Positive Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond ~ Doula Services

30/06/2020

Yes ❤️

Your care providers are there to serve you and support you, NOT to impose their preferences upon you. Your choices should be respected. Kirsten Small from said this recently and I love it! Kirsten is an obstetrician and academic and is on point in her words. Women shouldn’t be doing what their care providers want them to do, care providers should be doing what women want them to do.

19/04/2020

❤️

Offer the second side but don’t stress if they don’t take it! ❤️ Worried about foremilk and hindmilk? Read this! https://themilkmeg.com/do-i-really-have-to-worry-about-foremilk-and-hindmilk/

03/04/2019

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

23/10/2018

“I really wish that all new mothers were told that the majority of newborns want to breastfeed much more frequently than every few hours. And many even want to stay latched on, suckling for extended periods of time. This can understandably shake a new mother’s confidence and make her second guess if she’s producing enough milk to keep her nursling satisfied. Women are usually just told that their baby should nurse ‘every 2-3 hours’, but frequent (and lengthy) nursing is a totally normal thing for newborns to do! It helps keep them close to mama while regulating her milk supply.
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Often babies won’t have these longer stretches between feeds until they’re a little older. Even then, there are several things that could make them want to nurse more, including (but not limited to) teething, sickness, unfamiliar surroundings, or feeling tired. I can’t imagine how miserable it would be to have a fussy baby in your arms but feel like you shouldn’t breastfeed again because it’s “not time yet”.
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This isn’t discussed often enough and new mothers need to be reassured. If baby is gaining weight, then there’s absolutely nothing wrong with breastfeeding more often than what you’ve been told is ‘normal’. The postpartum period is all about surrendering, so cozy up with your babe and forget the clock.

Photo x ”
Repost: Oh Baby Nutrition

11/09/2018

Love this ❤️

Questioning our assumptions can be very powerful! Don't believe everything you think.

28/08/2018

The message given to new parents is the higher the infant weight gain the better. Yet being a big baby and growing fast is a risk factor for childhood obesity.

27/08/2018

❤️

Too often, new mothers are warned not to create “bad habits” by holding their baby, nursing their baby to sleep, or responding to their baby’s cries quickly. But the research on attachment shows that babies and children who are responded to and have their needs met quickly are often ***more*** independent. This is because strong attachment fosters trust. When a child knows that their parent is there for them, they feel safe exploring. When a child is lovingly nursed or rocked to sleep, they learn to trust sleep. Babywearing, cosleeping, and attachment parenting don’t create needy children. Children are needy by nature, and a healthy attachment can help them feel more secure. Image via

Via Raising Ziggy

09/08/2018

❤️

Childbirth was a wrenchingly different experience than I'd imagined. Why hadn't somebody warned me?

24/06/2018

Much more important than we thought it was.

25/04/2018

This.

I am incredibly tired of the negativity I've read over the last 24hrs concerning Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge, and her appearance with her new baby son.

Yes, she looks immaculate, but - no, I don't think this is always a bad thing and I don't think it's disrespectful or damaging to other new mothers.

The one thing I have learned in the 15 years I have worked with new families, is that birth looks different for everyone. So does the postnatal period. Some people have long and difficult labours, vaginal tearing and lots of stitching, C-Sections and horrific afterpains. Other have quick and easy labours, no tearing and no afterpains. Some need, or prefer, to sit or lay down for several days after the birth, others feel that they heal better by getting up and around sooner. Some mothers like to stay in their pyjamas for a week or two, others feel better if they get up, get showered, get dressed and do their hair and make-up a few hours after the birth. We are ALL different.....and frankly, who are we to judge?

If we truly want to empower new mothers, we need to embrace difference and let them know there is a whole spectrum of what 'after birth' looks like....and that wherever they sit on that spectrum is OK, so long as THEY are OK with it. Telling a mum who feels better with freshly blow-dried hair and lipgloss that she's doing it wrong and should be on the sofa in her dressing gown/robe is not helpful. Neither is telling a mum who doesn't want to get out of her PJs for a month that she really should start getting back to normal. We need to encourage her to embrace HER normal.

Do I feel Kate has been pressured into looking so perfect? No, I really don't. The Royal Couple have broken plenty of protocols already, I'm pretty sure they could send out a statement saying there would be no hospital steps photo if they wanted to. I am guessing the birth was fairly swift and straightforward (I hear she's a HypnoBirthing fan!), I don't think it's too hard to lay in bed and have someone put on your make up and do your hair while you cuddle your new baby. She stood on the steps for all of two minutes, before going home - where she most likely did change into her pyjamas, she's probably chilling at home right now in some maternity leggings! The point is, SHE has made a decision to respect this tradition, so she must be OK with it. Judging her for not wearing tracksuit bottoms and her hair in a messy bun is just as bad as the expectations to look perfect that are being bashed left, right and centre on social media.

Birth looks different for everyone, so does the immediate postnatal period. Let's embrace this difference, stop judging and not try to make new mums fit a mould that we think they should - whatever it looks like!