Making Caregiving
More Transparent

"Sister Zhang has an easygoing personality and is patient when caring for the baby. She handled the baby’s daily basic care very well, including feeding, burping, diaper changes, soothing to sleep, bathing, and more, and she also shared some experience and advice on caring for newborns along the way. Whenever the baby had any needs, she always took care of them right away, letting me finish my meal or finish what I was doing first. She was very serious and responsible. By the baby’s one-month mark, the baby’s routine had become more regular, nighttime sleep stretches had gradually become longer, and the baby’s weight had increased rapidly. During the postpartum confinement period, having Sister Zhang help share the baby-care work really made things much easier overall. She also did breast massage to help with milk flow and uterine massage, which were very helpful for postpartum recovery. In terms of food, she mainly made home-style postpartum meals and adjusted them based on my physical condition, along with the daily postpartum herbal water. Overall, it suited our taste quite well. Communication was also fairly smooth throughout our time together—we could speak openly, and she was able to cooperate with and adjust to the needs we raised. Overall, she always put the baby and the mother first. She is a fairly serious, responsible, and professional top-rated maternity matron. I recommend Sister Zhang!!"

"Auntie Liu Hongjun is very patient and takes especially meticulous care of the baby, treating the baby like her own child. Every day she helped us soothe the baby to sleep and look after the child. Her techniques are professional and gentle, and we felt completely at ease leaving our child in her care. Whenever the baby had eczema, gas, or other issues, she could address them right away, reducing the baby’s discomfort, and she also taught us many childcare tips. Her cooking is also excellent. Every day she made different postpartum meals for me, always worried that I might not be getting enough nutrition. She helped me produce plenty of breast milk, with even extra left for the baby. She made both me and my husband eat very well, and she also helped me recover quickly. I’m especially grateful to her. During this period, Auntie took care of both me and my baby and helped us so much. If any friends need a maternity matron, I will definitely recommend her first."

"We originally only wanted to sign for 30 days, but she said her schedule was hard to arrange and insisted that we sign for 40 days, so we agreed. Not long after the second wage settlement, she suddenly said she wanted to leave early and had already arranged her next job. She collected the money in installments, and the contract was signed too, but only after collecting the money did she say she wanted to leave. The $2,000 deposit could only be deducted in the last 13 days, so that entire service period she was holding that $2,000, and if something went wrong, you had to think twice first. The contract also forcibly included a 10% tip. It was not a suggestion, it was mandatory, and the whole contract was written to protect her interests. Attitude She habitually spoke in a commanding tone, was very strong-willed, and always believed she was right. We hired a postpartum nanny hoping someone would help me through the hardest period, but instead I had to deal with this way of interacting every day. Flashlight At night, when I checked the monitor, she was holding the baby and playing on her phone. When messages came in, the flash notification kept blinking nonstop in the dark baby’s room. It wasn’t something I mentioned only once. Every time I brought it up, she made excuses, and the last time it directly turned into an argument while the baby was sleeping right next to her. It only stopped because I was the one who first said I didn’t want to continue. There was no apology and no change. That night we decided to let her go. Always on the phone She used her phone while caring for the baby. The flashlight incident only brought this problem into the open; in reality it ran through the entire service period. No respect for privacy She would push the door open and come in whenever she wanted without any warning at all. Even in the morning while we were still sleeping, she would just open the door and walk in. We reminded her about it, and she said she didn’t do that and argued back on the spot. Did not take care of our belongings She damaged two faucets by using excessive force, one became crooked and one leaked and could not be shut off. In the end we had to replace them to solve the problem. She used a lot of force in everything she did, slamming doors and drawers loudly. During postpartum recovery I was already sleeping lightly, and saying something to her was useless. Kitchen hygiene She never wiped the sink dry after using it. After she left, we discovered the grout had already become moldy and black. The refrigerator handle was greasy, and there were often oil stains on the table. A lot of details did not hold up under scrutiny. Because I didn’t want to get up early, I proactively said breakfast didn’t need to be made, just two meals, thinking she could spend more time on the baby. But the things she was lax about stayed the same. Professional negligence After my C-section, I had been using my hands to brace myself when getting up, and now my tenosynovitis is very serious. It hurts even to hold my baby, and I need steroid injections. During the entire service period, she never once reminded me to pay attention to the proper way of getting up after a C-section. This is the most basic thing a postpartum nanny should tell you. Something went missing She had us buy an electric whisk she asked for, and when using it she even asked how much it cost and said she wanted one too. After she left, it was simply gone. It was only worth a few dozen yuan, but this kind of behavior made me very uncomfortable. The day she left We helped her buy her plane ticket, reimbursed her car fare, and even gave her an extra half day’s pay in hopes of parting on good terms. She refused and wanted a full day. In a sarcastic tone she said, “That little bit of money won’t make you rich if you keep it, and I won’t be poor without it.” She was getting ready to start cursing in the street. After arriving at the airport, she messaged again saying a $45 baggage fee had not been reimbursed, and then messaged again the next day. Speechless. After the new nanny arrived and checked the baby supplies, she found that the bottom of the bottle sterilizer was full of limescale, dark and filthy, and had never been cleaned. The baby’s bottles were being sterilized in there every day, and I had no idea before. After leaving my home, Sun Meiyun discussed my private matters at her new employer’s home, and without any factual basis, spread false information about my profession to that employer and to a postpartum nanny helper, making up rumors and malicious guesses about my work and identity. While she was at my home, she also repeatedly mentioned negative things about her previous employer, complained that the employer had “threatened her,” and attributed my slow postpartum reactions and similar issues to employer-related problems, while frequently speaking badly about her former employer. Looking back now, people who constantly create negative narratives between different employers are exactly the kind you should cut your losses on early. While she was at my home, whenever I, as the mother, went to see my baby, understand how the baby was doing, or raised reasonable opinions, she would say I was “too much” or “like a supervisor.” It was as if an employer was not allowed to care about her own child or raise opinions about the care work. Besides that, she often recommended expensive silk comforters, bird’s nest products, and postpartum recovery programs to postpartum mothers. I later learned from a postpartum recovery staff member that for every client she successfully referred to postpartum recovery services, she could receive a $500 referral fee. This also made me question her true motives in recommending these services. She also long-term recruits nannies to come to the U.S. through Douyin livestreams and recommends related people and services to mothers. A person’s professional ability can improve, but character and professional ethics are the bottom line. Talking about employers behind their backs, putting down different employers to each other, spreading private information, being unable to accept reasonable supervision, and treating clients as targets for sales and profit all showed me very clear problems with boundaries and professional conduct. Even more ironically, from what I understand, her current employer is also not satisfied with her service. And they have already dismissed her early."