If you would like to learn more about infant feeding, you can now attend a workshop in Manchester City Centre!

Book yourself and a partner onto this interactive workshop in Manchester City Centre. Charnock Farm is a lovely retreat space in the heart of the city, nestled within the Royal Exchange. Enjoy a relaxing, informal space, enjoy the company of others on their own journeys and discover information and practical skills which will set you up for the early days with a newborn.

Click here for booking and events for 2018

I’ve been wasting some weekend hours browsing Facebook this evening and as I trawl through the hundreds of posts ranging from Sunday Lunch photos to the trending Black and White Image posts, this caught my eye – Human Time Bomb.

Fellow placenta remedies specialist and Hypnobirth teacher Helen Wright is heading towards the end of her pregnancy and getting all of the expected questions and curiosity about why her baby isn’t here yet and why she’s hasn’t given birth yet….. 

As you read Aitch’s words here, relax and take a breather whilst you wait for your own time to meet your baby.

Human Time Bomb: a cheeky lil’ poem

I feel like a time bomb 

Waiting to blow

When will this baby come?

How the fuck do I know?

I’m not made of clockwork

I’m not a machine

I’m a human, who’s pregnant

I’m elephantine!

Due dates are misleading 

In fact, they’re a fallacy

A delusion at best

They are not actuality 

My baby isn’t ‘late’

I’m not ‘overdue’

I’m pregnant with a baby

Who’s not yet passed through

I’m not a fortune teller, 

I don’t have a wizard’s wand

I can’t magic up this baby

How else can I respond?

I am healthy and strong,

And my baby is well

Please, stop your asking,

Only time will tell

We’re not in a rush,

We’re not in a hurry

We’ve tried all the tricks 

And yes, we’ve had curry!

We’ll let you know

When the baby arrives

Until then, please,

Just get on with your lives <3
By Helen Wright + Bump 26/11/17

Helen Wright, Founder of BirthWright, is mum to 20 month old Johan, with another (giant) bun currently cooking! She’s a Positive Birth Coach, a KG Hypnobirthing Teacher – the original UK Hypnobirtihng – and an IPEN Certified Placenta Remedies Specialist, as well as being a fully qualified primary school teacher, with over 15 years teaching and senior leadership experience. Helen works with couples in East London and the surrounding areas; she’s the creator of BirthWright Affirmation Cards; she blogs; gives talks about Hypnobirthing and Placenta Remedies; she runs regular Mummy Meet Ups and she’s currently training with the Breastfeeding Network to become a Registered Breastfeeding Helper. For more info visit: www.BirthWright.co.uk/shop and follow her on Facebook (@BirthWrightEastLondon), Twitter (BirthWrightUK) and Instagram (birthwright_eastlondon/).

A day in the life of a Doula.

www.thedoulaelement.co.uk

I wake at 5am to a text message from a new dad. “Placenta was in the cool bag within 12 minutes of arrival, all cooling instructions followed and it is safely on it’s way to our house to go in the fridge.” 
I reply that I’ll collect it after my visits this morning.  
A placenta needs to be in an appropriate container and cool bag to be chilled in the first 30 minutes after birth. The reason for this is to ensure it is chilled quickly after birth and safe to consume after preparation. The parents have very clear instructions on how to do this and I send out a kit they can use at homeor hospotal. 

I grab a coffee (or three), and head out to my first job at 6am. It’s a half hour drive and it’s icy this morning – first frost of the year. 

As their postnatal doula, I arrive to support a family after they’ve had a sleepless night. I pop a sling on, ready for a baby to snuggle in should I need it whilst I fold up the dry cloth nappies and replace them on the drying rack with freshly washed nappies. 

Mum is feeding the baby when I arrive and once he’s fully satisfied with his milk, she hands over the smiley baby so she can grab a shower and some breakfast.  Making use of my time is important to her family. She is exhausted and tells me she’s not had time to brush her teeth in the past 24 hours, let alone grab a shower. I continue to tidy around, sort any baby paraphernalia out around the house and make a tidy nest again on the sofa, complete with snacks and water for the day. I chop some root vegetables ready for roasting and pop them in the oven with the timer on as I’ll be gone when they’re ready to come out. As mum comes down I hand her a cup of tea and pop a sleeping baby down out of the sling and into his crib so I can head out again.

My next visit is to a mum struggling to feed her baby. She has called me the evening before and wondered if she was doing anything wrong because her baby would latch and then sleep very quickly, not drinking much at all and then come back twenty minutes later. This cycle was leaving her and the baby without any rest. 

I arrived and made us both a cup of coffee. I listened to mum explain what she’s been experiencing so far and a little about her birth story. We discovered that baby was being held a little away from mum’s body, baby needed to stretch and crane to reach the breast. This quickly tired the baby out and so she fell asleep after a couple of minutes of active drinking. I supported mum to change her position a little and hold baby close. She was a little hesitant because of her sore nipples. Once baby was tucked in close and able to latch on quickly, she took a huge mouthful of breast and drank well for 20 minutes, falling off the breast fully satisfied. Mum couldn’t believe the baby was so relaxed and full! Such a little tweak can make all the difference.

Off I go again to collect this morning’s placenta. It’s 12pm and I am aware I need to eat. I know my kitchen will be out of bounds for a few hours so I grab a salad from a cafe as I drive towards the new family’s house. Being a Doula quite often means skipping meals and protein bars, dried nuts and fruit seem to be my go to snacks throughout the day. 

I arrive to collect the placenta and congratulate the new parents who are now at home after their birth in the middle of the night. I pop on some gloves, check the temperature of the placenta to ensure it is sufficently cooled and after showing the parents the amazing placenta and all of it’s fascinating functions, I take off a piece for the smoothie. My smoothie kit (and a brand new hand blender) is already at their house and I leave dad with the piece of placenta to blend with fruit for his wife as he gets his gloves and apron on – he has been very excited about preparing this for his wife. The remaining placenta is safe in the cool bag and I head home to process it. 

Placenta Encapsulation amazes me everytime. They tell a story and I feel amazed everytime I have one in my house as I turn them into wonderful remedies. This placenta will be a smoothie which dad has made, capsules and a tincture. 

I have a couple of hours to keep the placenta in the cool bag and it’s a good job there is time allowed! My daughter has been baking and so the kitchen is a little worse for wear! I clear every side including the sink area of everything. Every side needs to be clear, clean and disinfected to abide by food safety guidance and ensure the safety for my clients. I don my gloves and scrub the area.  I spray down with hospital grade disinfectant and leave for the required contact time before wiping down. I then unpack my Placenta Preparation Kit and dehydrator. This first step of preparation for the placenta takes around 1 hour. 

A piece of placenta is taken first and prepared for the tincture. This will stay in the cupboard for 6 weeks to develop. The rest of the placenta is sliced and popped into the dehydrator, the cord long enough to make a keepsake heart. I can’t even start to tell you how many pairs of gloves get used in the process!! 

I turn the dehydrator on and begin to clean everywhere down again and disinfect. All of my equipment is cleaned, rinsed and put into a bucket of hospital grade disinfectant so it can be reused once again. 

The kitchen area used for placenta encapsulation is now out of bounds. I prepare dinner on the other side of the kitchen, placing all food equipment directly into the dishwasher and avoiding the sink other than for clean water to wipe the sides down.  

I settle down with a coffee to check my messages and emails. I organise my diary and set up some games with the kids who have been with their dad at home today. Dinner will be ready soon and I have some admin for my volunteer roles to do too. 

I am aware throughout the day that I’m on call for a birth too. This is always an acute awareness of the possibility of leaving everything with very short notice. Parents keep me updated with any changes in how they feel, or any signs of labour and I often have very little notice before the time comes to jump in the car. No babies today, so I continue my evening with emails, follow up calls and texts and relax with my children after dinner. I aim to sleep early so I can start over again tomorrow with the next placenta encapsulation step – Doula Last Words – “unless I’m at a birth.” ?

Is your breastfeeding latch great (or bottle if that’s your chosen method)? This is a little different to my usual blog musings. It’s a little close to heart for many of us working in the infant feeding realms you see, and we witness these things happen in our day to day work. Infant feeding is such an important part of our parenting journey and due to the cuts and lack of funding in infant feeding, this leaves so few people trained in basic breastfeeding support, let alone the complex stuff which comes up, parents are often left wondering what they might be able to do to improve their situation without the support to do so.

We find Facebook groups are full of peer support in the form of mum to mum groups offering words of encouragement, support and chat 24 hours a day which is great for moral support and a virtual hug at 3am when things are just exhausting. Somebody else is also on the twilight shift, trying to crack that perfect breastfeeding latch. We also witness within those groups parents and babies who need individualised support, which is face to face and from a specialist. One example, quite frankly a scary one, is to see parents of extremely underweight babies told to “just breastfeed, hun”, with no concern or request for review from a healthcare professional, breastfeeding counsellor or IBCLC.

What often happens far too frequently (just reading Facebook groups is enough to gather evidence on this) is that across the UK, no real assessment occurs, any of the parents concerns are not listened to and are often dismissed or trivialised, and you just have to continue because your baby’s latch is fine…….
More and more frequently we hear of peer supporters, Breastfeeding Counsellors,  IBCLCs, midwives, health visitors and even dentists telling parents to “feed feed feed”. This information is all fine and well for a term baby who is drinking well at the breast and having frequent wet and dirty nappies and gaining weight. Feed the baby is always the first rule, but fed is not best as Dr Amy Brown discusses here………..

On the other end of the spectrum, blanket infant feeding information is not so ok when the opposite is happening and the signs parents are reporting show a baby who isn’t transferring milk as well as they could. What are parents to do? Where do they turn when they’ve already consulted *insert infant feeding person* and been told all is well when the actual evidence says differently?

Is baby drinking well and regularly – 8-12 times a day? Are you and baby comfortable and attaching well at the breast in a position that works for you?
Has anybody observed a full feed to check this and reassure you and explain how to recognise the signs your baby is transferring milk well? How many wet and dirty nappies? Are you and your baby getting sleep between feeds? Are their hands relaxed and open, and does your baby sleep after a feed?

As a general rule of thumb, a newborn baby in the first 6-8 weeks of life who is hydrated and feeding well will:

• have 6-8 wet nappies per day,
• a minimum of 2 dirty nappies per day (3/4 or more is also normal),
• show signs of relaxation (hands unclasped and floppy) towards the end of a feed,
• sleep well between feeds or remain peaceful and calm if they remain awake for a time afterwards.

Feeding plans written by lactation consultants are sometimes put in place where babies have a tricky start because of adverse birth situations, delay in milk coming in or anatomical issues like tongue tie or cleft palate. Where a large weight loss in the early days occurs, those short term combination feeding plans are valuable in protecting milk supply and reduce the risk of deydration and the problems that could occur. Pumping and breastfeeding, an element of topping up with expressed breastmilk or artifical infant milk can support the dyad when early signs of problems haven’t been recognised

Sometimes babies will be finger feeding and breastfeeding or bottle feeding, syringe feeding or using an SNS. A combination of all of these methods is sometimes used –  which can be utterly confusing for somebody who isn’t trained in using supplemental support and may dismiss their validity.
Which qualifications are held by the people providing you with infant feeding support? There are several examples in other blogs about the difference between a peer supporter, a Breastfeeding Counsellor and a IBCLC. And even between all of those roles, there are vast differences across the country in the training and experience each individual may have. It is important to note that whilst some areas have specialist trained midwives and health visitors, many areas do not and parents with infant feeding problems should be referred to somebody who can assess infant feeding where a problem arises because it is not all about the latch.

As a new parent, you and your baby are learning, you are getting to know each other and how these things work for you personally. Knowing where to find the correct support for individual situations, tailored to you, as well as the basic information about infant feeding is important to your journey. As funds are cut and services are overstretched in maternity and community health visiting, it often results in nobody being qualified, no specialist training in infant feeding or assessment (and remembering that experience and training are not equal across the country). Throughout the training it is often relayed to us that should we see something that is beyond our remit, referral pathways to somebody else who can provide additional help should be the next step.

In an ideal world that’s how it should work…..instead a quick peek is had and parents are often told “you’re baby’s latch is GREAT!” because the subtle differences between a baby hanging out at the breast receiving very little and a baby feeding effectively are missed by the untrained or inexperienced eye. Parents then believe they’re doing all they can and when things don’t go to plan they have no explanation because somebody told them things were perfect.

Below you will find highlighted some of things we see and hear in our work with parents and babies in lactation support.

Your baby’s latch is great…..

• Your nipples look like a brand new Heather Shimmer and feel as though they may fall off if you ever feed your baby again, yet your baby’s latch is great.
• Your latch is great when you feel like a cheese grater is attached to your breast and you are convinced a vice would be less painful.
• Bleeding, agonising, lacerated nipples – your latch is great!!!
• Your baby’s red book shows slow or static weight gain, and baby’s latch is great.
• Your shoulders ache as your baby feeds for an hour and comes back to nurse again after a 15 minute break, the latch is great!
• Your baby hasn’t slept in the first 72 hours hours of life for more than 5 minutes at once, your baby’s latch is great.
• Your baby has slept soundly for 8 hours and fed 4 times today, your latch is great.
• You’ve seen no dirty nappies for 3 days, your latch is great.
• Wet nappies are few, but your latch is great.
• Five minute feeds and hour long naps before hunger strikes again, your latch is great.
• You’ve only eaten once today and had no rest between feeds, you’re doing great!
• After a big, wide attachment which you’ve nailed with military precision, your baby slips to the end of your nipple, and so your latch is great.
• No swallowing and lots of sucks, your baby’s latch is great.
• Nipple in babies mouth? Your latch is great!

From Alice: your breast is so swollen-full of milk that your nipple won’t fit in your babies mouth, but your latch is great.

You might recognise some of these scenarios or feel you’d like to add to this list, contact me if you’d like to add your own. 

Finding the support you need can be difficult and sometimes confusing for new parents who are not sure who is and is not qualified to provide basic support or when things might need more specialist help. Some areas are a postcode lottery with infant services being cut and training stopped. There are some great places to find support across the UK from online resources, national breastfeeding helplines and asking parents for reviews of those services local to you. Effective feeding signs are the key to success, not what your breastfeeding latch looks like to somebody else.

A day in the life of a doula!

This year I noted one of my days for a local network group. Here is a rough idea of what I might get upto as a doula, so hopefully you will get the jist

My working days include various work related tasks. I have started to use a Bullet Journal to my advantage as I can prioritise appointments and personal stuff all in one space! It has been a revelation!

4.30am – Home from birth-SLEEP!

I love my work as a doula, and all of the planned and unexpected work it entails. I love the families I support for the short time I am with them. Being a doula is much more than my job, it is who I am. It is most likely something I have done most of my adult life, without realising-many doulas report this experience themselves.

Doulaing is not always planned, on a schedule or even predictable. And I would not have it any other way, especially when I arrive home on some days,  I am treated to a view of the sunset  <3

Closing the Bones is one of the many ancient traditions women usually participate in during the weeks and months following the birth of their babies. This kind of ceremony, which are upheld in various countries across the world, sacred rituals handed down generations, skills passed through the birthlines of women in communities far and wide, welcoming women in their journey to motherhood.  Closing the Bones as a postnatal ritual originates in Ecuador and involves the use of blended essential oils, soothing massage of the abdomen, pelvis and hips blended with the relaxating rhythm of rebozo and using the soft fabric of the rebozo, you may be gently wrapped afterwards to complete the massage. This gentle combination of massage, rebozo techniques and wrapping can help to nurture a new mother and encourages the closing of her body which have been opened up both emotionally and physically during the journey of pregnancy, labour and birth.

Closing the Bones is a lovely postnatal session that I would like to share with you. Available at anytime after the birth of your baby, even many years after, you can benefit from this healing ritual as part of your journey. If you feel you would benefit from Closing the Bones, I am available to provide you with this wonderful, nurturing postnatal session. Please get in touch for more details.

Closing the Bones in Cheshire, Greater Manchester and surrounding areas.