Maternity Health

01/10/2025

If you are booked under Basildon, Southend or Broomfield for your pregnancy you have access to to this wonderful service!
Real midwives available to answer non-urgent questions! (Not an AI based service!)
If you have worries you can contact the Triage team at each hospital 24/7 ❤️

Need a bit of maternity advice? We’ve got you covered!

Get expert guidance and personalised support from our maternity team—all from the comfort of home!

Visit Maternity Direct: https://orlo.uk/POBMr
Chat Hours: 7am-8pm, 7 days a week (excluding bank holidays)

Our team is just a message away! Share this with any expecting or new parents.

01/10/2025

Any type of abuse - emotional, physical, financial etc is wrong … please seek help / support 💔

Gaslighting is emotional abuse. It’s designed to confuse and control. You are not imagining it.

01/10/2025

🌟Emotional Abuse🌟

Emotional abuse can feel as destructive and damaging as physical abuse, and can severely impact your mental health. The scars of emotional abuse are real and long-lasting.

It’s often used as a way to maintain power and control over someone.
Emotional abuse may be accompanied by other kinds of abuse. (see attached poster created by CAMHS)
Physical violence is often seen as being more serious than emotional abuse, but this simply isn’t true.

As well as having a negative impact on your self-esteem and confidence, emotional abuse can leave you feeling depressed, anxious or even suicidal.

The first step in escaping an abusive situation is realising that you're not alone and it's not your fault.
If you decide to leave be careful who you tell. It's important your partner does not know where you're going.
Before you go, try to get advice from an organisation that can give you information and support about making a safety plan.

🔸Women's Aid: https://www.womensaid.org.uk/
🔸Refuge: https://www.refuge.org.uk/
🔸Changing Pathways (Essex): https://changingpathways.org/

🔸Whilst women are the predominant victims of violence at the hands of men we know that men also so suffer this link for men: Men's Advice Line: https://mensadviceline.org.uk/

🔸And for those in the for LGBT+ community – GALOP: https://galop.org.uk/

30/09/2025

🥰A Little Message...🥰

30/09/2025

🌟Mental Health Crisis? Struggling? txt SHOUT to 85258🌟

SHOUT 85258 is a free confidential 24/7 text messaging service for anyone struggling to cope with their mental health.
If you are struggling with your mental well-being or feeling suicidal / that you cant carry on please text SHOUT to 85258.

How it works
There’s no charge to use Shout 85258 and the service is discreet and easily accessible.
It won’t appear on a mobile bill and requires no app, data, password or registration.
The service is silent, free, confidential and anonymous – you can send a text message
any time of day or night, wherever you happen to be.

For their website please see: https://giveusashout.org/
page: https://www.facebook.com/giveusashoutuk/

Shout is the UK's first and only 24/7 text service for anyone struggling with their mental health. Text 'Shout' to 85258 for free, confidential support anytime, anywhere

30/09/2025

🌟Rush of love… ???🌟

This wonderful illustration created by Kleiman and Molly McIntyre will probably hit a nerve with some of you…

For some people, the rush of love for your baby happens the moment you see them.
For others, there is simply too much going on; recovery, adjusting to new life, tiredness and hormones – all these can cause changes to your emotions that might mean this bond takes longer to establish.

💜You are not alone in how you are feeling, It will come! and if it takes its time….it doesn't make you a bad parent.

Find out more about bonding with your baby:
https://www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/after-birth/bonding-your-baby

And for Dads who are worried about bonding with their new baby please read: https://www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/blogs-and-stories/im-pregnant/pregnancy-news-and-blogs/dad-and-baby-bonding

29/09/2025

😢💔

29/09/2025

29/09/2025

🌟Head engaged? What does that mean?!🌟

So has your midwife said to you that baby’s head is now engaged? Then been worried about what it means?...
…it simply means your baby is in the correct position for birth, which is that their head has moved down to sit in the pelvis cavity. This is sometimes known as ‘lightening’

As your baby grows at the end of the second trimester and into the third, you may notice that you feel more ‘full up’ and may be more breathless. This is due to your baby getting bigger and pushing into the space of your stomach and lungs.
When your baby moves or ‘drops’ down into your pelvis and its head engages, you may notice these symptoms ease as more space is feed up for your stomach and lungs. (unfortunately the downside is that you may need to p*e more as your baby often plays bouncy-ball on your bladder!)
A myth with engagement is that birth is imminent… unfortunately this isn’t always the case. All pregnancies are different – some babies ‘drop’ early (and that can be weeks before birth) and some don’t engage until labour really gets going.
Sometimes things can affect engagement –
~if baby is a posterior position (lying back to back with you) it can make it harder for the head to engage.
~ If baby is small – it has lots of room to play with so may not engage until later. ~ Equally bigger babies may not have as much room to engage until labour ‘encourages’ them to.
~ The placenta position and the shape of your pelvis may also impact on when engagement happens.

💜What is important to remember is that your baby’s head will engage when its ready and the time is right for both of you.

27/09/2025

Maternity leave coming to an end ? 😳🙁 please read this article ###x

Returning to work after maternity leave may be straight forward for some. For others, going back to work after leave can prove challenging.

As you come towards the time you planned to return to work, you may experience a range or combination of different emotions. This is quite normal!

It may include sadness or anxiety about going back to work after maternity leave, or guilt around leaving your child.

Some mothers may feel a sense of relief around a return to normality and reduced financial pressures.

Challenges securing care for your child may complicate matters, and settling your child into a new routine once you are back at work can take time.

You may be breastfeeding your child and need to establish new feeding routines, including expressing milk and getting your infant used to a bottle. Or, you may choose to cease breastfeeding during the day at this time.

Additionally, for many women, the elements of your previous work wardrobe might need a review, given that you likely last wore some of these clothes up to two years ago!

All these questions and thoughts may be difficult to handle. If you need assistance or feel overwhelmed, speaking to your doctor about your return from maternity leave is an important first step.

Check-list for returning from leave.

~ Meet with your employer early to discuss returning to work from maternity leave.

~ If you wish to seek flexible working arrangements, make a formal application and discuss your plans earlier rather than later.

~ Access any organisational supports that are available.

~ Consider your practical arrangements and how your partner or family may be able to share these responsibilities.

Art by