Babytime Birth Services

12/08/2024

Send a message to learn more

05/23/2024

02/24/2024

Several new studies link regular activity during pregnancy to better outcomes across a wide range of measures.

01/13/2024

When infants breastfeed, they receive an immune boost that helps them fight off infectious diseases, according to recent research from Binghamton University Associate Professor of Anthropology Katherine Wander.

01/13/2024

Love the practical lesson.

01/12/2024

08/12/2023

Such good information.

SECOND NIGHT SYNDROME
(had a lot of mamas deliver recently - so this one deserved a repost!)

Many new parents are quite caught off guard by night number two with their new baby!

After the first 24 hours of sleepiness and even having to "wake baby to feed," baby seems to wake up and discover that they are ravenous!

All. Night. Long. Feeding, then crying, then feeding then crying! It's easy to become concerned that maybe you're just not producing enough milk and your new baby may very well starve. Cue deep feelings of failure (which are then exacerbated because you're exhausted from the birth process and now not sleeping all night!)
It makes sense if you think about all that baby has been through - the physical exertion of birth and their bodies recovering and adjusting can make them exceptionally tired the first day. But by day two, they wake up and bit and realize that things are SO MUCH DIFFERENT than what they are used to.

They are experiencing a rumbling in their tummy that is quite disturbing. They have new textures on their skin, new noises all around, and the brightness of the lights makes them want to keep their eyes closed. The only thing they recognize is mama. The warmth of her skin makes them feel like they are safe. Home.

Another good reason babies seem to have their "days and nights" mixed up that second day is biological: Prolactin (our milk hormone) is highest when melatonin (our sleep hormone) is highest. And our milk supply is a supply and demand system.
Thus: the more your baby nurses at night, the quicker your milk supply will come in!
So mama, just be prepared. Your little one will need some extra attention on night number two!

Hold them close, lots of skin to skin, nurse as often as they desire, and don't get discouraged! You are doing exactly what you were meant to do! You're doing a great job!

10/24/2022

If I could, I would go back and tell her... Open letter to me when I first became a mum. (2014)

I know you feel apprehensive about everything right now.
Be incredibly kind to yourself with your thoughts. Lower your expectations & then lower them some more.
Leave room for great days & not so great days. The sleep deprivation can be all consuming. Remember to breathe, lower the shoulders and release the tension.
Skin-to-skin not only calms her, but will calm you too.
Breastfeeding is hard & you will cry in pain but you will love it, and when it’s over you will cry again.
Look to your baby first instead of a book, allow her to tell you what she needs, you won’t always know but your instincts and intuition will guide you. She still believes you are one, her home, you will feel this way too.
Read up about the 4th trimester, it will help you so much with your recovery, expectations and healing.
Call your mum, sister’s & best friends as much as you need, to laugh and cry with them.
You were told by the books to put her in the bassinet, but it’s more than okay to let her sleep on you sometimes.
Don’t obsess about getting her to sleep through the night, she will & so will you.
Get outside with the pram or front pack, fresh air and nature is amazing.
Accept the help, ask for help and don’t try and be the perfect mum.
You will miss the old you. You will feel bad for missing the freedom you used to have, this is so normal. You don’t need to embrace the new you all at once. The other parts of you are safe in a box.
Your body feels so foreign right now, it’s sore, swollen, big and lumpy, it’s also just grown a baby and birthed her. It needs a whole lot of love, not judgement.
You have got this my girl, There will be some really tough times and some incredible times ahead too, know that you CAN handle them.
Gem x

09/22/2022

Dads do it different and dads are important.

Sure, we all know how important our parents are but it seems for females, fathers are much more important than we might realize. The bond...

08/30/2022

During the second stage of labor, the maternal pelvic floor muscles undergo repetitive stretch loading as uterine contractions and strenuous maternal …