http://www.thebirthot.co.uk/bookings

The Birth OT, Bracknell (2025)

06/02/2023

Ahhh, I just LOVE the feedback that’s coming in about the Return to Work sessions I’ve been offering 🤩🙌🏻

Returning to work after maternity leave can feel like an understandably tricky time for soooo many reasons 🫣😩

And what I’m hearing is that many of you don’t feel like you’ve got a space that you can reflect on these feelings and think about some of the practical ways that you might support yourself through this period and all it brings with it.

✔️ So if a safe, non-judgemental space is what you’re after - I can offer you that

✔️ If you need some practical tools to help navigate anxiety and overwhelm - I can offer you that

✔️ If you want to feel more supported as you make the big transition back to work - I can offer you that

To find out more about my Return to Work Sessions - DM me the word WORK and let’s chat about what YOU need 💜
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01/02/2023

If you feel like you’re stuck in a never ending cycle of hard - whether in pregnancy or postpartum - this one’s for you.

You only need to get through this moment.

Please know I see you and I’m rooting for you 💜

Save this for a reminder in the tricky moments
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30/01/2023

Parenting can bring up a lots of *sTuFf* when it comes to your emotions…

Stuff that maybe feels overwhelming, or like it’s out of our control. And maybe it then leaves you feeling bad because you don’t want to be the stressy or shouty parent, and it’s not really your little one’s fault, but in the moment it just all feels too much!

If you relate to this then come and join my Close Friends Story Gang where I’m sharing all the goodies on supporting your emotional wellbeing in early parenting and as you transition back into work.

It can feel like a lot, but you don’t have to be in it on your own 💜

Let me know in the comments what your biggest challenge is when it comes to emotions and parenting, and if you want in to the Close Friends Gang - let me know that too!
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26/01/2023

This is your reminder to go gentle with yourself as you transition in to parenthood 💜

If I could go back and tell the new mum me anything, it would be to go at your own pace.

I remember on this walk feeling so overwhelmed at how physically hard it felt to just walk around the green by our house.

So hard that I just wanted to cry (let’s be honest, I probably did!)

I felt like my body would never be the same again and honestly, a bit broken.

What I was struggling to hold space for in that moment was compassion for myself and what I’d done just 5 days previously.

Compassion for the ebb and flow of emotions that can leave you feeling like you’re on a rollercoaster for the first few days.

Compassion for the physical effort my body had put in to birth my baby, and that rest and nurture was what it needed.

There’s so much that we don’t see as you make the move into parenthood - but just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, nor does it erase its validity.

So, I’ll say it again, go gentle with yourself, you’re doing big, hard things 💜
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24/01/2023

This one might ruffle a feather or two…

But let’s get one thing straight from the outset - the intention of this post isn’t to belittle or dismiss your emotions or experience, because that’s always valid.

What I do want to highlight though is the importance of taking a *holistic* approach to mental and emotional health and not dismissing the presence of trauma.

Because actually, feeling incredibly low and potentially unsafe in yourself, your thoughts, your emotions and your decisions makes a lot of sense when considered alongside the context of a traumatic birth experience.

In fact, there’s the potential that if any other person experienced what you did then they’d quite possibly feel exactly the same - because it’s an understandable human response and not because you’re broken 💜

Of course, this isn’t a black and white discussion or situation and nuance is very much needed.

You deserve to have your experience considered and held in mind so that you can receive the most helpful and effective support for your emotional wellbeing.

Let me know in the comments if this resonates with you or your experience (or you can always drop me a DM, I’d love to hear from you 🥰)
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22/01/2023

Remember when you could just pick up your bag and leave the house without a second thought?

Or when you could go to the toilet without hearing the cries of “Mummy, Mummy, Mummy” when all you really want is a moment of privacy and peace?

Or when you could really savour cooking a nice meal, taking your time and being present for each step?

How you go about your day to day activities changes quite significantly once there’s a small human on the scene 👶🏼

There’s more and different demands compared to when you only had yourself to think about, and it’s understandable that it m!ight feel draining or overwhelming at times (and wonderfully joyful at others).

Factoring a small human into a daily activity (let’s take making tea/dinner as an example) means that you maybe now have to navigate…

🟣 organising an activity to engage your small human
🟣 managing/tolerating their emotions when they don’t want to be in the high chair or do the activity you set up
🟣 frequent distractions
🟣 trying to get back on track after a distraction
🟣 trying to prep/cook one handed
🟣 assessing and managing risk
🟣 sensory overload from cooking and small human noise
🟣 keeping on top of timings whilst potentially distracted
🟣 problem solving in an attempt to keep the small human safe and entertained

…I could keep going.

So whilst it’s theoretically the same activity, it’s really NOT the same activity given that the environment and demands on you are now quite different.

I’ll hold my hands up and say that this really isn’t something I anticipated when having kids (even though my job is to think about daily activities 😂), but it makes so much sense if you find it a lot!

The first step to moving through this is accepting that things are different now and it’s ok if that feels really hard in some moments - you’re doing the best that you can 💜

Let me know in the comments - have you found your daily activities harder or more effortful since becoming a parent?
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21/01/2023

Hands up if you needed to hear this today 🙋🏼‍♀️

Be kind to yourself 💜 not just for current you, but for future you too.

Save this and share with a postpartum mama to let her know she’s got this xx
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19/01/2023

So maybe you’re on it with preparing for birth, but have you given thought to the bit that comes after? 🤔

I’m talking about the healing, nourishing, bonding and easing into parenthood once your baby has made their way Earthside 🤩🥰

Preparing for the postpartum period and your transition into parenthood can be just as powerful and important as preparing for birth…

So swipe through ➡️ for some of the considerations that might make all the difference in those early days.

Want more support in preparing for postpartum?

Why not join my upcoming Birth & Postpartum PREP Course? We kick off on 06/02/23 and there’s a space with you name on 💜 DM me the word COURSE for more details!
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18/01/2023

Let’s think about how you can work alongside your healthcare providers (HCPs) in birth, so that you can feel fully safe and supported 💜

Your HCPs (midwives, maternity assistants/support workers, Drs) are effectively part of your environment - and as we dive into in the Birth & Postpartum PREP Course, the environment is hugely important when it comes to birth.

The environment has the potential to…

🤩 support and facilitate birth - by helping you feel safe and have opportunity to do what you want and need to do in birth

😵‍💫 or to hinder your birth - by feeling unsafe and creating barriers to you doing what you want and need to do in birth.

And we know that a perceived lack of support or a feeling of being out of control and not central to the decisions that might need to be made in birth can massively contribute to how you experience your birth - so this is important stuff!

So how do you make sure your healthcare support team (if you choose to have one), support and facilitate birth, rather than become an obstacle?

Here’s some thoughts:

1️⃣ know that you get a choice - that is, you can request a different healthcare professional to support you (and I know that this can feel uncomfortable, but ultimately you only birth your baby once and this is therefore about you and not your HCP)

2️⃣ know what's important to you - and communicate it in your birth plan/preferences and make sure that your HCP is on board with reviewing this with you (if they're no, see point 1)

3️⃣ get your birth partner on board - during labour your birth partner is a powerful advocate, so making sure they know what you want (and therefore don't want) can mean they work to protect your space and liaise with your HCPs where needed.

If this has got you thinking about what actually is important to you, then there's still time to join the Birth & Postpartum PREP Course where we'll be diving deep into preparing for birth and beyond.

Hit the send message button and drop me a 💜 if you want more information on how you can join us!

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17/01/2023

Emotions can feel…tricky 🫠

They can be powerful, overwhelming and intense, and that can sometimes feel like a bit of a problem 🙈😬

It can be helpful to remember that emotions are an important communication of something that’s going on for you in that moment - the reality is that they’re neither good or bad, but I appreciate that it doesn’t always feel that way!

➡️ So how do you take back some control, so you don’t feel like your emotions are in the driving seat?

A great place to start is…

💫 MINDFUL AWARENESS 💫

Through mindful awareness you can start to pay attention to what your emotions feel like and what’s happening in and around you when they’re present (a.k.a v important insight!! 🤩)

Not only that, but you can build your skills in not getting caught up in your emotions and being more tuned into what you need in that moment (so you can start to maybe respond differently - imagine the power that would give you! 💪🏻)

Want to know more about how you can practically build your mindful awareness skills? Drop a 🙋🏼‍♀️ in the comments
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14/01/2023

This year marks 10 years since I qualified as an Occupational Therapist (OT) 🤯🤩

Which now means I’m inching ever closer to racking up a decade of experience in specialist mental and emotional health care 🤭

I knew I wanted to specialise in mental health from the get go, and I’m so grateful to have been able to experience working with a huge variety of individuals in several different settings, including:

💜 inpatient mental health (adults, older adults and dementia care)
💜 community learning disability services
💜 a specialist intervention service (focused around Dialectical Behaviour Therapy)
💜 an older adults day hospital (still supporting mental health)
💜 a community based stabilisation service

My practice has evolved so much over the years (I definitely do a little cringe looking back on my first couple of years 🫣🫠), and I feel like I’m now at a place where I really know my values and what I believe in when it comes to my work…

💜 trauma-informed
💜 collaboration
💜 inclusivity
💜 advocacy
💜 understanding

(Yes, all these things should ideally be a given, but they’ve been an ever-evolving process over the last 10 years as I’ve grown my knowledge, understanding and confidence).

I’m so excited to see what growth the next 10 years brings - because there’s still so much to learn, reflect on and integrate.

(Enjoy the throwback to a time I had much cooler hair and was significantly less less sleep deprived 🙃)
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13/01/2023

Let’s chat 💩💩💩

You don’t need to live in fear of the post-birth poops because I got you!

Scroll through for some tips to go with ease and keep you as comfortable as possible 😅

📍Make sure you hit save so you can come back to this when you need it!

(P.S. Don’t forget that stool softeners/laxatives do exist and many are safe in breastfeeding should you really need them! 👍🏻)

(P.P.S. Want more birth prep tips? Come and join my free Birth PREP Mini-Class on Monday 16th Jan - link in my bio to sign up!)
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11/01/2023

Am I right, or am I right? 😬😂

Hands up if your baby loves (or loved - if they’re already here 🙋🏼‍♀️) a middle of the night dance party 🕺🏼💃🏼🪩

(P.S. if feeling apprehensive about birth is also keeping you up at night, come and join my FREE birth prep mini-class on Monday 16th @ 7pm GMT. Head to https://view.flodesk.com/pages/63bc33a029952085c6b11a69 to join 💜)
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10/01/2023

Did you know that at the point of birth there's still around 1/3 of your baby's blood volume within the umbilical cord and placenta? 🤯

The cord pictured here, which is still blueish in colour, is full of oxygen and iron rich blood, which was circulating between your baby and their placenta.

Once your baby is born, the blood that remains in the placenta continues to move into your baby's body through the pulsating cord, and actually supports your baby to establish their breathing as they transition into the world 🌬️

Delayed cord clamping allows time for the blood to transition from the placenta and cord back into your baby becfore clamping and cutting the cord - this can potentially take up to 5 minutes, or even longer ⏱️

How do you know once all the blood is out of the placenta?

➡️ The cord will go from a deep blueish colour (as in the photo) to white.

Research suggests that this supports baby having...

🩸increased blood volume
🩸higher oxygen saturation
🩸a more stable heart rate
🩸more stable blood pressure
🩸better functioning of internal organs e.g. the kidneys

It might also be helpful to know that supporting delayed cord clamping isn't shown to increase the likelihood of postpartum haemorrhage or impact on the length of time it takes to birth the placenta.

In the circumstance where your baby requires support with their breathing after birth (through resuscitation), research also suggests that keeping the cord intact can support in improving resuscitation outcomes and reducing the likelihood of post-resucitation complications.

There is also benefit to delaying cord clamping (research focused on 30-45 seconds after birth) in babies born prematurely (even as early as

09/01/2023

Things that can get in the bin for making postpartum life harder than it needs to be ⬇️

🚮 pressure to get your baby settling on their own immediately
🚮 conflicting information about routines and feeding or anything for that matter
🚮 a barrage of visitors that you feel you have to host
🚮 the pressure to “snap back” to your pre-pregnancy body immediately
🚮 getting back to doing all the things ASAP
🚮 anything that makes you question the validity of your intuition
🚮 pressure to do anything that you don’t want to do
🚮 lack of parental leave meaning you’re left to manage on your own after just a couple of weeks
🚮 guilt because you didn’t manage to do anything much other than support your baby all day

What are you adding to the list?
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08/01/2023

End of. No further explanation needed aside from reminding you that your emotions are valid 💜

You’re feeling them for a reason and whatever’s going on, it likely makes a whole lotta sense within the context of what you’ve lived through.
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05/01/2023

When I’ve been reviewing the responses to my Perinatal Wellbeing Survey (link in my bio if you want to participate 💜) there’s been several responses that relate to Postpartum Haemorrhage (PPH).

There are multiple factors that can contribute to increasing or reducing the likelihood of experiencing a PPH, some are within your control and some more so outside of it.

What can be most valuable is having the awareness of those factors so that you can make more informed decisions that feel right and best for you and your baby, allowing you to plan and prepare and also respond to what’s happening in the moment.

Reducing the likelihood of a PPH is not just about medical care - a holistic approach is important as your environment and how you feel matter too (because they too impact on what happens within your biology).

Swipe through for the deets ➡️ and make sure you save this post to come back to when you’re weighing up decisions about your care!
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03/01/2023

So you're pregnant and noticing worries creeping in about how you might cope during birth... 😩🐵😭

Now, don't get me wrong, labour and birth can be an intensely powerful experience, but there are things that you can do to help your body and baby out 💪🏻💥

So swipe through ➡️ for 3 tips for an easier birth, and if you want more where that came from make sure you sign up for my *FREE* Introduction to Birth PREP Mini-Class (link is in my bio!)

This list isn't exhaustive, in fact, there's LOADS of things that you can do to support yourself during birth - helping you to feel more calm, confident and comfortable 🥰🙌🏻💜

If you haven't already, don't forger to head to the link in my bio to save your space on the free mini-class, I can't wait to see you there! 🤩
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The Birth OT