[Review] Pros and Cons of Hiring a PEM Confinement Nanny

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Tina Loh

social media influencer and mum of 2

Tina Loh is a social media influencer and a proud mum of two boys. She loves all things under the sun, ranging from food, beauty to travelling. Before embarking on her motherhood journey, she enjoyed travelling to exotic places like East Timor and Fiji.

I am in a few mummies chat groups and one of the most common complaints I have heard were terrible confinement nannies. For me, I wouldn’t be able to imagine entrusting a newborn and myself to someone inexperienced or with poor attitude. This is why I feel that it is best to engage nanny services from an agency, especially PEM which is the largest agency in Singapore.

 

Confinement Nanny - PEM Confinement Nanny Agency

Here’s the pros of engaging PEM:

(1) Trained confinement nannies

There is no doubt that the confinement period is very important to help us regain health and vitality. I find that it is extremely important for there to be proper care provided by a trained professional.

PEM Confinement Nanny Agency is the first agency in Singapore that has an in-house training centre where nannies undergo special classes on breastfeeding, proper hygiene practices and confinement diet planning. All their nannies also have to undergo a test at the end of their training to examine their level of skills and knowledge acquired during training.

My nanny even told me that she attended a refresher course again and was issued a handbook to guide them on the dos and don’ts. Very good initiative by PEM!

(2) Positive reviews

There are several confinement nanny agencies in Singapore. Based on my checks, PEM was considered affordable and mummies have told me that PEM has better quality nannies who are dedicated and well-trained. These nannies could also whip up decent confinement food!

Confinement Meals Prepared by Confinement Nanny

(3) Convenience

Time is money so I believe we would all like to save as much time as possible. Engaging a confinement nanny through an agency definitely helps to reduce the hassle of applying for, collecting, and terminating work permits. If your confinement nanny does not work out for you, you could also go back to the agency, and there would be free replacement of confinement nannies (max of 2 replacements) by PEM. In this case, you would not have to put up with a nanny who does not suit your liking. After delivery, I called PEM to inform them about it, and they quickly assigned a nanny to me. Her profile was even emailed over.

(4) Largest confinement nanny agency in Singapore

PEM was established in 1987 and has a huge pool of around 400 confinement nannies. They are also the first Ministry of Manpower (MOM) licensed employment agency specialising in the provision of confinement lady services. I have heard of several mummies whose confinement nannies decided to “fly kite” on them. In the end, they either had to cope on their own or get their mums to help. Since PEM is an established company with such a big pool of nannies, it provides reassurance that we would definitely get a nanny if we signed up in time.

So, what’s the downside of engaging a confinement nanny agency? 

Well, it would mean that you can’t specify a particular nanny unless you are willing to pay more, but this applies to many freelance nannies out there, especially the popular ones.

Confinement Nanny with Baby

I hope my sharing of the pros and cons above will be useful in helping you make your decision to engage with PEM Confinement Agency as your choice!

Happy Family After Confinement Nanny Services

As my second time engaging confinement nanny services from PEM Confinement Nanny Agency, I would say that I definitely have no regrets.

While some may choose to only hire a nanny for the firstborn and try to handle it themselves for subsequent kids, both my husband and I strongly believed that the confinement period is especially important for recovery, and we went ahead with one. I am so glad that we did so.

These are the top reasons why I engaged confinement nanny services:

(1) Ample rest 

Do you know why the confinement period is also known as “坐月 (sitting the month)”? This is because it is important for mothers to get ample rest and recover after delivery. It would be tough to do so if we do not have proper help. After having my first kid, I saw for myself how tough it was handling a newborn, where my nanny almost stayed up all night long looking after him. As my husband needs to work, it would not be ideal to get him to do the night shifts. Getting a confinement nanny would solve this easily.

(2) Experienced care

Most confinement nannies have many years of experience in taking care of mothers and newborns. When I first engaged my nanny in 2018, despite attending several baby care trainings, I still found myself pretty green. My nanny gave me one-to-one guidance on things like feeding and bathing baby which was invaluable. Knowing that I am under the care of someone so experienced gave me a peace of mind. After all, happy mums = happy babies!

This time around, having a toddler around during confinement while our family welcomes a newborn also made it a completely different ball game. My elder boy was constantly seeking my attention. I was so glad that I could entrust my newborn in the hands of my nanny while I continued spending time with my boy.

(3) Breastfeeding guidance

I am not sure about the freelance confinement nannies out there, but the two PEM nannies I had were super pro-breastfeeding. I was taught the various breastfeeding positions, and they even helped me with engorgement issues (can save money on engaging lactation consultants who are really pricey!). They also encouraged me to pump after latching to build my supply, though this meant that they would have more bottles to wash. I was grateful to be guided on how to store breastmilk effectively as well. They also ensured that pump parts were prepared before every session.

Breastfeeding

With the rest and guidance that you can get, it is certainly worth it to engage confinement nanny services in Singapore be it for your firstborn or subsequent kids.

Author

  • PEM Confinement Nanny Agency

    We are a group of frontliners and support team members who are passionate about sharing our knowledge and experience in confinement care. Representing the largest confinement nanny agency in Singapore which has served over 250,000 mothers in over 30 years, we are all about sharing useful and insightful information based on our experience to help new parents navigate this exciting chapter of their life better.