22/09/2025
🌺 𝗜𝗡𝗙𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗦𝗟𝗘𝗘𝗣 🌺
One of my favourite training organisations, 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢, held an online course on infant sleep which I attended.
The course consisted of 14 high-quality lectures delivered by specialists from around the world. Despite their different backgrounds, they all agreed on several key points:
❤️🩹new mothers continue to be poorly supported
😞 expectations around how babies should sleep at night are heavily influenced by the Industrial Revolution, shaped more by convenience than the biological clock. These ideas became prescriptive over time, giving rise to myths and misinformation about infant sleep.
😔 these unrealistic societal expectations can be incredibly damaging to new mothers, who may wrongly believe that something is wrong with their baby, or that they are failing as parents.
I might share a summary of the course in the future, but for now, if you’re expecting a baby👼, or know someone who is 🤰, I recommend downloading and completing a 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣:https://www.tommys.org/sites/default/files/2024-08/Wellbeing%20plan%202024.pdf
Ideally completed in the third trimester, a wellbeing plan helps a new mum explore what services are available and encourages early conversations with friends and family to establish a support network.
It might sound simple, but when you're sleep deprived and overwhelmed by guilt, it can be hard to think clearly or ask for help. Having a plan in place beforehand makes all the difference and requires very little effort when the time comes. 🌺
My personal highlight was the number of specialists in their fields who appreciated the need for bodywork (that's what I do) for all babies and new moms 💞
