How to use Messages for Mothers Content

A ‘how to’ guide to using and sharing Messages for Mothers content

Messages for Mothers is a collaborative project that is curating and disseminating evidence-based information for mothers in response to COVID-19. All the content is open source and our aim is for other organisations and individuals to use our messages freely and to distribute them as far and as wide as possible.

All content is available at www.messagesformothers.co.za and is organised according to four pillars – Physical Health, Mental Health, Mindfulness and Parenting in the Pandemic. Within each pillar you will find that the messages have been designed into PDFs as well as infographics in order that the content can be used in the most appropriate way for your particular purpose. We recommend using the PDF’s for websites, sharing as email attachments and printing for distribution with those who will be working directly with mothers. We recommend using the infographics to share via your social media and WhatsApp platforms.

Please follow the guide below for a more in depth look at how to navigate the content within each pillar on the website and then how to share via various channels.

Physical Health

1. English FAQs – this is an English PDF version of 21 FAQs that relate to adult and maternal physical health.
2. Child Health FAQs – this is an English PDF version of 15 FAQs that relate to child physical health.
3. If you click on any of the blue links at this page, you will find the relevant infographic for the individual FAQs that are found in the PDF version.

We are working to get all physical health messages translated into additional languages and uploaded to the website.

Mental Health

1. 7 Mental Health FAQs are available in English, Afrikaans, isiZulu and isiXhosa. At each of the links you will find a PDF version of the 7 messages as well as the relevant infographics (blue links) for some of the 7 FAQs. We are working on getting all content translated into additional languages and uploaded to the website.
2. Click here to find mental health messages in podcast version in various different languages. Please scroll down within the link to see the available messages.

Mindfulness

Three mindfulness exercises in podcast and written form are available in three languages at the above link. Please see below for more detailed info on accessing the 3 exercises:

• Intro to Breathing – click on this link for access to the written and sound format of this exercise. You can choose the language you’d like to download in at the link.
• 2 minutes of breathing – click on this link for access to the written and sound format of this exercise. You can choose the language you’d like to download in at the link.
• Noticing and breathing – click on this link for access to the written and sound format of this exercise. You can choose the language you’d like to download in at the link.

Parenting in the Pandemic

1. Click on any blue link on the Parenting in the Pandemic page to find the PDF version and infographic version of each message developed within this pillar.
2. Child Health FAQs –  this is the same English PDF version of 15 FAQs that relate to child physical health that is found within the Physical Health pillar.

How to download images and save them to share on social media:

Go to the message you’d like to share to social media by clicking on the blue link as per the guide above.

Scroll down until you see this:

Right click on the first image and select ‘save image as’

Save the image to your computer as you would any other document. Save the other images in the series using the same process.

Log in to the social media platform on which you’d like to share the image and upload from your computer.

How to share images via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Facebook, Twitter and Email:

Go to the message you’d like to share to social media by clicking on the blue link as per the guide above.

Scroll down until you see this:

Click on the icon that will take you to the platform you’d like share via (see arrows below). This should pop up a new window on your browser and you may be asked to log in. Once logged in, the image should appear in that platform and you can add text and share!

A few notes on using the M4M content:

1. Should you require any of the above messages in a format other than PDF or infographic please contact Leanne at leanne@embrace.org.za.
2. If you use our messages unchanged, it would be great if you could use our logo as this may direct your user group to other information we have available.
3. If you adapt our messages, please check with us before attaching our logo.
4. Either way, please let us know:
   1. How we should improve on our messages and what has worked/not worked for your beneficiaries and why.
   1. Any details you can share re how you have adapted, used and distributed the messages.

To this end, we have a feedback form which can be found here. Please could you take the time to complete it. All this will greatly assist us with our monitoring and evaluation of our work.

If you have any questions regarding this guide, please don’t hesitate to contact Leanne Porter at leanne@embrace.org.za.