Hypnobirthing, Pregnancy Yoga, Antenatal Education, Mum & Baby classes - in York and online. Calm, confident and positive complete birth preparation and transition to motherhood for everyone.
In all my years of teaching pregnant women and couples, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that knowledge is power. If you are pregnant, you ARE going to give birth. There’s no getting out of it. So learn all you can, not just about the physical and mental experience of pregnancy and labour (because it's as much a mind game as a body one - due to your birth hormones which control everything in labour), but also about your choices, options and rights in the birth room. Here are my five top tips to maximise your chances of a positive birth
After baby is born we might think of the placenta and umbilical cord as now defunct. Of course they were part of the amazing life support system that grew and nourished your baby for all these months, but that is now no longer needed. But hang on a minute, the reality is that the umbilical cord has one last job to do - and it’s an important one.
Babies have not read the book about due dates, and simply turn up when they feel like it. But waiting for baby can be a tricky time, especially mothers to be. With calls from friends and family, and pressure for an induction will very likely mount from health care professionals. This can really undermine a woman’s much-needed confidence in her body before she’s even started the challenging journey of labour and birth. So here are some ‘natural nudges’ that women often try.
Homemade energy balls and a brilliant simple and nutritious snack that are packed full of goodness. You get a great uplifting a kick of energy, plus good fats and nutrients from the nuts, and a delicious chocolate hit from the cocoa too. Yes! Here’s a simple recipe for you. Great in pregnancy, labour and motherhood!
Your placenta is a pretty damn amazing thing. A whole new organ that grows to support your baby through pregnancy providing the nourishment and oxygen for your baby to grow. Without the placenta there would be no baby. In itself it’s pretty WOW. But once baby arrives earthside, the placentas job is done. So what happen to your placenta, should you keep it, and if you do what can you do with it now? Eight things (including eating it) you can do with this unique pregnancy organ.
The next in my ‘Breastfeeding Myths’ mini series of posts. Giving you information so you can make the right informed decisions for YOU. Today it’s all about that morning savior a cup of coffee, caffeine and breastfeeding.
The bond between a mother and her baby is intense. It’s a bond that has been able to grow and flourish over the whole 9 months or so of pregnancy, an intimate and unique connection. But the partner-baby bond is *so* important too, and having ideas as to how to grow and nurture this bond is really important.
With a little time and patience partner and baby will form their own special and unique loving bond, and that is a real joy to behold. So here are 13 ways that partners can try to feel more involved, and nurture that bond with their baby:
There are so many myths surrounding breastfeeding, and many have been around for years - despite research demonstrating that they are untrue. So I’m starting a little series of posts to bust some of the breastfeeding myths - as many of them can put off or discourage breastfeeding or make women feel in some way crap. And that is definitely something I do not want!
Number one is perhaps the most important - the myth that you cannot drink alcohol when you’re breastfeeding. Utter rubbish….read on to learn some basics and rules that allow you to enjoy a glass (if you want to).
The first few months after the birth of your baby (the Fourth Trimester) can be a real emotional rollercoaster ride. New mums, and new families, need lots of support to help them as they settle into the new rhythms of their new life with a newborn. This is particularly true during the early days, weeks and months of breastfeeding. And often partners can feel that breastfeeding is an area where they aren’t able to be involved - but actually the opposite is true.
So read on and learn a number of simple yet brilliant ways that partners can be a valuable part of the breastfeeding journey…..
At some point in your pregnancy you start to think of the inevitability of the baby coming out, and how that might feel. To many women that causes a little worry, or maybe quite a lot of worry, and often some fear, or a lot of fear. I get it. There are many things that can make labour feel more intense, more uncomfortable, more painful. And I don’t know anyone who wants a more painful labour! So learning what those things are, and how you can avoid them is so valuable in pregnancy - and that’s what this blog post is all about. 7 things I would really recommend you AVOID to help you have a more comfortable labour and birth:
I wrote a blog post last month all about the Fear-Tension-Pain cycle in labour, and how it’s really important not to fear birth - as that can make your labour more painful and potentially longer too. So I wanted to do a short blog post to follow up to that, and to explain how ‘pain’ in labour is completely different than other types of pain. And how if you can think about it in a different way this can really help you to manage the sensations of labour and birth. So read on:
There is much about breastfeeding that is thought to be ‘truth’ that actually isn’t. You often hear contradictory stuff, and it can be SO confusing (especially if you’ve had not the most sleep ever….) And when you are doing your damn best to feed a small person, you really need to know fact from fiction - so you can make informed choices that are right for YOU. That’s what’s important. So here’s a post that I am really passionate about - sorting out some of those breastfeeding myths.
A TENS machine is a small handheld device that can help to alleviate the discomfort of labour. TENS stands for ‘Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation’ - so I’ll just call it TENS from now on, its frankly a bit of a mouthful! Some women swear by it, others find it annoying or too fiddly. But it’s something that you can use to ease discomfort that YOU have control over, it has no risks to baby, and if you don’t like it - then you can stop it effects immediately. Here’s an explanation of how it works, how to use it, and what it does.
It’s completely normal and natural when you think about birth, to think of the word pain. It’s a product of our modern society and culture, the media, the dramatic stories we have been told. We sadly rarely hear birth stories that are uplifting, magical, empowering, positive and full of love and joy. But there are many.
But what if you could let go of the fear that you feel about giving birth to your baby? So that would make it less painful. And be genuinely excited about giving birth? Well that’s where hypnobirthing come in. Read on folks.
I’ve been doing this simple yet effective foot massage technique in my Pregnancy Yoga classes in York recently. It’s really important to stretch out your feet, ankles and legs in pregnancy (and post natally too). It keeps your feet, legs, pelvis and pelvic floor all functioning optimally - and that’s so important. Grab a tennis ball or spikey massage ball and join me!
The realities of the Fourth Trimester (the initial period after baby is born) is something that's not talked about so much. There is so much focus on the birth, that what happen to your body afterwards and its recovery is often not discussed, or seen in our culture. So I thought I would do some blog posts about the Fourth Trimester to help you feel more informed and prepared about this time as you adjust to life with your new baby. Today we are starting with Lochia.
Baby Massage is such a relaxing and loving thing to do with your baby. Through Baby Massage you learn how to interact, communicate and bond more with your baby through positive nurturing touch. It’s different to adult massage, we focus on touch, physical contact and skin-to-skin bonding. Studies have shown it can help your baby feel more relaxed, improve sleep and offer relief from health problems such as colic, wind and constipation. It's also really beneficial for parents too - helping you to relax, and also to build a bond together through one-to-one interaction.
OK so this is a biggie in my 'Tell Me About' video series with amazing local pregnancy, birth and motherhood experts. It's something that is always being discussed in my Mum & Baby Yoga and Baby Massage classes, it causes a lot of worry and stress for all new, and not so new, parents - and it is of course BABY SLEEP! In this post you’ll learn all about baby sleep with the brilliant Lauren of Calm Family York.
If you are breastfeeding a baby, whether exclusively or in combination with formula then getting enough nourishment yourself is really important. Keeping your energy levels up and also staying hydrated will help you to produce the milk your baby needs (as well as sleep, but that’s another blog post entirely!). So this weeks blog post is all about foods that promote milk production or flow.
Your baby is going to arrive soon and the chances are you have some nappies, a variety of nappy creams, some wipes all sorted - you are more than prepared for baby’s bottom. But what about your bottom?? Are you organised and prepared to help yourself heal following babys birth? Here’s 5 top tips for you.
