“I never feel like I’m doing this alone”
How mobile support eased one mother’s caregiving journey.
Motherhood is a journey filled with learning, love, and quiet acts of courage. For Etik Indrayani, a 33-year-old mother of three from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, this journey took on new meaning when her youngest son was born with a congenital heart disease, teaching her the importance of trusting care systems and learning to ask for help.
That support first took shape at home, through a partnership that made the weight of caregiving feel shared rather than solitary. Etik explains how it became a shared responsibility between her and her husband. “My husband works odd jobs, so his time is flexible. When I focus on the baby, he takes care of our other children — bathing them, feeding them, and taking them to school. At night, we take turns staying awake to watch over the baby, so I never feel like I’m doing this alone.”
Beyond her family, she shares how she also found reassurance in the people entrusted with her child’s medical care. “Two doctors became especially important in my journey. The first was the surgeon who operated on my child, and the second was my son’s specialist. From the many doctors I’ve met over the years, these two stand out. My child’s pediatrician is patient, reassuring, and never angry, and because of him, I feel my child is truly being watched over.”
Alongside her family and doctors, Etik also began drawing strength from an unexpected third source of support: Noora Health’s Mobile Care Companion — a personalized, interactive WhatsApp-based health companion designed to support family caregivers and people managing medical conditions, both at home and beyond healthcare facilities.
“I found out about the application when the bidan desa (village midwife) visited me after learning from the puskesmas (community health center) that I was caring for a child with congenital heart disease. A village representative also came to check on me and my child. They shared the application with me, I scanned the barcode on my phone, and I signed up.”
At first, Etik assumed the application only offered one-way information.
“I read all the messages and campaigns that were sent to me, but initially I didn’t realize that I could also ask questions.” It was only after receiving a prompt encouraging her to reach out that she tried messaging, and realized there was someone on the other end.
“I thought this application was like Google, so I assumed it was a robot answering questions,” she says. “Then I finally asked, ‘Am I talking to a real doctor or nurse?’ That’s when I realized the answers had been coming from doctors and nurses all along.”
From that point on, the Mobile Care Companion became a constant presence in her caregiving journey, something she returned to not just for answers, but for reassurance. “I feel like I have a new friend to share stories with,” she says. “The answers are professional, easy to understand, and I can ask questions anytime.”
The guidance soon proved practical in everyday caregiving, shaping small but important decisions she made along the way. When her son was prescribed iron supplements, for instance, Etik was unsure whether she could continue using a bottle she had opened earlier. “The packaging said it’s good for three months after opening, but I had stopped using it for a month because my son was hospitalized.” Through the service, she was advised to discard it. She decided it was safer to replace it, knowing the cost of complications would far outweigh the price of a new bottle.
She also learned new details about milk preparation. Previously, she believed boiling water was best, but later learned it should cool for about 30 minutes first — warm enough to be safe, but not so hot that it damages nutrients. Knowing she could check such details only helped her gain more confidence in her caregiving.
Over time, Etik says that access made a difference, particularly in the long stretches between hospital visits, when questions and worries tended to surface. The Mobile Care Companion became a place she could turn to whenever doubts arose, helping her feel supported and less alone.
After her child returned home from surgery for a diagnosed hernia — an added concern given his heart condition — she remembers how she found herself overwhelmed as he cried continuously, carefully trying to figure out how best to care for the surgical wound. She reached out immediately through the Mobile Care Companion.
“They explained everything very patiently, told me to check the wound, and advised me to apply a compress. That really made me feel calm and stopped me from panicking.”
Three months later, care is no longer something Etik navigates by herself; it is something she shares.
Between her husband, her child’s doctors, and the Mobile Care Companion, support now comes in many forms — practical, professional, and emotional. In a journey shaped by uncertainty, that reassurance has made all the difference.
Reflecting on her journey, Etik has a simple message for other mothers walking similar paths. “First, be sincere (ikhlas). If we don’t accept our situation sincerely, everything feels heavier. Second, don’t hesitate to ask for help, from your husband, from doctors, or from services like Noora Health. We don’t have to be supermoms who do everything alone. And most importantly, believe that our children are strong. They are fighters. So we, as their mothers, must also be strong for them.”
This story was made possible by writing support from Shreya Adhikari and story sourcing and coordination by Ade Irma Rahayu, Anas Ferhonika, Ghifari Andini, and Rachana Deshpande — thank you!
Noora Health
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