Birthbalance Pregnancy Classes Howick, Pukekohe, Online, In-home

26/09/2025

13 Fabulous new families through our September Pukekohe antenatal course. Our fun and engaging one day course is great for rural families. We promise that our course will help you to feel confident and excited on your journey to parenthood. We cover everything from 'what baby needs to pregnancy, labour, natural birth, medical births, feeding, safe sleeping, parenting in the early months, and so much more'. Our end of year pregnancy courses are filling fast. October has 2 places left! SEE OUR FABULOUS GOOGLE REVIEWS. https://birthbalance.co.nz/

13/09/2025

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12/09/2025

Hi everyone. I am a pregnancy educator and doula and look forward to getting to know you and supporting you on your pregnancy and parenting journey. Get in touch any time htts://www.birthbalance.co.nz or michele@birthbalance.co.nz

12/09/2025

How can you tell if your breastfed baby is hungry?

31/08/2025

This may seem like a strange question but take a moment and pretend to take a big bite out of a burger.

What does your head do? Where do you put the bun? How do you take a big bite?

The motion of a baby latching well looks a lot like the motion of taking a big bite of a burger.

Your baby's chin is on the breast, then his head tips back as he latches. When your baby is latched well, his chin will be deep into the breast.

A deep latch ensures that your baby gets plenty of milk and you feel no pain.

02/08/2025

10 weird facts about Breastmilk:

🧬 1. Breastmilk changes flavor based on what you eat.
Garlic, spicy foods, or vanilla can subtly flavor your milk—like a surprise seasoning for your baby.

💦 2. It glows under blacklight.
Thanks to riboflavin (Vitamin B2), breastmilk literally glows blue-green under UV light.

🦠 3. Breastmilk has live immune cells.
It's not just food—it's alive! It contains white blood cells that fight infection.

🤧 4. Your baby’s saliva “communicates” with your ni***es.
When baby nurses, their saliva sends signals that can trigger your body to make antibodies if they’re sick.

🌈 5. Breastmilk can be blue, green, yellow, pink, or even orange.
Its color changes depending on your diet, hydration, or even time of day.

🔬 6. Colostrum (the first milk) works like a laxative.
It helps babies p**p out meconium—that tarry first p**p!

🧪 7. Breastmilk kills cancer cells in lab studies.
There’s a compound called HAMLET (yes, real name!) that has shown anti-cancer properties in test tubes.

🥛 8. It's technically a raw, unpasteurized bodily fluid... and FDA classifies it as a "tissue."

💡 9. It has stem cells.
Meaning it could potentially regenerate or repair tissue—science is still exploring the possibilities.

🕷️ 10. Moms have used breastmilk to treat eye infections, ear infections, eczema, and bug bites.
It’s the Swiss Army knife of fluids.

30/07/2025

PODS/ NESTS

Unless you plan on using a nest/ pod for baby's day time rests when you are present and awake with baby, they are not worth the financial outlay. They are recognised as a potential SUDI risk.

30/07/2025

We had 15 fabulous couples in our Pukekohe Pregnancy and Parenting course in July, including 2 midwives and a nurse! Birthbalance courses have been trusted by the Franklin community since 2014. We're here to support you on your journey to parenthood and beyond. We'll help you to feel confident and fully informed with everything you need to know about labour, birth and the early months of parenting. Our courses get fully booked very quickly. If you are due at the end of the year or in the new year, book our September and October course now (September is filling fast)! SEE OUR GOOGLE REVIEW! www.birthbalance.co.nz

09/07/2025

One of the biggest pitfalls we see again and again… If your baby is feeding more than the books or relatives tell you they should, it's probably completely normal. But if it goes against what you’re being told “should” be happening, it can be really distressing.

Do I have enough milk? Why is he so hungry? Is she not getting what she needs from me? What if my milk’s not good enough… It’s really easy to slip into a dark place.

Simply because we haven’t been given the right information.

Professor Amy Brown - Breastfeeding Uncovered and Emma Pickett IBCLC say it best:

"Breastfed babies feed lots, and I mean LOTS. If you listen to great aunty Mable she might tell you babies should be fed every four hours on the dot. Indeed, in the 1950s babies were brought from the nursery to their mother every four hours for a feed.

You’ll still find books telling you this is how babies should feed. However, this advice, quite simply, is nonsense." Prof Amy Brown

"Somehow, somewhere, new mothers got the message that the gap between when a baby stops a breastfeed and the time they start to need another one matters a very very great deal. 24 hours a day.

It seems to matter beyond all logic and reason. They see this magic number – 90 minutes, 2 hours, 3 hours – as a measure of something sacred. And it’s crap." Emma Pickett

Your baby’s tummy is tiny, breastmilk is easily digested, and babies feed for comfort, antibodies, pain relief and all sorts of things as well as food. Some days, it might feel like feeding is all you do.

The more milk we remove from the breast, the more we make. Regular and effective stimulation, especially in the early months, helps establish milk supply for the months ahead.

So get water, snacks, the remote, get comfy, and get ready to whip those magic b***s out way more often than you might think is reasonable.

Trust your body, and trust your baby!

Read Amy and Emma’s articles, read what other mothers have to say on the matter, and find the info and reassurance you need here https://human-milk.com/pages/frequent-feeding-is-normal

And if you have still concerns, you’ll find the support you need here https://human-milk.com/pages/find-breastfeeding-help

A Mission. A Movement. A Brand for Breastfeeding Mothers. Clothing, knowledge and community that new breastfeeding mothers need in order to thrive.

24/05/2025

A great day in Howick supporting 16 fabulous couples through their pregnancy and parenting education with Birthbalance Connect. You're going to make an amazing coffee group. Best wishes for your parenting journey.
Www.birthbalance.co.nz