Maternal Nature

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Maternal Nature

Creating a community to support infant mental health & parents/carers wellness in the early years.

Maternal Nature supports mothers through pregnancy, birth and early motherhood, with a particular focus on traumatic birth recovery and rebuilding the bond with their baby. Emotional support is offered alongside practical bonding practices including baby massage, baby yoga and water-based sessions, informed by child development and early years experience. Founded by Leanne, an Early Years Practitioner, Level 2 Baby and Toddler Swimming Instructor (STA), and mum of four! Maternal Nature is a steady, welcoming place for mothers who need space to recover, reconnect and feel less alone after a difficult start.

23/02/2026

This is currently £7.

But until the end of February, you can get it for £3.50 with code WOMAN26.

And that’s genuinely as low as it will ever be.

I’ve just updated the Antenatal Wellness Workbook so it now fully follows my HARBOUR Method from start to finish.

It’s structured.
It’s practical.
It helps you create an actual emotional safety and support plan before birth.

Not vague affirmations.

Clear steps:
• recognising your stress patterns
• mapping who supports you and how
• protecting what keeps you steady
• thinking ahead about difficult moments

One mum wrote:

“This workbook made me feel like someone finally understood what I was carrying. I didn’t even realise how much I needed it until I started writing.”

If you’ve already purchased, you’ll receive the updated version free.

If you’re pregnant now, you can download it for £3.50 using code WOMAN26 until the end of February.

After that, the price increases to reflect the full depth of the HARBOUR framework now built into it.

If you’re going to prepare for birth, prepare properly.

https://digital.maternalnature.life/maternalwellnessworkbook

Leanne x

22/02/2026

This is so, so important! Always call your maternity unit if you are concerned about reduced movements 🥰

18/02/2026

Last week, my story was featured in Woman magazine.

I’m sharing this not as a personal milestone, but because maternal mental health still needs to be spoken about with honesty and leadership particularly during pregnancy and early motherhood.

Too many women struggle believing they should be coping better, feeling more grateful, or bonding more easily. When appropriate support is missing, that struggle is often internalised as personal failure rather than understood as a normal response to pressure, fear, and overwhelm.

Here’s the reality: difficult beginnings do not define the future.

Wellbeing doesn’t come from pushing through or adopting generic self-care. It comes from understanding what’s happening in your body and mind, and having a plan that fits your life, capacity, and circumstances.

That’s why I created the Maternal Wellness Plan, a practical starting point to help women pause, reflect, and begin creating support that actually works for them.

To mark the publication of this story, I’m offering 50% off the Wellness Plan for a limited time.

It’s available for £3.50 with the code Woman26.

If this feels relevant for you or if you know someone who could benefit please feel free to pass it on.

https://digital.maternalnature.life/maternalwellnessworkbook

17/02/2026

Have you picked up a copy of this weeks Woman magazine?
You will see a familiar face 😁

More later….

14/02/2026

I was told bonding would be incredible...
but I’m still not sure if people were sharing their experience or just repeating the narrative.

Because when it didn’t feel like that for me, I quietly assumed the problem was me.
Everyone else seemed to have this rush of love they couldn’t describe, while I was left wondering what I was missing.

I wanted to love and protect this tiny human more than anything.
But my body was in pain after the birth.
Even small movements sent shooting pain through me.

I couldn’t sleep.
I couldn’t shower.
I couldn’t even go to the toilet without pain.

Looking back now, I can see that my body was in survival mode.
And when the body is busy surviving, connection doesn’t disappear it just unfolds differently.

This is why I care so deeply about the stories we tell mums about bonding.
Because when we reduce it to a feeling, we leave so many women questioning themselves in silence.

I’ve written more about this and about the myths that made my early experiences so confusing on my website.

🌿https://maternalnature.life/blogs/

13/02/2026

Friday the 13th gets labelled as unlucky.

But for a lot of mums, the real weight isn’t superstition
it’s how much they’ve been carrying quietly for a long time.

I’ve just updated my Maternal Wellness Workbook so it now fully reflects my HARBOUR method, the framework that sits underneath all of my work around safety, emotional recovery, and gentle reconnection with yourself.

I’m releasing it quietly across Friday 13th and Valentine’s Day
as an invitation to choose kindness over pushing through.

✨ For today and tomorrow only, the workbook is 50% off with the code:
LOVE26

No pressure.
No “new you”.
Just something steady to come back to if your nervous system needs care.

If you’d like a reminder tomorrow so you don’t have to hold it in your head,
comment LOVE and I’ll remind you 🤍

Sometimes the kindest thing you can do is choose care
even on days that don’t get much love.

👉 https://digital.maternalnature.life/maternalwellnessworkbook

11/02/2026

So many mums are carrying this worry:

“I love my baby… so why doesn’t it feel the way I thought it would?”

And because no one really talks about it honestly, that worry often turns into guilt. Or self-blame. Or the sense that you’ve somehow missed something important.

Here’s the thing I see again and again in my work with mothers:
it’s not that bonding is broken, it’s that we’ve been taught some unhelpful myths about how bonding is supposed to look and feel.

Instant connection. Natural instinct. A rush of love that overrides everything else.
For many women, especially after a difficult birth or in a second or subsequent pregnancy, that just isn’t the reality.

Bonding isn’t a single feeling.
It isn’t a moment you either have or you don’t.
And it definitely isn’t a measure of whether you’re a “good” mum.

I’ve written a short blog unpacking 5 common bonding myths I see causing so much unnecessary pain and what’s actually going on underneath, from a nervous system and emotional perspective.

If you’ve ever wondered why connection feels slower, quieter, or more complicated than you were led to expect, this is for you.

👉 Read it here:
https://www.maternalnature.life/blogs/5-bonding-myths

And if something in it resonates, you’re not alone and you haven’t missed your chance to bond. 💛

10/02/2026

This month, a big part of my work is happening behind the scenes.

I’m spending time reviewing and updating the legal foundations of my business. The contracts, policies, and processes are being updated to make sure that when you work with me, you feel safe, clear, and confident.

That includes ensuring:
• your personal data is protected
• your privacy is respected
• expectations are transparent
• and everything I offer is delivered with care and integrity

This work isn’t flashy.
It won’t show up in reels or quick wins.
But it’s essential.

Because supporting mothers means holding trust at every level :- emotional, professional, and practical.

Strong foundations matter.
And your safety always comes first.

05/02/2026

We talk a lot about bonding as if it’s an emotion you either feel… or you don’t.

But bonding isn’t a feeling first.
It’s a process.

Touch isn’t “extra.”
It isn’t a bonus skill.
It’s one of the primary ways a baby’s nervous system learns safety.

From birth, babies regulate through relationship. Through being held, stroked, pressed close, soothed. These moments stimulate oxytocin, not as a fluffy “love hormone,” but as a biological signal that lowers stress, supports emotional regulation, and strengthens attachment pathways in the brain.

This matters not just for babies, but for parents too.

If you’re recovering from a difficult pregnancy or birth, your own nervous system may still be on alert. Touch can feel complicated. Overwhelming. Or strangely absent of the warmth you expected. That doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong.

It means your body is still protecting you.

Bonding doesn’t require a rush of feeling.
It grows through repeated moments of safety, even quiet, ordinary ones.

You don’t have to get it “right.”
You don’t have to enjoy every second.
You don’t have to force closeness that doesn’t feel available yet.

If you’re wondering how to begin gently, realistically, without pressure, I’ve created a short guide called 5 Ways to Bond.

It’s practical, grounded, and designed for parents who want to strengthen connection without performing it.

You can explore it here, in your own time:
👉 https://digital.maternalnature.life/5bond

Bonding isn’t a test you pass.
It’s a relationship you’re allowed to grow into.

04/02/2026

⚠️ Correction: SMA First Infant Milk Recall Update. This post has been edited with the most up-to-date information.

Our earlier post contained an error in the product name. The correct details are:

- SMA First Infant Milk 800g
- Batch code: 53390346AB
- Best before: December 2027
- Distributed in Northern Ireland only

You can find the batch code at the base of the product.

What you should do:

- Check batch codes for all recalled products
- Stop using any affected product immediately, even if your baby appears well
- If your formula was prescribed, consult a pharmacist or medical professional before changing formula

Cereulide is a toxin that cannot be destroyed by boiling water or cooking. It can cause rapid onset of nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps.

For a full list of affected Nestlé batches, and what to do next, visit: https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-prin-02-2026-update-3

We apologise for the earlier error.

03/02/2026

Today’s been a balance between legal work and clearing out.

I had a big unit at the bottom of these stairs that I’d been holding onto as it was a convenient dumping ground 😳

It was time for it to go.

I’m intentional about this now, in my home and in my work. What stays has to earn its place. Carrying things just because we always have comes at a cost.

I see this with the women I support all the time. We don’t get stuck because we’re failing. We get stuck because we’re still holding what helped us survive a previous chapter.

This clearing was deliberate.
Making way for the Year of the Horse.

Quiet decisions.
Clear boundaries.
Space to move again. 🐎✨

What’s one thing you know you’re ready to let go of?

02/02/2026

I’ve been working on something quietly in the background for a while.

It finally has a name that fits: Maternal Nature
And the website is now live: www.maternalnature.life

February has always felt like a different kind of turning point to me.
Not the loud new year, but the quieter one marked by Imbolc, a time traditionally associated with light returning and new life beginning to stir beneath the surface, long before it’s fully seen.

That’s how this work has grown.

My work has always sat at the meeting point of maternal wellbeing and early child development.
Not just what babies need but what mothers carry in their bodies and nervous systems through pregnancy, birth, bonding, and the early years.
It has always been maternal at its core.

As a trained Early Years Practitioner, I’ve spent years working with children and families and seeing how development is shaped long before behaviour ever becomes visible. Regulation, connection, emotional safety are built in relationship, not in isolation.

Nature has always been part of how I understand this too.
The steadiness of water.
The grounding of trees.
The way both babies and adults often settle more easily when the environment supports the nervous system rather than overwhelms it.

And just as importantly, the idea that we each have our own nature.
Our rhythms. Our limits. Our individual needs.
Things that deserve to be listened to, not pushed through.

Maternal Nature reflects all of this more clearly.
An understanding that maternal mental health, child development, and the environments we move through are deeply connected.
That supporting mothers is also a way of supporting children with their learning, their emotional world, and their capacity to feel safe.

February felt like the right time for this to emerge.
Not as a loud announcement, but as a quieter beginning, one that mirrors how maternal wellbeing actually unfolds.

The values haven’t changed.
The care hasn’t changed.
The work hasn’t changed.

Only the name has caught up.

If you’d like to follow along as this continues to take shape slowly, intentionally, and in tune with the seasons, you’re very welcome here 💚

Address

Dundee

Telephone

+447733544633

Website

http://www.maternalnature.life/, https://linktr.ee/dipintonature

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