The Breastfeeding Mum's Guide to Family Life!

Breastfeeding Facts

Thanks to PregnancyGroup.org for this fascinating breastfeeding infographic.

Fear of Childbirth Increases Likelihood of C-Section (Press Release)

A new study published in the international journal Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica (AOGS) reveals that fear of childbirth is a predisposing factor for emergency and elective cesarean sections, even after psychological counseling. This may mean a negative experience that lasts a lifetime among the approximately 3% of women who in this study were estimated to suffer from excessive fear of childbirth.

Led by Professor Gunilla Sydsjo of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University Hospital in Linköping, Central Sweden, researchers analyzed the antenatal and delivery records of 353 women who were referred to a unit for psychosocial obstetrics and gynecology because of fear of childbirth, and 579 women without fear of childbirth.

KIT OUT THE KIDS FOR LESS AT YOUR LOCAL NCT NEARLY NEW SALE

The rising cost of living and tough economic climate mean many families are having to tighten their belts. NCT Nearly New Sales are a haven for cash-strapped parents, offering a brilliant alternative to trawling the high street for pricey baby products

Becoming a parent is exciting, but it can be an expensive time too. At NCT Nearly New Sales, expectant and new parents can buy top quality baby and children’s toys, clothes and equipment straight from their loving owners, saving around 70% on what they would set you back brand new.

Meanwhile, local families can clear out their clutter and make some cash at the same time by selling the baby goods they no longer need. Clothes and equipment must be in excellent condition, and most sellers make more than £60. Sellers keep up to 70% of the proceeds while the rest is returned to fund NCT’s vital services and support for parents.

Aaachoo! Most of us will have a cold this winter, but do you know how to treat it?

NHS Choices reveals some of the myths around treating a cold and offers advice on how to

get well quickly

According to NHS Choices, on average an adult can expect to catch a cold between two and four times a year, with more people suffering during the winter months. But do you know how best to treat a cold?

 

Myths about cures for the common cold:

·        Vitamin C – according to NHS Choices, one in three people believe that Vitamin C can help cure a cold. In fact, research has shown that Vitamin C doesn’t prevent or cure a cold.

·        Echinacea – many think that Echinacea can be used to prevent a cold or treat one, but research has shown that there is no proof of this being the case.

·        Over the counter medicines for colds – over the counter medicines do not cure a cold. The usual ingredients are painkillers and decongestants, which only help manage the symptoms.

FAMILY PORTRAITS BY HOTPOINT & STEVE McCURRY

Hotpoint’s European Family Portraits competition: family photos can be submitted until 15 October.

Family Portraits, the highly successful online photo competition promoted by Hotpoint in cooperation with renowned photographer Steve McCurry, is continuing until 15 October and is open to families in the UK, Italy, France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.

“We are very excited about the success of the competition which has highlighted, through the number and quality of entrants, that family is the most important thing we have” says Marco Rota, Brand and Consumer Marketing Director Europe, Indesit Company. “The photographs entered to date provide a fascinating insight into the power and beauty of the family and reveal a cross-section of cultural differences that make us so unique”

Hotpoint’s website (http://family.hotpoint.eu) has received over 3,200 photos from families across Europe, and the accompanying Facebook page has just reached 22,000 fans. Users can get involved in two ways: either by participating in the competition, by submitting their best family snaps, or by browsing entries and voting for their favourite snapshots.

Press Release: Dads Get Anxious Too!

Helping Dads Cope with Immunisation Anxiety   

When taking children for their routine immunisations, it is often dads who have to be brave when mums find it all too stressful! But dads, particularly if they are one of the 10% of the population with a needle phobia, can be anxious about taking their children for routine child immunisations too.

Emla, from AstraZeneca, helps to reduce the pain of the needle by numbing the skin. A topical anaesthetic cream which is available over the counter from pharmacies, Emla is applied an hour in advance of the procedure and is the only numbing product approved for use on even the very smallest babies – from full-term birth.

Emla is available in an ‘all in one’ pack from your pharmacy, to help numb the pain of the needle during procedures such as childhood immunisations, minor skin procedures, blood tests and travel vaccinations. The pack includes two air-tight (‘occlusive’) plasters which need to be applied over the Emla cream, plus full instructions on the correct way to apply Emla. The handy pack is available from your local pharmacist for just £5.10.

NCT Launches Parenting Iphone App

Okay, so what do you do when you’re out for the day, your baby needs changing, is crying up a storm, and you don’t know where the nearest baby changing rooms are? That’s where the beauty of the NCT’s new iPhone app comes into life.

NCT, the UK ’s largest parenting charity, has just launched the first interactive charity iPhone application for parents, ‘NCT Babychange’. It’s free to download and allows you to locate the nearest baby changing facility in the area, view its star rating, and then rate it for other parents to use.

The app already has over 5000 baby changing sites listed including supermarkets, train stations, shops, restaurants, libraries and local authorities(1) with the capacity to add more. 

Press Release: New online antenatal classes offer alternative to dwindling NHS education

Midwives are under increasing pressure when it comes to delivering antenatal classes to help women understand what to expect in pregnancy, labour, birth and early parenthood.

Budget and time pressures are making it difficult to deliver good antenatal education to all parents-to-be. In some areas there is no longer any NHS provision of antenatal classes, leaving mums-to-be to find out for themselves or pay for expensive private antenatal classes (the NCT course costs around £150).

However, thanks to two midwives with a passion for good antenatal education, and a mum who knows the difference it makes to labour, women everywhere can now access quality antenatal classes delivered by qualified midwives at an affordable price.

Antenatal Online (www.antenatalonline.co.uk) has launched this month and features a variety of online videos which feature subjects including labour, birth, pain relief, relaxation, feeding and bathing. These can be watched over and over again and can be supplemented with one-to-one support from a midwife, the chance to chat online with other parents-to-be and a weekly midwife web chat.

Press Release: Child safety experts in appeal for help with online survey

Experts at Loughborough University are appealing for help with a project designed to improve safety for children travelling in cars.

Academics at the University’s Transport Safety Research Centre (TSRC) are asking parents and carers who ferry children around by car to complete an online survey.

The anonymous survey will contribute to CASPER (Child Advanced Safety Project for European Roads), a Europe-wide project to develop better child restraints.

It asks drivers about their experiences with child car seats and seat belts.

21st Century Baby Blues!

Screaming and chucking the toys out of the pram – and that’s just the parents…

 ·  First 24 months following childbirth are the most stressful time of our lives

 ·  Changing nappies, choosing baby names and interfering in-laws drive us to distraction

The first two years following childbirth are the most stressful years of our lives – that’s the verdict of a new study which suggests that the first 24 months following a first born witness more bickering and marital strife than at any other time across the course of a lifetime. 

The survey of 2000 British parents with children under the age of 16, was specially commissioned to mark the DVD release of ‘Life As We Know It’ out on Monday 28^thMarch. This lighthearted rom-com starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel, explores the hilarious calamities of unexpected parenthood when the couple are left to bring up their best friends’ child and quickly realise that they must juggle careers and social calendars whilst setting their differences aside.