All posts filed under: Wellbeing Space

For You

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With consultations for you, the person behind the parent, you can work through different family and personal challenges while balancing the needs of being a parent. Going beyond the postnatal period, these sessions focus on the issues affecting you as you and your children get older and the challenges change. Life can be busy and you may be juggling the needs of your family with work, being a partner and trying to meet your own needs. These consultations are about having more clarity and focus and being better equipped for juggling the different demands and managing the chaos of family life, while also looking after you. Consultations For You: you can talk through… being a parent loss of identity feeling overwhelmed and in need of some thinking space managing everyday anxiety needing better life balance developing effective coping strategies focusing on the motherload talking through the parenting, work or family challenges managing stress and boosting your wellbeing being the parent you want to be needing to focus on you to talk through loss and grief …

birth wellbeing

12 practical ways to boost your birth wellbeing

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What do I mean by birth wellbeing? Well, it’s really easy to focus on contractions and to forget to think about what you might need to be physically and mentally well during labour and birth. Labour and birth has it’s own pace, it can demand a lot from you and that is normal and to be expected. No-one knows what the pace of their labour will be before it starts so realistic preparation so you can look after you is important. The thought of labour and birth can make expectant parents question things that they wouldn’t normally think about – can I eat, will I be allowed to move, what if I need the toilet? what if I don’t understand what’s happening? will I be allowed off the bed? So let’s run through the essentials of birth wellbeing so you feel less detached from your basic needs. Ideas for your birth wellbeing… Everyone’s labour and birth is different and you will have your own needs, which is why focusing on what you need is important …

person holding baby s hand

10 simple ways to boost your wellbeing as a new parent

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Here are some quick and easy ways to enhance your wellbeing as a new parent. These things can be very much overlooked especially when experiencing a range of emotions but focusing on your basic needs can go a long way to boost both your physical and emotional health. Simple steps for your wellbeing as a new parent… 1. Fresh Air 2. Water 3. Eat 4. Use your breathing 5. Rest 6. Talk 7. Wallow 8. Ask questions 9. Use your ball 10. The Loo There isn’t a prescriptive list of what you should do to boost your wellbeing as a new parent but just focusing on the basics, working with your body and on what you need that day can be really helpful. For more information about pregnancy, birth and life with a baby, you can: ■ follow me on Instagram – click on the bell for notifications so you don’t miss a post/story■ sign up for my newsletter■ join my community group for expectant and new parents ■ book a consultation with me Janine …

a pregnant woman sitting on a yoga ball with arm stretched

10 simple ways to boost your wellbeing in early labour

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Here are some quick and easy ways to enhance your wellbeing in early labour. These things can be very much overlooked especially when experiencing a range of emotions but focusing on your basic needs can go a long way to boost both your physical and emotional health. Simple steps for your wellbeing in early labour… 1. Fresh Air 2. Water 3. Eat 4. Use your breathing 5. Rest 6. Talk 7. Wallow 8. Ask questions 9. Use your ball 10. Music There isn’t a prescriptive list of what you should do to boost your wellbeing in early labour but just focusing on the basics, working with your body and on what you need that day can be really helpful. For more information about pregnancy, birth and life with a baby, you can: ■ follow me on Instagram – click on the bell for notifications so you don’t miss a post/story■ sign up for my newsletter■ join my community group for expectant and new parents ■ book a consultation with me Janine Smith | A specialist in …

birth preparation

3 ways to make peace with your birth experience

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Being able to make peace with your birth experience can be really beneficial. Labour and birth is such a unique experience and we do need more honest conversations in pregnancy, as well as after birth, to talk through expectations, what went well and how new parents are feeling. And this doesn’t have to be about birth being traumatic, it can be straightforward but still leave you feeling shocked and needing to talk it through. I have spoken to so many women postnatally who say birth was all fine, they are fine but then talk about how different it was, how they wish they’d known something, how they might do it differently next time, how disappointed they might feel, how let down they might feel. Yes it might all be fine but it can also help to talk it through and voice what you are feeling. – high expectations – There can be such high expectations when it comes to birth – of doing it naturally, of waterbirth, of hypnobirthing. This can be important because belief …