“It is morning and it feels like we are getting ready to go to the airport because we are up early and we’re ticking off the tasks. It is a strange feeling and anticipation takes over once we’re in the car…Then I hear him. Karl follows the midwife who I assume has taken him to get weighed and cleaned up. They bring him back to me all wrapped up and I’m holding him, staring at his little pink face. I don’t know how I feel, I can’t explain it.”

The head was born and I came back from the bizarre but amazing euphoric out of body experience, reached down and felt the shoulders wiggle out one by one, then pulled my baby up on to my chest. We realised that we had a boy and I held him in complete disbelief as to what had just happened. He was born at 6.57am. The midwife said 'Now that is how you give birth’

Closing the bones is a postpartum recovery massage and wrapping ritual. It involves rocking, skin-to-skin massage, tightening of wraps around the body and sometimes a steam bath.

It provides movement and healing to joints, muscles and tissues, reduces pain and discomfort and provides a place for emotional and energetic closure.

So, the science bit…it took me a while to make sense of all of this and even longer to write it into a reasonably easy to understand format!!

1) During vaginal birth, the mother transfers her unique bacterial ecosystem to her baby. The bacteria coming from Mum colonise the infant gut and crowd out the pathogens; they are the bacteria to optimally train the infant immune system, giving protection for life

2) These microbes are then fed by the unique sugars - the human milk oligosaccharides (HMO’s) - in Mum’s breast milk, which are matched to the bacteria that were passed to the baby during vaginal birth. These HMO’s are the 3rd most abundant component of milk, but are indigestible by the baby, they are there specifically to feed the infant gut microbiome

I was in complete shock and not really able to take everything in…They left us alone for a while, I was still in shock and don’t think anything was really sinking in, but we just stared at her, watched her trying to feed, which I think she was doing successfully, and just tried to get our heads around it all. She is here, we have a daughter and I managed to birth her at the birthing centre with minimal intervention. I was feeling a mixture of relief and wonderment, and it was all very surreal.

Reflux, again. It is such a prolific problem, so many of my friends, family and clients are suffering with this and there is so much conflicting information out there so I wanted to do more by learning more. I attended a seminar recently on the current approach to reflux, and why it is not working, hosted by the Baby Reflux Lady – Áine Homer – who has a diploma in Nutrition for Food Allergies and Intolerances and specialises in Newborn, Baby & Toddler Reflux.

I attended a really interesting masterclass by Babyem, on identifying tongue-ties, assessing feeding efficiency and better supporting those that want to breastfeed. A tongue-tie can cause a whole heap of problems when it comes to breastfeeding, for both Mum and baby. Symptoms of a tongue-tie are varied, multifaceted and often overlapping with other feeding challenges, meaning they are often misdiagnosed.

Hi, I’m Katie. Mum of three and Director of Precious Little Bunnies, Baby and Child Sleep Consultancy.

First, remember in those early months….you cannot create bad habits at this age, by responding to your baby’s needs you are not creating a rod for your back. Enjoy the newborn cuddles, they don’t last that long.

This is a topic I really wish I didn’t have to prepare for, but unfortunately there are many many families out there that experience loss, and I want to be able help them, in any way that I can.

Approximately 5,000 babies a year die, the equivalent to 14 a day; 30% of these deaths are at term which equates to 1 in 150 births; 1 in 4 women are affected by miscarriage.

I attended a seminar with SANDS recently on how to support families through pregnancy loss and the death of a baby. SANDS is the leading stillbirth and neonatal death charity in the UK, focused on reducing the number of babies dying and ensuring that anyone affected by the death of a baby receives the best possible care and support for as long as they need it.

Something that I get asked a lot is why you would have a birth doula if you already have a supportive birth partner who is the father or your baby. Many dads-to-be fear that a doula will replace them, or take over, they wonder what their role will be if there is another person in the room. A doula is there to support the whole family - they do not replace the ‘primary’ birth partner, they will work with him to improve the experience for all…

Whether your baby has colic or reflux seems to be the deciding factor on whether or not you are able to enjoy the first couple of months of their lives – and whether you manage to get any real sleep. I attended a masterclass with BabyEm recently, learning about ways to assess whether medical intervention might be required, and some simple strategies to solve the root cause – rather than just the symptoms.

I attended a really interesting workshop with the Infant Feeding Academy this week and I will be adopting these three ‘secrets’ into my practice as a birth and postnatal doula, whilst signposting my clients to more qualified providers of support when required.

1. Learn to hand express antenatally

2. Prioritise the ‘golden hour’

3. Write a feeding plan…

As a child I was always obsessed with babies, I was that kid that carted the baby around the playground. I dreamed of being a nurse (like my Mum) or midwife (which she had always wanted to be), I had that desire to look after and I couldn’t wait to have my own family, to fill my days cooking and caring for children…