A day in the Life of a Newborn
Eat, sleep, poop, cry. That’s pretty much it. Except it isn’t. There are so many new things to discover about the tiny person you have created and the new role of parenting you have embarked on. Eat Babies can feed 8-12 times in 24 hours. They may cluster feed, where they will feed lots of […]
How to Communicate Effectively with our Partner
Communication is the basis of all our relationships and interactions with other humans. When we are born, our only form of communication is crying, a nonspecific means of trying to meet our needs. As we develop language, we are more able to assert our needs and wants. This comes not only from the words we […]
Could you experience birth trauma?
Many things can happen in unexpected ways during the process of being pregnant, having a baby, and becoming a mother. Some of them will be unavoidable. Some of them might be created by the systems we have in place for birthing. Some of them will be informed by thought patterns and beliefs we have held […]
LGBTQI+ Parents
By Emma Atkinson, Midwife There is no way to make a definitive guide for any group of parents as each lived experience will be different. Parents who belong to the LGBTQI+ community need the same education as all parents but might find it harder to access it. Some issues that may occur are: Stigma- both […]
The Mental Load
By Emma Atkinson, Midwife Is this phrase something you have heard of? Mental load which includes emotional labour, is the invisible labour and brain effort made to manage a household, family, employment and relationships. It is the preparing, organising, anticipating, planning work needed to keep life running smoothly. This is an important concept to understand […]
Attachment Parenting
By Emma Atkinson, Midwife Attachment parenting sounded to me like a nightmare, as a parent who struggled with the new skills I was learning and felt “touched out” and overwhelmed a lot of the time. It seemed like an idea that was telling me to always be holding my child and never having the space […]
Social Interactions with a baby
Social interactions are basically any contact that we have with other people. Everybody’s social interactions are different. Some of us are social animals and some are more introverted, and this can change over time. Some people have lots of hobbies or very social workplaces. Some people need face-to-face contact to feel connected, others experience strong […]
Alcohol Consumption in the Perinatal Period
Alcohol consumption is pervasive and socially accepted in many cultures and societies. Women are drinking more often and larger quantities than ever before. This is important, as women during their childbearing years do need to know the impacts of alcohol on their bodies and potential babies. The advice on alcohol use in the perinatal period is […]
Perinatal Nutrition
Mood and Food – Nutrition During the Perinatal Period. It is now widely understood in the field of nutrition and psychiatry that the way we eat impacts our mood and mental health. Our diets also influence our gut flora/ microbiota, and we now know that our intestines produce most of our body’s serotonin, a neurotransmitter […]
Exercise in the Perinatal Period
In the perinatal period we may be prone to higher-than-normal levels of anxiety and depression. This can change how we feel about ourselves and lead to agitation, feeling stuck in brain fog, low motivation, and difficulty planning forward. This can make taking care of our bodies difficult. If we can manage to get even a […]