Supporting your journey, pregnancy, birth, baby & Beyond

As the summer temperatures rise the question on most parents' lips is,How do I keep my baby/toddler cool on hot sunny days?  Rising temperatures during hot summer days & nights can leave your baby feeling cracky, irritable, uncomfortable & sometimes dehydrated. That's because unlike adults, it's harder from them to regulate their own body temperature. Here’s our top tips to help them stay safe and cool this summer.  Stay hydrated and increase fluids For Babies under 6 months ~ If you're still breastfeeding, babies under 6 months of age may want to feed more frequently but for shorter periods. Remember that...

Most babies get some form of skin irritation or nappy rash at some stage. This can be associated with thrush, antibiotic use or allergic reaction. Wet and dirty nappies can rub and irritate delicate skin on your baby’s bottom and genital area. Often their skin appears hot, red and sore with blisters.  It can be more prevalent around 9-12 months, often associated with teething. Excess saliva, that can also cause dribble rash, is swallowed which can lead to softer bowel movements (poo) and sometimes diarrhea. An increase in bowel frequency and more skin contact can lead to skin irritation and...

30 years ago I first became a mother. One of the hardest and most rewarding things I’ve ever done. I know that it was this experience that shaped me into the midwife that I later became.  My pregnancy was uneventful until a week of stop start, (false, latent phase labour) at 39+ weeks when I started to bleed. Doctors decided to induce me which was not in my birth plan at all.   I'd done lots of reading and planning about what I wanted for my labour and my wishes were documented in my birth plan.  It stated I wanted freedom to move and...

As a midwife I’ve spent my career supporting women and teaching them the importance of on-going self care to underpin physical and emotional well-being and sexual health.  I’m sure you've heard how important maintaining your pelvic floor is and that performing pelvic floor exercises are vital; not only during pregnancy and after birth but a life long routine to continue in order to help prevent bladder leakage when you cough, sneeze or run.  Perhaps until you were pregnant or reading this you never knew you had a perineum, let alone why it's there or how to care for it during...