30/03/2024
My Daughter made this beautiful spring themed umbilical cord tie for her baby brother🌱
Did your baby having delayed cord clamping 1-2 mins? Did your baby receive their full blood count, by waiting until the cord was white and stopped pulsating? When did your babies cord stump fall off? Did you have a plastic clamp? Did you use a cord tie? Perhaps you had a lotus birth?
I’d love to hear your stories or intentions for birthing your placenta and separating your baby from their placenta ❤️
01/10/2023
First session today observing the NCT antenatal course as my the start of my practice placement 👍
Such a great opportunity for my personal development and confidence!
5 years ago I was a nervous first time parent and now I had the joy of seeing it from the other side feels like a huge privilege to have the ability to be a fly on the wall and learn amazing facilitation skills from the same practitioner I was taught by 🤩
27/07/2023
🤍I have been trying to find the right words to express my thoughts, and still cannot figure it out. My Grandad has sadly passed away, and grief is moving through my mind, heart and body.
🕊️illness and old age meant that there was time to prepare for his end of life. The informed choice of medical treatment or no medical treatment. When he would receive additional tests or scans. In the final day’s the choice of where he could be; hospital, hospice, or home.
🤔This has got me wondering…
Why do we treat the end of life so very differently from Birth?
✨At the end of life we ensure our loved ones are surrounded by those who love them and treated with respect no matter what choices they make. To be treated with dignity, kindness and respect. It’s often the hope that they won’t be in the hospital to avoid any further illness or infections, we hope they can be in their own home comforts or at a hospice.
😓It feels like the complete opposite narrative for how we talk about labour and birth. We are very quick to believe that hospitals are the safest option. We are conditioned to put all our trust in the health care professionals rather than listening to the birthing person’s intuition.
❌“Leave your dignity at the door, pick it up on your way out” (hospital door)
❌“We’ve seen it all before”
❌“Oh yes, I understand it’s not nice, but I just have to…(insert applicable intervention)”
❤️We are all worthy of dignity, respect, autonomy, privacy, safety, comfort and compassion during any stage of life.
I feel incredibly saddened for the loss of a special man in my life. I’m hopeful that I can work through my grief and overcome the pain that it brings. Any suggestions on how to deal with grief is welcomed in the comments🤗
31/05/2023
Breastfeeding is so much more than just food🤱
Breastmilk/ human milk is amazingly adaptable! If you or your baby are unwell, the number of antibodies and white blood cells in your breastmilk increase to fight off infection. Talk about awesome! 🦠
Breastfeeding/chestfeeding protects against; cancer, diabetes, obesity and SIDS 💪
Not only does breastfeeding support a loving bonds it also plays a big role in your baby’s brain development! 🧠
But here in the uk we have some of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world!! 🌍
Only around 34% of babies are receiving any breast milk at only 6 months old. The World Health Organisation recommends breastfeeding for 2 years and beyond. 👶
So Why are our rates so low?!
Many mums/parents struggle to get breastfeeding off to a good start. We’ve been led to believe by the big companies that formula is nearly as good as breast milk and they use advertising as a way to normalise bottle feeding. This has led our communities into having no culture of long-term breastfeeding. 😔
If you are pregnant and want to find out how you can prepare for breastfeeding or would like support around feeding your newborn please send me a DM or email so we can chat! ☺️
23/05/2023
It’s not too late to start ticking off you list! (Yes even if your 40 weeks +) ✔️
Taking the time to give yourself the opportunity to have an empowered birth seems a no brainier…Yet so many pregnant people spend more time researching and debating about which pushchair to buy. (A pushchair that will only last a few years). What if they put the same energy into learning about birth physiology, growing a confident mindset, understanding how to navigate the maternity system, supported by fabulous birth partners who are well informed! 🤔
You will only give birth to your Baby once, and how you feel about that experience will last a lifetime 🥰
If you would like my support please reach out. You definitely deserve it 💚
How many can you tick off your list?
19/05/2023
Hello beautiful people☺️
I’m so glad you’ve found me, so here’s a little bit about me 💚
My name is Lily, I’ve been happily Married for 3 years and mummy to my 2 biological children and my awesome (step) children. I’m also dog mum to 2 cheeky beagle puppies! 🥰
I live in Burnham-On-Sea and cover the surrounding areas 📍
I offer my services as a Birth and postnatal Doula, hypnobirthing teacher, and breastfeeding peer supporter 🤰
Everyone deserves to feel supported and heard during their pregnancy birth and the postnatal period. That’s why I chose to offer my services on a self selecting sliding price scale, and offer payment plans. Don’t let affordability be a barrier. Just pop me a message so we can chat! 😁
I
04/05/2023
One of the first things many pregnant people will do after having a positive pregnancy test is to jump onto Google for due date calculators. We then get given an estimated due date at the 12 week scan. One specific day as the expected day for baby to be born👶
In the UK, pregnancy is generally assumed to be 40 weeks long, but the World Health Organisation’s definition of the natural length of a pregnancy is between 37-42 weeks. That could mean the difference of over a month!
The 40 weeks is calculated using the Naegele’s Rule. This rule was by a German obstetrician in the early 1800’s and was not based on any rigorous scientific testing! 🤨
Many health professionals start the count from the first day of the last menstrual period. However, this can be a week or two before you actually conceive depending on how long your cycle is. The fertile period in the cycle can also vary by several days. And even if you do know the exact date of conception, the length of pregnancy varies ❣️
When we look to nature we don’t expect all the apples on the tree to ripen and fall exactly at the same time, so why would we expect this for babies being born! 🍎
In fact, only around 5% of babies arrive on their given due date and the average pregnancy is 41+5 days long. So let’s stop talking about a due date but rather a due month 🤰
21/04/2023
TRANSFERRING TO HOSPITAL 🏥
No it does not have to be quite as dramatic as what films at tv portray 🫣
However it is something that many people don’t give much thought about, but it’s worth considering!
Why? Because it’s most likely to cause tension in your body and slow the production of oxytocin❤️(the hormone needed for labour to progress) and instead produce adrenaline🎢which can cause contractions to slow/stop and become painful as it slows the blood flow to the uterus as all the blood rushes to your limbs! 🦵💪
So what things can you do to help keep the production of oxytocin flowing;
❣️make a playlist of your favourite music to listen to
❣️cover you eyes with eye mask, or sunglasses so it’s not so bright
❣️put your favourite scent on a cloth to smell
❣️have a blanket and pillow to keep you warm and comfortable
❣️take some good energy snacks and drinks for the journey
Let me know in the comments some of your suggestions!
Remember to save this post 👏
17/04/2023
Next week, on the 26th April between 7.30pm - 9pm, we have the Ask the Obstetric Anaesthetist online session, which is open to anyone to attend!
This FREE session gives you the opportunity to hear about pain relief options, what happens if you go to theatre and to ask any questions directly to an anaesthetist (we hope to have 3 attending) that you may have.
If you can't make the session but have a question, then we can ask on your behalf and feedback to you.
DM us or Email us at [email protected] to book your spot or send any questions.
Please share this post as we are keen to get as many people along as possible.
24/03/2023
It is World doula week and today I go on call for my lovely clients ✨
What does that mean?
I go on call from 37 weeks until baby is born, most babies will arrive before 42 weeks. This means I have a window of 5 weeks where I make my self available for the clients I am supporting🤰
I am incredibly grateful for my family who are completely understanding and supportive❤️
I stay close to home and have a flexible schedule so I am available to go to my clients as soon as they want me there with them🏡
My phone is on loud and fully charged, my doula bag is packed ready to go, incase I get “the call”📞
I ensure I make time for my self care, I cannot pour from an empty cup🌸
Such gratitude for this amazing, beautiful, and rewarding “job” that I have🥰
20/03/2023
🌟NEW COURSE DATES🌟
Are you or someone you know expecting a baby? 🤰
It’s never too early or to late to do birth Preparation! 🫄
KGHypnobirthing is the original UK Hypnobirthing course by Kathrine Graves
The course is highly logical and all evidence based, this means
You will be taught the physiology of birth. It gives you the knowledge to understand options and the implications of the choices they may need to make during labour and birth. Most importantly to achieve the best outcome for you and your baby ☺️
The course will help remove the fear we all have programmed into us from an early age, and give you the tools needed to achieve a comfortable and empowering birth 💪
When you choose to do a Hypnobirthing course with us you become part of our family, our journey together starts now and will continue throughout your pregnancy, labour, birth and beyond!
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I look forward to welcoming you onto the course! 🙋♀️
Please drop me a DM or email me for more information and to book your space!