Healthy babies for a healthier world

The brand is derived by name and reputation from South Africa's leading pregnancy and parenting advisor, Sister Lilian, and is aimed at promoting and maintaining a healthy, balanced immune system while facilitating the body's defence system to react, regulate, adapt and restore itself on a natural basis.

With over thirty years' experience as a highly respected nurse and midwife, Sister Lilian has become a household name synonymous with child and baby care. Participating regularly on national talk radio and TV, in discussion columns, and having written several specialist books that educate and empower parents, Sister Lilian believes that by combining practical health advice with the gentle touch of complementary medicine, parents can become responsible hands-on guardians of family health.

From her vision of a better world composed of healthy, contented babies that grow up into vibrantly healthy adults, the comprehensive “Sister Lilian Range of Remedies” was born. Consisting of twenty-seven specially-formulated products, the range will be launched to distributing retailers, pharmacists, midwives, paediatricians, doctors and gynaecologists, first in the Western Cape, then rolled out nationally throughout South Africa, and will be positioned in the Baby Care category.

The “Sister Lilian Remedies” comprise the following categories: Care, Rescue, Single Remedy (Calendula, Chamomile and Arnica), Vitamins & Cough Syrup, and Tissue Salts for ideal mineral supplementation. The remedies can be used to assist with anxiety, aches and pains during pregnancy, labour coping during childbirth and maternal tension. They also help prevent or combat an array of ailments and conditions such as restless sleep, teething, colic, coughs, crying, digestive discomfort, earache, poor immunity, excessive mucus, skin rashes, bumps and bruises, sore throat and nausea.

“Colic occurs in twenty percent of babies,” says Sister Lilian, “particularly firstborns, for instance if a baby cries uncontrollably for a couple of hours over a three day period, the child may be suffering from Colic. Often infants suffer severe pain and the soothing effects of a combination of homeopathy and tissues salts such as ColicCare may calm the child,” she adds.

The range complies with the highest international pharmaceutical manufacturing quality standards and best practices, and is audited by the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) and the MCC (Medicines Control Council). Packaged in glass bottles to preserve the energy of each and every unique formulation, the remedies are free of artificial flavours and colours, preservatives, lactose, gluten, yeast and alcohol.

With easily recognisable, descriptive and informative packaging, the Sister Lilian Remedies will be distributed nationally through well-known pharmaceutical chain stores. The range is competitive in terms of price, variety (choice) and quality assurance compared with local brands such as Dr A. White and Natura, as well as international ranges of the stature of Weleda.

Unlike conventional medicine, homeopathy treats the person and not the symptoms or disease. Given that the person (and body) is a balanced, intricate system, with levels disrupted by illness or “dis-ease”, homeopathy seeks to balance this through administered quantities of medicinal agents prepared from source materials. It's a powerful means of self-medication that's a by-product of modern thinking and living, focusing on nature and health as the core to any successful treatment and maintenance.

In 1990, the US public spent nearly fourteen billion dollars on alternative health care, of which three quarters was not reimbursed by insurers or medical systems. This demonstrates that Americans were prepared to make out-of-pocket payments for alternative health care. Homeopathy accounted for over one third of the visits made. A similar demand pattern for holistic remedies is being witnessed in Europe as well.

Yet despite it being considered a modern alternative to the maintenance of health and as preventative management for ailments, homeopathy in South Africa is no new kid on the block. German missionaries and Dutch settlers introduced it here almost 200 years ago. Homeopathic medicine has seen significant growth due to the increase in the number of homeopathy graduates from two leading universities within South Africa.

The profession is monitored and regulated by the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA) in conjunction with the Department of Health. Unlike other complementary therapies, homeopathy enjoys mainstream medical aid recognition, which has contributed significantly to its popularity.

The Sister Lilian Remedies were developed for mothers who want safe, credible and natural homeopathic medicine for their babies and children — providing medicine that offers a solution to everyday needs. In addition to leading retail outlets, the range will also be available online at the retail selling price, and consumers have free access to the Sister Lilian Care Centre for advice regarding good parenting and the administration of remedies.