As a parent, you have many decisions to make for your children’s well-being and health. It’s important to have the knowledge to weigh the pros and cons of everything you expose your child to.
One such choice is whether to give your infant a dummy or pacifier. A dummy is a fantastic calming tool for your child to satisfy their sucking inclinations, according to a study. We chatted to pediatrician, Dr Enrico Maraschin, to answer the most common questions from parents about dummies.
Does a dummy affect speech development?
A baby’s ability to communicate during the first few months is unaffected by a dummy, however a baby may begin to chatter at five months. The tongue must be allowed to move freely inside the mouth at this age to allow your child to make sounds. Considering this knowledge, it would be advisable to use and employ a dummy only for naps and during sleep.
Additionally, dummies are frequently given to toddlers to keep them quiet and stop whining. The idea of putting a dummy into a baby’s or toddler’s mouth makes sense because it stops your baby from babbling and making noise, but noises are essential for their speech development.
Are there medical reasons against or for the use of a pacifier?
Premature babies
The sucking response develops between 32 to 34 weeks of pregnancy and matures until 36 weeks. A premature newborn may have a weak or underdeveloped sucking reflex. This then impacts the infant’s eating capacity. A dummy is extremely beneficial for helping babies learn to suck as well as calming them down during operations or blood draws.
Sudden infant death (SIDS)
A study found that breast feeding and dummies lower sudden infant death syndrome. Dummies don’t make babies fall asleep as deeply as they would if they were not using them, which makes it easier for a baby to be woken up if they have difficulty breathing.
Ear infections
According to a study, newborns prone to ear infections should avoid using a dummy. Numerous studies have revealed that older children who are allowed to suck a dummy all day have a higher incidence of ear infections (otitis media). This would emphasize once again that dummies should only be used during sleep.
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The terms of this agreement ("Terms and Conditions") govern the relationship between you and Vodacom and its affiliates (hereinafter "Vodacom" or "Us" or "We") regarding your use of the Mum & Baby service and related features (the "Service"). Use of the Service is also governed by Vodacom's Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Mum & Baby service is a South African stage-based maternal and health support service. The Service offers customers health related and stage based information for you and your family, for educational purposes only that come in a broad range of Tools, Tutorials and Health Topics. The Mum & Baby Service is available to Vodacom and Non-Vodacom subscribers. There are no data charges for all Vodacom customers who access the Mum & Baby Service and/or platform (the Service is zero-rated). For all non-Vodacom subscribers data will be charged at their pre-existing data plans with their network operator(s). There are 2 types of the Mum & Baby service. Customers who register for the free Mum & Baby service will have the option to register for the Mum & Baby Premium service at a subscription cost. However, customers on the Siyakha Tariff Plan will have access to both the Free and Premium Mum & Baby service at no cost. The Mum & Baby Premium Service is not available to non-Vodacom subscribers.
1. Your Acceptance of these Terms and Conditions
Please read these Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy carefully before using the Service or submitting information through the Service. By using the Service or submitting information through the Service, you are agreeing to these Terms and Conditions.
If you do not agree, please do not use this Service or submit any information through the Service. We reserve the right, at any time, to modify and update these Terms and Conditions from time to time by posting such updated Terms and Conditions on USSD, Mobi and Vodacom.co.za. Any such updates shall apply to you and your use of the Service and by continuing to use the Service, you shall be deemed to have accepted such changes.
2. Registration to Use the Service
a. All Vodacom subscribers can register to use the Service.
b. We are committed to protecting the privacy of children. You should be aware that this Service is not intended or designed for persons under the age of 18 years. We do not collect personally identifiable information from any person we actually know is under the age of 18.
c. This Service is available to all Vodacom subscribers (subject to clause (a) and (b) above) via USSD for prepaid customers and Mobi for all Vodacom subscribers.
d.To be a user of the Service you will be required to register and doing so accordingly binds you to these Terms and Conditions. On registration, you will be asked to submit the following information to us:
i. Name
ii. Age group
iii. Province where you are located
iv. Preferred language
e. We are committed to ensuring responsible practices in the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with applicable law. If you do not agree with our Privacy Policy and these terms and conditions (specifically clauses 8 Privacy and Data Protection of these Terms and Conditions), Please do not provide us with any personal information, and please do not register to use the Service.
f. By registering, you agree to the following:
i. Only one registration is permitted per mobile number. Only Vodacom subscribers may register.
ii. You give us consent to provide you with various notifications and messages about / based on your subscription to the Service. These notifications will be delivered to you in the form of text messages sent to your mobile device using the MSISDN identifying you as a user of the Service.
3. Medicine Check, Due Date Calculator, Medicine Reminder & Immunisation Tool Disclaimer
a. The information provided in the Tools listed above has been specifically compiled for purposes of providing non-diagnostic or professional health information about medication or related matters. Neither Vodacom nor its service provider(s), from whom Vodacom obtained the data comprising the information, have performed any independent analysis or investigation to determine the correctness or accuracy of the data, and do not warrant that data is correct or accurate.
b. By making this information available, neither Vodacom nor its service provider(s) are endorsing or advocating the use of any medication described, nor are we responsible for misuse of a medication due to, or other consequence of, any typographical error or other inaccuracy. Additional information on any medication may be obtained from the manufacturer.
c. It is strongly recommended that you independently verify any interpretation of this information. Where you use this information, you shall be fully responsible for your interpretation of the information and shall rely on your own professional judgement [independent medical advice you may obtain] in using this information. It is also strongly recommended that you independently verify the information to ensure it is appropriate for your purposes.
d. This information is provided on an "as is" basis. Neither Vodacom nor its service provider(s) make any representations, conditions, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that this information is accurate, complete, up-to-date or fit for any particular purposes. Any statements made to the contrary are void.
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f. It is important to note that the all Mum & Baby services will not work whilst you are roaming outside of South Africa.
4. Mum & Baby Premium Services
a. Registered users are given exclusive access to premium services listed in clauses (d) to (f). Most of these involve the pushing of content to your phone via SMS on a once off or subscription basis. Others also involve the unlocking of additional content on the mobi-site.
b. All Mum & Baby Premium service subscribers will still receive the usual Free SMS' in addition to their subscription content. Users are afforded the option to unsubscribe from the Mum & Baby Premium service at any time and the cancellation/un-subscription can be effected by accessing the Mobi-site on https://mumandbaby.vodacom.co.za and on USSD by dialing *117*6862#
c. Mum & Baby Premium service carries a subscription charge. Depending on the service chosen, users are billed daily, weekly or monthly. Whether to subscribe and use Mum & Baby Premium Service is voluntary and occurs via the Service menu on USSD and/or on the Homepage of the mobi-site. This subscription charge is subject to change at Vodacom's discretion. Any changes to the subscription fee will be communicated to subscribed users with reasonable notice and you will be afforded an option to unsubscribe from the Mum & Baby Premium service should you wish to do so.
i. Users will always be advised of the subscription fees payable for Mum & Baby Premium service and such users must first accept the subscription fee prior to subscribing.
ii. Users can only subscribe to one Health Topic at a time when subscribing whether on USSD or Mobi and would have to either wait for their existing subscription to a topic/ category to 'expire' or unsubscribe from their current topic before they can subscribe to other topics and/or categories Please note that this clause only refers to the Health Topics offered on both USSD and Mobi, users are at Liberty to enjoy all other Premium offerings on Mum & Baby within the same Subscription.
iii. You may unsubscribe to Mum & Baby Premium Service at any time, while still remaining registered for the Mum & Baby Free Service.
iv. You acknowledge that the Mum & Baby Premium Service messaging relating to your chosen Health topic / category (Health SMS, Health Education Tutorial) are delivered on weekdays, Monday – Friday, between 08h00-17h00. Should you not be in agreement with these conditions regarding the Mum & Baby Premium service messaging, you are advised to unsubscribe from the alerts at any time through the Service menu on USSD or on the mobi-site as stated on clause (b) above.
d. The 'Am I Sick' tool is NOT to be used as a Self-Diagnostic tool. It is intended to guide a user on possible conditions that they may have, based on the symptoms they may have entered on the tool. Users are advised to consult their nearest Health Practitioner for a diagnostic as the guide does not provide any diagnostic and cannot be taken to provide accurate information. Vodacom will not be held liable for any health complications, death or any underlying chronic illnesses that may be diagnosed by your Health Practitioner. Please also refer to our disclaimer in clause 5 below.
e. The Medicine Reminder is to be used as advised on the portal. The Medicine Reminder tool only allows you to enter the time of the first dose. All other times are worked out by an algorithm in the tool. It is your responsibility to ensure that you take your medication as per the instructional provided by your medical doctor if different from what is suggested in the Medicine Reminder tool. Please note that by subscribing to receive reminders from this service you are agreeing to receive messages between 06h00 – 21h00, with the option of extending the times to 06h00 – 02h00 the next day. Vodacom will not be held liable for any missed or over doses that may lead to any health complications and death. Vodacom cannot be held liable for the incorrectness and/or loss of any Information provided or undelivered reminders or the delay in delivery thereof. Including the non-availability of the service or access, for any reason whatsoever.
f. The Health Centre is a directory tool that assists you in locating health services, of your choice, around your area or near you. In order to be able to use this service you must activate your GPS (Global Positioning System) by switching on your location services on your mobile device. The information on this tool should only be used as a guide and users should call their nearest Emergency Services as soon as possible when need be. Vodacom cannot be held liable for the incorrectness and/or unavailability of the information required. Vodacom will not be held liable for any health complications and death of any nature.
g. It is important to note that the all Mum & Baby services will not work whilst you are roaming outside of South Africa.
5. General Disclaimer
a. We grant you permission to use the Service, in accordance with these Terms and Conditions, provided that: (i) your use of the Service is only for your personal, non-commercial purposes; (ii) you do not copy or distribute any part of the Service in any medium without our prior written authorization; (iii) you do not alter or modify any part of the Service other than as may occur during your proper use of the Service for their intended purpose; and (iv) you comply with these Terms and Conditions.
b. We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to restrict, suspend or terminate your access to all or any part of the Service at any time for any reason on prior notice to you and without any liability to you for doing so. We may change, suspend or discontinue all or any aspect of the Service at any time, including the availability of any specific features or content.
c. We do not permit copyright infringing activities or the infringement of intellectual property or other proprietary rights (including privacy and publicity rights) in connection with the Service, and we will remove all content if properly notified that such materials infringe on a party's intellectual property right.
d. We hereby grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited license to access the Service for your own non-commercial, information or educational purposes. You may not: (i) modify, disassemble, edit, decompile, reverse engineer or copy the Service; (ii) rent, lease, loan, resell, sublicense, distribute or otherwise transfer the Service to any third party ; (iii) remove, circumvent, disable, damage or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the Service, features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content accessible through the Service, or features that enforce limitations on use of the Service; or (iv) delete the copyright and other proprietary rights notices on the Service.
e. You acknowledge that from time to time, the Service's availability may be limited due to maintenance, upgrade or other technical reasons as relevant.
f. We do not warrant that the Service will be compatible with your mobile device. We reserve the right to stop offering and/or supporting the Service or a particular part of the Service at any time, at which point your license to use the Service or a part thereof will be automatically terminated. In such event, we shall not be required to provide refunds, benefits or other compensation to users in connection with such discontinued Services, or any discontinued parts thereof.
g. To the extent allowed by law, the Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis for your use, without warranties of any kind, express or implied. Whilst every effort has been made by Vodacom and its service providers, to ensure the proper performance of the Service, the accuracy of the information/images and the reliability of the binary data on the Service, Vodacom, its affiliated companies, suppliers, or any of their employees, do not, to the full extent permitted by law, guarantee the availability or accuracy of the Services, content and/or information offered on the Service. We do not warrant that you will be able to access or use the Service at the times or locations of your choosing; that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free; or that defects will be corrected. We thus make no representations or warranties, whether express or implied, and assume no liability or responsibility for the proper performance of the Service and the Service is thus used at your own risk.
h. You acknowledge that we may appoint third party companies and individuals to facilitate the Service (e.g. maintenance, analysis, audit, marketing and development). These third parties have limited access to your information only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated to us not to disclose or use it for other purposes.
i. You acknowledge that certain existing or future aspects of the Service, including notifications and rewards may be provided for free to you though both the charges and/or the exclusivity thereof is subject to change at any time at Vodacom's discretion. Any change in this respect will be communicated to you via applicable means to inform you of any applicable change.
j. The Service includes the provision of both factual information and editorial content for educational purpose only. Vodacom's appointed 3rd party maintains and owns the relevant licenses and rights to display and provide such content via the Service. Neither Vodacom nor the 3rd party appointed to provide this content may be held liable for any harm or consequences arising as a result of any unintended inaccuracies or discrepancies in the content.
6. General Disclaimer
a. THE CONTENT AVAILABLE VIA THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT NEITHER VODACOM NOR ITS SERVICE PROVIDERS ARE ENGAGED IN RENDERING MEDICAL, COUNSELING, LEGAL, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES OR ADVICE.
b. SUCH CONTENT IS INTENDED SOLELY AS A GENERAL EDUCATIONAL AID. IT IS NOT INTENDED AS MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE ADVICE, OR TO BE USED FOR MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS OR TREATMENT, FOR ANY INDIVIDUAL PROBLEM. IT IS ALSO NOT INTENDED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE AND SERVICES FROM A QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROVIDER FAMILIAR WITH YOUR UNIQUE FACTS. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF YOUR PHYSICIAN OR OTHER QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROVIDER REGARDING ANY MEDICAL CONDITION AND BEFORE STARTING ANY NEW TREATMENT.
c. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR MEDICAL PRACTITIONER OR CLINIC FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE. IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY YOU CAN ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY LINE ON 082112.
7. Ownership
a. All rights, title and interest in and to the Service including, but not limited to, titles, computer code, themes, objects, stories, dialogue, concepts, artwork, animations, sounds, musical compositions, audio-visual effects, methods of operation, moral rights, documentation are owned by us and our service providers. We reserve all rights, including, but not limited to, all intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights, in connection with the Service.
b. We own, have licensed, or otherwise have rights to use, or provide all of the content that appears in the Service.
c. You acknowledge that we own or have been granted licenses for the intellectual property rights in and to all content contained in the Service, and that the unauthorised use thereof is expressly prohibited. The word or mark "Mum & Baby", however represented, including stylised representation, all associated logos and symbols and combinations of any of the aforegoing with another word or mark, used on the Service, are our trademarks or that of our service providers.
8. Limitation of Liability
a. You agree that your use of the Service shall be at your sole risk. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we and our officers, directors, employees, and agents disclaim all warranties, express or implied, in connection with the services and your use thereof. We make no warranties or representations about the accuracy or completeness of the Services' content or the content of and assume no liability or responsibility for any (i) errors, mistakes, or inaccuracies of content; (ii) personal injury or property damage of any nature whatsoever resulting from your access to and use of the services; (iii) any unauthorized access to or use of our servers; (iv) any interruption or cessation of transmission to or from the Service; (v) any bugs, viruses, trojan horses or the like which may be transmitted to or through the services by any third party; or (vi) any errors or omissions in any content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any content posted, emailed, transmitted, or otherwise made available via the services. We do not warrant, endorse, guarantee, or assume responsibility for any information provided as part of the Service by a third party.
b. To the extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall we or our subsidiaries and affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, owners, agents, employees, representatives and licensors be liable for any special, incidental, indirect, consequential, punitive or exemplary losses or damages whatsoever or for loss of profits (including, without limitation, damages for loss of revenue, loss of data, failure to realize expected savings, interruption of activities, or any other pecuniary or economic loss) and whether arising from breach of contract, damages (including negligence), strict liability or otherwise, arising out of the use of or inability to use the Services or its content.
c. Save to the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Vodacom and its partners, subsidiaries and affiliates from and against any and all claims, demands, actions, liability, losses, costs and expenses (including legal fees and expenses) arising from or related to: (i) any use or alleged use of the Service by any other person, whether or not authorized by you; (ii) your breach of these Terms and Conditions, including any breach of your representations and warranties herein; and (iii) your violation of any law or (iv) your use of or inability to use the Service, the contents made available on the Service.
10. Rewards
a. From time to time we may randomly offer rewards on the platform and these rewards will only be available to all Mum & Baby Subscribers unless otherwise specified.
b. Please read the disclaimers on all rewards offered in the Rewards page the Mum & Baby service carefully as Vodacom will not be held liable for any loss or damage relating to the use and/or redemption of the vouchers awarded to users.
c. Rewards are available for the duration that is stipulated on the Rewards page and the relevant terms and conditions therein shall apply.
10. Privacy and Data Protection
a. This clause explains how we collect, use, share and protect your personal information. This clause should be read with the Vodacom's Privacy Policy. If we update this clause and our privacy policy, we will post any changes on our website.
Collecting your personal information
b. We can get your personal information when you use this Service. In the case of the use of the Service your personal information is collected for the purpose of being used and processed in:
• personalising the Service to your respective preferences;
• for the serving of appropriate, tailored advertising to you via the Service;
• for the purpose of tracking the Service's performance;
• troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research and service improvement and/or to identify any technical issues that may occur from time to time;
• for use in devising additional enhancements or improvements to the Service; and
• statistical tracking, redundancy and audit purposes.
c. The above data will not be shared with other users of the Service. However, Vodacom further may collect your information in terms of clause 9 (h) and (i) below.
d. We may also collect information about you from other organisations, if this is appropriate. These include fraud-prevention agencies, business directories and credit reference agencies. We may also collect information about you from other companies, our business, or joint venture partners.
Understanding what you want
e. We might also use cookies (small text files stored in your browser) and other techniques such as web beacons (small, clear picture files used to follow your movements on our website). These collect information that tells us how you use our websites, web-related products and services.
f. This, in turn, helps us make our website relevant to your interests and needs. We may use a persistent cookie (a cookie that stays linked to your browser) to record your details so we can recognise you if you visit our website again. See the next section for more details.
g. You can choose to refuse cookies, or set your browser to let you know each time a website tries to set a cookie.
The personal information we collect
h. The information we collect about you depends on the Vodacom and Vodafone products and services you use and subscribe to. It may include (but is not limited to) the following:
i. your name, age group home language;
ii. your preferences for particular products, services or lifestyle activities when you tell us what they are – or when we assume what they are, depending on how you use our products and services;
iii. your contact with us – such as a note or recording of a call you make to one of our contact centres, an email or letter you send to us or other records of any contact you have with us;
iv. your account information – such as phone number, handset type, handset model,, whether you are a post or prepaid customer, dates of payment owed and received, TopUp information, the subscription services you use or any other information related to your account.
i. We will also get information on how you use our products and services, such as:
i. Where applicable, the phone numbers that you call or send messages to (or the phone numbers that you receive these calls and messages from);
ii. the date, time and length of the calls and messages you send or receive through our network, and your approximate location at the time these communications take place;
iii. the level of service you receive – for example, network faults and other network events which may affect our network services;
iv. your website browsing information (which includes information about the websites you visit, and about how you use our website or other Vodafone Group websites on your mobile or a PC;
v. the date, time and length of your internet browsing, and your approximate location at the time of browsing;
vi. your brand preference, preferred video categories, related preferences (e.g. team choice); and type of services you typically access.
Using your personal information
j. We may use and analyse your information to:
i. process the goods and services you have bought from us, and keep you updated with your order progress;
ii. keep you informed generally about new products and services (unless you choose not to receive our marketing messages);
iii. provide the relevant service or product to you. This includes other services not included in this terms and conditions, and services that use information about where you are when using your mobile equipment (location information) and to contact you with messages about changes to the service or product;
iv. you with offers or promotions based on how you use our products and services. These include your calling and messaging activities, location information and browsing information (unless you choose not to receive these messages – see below on 'How to opt-out';
v. send you targeted and relevant messages, based on your behaviour, permission and preferences. From time to time, we will send you a range of different messages, from Vodacom as well as brands, to keep you informed or simply for you to tell us what you are into. These are not just offers and promotions but messages from your favourite brands including new products, discounts, limited offers, gifts and more. It works by using information about you to send you targeted messages relevant to you;
vi. bill you for using any additional products or services, or to take the appropriate amount of credit from you;
vii. respond to any questions or concerns you may have about using the Service, our network, products or services;
viii. let you know about other companies' products and services we think may interest you (including offers and discounts we've specially negotiated for our customers);
ix. protect our network and manage the volume of calls, texts and other use of our network. For example, we identify peak periods of use so we can try and ensure the network can handle the volume at those times
x. understand how you use this Service, our network, products and services. That way, we can develop more interesting and relevant products and services, as well as personalising the products and services we offer you;
xi. carry out research and statistical analysis including to monitor how customers use this Service, our network, products and services on an anonymous or personal basis;
xii. prevent and detect fraud or other crimes, recover debts or trace those who owe us money;
xiii. provide aggregated reports to third parties (such reports do not contain any information which may identify you as an individual).
k. The information we use will be your approximate location, based on the nearest mobile cell site. As a result, this will change as you move around with your mobile phone.
l. We will store your information for as long as we have to by law. If there is no legal requirement, we will only store it for as long as we need it.
Sharing your personal information
m. We may share information about you with:
i. companies in the Vodacom and Vodafone Group (Vodafone Group Plc and any company or other organisation in which Vodacom owns more than 15% of the share capital);
ii. Mondia Media, partners or agents involved in delivering the Services;
iii. companies who are engaged to perform the Service for, on behalf of Vodacom (Pty) Ltd including Mondia Media (Pty) Ltd;
iv. where applicable, credit reference, fraud prevention or business scoring agencies, or other credit scoring agencies;
v. where applicable, debt collection agencies or other debt recovery organisations;
vi. law enforcement agencies, regulatory organisations, courts or other public authorities if we have to, or are authorised to by law;
vii. emergency services (if you make an emergency call), including your approximate location.
n. We will release information if it's reasonable for the purpose of protecting us against fraud, defending our rights or property, or to protect the interests of our customers.
o. If we are reorganised or sold to another organisation, we may transfer any personal information we hold about you to that organisation.
p. We will transfer your information to Mondia Media our service provider. Mondia Media servers are based outside South Africa in Germany where adequate data protection laws exist to protect the privacy and security of your information. We have also signed a contract with Mondia Media with data protection provisions to ensure the security and protection of the privacy of your information.
q. At your option, we may also share your information with partner organisations we've chosen carefully, so they can contact you about their products and services.
Keeping your personal information secure
r. We have specialised security teams who constantly review and improve our measures to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, accidental loss, disclosure or destruction.
s. If we have a contract with another organisation to provide us with services or a service on our behalf to process your personal information, we will make sure they have appropriate security measures and only process your information in the way we've authorised them to. These organisations will not be entitled to use your personal information for their own purposes. If necessary, our security teams will check them to make sure they meet the security requirements we have set.
t. Communications over the internet (such as emails) are not secure unless they have been encrypted. Your communications may go through a number of countries before being delivered – as this is the nature of the internet. We cannot accept responsibility for any unauthorised access or loss of personal information that's beyond our control.
How to opt-out
u. If you want to opt out of Mum & Baby notifications, alerts or messages, you may do so via the relevant prompts through the short code *117*6862# or by visiting https://mumandbaby.vodacom.co.za. You can choose to opt out of partner communications by sending an SMS with STOP to 30881.