Raquel Murray pregnancy, labour and postpartum support

23/04/2022

Father displacement can be very real, having dad participate in skin to skin is such a good idea. Kangaroo care is not inclusive let those dad's in on the snuggle 🥰

Dads can be part of the first embrace!
When fathers hold babies skin-to-skin, it helps them stay warm and safe. It’s a simple but powerful way of improving the health of preterm and low-birth-weight babies.

22/03/2022

The body is truly magnificent!

When a baby suckles at its mother's breast, a vacuum is created within which the infant's saliva is sucked back into the mother's ni**le, where receptors in her mammary gland read its signals. This "baby spit backwash," contains information about the baby's immune status, causing the mother's breast milk to adjust its immunological composition.

If the mammary gland receptors detect the presence of pathogens, they compel the mother's body to produce antibodies to fight it, and those antibodies travel through breast milk back into the baby's body, where they target the infection.

15/03/2022

Harmless to older children and adults but infants under the age of 1 are at risk, even if it's Cooked or hidden in other food items - like bread! That's a sneaky one so check your ingredients

14/03/2022

March 14-18th is Safe Sleep Week. Despite the decline in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), SIDS still remains to be the 2nd leading cause of death of healthy infants. Lower the risk of SIDS by promoting a safe sleep environment for EVERY sleep.

Do you know the dos and don'ts of safe sleep?

07/03/2022

Happy Monday!

I stayed up way to late but was on the productivity train and couldn't get off, So this was fitting for today.

What is your love language, im slowly learning to be more vocal about my needs (its a process) but as I get older time has become the most important to me. Time for myself, for my spouse, my children (together and individually) my family and my friends... how does it all fit, right?! In little spurts that's how, but I'm grateful for it all!

05/03/2022

What's delicious, one hand friendly, and full of protein and energy?! These no bake bites, and you can put anything in them!

My latest was shredded coconut, dried cranberries and macadamia nuts along with almost butter instead of peanut butter 😋

23/02/2022

How interesting!

FUN FACT FRIDAY ABOUT MILK-MAKING. Did you know you grow more milk-making cells in your breasts with each pregnancy? So the more pregnancies you have, the more grapes (erhm.. I mean milk-making cells) you’ll have! 🍇
Were you a first time mom struggling with milk supply like me? I don’t think a day went by where I didn’t think about ways to at least keep up my supply.
Second time around? A BOUNTIFUL supply! Now there are many factors for this, but one is because the hormone changes that you go through in pregnancy help your body make more milk-making cells. So in addition to the ones you had from your last pregnancy, you’ll have some more!
Pretty neat huh? So if your breastfeeding journey didn’t work out the way you wanted to your first time, it likely won’t be the same the second time around (for many reasons, having more milk-making cells being one of them!) 🙌🏻
I’ll have way more information like this on my website, where the launch is coming in March. Be the first to know! Link in the bio or go to breastfeedingdietitian.com 🤱

18/02/2022

📢 🚨 RECALL /certain abbott-brand powdered infant Formula products recalled due cronobacter

Full details attached

All lot codes where: - The first 2 digits range from 22 through to 37; AND - Contain K8, SH, or Z2; AND - Have an expiration date of 1APR2022 or after

17/02/2022

Are you or someone you know expecting or have just delivered?

Some but not all things a Perinatal Support worker can do!

- Be your sound board during pregnancy for questions you might have
- be an unbiased advocate for you during labour and support you through the stages of labour
during postpartum
- infant feeding support (breastfeeding, formula and pumping)
- new parent support
-sleep support
-extra pair of hands for other family
- nutrition support

You might have lots of family and friends around but when the time comes it can be hard to put into words exactly what you are looking for which can make this time feel very isolating.

Let me help you thrive through this transition, Motherhood is a job and you aren't meant to do it alone. you deserve help, rest, and support!

If you are interested in prenatal, labour, or postpartum support please contact me today, I am a new PNSW completing the practicum portion of my program I have 500 of Theory based knowledge, 36 hours of evidence based birth training, I am certified to support parents with mental health challenges, I have also completed the WHO level 1 breastfeeding training and on course to sit for the international board certified lactation consultant exam once my mentorship is complete!

17/02/2022

Have you been to your GP or pediatrician and been guided through question after question of all the things your baby can (or cannot do?) And left feeling miserable that you weren't able to check off many of the boxes?

Well Ive got great news! After years of being untouched The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) "want to simplify things for confused parents and help them better identify signs of autism and developmental delays in kids. The organizations recently updated their checklist for developmental milestones for infants and young children in their Learn the Signs. Act Early program. The earlier a delay is caught the better but the old plan based their knowledge off of what only 50% of the child population was achieving, this new milestone checklist, written in more accessible, family friendly language identifies behaviors that 75% or more children can be expected to exhibit at a certain age. This information is based on data, developmental resources, and clinician experience."

Some of the changes to the new guidelines include:

•Adding checklists for ages 15 and 30 months •Removing vague language like “may” or “begins” when referring to certain milestones.
•Removing duplicate milestones.
•Providing new, open-ended questions to use in discussion with families (e.g., Is there anything that your child does or does not do that concerns you?)
•Revising and expanding tips and activities for developmental promotion and early relational health.

Follow the link below to See how things have changed, how do you fall with milestones? Do you stress when baby isn't on target or do you take more of a wait and see (within reason) approach?
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/index.html

Taking a first step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye bye” are called developmental milestones. Which ones has your child reached?

15/02/2022

It doesn't matter how ♡

None

12/02/2022

Making a registry, late night shopping during those unbearable teething days? All the cute teethers might seem adorable but be wary when buying these balled clip on teethers. As much as they feel great on the gums thy can very quickly come lose and are the perfect size to get stuck in your little ones throat. Stick to toys that aren't attached by strings or that can't fit past babies gums to ensure safety for your little one.