Making Caregiving
More Transparent

"Auntie Huang is truly a conscientious and responsible maternity nanny. She took especially thoughtful care of both my baby and me. For my diet, she adjusted and prepared my postpartum drinks each day according to my condition. Every meal included a variety of vegetables and two or three meat dishes, with a balanced and nutritious mix of meat and vegetables. She also made many desserts, such as double-skin milk, steamed sponge cake, and water chestnut cake. She is skilled at cooking all kinds of chicken dishes, and her steamed fish is especially outstanding—the taste is no worse than a restaurant's. Every day, she also prepared mugwort water for me to soak my feet in, which was very thoughtful in the details. During the first week, I had painful breast engorgement, and Auntie Huang stayed up all night helping me relieve it and express milk, which was really hard work. When I had headaches, she would also massage acupressure points to help relieve them. My baby spit up quite severely, but Auntie Huang washed and changed things diligently, so the baby was always kept very clean. Every time she got the baby to sleep, she would immediately rush to the kitchen to prepare food. When my breasts became engorged in the middle of the night, she would quickly bring the baby to me so I could breastfeed, then go back to the kitchen to prep vegetables and make dough. Her time management was excellent; she hardly wasted any time at all. She also cooked very quickly and could prepare a whole table of dishes in half an hour. Thanks to Auntie Huang during this time, both my baby and I felt very well cared for. I highly recommend her!"

"Strongly recommend Jiang Jiang. If you’re bringing home your first baby, she’s the teammate you want. We were first-time parents with a lot of questions and not much experience. Jiang Jiang was with us full-time for our daughter’s first month (8 hours a day, Monday through Friday). She didn’t just take care of the baby; she taught us. She showed us how to change diapers, mix formula, bottle feed and bathe a newborn. By the end of the month, we felt like we knew what we were doing. We chose her partly because of her background as a nurse at a confinement center. She also answered all of our questions about health emergencies and AAP baby-care guidelines. That experience showed every day. What stood out most to me was how she took care of my wife. The postpartum weeks are hard, and Jiang Jiang was calm, gentle and steady the whole way through. There were always warm drinks and soups ready, and she cooked three Chinese postpartum meals a day. Her kind presence took a lot of weight off both of us. She cooked for me and our visitors too, and every meal was different and delicious. I don’t speak Mandarin, which was one of our concerns going in. It was never a problem. She always made sure I understood what the baby needed. Her work ethic is unmatched. I don’t think I ever saw her sit still. If she wasn’t with the baby, she was cooking or cleaning. The best endorsement I can give is that after the first month, we brought her back for two more months, 3 days a week. She gave the same care and cooked the same great food. Any family would be lucky to have her. Thank you, Jiang Jiang. We’ll miss you!"

"I’ve been busy with moving and work for the past few months, and only today did I finally find time to write Auntie Qian a positive review. My baby went through three maternity nannies in a row; the shortest one left after just two days. It wasn’t that they were bad people, but they had that kind of perfunctory attitude where their body was present but their heart wasn’t: when the baby cried, they would pick her up, pat her casually a couple of times, and put her down; when the baby developed heat rash, they said, “It’s fine, all babies get that”; after the baby pooped, they would not even clean her bottom, leaving it red. During those days, I held my baby, covered in red heat rash and crying until she was hoarse, all by myself. I can’t describe how heartbroken I was 💔 I was so overwhelmed that I wanted to buy a ticket home immediately. (But the baby’s documents had not been completed yet.) It wasn’t until Auntie Qian arrived that my tightly wound nerves finally relaxed! Auntie Qian came in, put down her suitcase, and without even taking a sip of water, immediately went to the bathroom to shower and change into clean pajamas before going to see the baby. She gently turned the baby over, unwrapped the swaddle, and frowned as soon as she touched her back: the baby was wearing too much, and the extra swaddling had caused heat rash. Only then did I realize that the previous maternity nannies had been afraid the baby would “catch a chill,” so even with the heat on indoors, they had wrapped her in two layers of swaddles. Auntie Qian immediately adjusted the room temperature, removed some clothing, and began her care routine... The next day there were fewer red spots; on the third day they began fading; and by the fifth day, my baby’s skin finally felt smooth again. Watching the patches of heat rash disappear, my eyes really welled up, and my heart felt so warm. My baby’s bottom had previously become so red that some of the skin was broken, and I was terribly worried. But with Auntie Qian’s attentive care, the diaper rash was healed in less than two days as well. I’m truly so grateful to Auntie Qian! But what moved me most about Auntie Qian was not these skills—it was that she truly treated the baby like a little treasure. She sings nursery rhymes to the baby every day. When changing diapers, she tells the baby, “You pooped. Let’s wash your little bottom and put on a new diaper so you’ll feel comfortable,” and then recites three-character nursery rhymes. She also communicates with the baby while burping her. During everyday interactions, she sings the baby many English nursery rhymes too, and even I think they sound lovely. When my husband flew over from China and saw this, he was stunned and said, “This isn’t a maternity nanny—she’s like the baby’s own grandmother.” She is very good at communicating with the baby. When changing clothes, she says, “Now let’s raise your little hand,” and during baths, “The water temperature is just right, don’t be afraid.” She is not talking to herself; she is genuinely communicating with the baby. Later I learned that this is early language development—this is how a baby’s sense of security and feel for language are built up little by little. Auntie Qian never takes credit and never says, “See how great I am,” but I remember every change I saw in my baby. On the day she left, I walked her to the door. The baby was quiet and peaceful in her arms, and I started crying. She handed the baby back to me, patted me, and said, “You’ve done very well. This is what all mothers go through.” If you are also looking for a maternity nanny, I sincerely recommend Auntie Qian! Her attentiveness, patience, and sense of responsibility truly moved me! Not only did she help my baby develop a nice round head from sleeping, she also raised my baby into a little angel who loves to babble and smile (by “talkative,” I mean baby babbling)."