the Takamaka district administration where she was seeking assistance from the Welfare Agency.

“My mum has stopped working to help me take care of the triplets. So now the family, like my brothers and sisters, chip in with some money,” she said.

“The triplets have a tendency to wake up at the same time, crying all together at the same time and it is a very tough to deal with them when they are behaving like that,” said Ashley.

She said while feeding one she has to rock the cradle of the others at the same time. But if they are really hungry, she said, she has to rotate the feedings by putting the bottle in their mouth for a certain period of time, then remove and feed the other.

Ashley is however very grateful and appreciative for all the help and assistance she has received until now.

“Social Services is providing me with diapers and milk every month for one year. The Seychelles Trading Company (STC) is assisting me with R1,200 worth of baby products every month also for one year. I am therefore very thankful to them,” Ashley said.

Ashley is still on maternity leave and is supposed to resume work in January 2015. One thing that is really preoccupying her is who will look after her triplets or assist her with daycare when she resumes work.

“The welfare agency has told me I am not entitled for welfare or carer for the kids. But what they can do is assist me with someone to look after the triplets and with daycare. But this proposal needs to be put to the board first,” said Ashley, who thinks the process is dragging and taking too much time.

 But the good news is that the welfare agency will visit her and her babies Monday. So she is keeping her fingers crossed.

Talking about her pregnancy, Ashley said she was told at a very early stage during ante-natal consultation that she was expecting triplets.

“Being told and seeing them in real life are two different things,” said Ashley. She had emergency C-section for the delivery and the triplets had to spend some time in ICU as they were underweight. The boys were 2 and 1.6 kg respectively and the girl 1.3kg.

“But they gained their normal weight quite fast so it didn’t take long before we were released from hospital,” Ashley recalled.

As we all know caring for a baby, let alone three babies, is quite demanding on a mother. So Ashley is seeking assistance from anyone who wishes to help her in any way. She can be contacted on 2711948. Any assistance will be very much appreciated.

As for the father, Joel Rath, he is definitely happy about his triplets and was positive about things even if he didn’t say much.
“God will help and cater for us,” he said.

Marylene Julie