The first time I gave birth, things were atypical to say the least. But, I did the whole pushing part (albeit under the influence of a fantastic pharmaceutical cocktail) and overall found the experience of my body being able to produce another hugely empowering. As time went on I looked back at the painful reality of giving birth naturally as just a few hours nestled in amongst years of reward;...
Over the last couple of weeks, maternity leave has been on my mind and in the papers: with the drop of the MA1 form to complete onto my doorstep to headlines raging about influencer Molly Mae returning to her role 3 months after the birth of her daughter, and a renewed call by a well-known podcaster and campaigner for maternity leave allowance to be extended. I'm at the point now where I need to...
As much as you may have set ideals in your mind about how you’d like to birth your child, life doesn’t quite always work to plan. The NHS estimates that about 17 in every 100 births result in an emergency c-section procedure taking place; that is, a caesarean that happens within 30mins of the need for it being identified and this case of action decided upon. Even if you’d elected to have a...
November 17th (the day I'm hitting publish on this blog, because, DUH, I'm just sooo co-ordinated) is World Prematurity Day. Learn how you can support the care of premature babies through Bliss, the charity for babies born premature or sick. I had my son five weeks early, which, in the grand scheme of things, isn't very early at all. Premature pregnancies can be delivered from 24 weeks,...
Being a parent is a role that comes with a lot of 'on-the-job' learning, and there's a whole host of things you have no idea how to deal with until they come up. Everyone's parenting experience is different, but it can be difficult to get others to understand that. I've written a couple of blogs now on experiences I've had as a Mum and I've shared them amongst others in order to raise some...