It's been quite a year. Not just for me, but for the wider birth world. This year heralded the beginnings of the implementation of the Better Births report. Continuity of Carer is really on the horizon - for those not in the know, that means the prospect of all women being able to get to know a Continue Reading
Myth Busting, Booby Traps and Breastfeeding Success
As a Breastfeeding Counsellor and Doula, I spend a lot of time talking to women (and men) about breastfeeding. I also hang out online rather a lot, reading forums and blogs about my favourite subject. Here are a few of the statements about infant feeding I hear most…and my thoughts in response. Continue Reading
Breastfeeding: The UK’s First Report Card
The general concensus for our end of term report is that opt-quoted phrase, Could do better The teachers are the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative, 'a collaborative national assessment of the implementation of key policies and programmes from the WHO’s Global Strategy for Infant and Young Continue Reading
Babies, Bottles and Feeling Bad..Or…Bog Off Guilt!
GUILT...5 little letters that pack a punch way above the space they take up on the page. 5 little letters that are a heavy cross to bear when you are a parent. For some reason, that burden seems to fall even more heavily on mothers. Every tiny thing we do comes loaded with worry, doubt and Continue Reading
The Evil Nip-Nasties: what to do with cracks and blisters
When I was a little girl I was always grazing my knees climbing trees and falling off my bike. I used to love picking at the scabs, worrying away at the edges to see if it was ready to come off. I loved seeing the brand new pink skin underneath. My mum told me scabs were 'nature's plaster' and to Continue Reading
There’s a crisis going on – right on our doorstep
Not in Africa or Asia, but right here, right now, literally miles from your front door. As I type this, there are families with new babies struggling to feed their families, living in a cold, temporary camp and attempting to make up baby bottles without access to hot water or sterilising Continue Reading
Silence Isn’t Always Golden
Dear Adele, Once, when I lived in Spain, walking home one night from work, a man jumped out at me. He grabbed me from behind and threw me to the floor. He tore huge chunks of hair from my head and proceeded to try to rape me, tearing my summer dress from my body. I fought, adrenaline coursing Continue Reading
The Who’s Who of Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding mums can have a variety of people rock up to help in the early days - and in my experience, many parents can be pretty confused as to who's who and what experience and qualifications they have. This seems like a massive shame to me - personally, if I wanted to learn Italian, I'd want Continue Reading
Kalpana
I have a three and a half week old son. His tongue tie wasn't spotted in hospital, despite us asking and me having feeding issues. We were in hospital for a week and asked numerous times. It was only picked up once home by a BfN Supporter. By then I was slowly slipping into depression. I felt Continue Reading
Ouch, Ooh and Ahh: how to undermine breastfeeding in one simple step
I had an interesting day yesterday. I should have been at the ABM Conference but due to waiting for a baby, this doula was stuck in Cambridge, so I attended a local parenting show. There were a few exhibitors in our local town hall so I had a little wander around to see who was there. Now, as a Continue Reading