Over the last decade I’ve had the absolute pleasure of working with tens of thousands of women on their journey from pregnancy to motherhood, and one of the bits I love most about my job is that I get the chance to meet and get to know women from all walks of life with so much knowledge and experience. 

Understanding what your immune system does and where it is found will help you to
understand how best to support it, and give yourself a fighting chance of staying well and
energised through the long winter months.

SLOW down, Mama!

Are you always rushing from pillar to post? Is your schedule packed? Are you working full time and then desperately squeezing all the fun, family time and social stuff in at the weekend, meaning that you’re hitting burn out, literally burning the candle at both ends?

It goes without saying that life changes a lot when you become a parent; many positive changes, and some less so. What many new parents find hardest is letting go of the life they had pre-children, and missing the things and the freedom that they used to enjoy. But while many changes are unavoidable and simply part of this new stage of your life, having children doesn’t have to mean changing how you live completely.
 

So, the festivities are over and here we are, one week in to a brand new year. I love the idea of putting last year to bed and being given the chance to start afresh. This is especially relevant if you feel the last year has not been kind to you. 2016 has been a strange one- we have said a lot of goodbyes and seen some surprising decisions made, so I am sure many of you are ready to move on in the hope of a better year to come. 

Last night I taught my second class since qualifying as a LushTums teacher. Looking around at my students’ faces as they opened their eyes, I felt a little bit elated. Happy, relaxed faces looked back at me- women who felt good, and I was able to help them reach that place. It was an amazing feeling. So, how did I get here?

Many of my childhood memories involve the great outdoors but as I grew up I have to admit, I became a little lazy. When I had my first child I didn’t put a great deal of emphasis on outdoor play, but now a few years down the line and mother to a 6 year old and 4 year old, I am really trying to change things for the better. 
 

What does the festive season mean to you? Do you get stressed thinking about buying presents and trying to find the time and energy to keep everyone happy? Are you feeling completely overwhelmed and wishing it was over already? Has the festive season become a time you dread, rather than the celebration it should be?

 

Cot built. Check. Car seat installed. Check. Baby clothes washed and folded away. Check.
LushTums Prepare for Birth course completed. Check.
We have just spent the afternoon taking part in this fabulous birth preparation course, led by
Sarah from LushTums Mid-Sussex team. Already I am feeling a lot more calm and positive
about what's to come. As second time parents to be, the course has helped us to make time
to focus on the birth, remind ourselves of some long forgotten essential information, as well
as teaching us a number of new and very useful things.

Pregnancy is the most incredible journey, but I’ve had 3 kids and I know first-hand how vulnerable women can feel afterwards. The pressure to now suddenly feel happy and ‘complete’, to be the perfect mum, and to have the perfect baby. And added to that, we often put pressure on ourselves to regain our pre-pregnancy figure in the blink of an eye, all the while functioning on little to no sleep.
 

When I became a mum the first time round I had no idea how much the shift would affect
my mental health. It hit me like a tonne of bricks. I was prepared for all the physical stuff.
I’d done antenatal classes and I knew that sleep would be sparse and labour would
hurt….A LOT, but after that we’d bring our baby home and look after her and job done,
right?

What they won’t tell you.

I’ll start off by saying that I absolutely love being a mum. Despite the broken sleep, the dirty nappies, the tea-time battles over the kitchen table, the sometimes mind-numbing monotony of being stuck at home on a rainy day with small children-not to mention the complete emotional rollercoaster these little people put you through (such highs! such lows!), I am incredibly aware of just how lucky I am to be a mum to two gorgeous children. I’ll stop short of using #blessed, but you get the picture; they are everything to me and I am very, very grateful.

But a snapshot of my early days of parenthood still sticks with me...

Postnatal Nutrition - Where to start?
During pregnancy there is so much information on what to eat and what to avoid.
Postnatally the focus shifts to the baby; how much milk do they need? Am I
producing enough? What essential nutrients does the baby need to grow and
thrive? But what about you? Having gone through a full pregnancy and birth, the
physiological stresses on the body are huge. A brand new mum needs all the
nutrients to replenish and support her bodily systems in order to function and look
after both the baby, and herself. Here is some guidance on where to start:

Have baby, will travel.
The first thing that hit us was the smell of the pine trees and the sound of the waves,
transporting us to a world away from our home in south London. It was late at night when
my family and I reached our destination and ‘home from home’ in Spain for the next
month. We had rented an apartment on La Fosca beach, outside the larger town of
Palamós, 120km north of Barcelona in Catalonia. We’d taken the decision to come away
with our 8 month-old son, as part of a mini sabbatical on my husband’s part and an excuse
to get away for some valuable family time while I was still on maternity leave. Our deliberations
when we first started planning this trip away ranged from travelling around New Zealand
in a camper van, to backpacking around Argentina…but

5 ways to be a great friend to a new mama…

My daughter was about 3 weeks old and we were at home alone. After the initial flurry of excitement and outpouring of love that comes from everyone when you welcome a brand new life into the world- the visitors, the cuddles, the gifts, cards, flowers and warm wishes, life had settled back into its familiar patterns and we were working out our new ‘normal’. Of course friends and family still checked in, thought of you, sent supportive texts and cooed over Instagram pictures and Facebook updates. But, inevitably, they go back to their own families, jobs and commitments. And so after 2 weeks paternity leave my husband was back at work, commuting to London each day and away from the house for about 14 hours a day, and my 2 year old son was at nursery. And I was, essentially, alone.

A knock at the door....

So, you've had, or are going to have, a Caesarian section. It may not be what you'd hoped or planned for, but the reality is that around a quarter of births in the UK today are by section – and there's surprisingly little advice and information out there for women about what to expect afterwards. I've had three – 2 emergency sections and an elective (planned) section. Here are my top tips:

1) Having a section, especially an emergency section, can be a big shock to the system – physically but, even more, psychologically.

Top Tips for Breastfeeding Success.

Congratulations, you are pregnant! If you are one of the 81% of women who wants to breastfeed, I have tried to condense some key elements and practical ideas of things you can do to help you succeed.Skin to skin as soon as you can after birth You can usually do this no matter what kind of birth you have had- often doctors will let baby stay on your chest after a c-section while they are stitching you up. You can ask that the newborn checks be done a little later so you can enjoy your first golden hour uninterrupted. There are huge benefits of skin to skin including boosting your baby’s immunity, regulating temperature and respiration, creating a secure attachment as well as allowing the baby to initiate feeding. Watch a video of laid back breastfeeding to give you some inspiration

Home From Home - Normalising Birth

A while ago I was invited to give a short talk to around 40 midwives from the Haywards Heath Princess Royal Hospital and also from the Royal Sussex in Brighton. They were keen to hear about what it is we are teaching our pregnant mamas-to-be and learn about the benefits of yoga breathing and why it can be so helpful for women in labour.

I was delighted to be asked and so enjoyed being there amongst such a lovely group of women who are all experienced and passionate about birth - my perfect day out!

When I found out that I was pregnant with my daughter the fear I have lived with for years about giving birth raised its head again. I have no idea where this fear stems from, I haven’t been exposed directly to any difficult births, or heard that many 'bad' birth stories. Perhaps it was from looking at some hippy birth books of my Mum's with some rather graphic pictures when I was only very young...maybe that didn't help, ha ha! But honestly, I was simply terrified. How on earth would I get a baby out of there!

More people are going through it than you realise. We tried to get pregnant ‘naturally’ for over two and half years before we walked through the doors to the ACU Unit at Guys Hospital. I couldn’t believe the couples I saw waiting to be called in for their appointment – younger than me, healthier-looking than me, thinner than me…people I’d never thought would have trouble getting pregnant. It’s a valuable lesson. Stop giving yourself a hard time.