My mission is to provide realistic expectations of pregnancy, birth and parenting.
Becoming a parent for the first time is a wonderful experience. It is a time of immense joy and fulfilment. But it can also be challenging, confusing and anxiety provoking. The key to getting the most out of this magical time is preparation. The more knowledgeable and the better prepared you are the easier it will be to meet these challenges and enjoy the experience of being a new parent.
Unfortunately there is a lot of conflicting advice about childbirth, breastfeeding etc. There is no one right way to have your delivery, feed and care for your baby. And remember that babies have minds of their own so sometimes even your best laid plans will need to change! In order to make the right choices for you and your baby it is vital to get honest, expert and impartial guidance.
Throughout my professional life as a paediatrician – and my personal life as a mother – I have seen many women, and men, struggling to take care of their new baby and struggling to find the right help they need. Alternatively, if they had been given
- clear and honest information
- realistic expectations and
- the right kind of encouragement
new parents would be more prepared to meet any challenge they face and the first few weeks would be less of a struggle and more of a pleasure. I believe all of this should be the function of antenatal education.
In my experience, a few current trends are to blame for too much pressure being placed on parents:
- Too much emphasis on natural childbirth being the only successful way of having your baby
- The lack of factual information on other modes of delivery
- Too much emphasis on breastfeeding – in fact breastfeeding exclusively – being the only successful way of feeding your baby
- The lack of factual information on troubleshooting while breastfeeding
- A lack of information on other methods of feeding
- The complete lack of practical skills training on how to parent
- The wealth of confusion and opinions on “what is best”, from friends, relatives, the internet and health professionals and
- The real and genuine lack of continuity of care and postnatal support from healthcare and society
All of the above leads to unrealistic expectations of what it is like to have a baby and huge guilt when we don’t have the perfect delivery or the perfect breastfeeding experience.
My aim is to prevent feelings of failure and guilt, and in turn creating happy parents and happy babies.
I hope you find the rest of my website helpful and informative. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions you may have. I look forward to meeting you soon.