Author: Janine Smith

New Parent Checklist: using your breathing

Published by

Having a baby is a time of celebration but it can also be a time of adjustment, with an enormous learning curve. New parents can also experience exhaustion and discomfort, as well as anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed. Using your breathing is a simple and effective way of feeling calmer and more comfortable and an easier way of settling your baby. The key to using Relax & Breathe is to keep it simple: slow your breathing relax your muscles – your jaw, your shoulders, your hands, your pelvic floor and your legs and feet allow yourself to de-stress and slow down These small steps can mean you and your baby are calmer. A specialist in pregnancy, birth and early parenting

hugging a baby

So today is National Hug Day

Published by

I am a very huggy person. I hug strangers. I hug anyone when it is appropriate. I am a great hugger. Apart from my husband and children, I recently hugged a grieving mum at her son’s funeral and that’s it during the last 10 months. If someone had announced a year ago what 2020 was going to be like, we would not have believed them, we would have labelled that person insane and gone about our day, doing all the things we took for granted. When I read it was Hug Day (which is a nonsense day anyway, let’s face it) I felt a bit sad at how different the world is for many of us right now but I have to have some hope. I have to look at Insta stories from places like Australia where life seems to have resumed and I have to hope for that again, we all do. I have hugged and held women in antenatal classes, during birth and as new mothers who have sobbed when they have felt …

advocate for your partner

Birth Partner Tips: Advocate

Published by

Labouring women need to feel supported and safe and this can come from having a birth partner to gather information, ask questions, protect the birth space and to speak up for you is necessary. When labour is able to flow as it needs to, women can withdraw from the room to focus only on contractions, breathing and working with their body – conversation and being alert are often not part of strong labour. One of the roles of a birth partner is to protect this. Book a session with me if you have questions, need some additional support or preparation for birth & baby. antenatal & postnatal specialist | working with parents since 2002

labour and birth checklist

Labour & Birth Checklist: Water

Published by

It’s really important to drink plenty of water in labour – as it begins, with your powerful contractions and throughout birth, as well as when your baby is here. It can be useful to have a water bottle with you so you can keep taking sips. Using a straw can also be useful in labour, so you can easily drink while resting in-between contractions. It is easy to forget to drink water but you need the fuel it gives you – it can give you energy, it eases any headaches and it helps your body do what it needs to do to bring you your baby. Book a session with me if you have questions, need some additional support or preparation for birth & baby. antenatal & postnatal specialist | working with parents since 2002

online baby massage

Create your own baby massage group

Published by

If you are a group of 4 or more mums you can arrange your own online baby massage sessions with a 10% discount per person. You can arrange morning or afternoon sessions – just get in touch to find out availability. Each session is 90-minutes long and includes: baby massage handouts to use at home access to baby massage videos being added to the private Facebook group 6 online sessions, which run over Zoom massage oil If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to send me a message here. A specialist in pregnancy, birth and early parenting | working with parents since 2002