Birth Trust Conference featuring Ina May Gaskin & Dr Yehudi Gordon

Join us for the screening and discussion of the Holistic Birth Trust Conference on May 23rd a 7pm in Bristol.

Several years ago now, a small group of pregnancy and birth practitioners and educators gathered together to form The Holistic Birth Trust Foundation. The focus of the organisation was to promote the potential offered by the parent and child relationship within the arena of birth. A training programme was developed for antenatal teachers, which also in time incorporated doula training. These programmes trained many child birth educators and doulas over many years. The Holistic Birth Trust Foundation has since closed and been incorporated into two other organisations. Those being: ‘Relaxed Birth and Parenting’ formed by Dominique Sakoilsky and Louise Bennett and ‘Welcome World’ owned by Amanda Rayment. Both these organisations jointly run an Antenatal Teachers Training course together called ‘Bringing Antenatal Teaching Home’.

One of The Holistic Birth Trusts projects was to organise a conference in Bristol for childbirth educators, midwives, doulas and practitioners. The conference was given the title ‘Is it possible for the medical and holistic models of birth to join?’ At the time this was a very thought provoking question as the appearance was the two models were functioning separately a lot of the time. Also it was clear to a lot of people that if dialogue could be encouraged there would be many benefits for practitioners in all roles, within both models and of course for parents and babies. As always the resistance seemed to be how could this occur?

Our question that was asked several years ago feels equally as relevant today. So maybe this could be a good opportunity to review the first question “Is it possible for the holistic and medicals models of birth to join?” and then we may discover a deepening into this question.

The stars of the movie are the shining light in midwifery; Ina May Gaskin, who has inspired and led the way for so many of us who work in this wonderful arena of pregnancy and birth. With the obstetrician Dr Yehudi Gordon who is the founder of the UKs first models of integrated care within birthing units. Accompanying these speakers are Dominique and Amanda from the Holistic Birth Trust Foundation. There are local guest panellists who you may know: Louise Bennett, Suzanne Yates and Bristol’s first independent midwife Sue learner.

In a joint venture with Eva from Born we are offering a film viewing and discussion evening. If you work in this arena or are interested in training to become an antenatal teacher or doula this film is an inspiring and engaging documentary.

We hope to see you at the film, please click here for ticket information.

~ Love Amanda

 

 

Christy Turlington Burns Designer Ergobaby Carrier

Ergobaby has partnered with Every Mother Counts, the organisation founded by former 'supermodel' Christie  Turlington Burns. Christie is a mother of two and wife of Actor and Director Ed Burns, she founded Every Mother Counts "To help raise awareness about the global tragedy of maternal mortality, hundreds of thousands of women continue to die needlessly each year due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth but the truth is that we can prevent up to 90% of those deaths. Through partnerships like this one with Ergobaby we will be able to heighten awareness for maternal health and hopefully inspire millions of people to take action on this issue."

Every day 1,000 worldwide women lose their lives due to complications caused by pregnancy or childbirth, leaving thousands of children having never met their mothers and older siblings motherless.  Although reproductive health issues are the leading cause of death worldwide among women aged 14 to 44 years, experts estimate that 90% of these deaths are preventable. This is not a developing world phenomenon, this happens in the UK too.



The range consists of 2 designer carriers and bags. Not all will be available in the UK.

At Born we work with ante-natal teachers and childbirth educators who are creating a shift in maternity care. Sometimes a woman's whole experience can be altered by a bit of knowledge she learnt in an ante-natal class or from a practitioner that she would not have heard had she not made the decision to go to that particular class or talk. When you have the information it is then possible to make informed choices about the care you want during labour and postnatally.  I believe we have personal responbility for our own and our families health. Pregnancy and birth is a time when this is more evident then at any other time in your life. Should you need a contact for a Practitioner or class we would be more than happy to share our contacts of trusted people with you. Please feel free to email us.

The Save Childhood Movement – get involved

Last month at our Babyhood film screening I was chatting to Saffia, Editor of Juno magazine. She's involved in lots of interesting things, but one that caught my attention is The Save Childhood Movement. It's an issue that Steve Biddulph mentions in his book, but is one that affects boys too.  I asked Saffia to tell us more as I thought it would be something our customers would also be interested in knowing about.

~ Eva

The Save Childhood Movement was created to help address the growing sense of unease that currently exists about child wellbeing in the UK. It is particularly focused on the impact of developmentally inappropriate pressures during the early years of childhood.

The Movement is now bringing together lots of inspirational voices, and is holding its launch summit in London on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 April 2013 from 9am until 6pm. Everyone concerned about the current erosion of childhood is invited to attend. With some thought-provoking films and an exciting and multi-disciplinary group of well-known speakers, including Sue Palmer and Tim Gill, it promises to be a fascinating and inspirational weekend. www.flourishsummitlondon.co.uk

JUNO is supporting the Save Childhood Movement, and I will be there. But if you can’t make the weekend, you can still get involved. There are lots of ideas on the website – www.savechildhood.net. You can form a local group, or just keep aware of issues that are arising and make your voice heard if you feel concerned; what do you think about advertising aimed at children, or how easy it is for children to see porn? Do you let your children play outside unsupervised? These are all issues that we are discussing, at the summit and on our Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/savechildhoodmovement?ref=hl

We have also introduced a National Children’s Day – would you believe there is not one in the UK! The first on is on Wednesday 15 May 2013 and there are more ideas and resources at www.nationalchildrensdayuk.com/join-in.html. This day is about celebrating the rights of children to develop at their natural pace. We would love to hear their voices, so are asking “what would your best day look like”? If your child wants to write or draw something about this, please share it with us so we can help make children’s voices heard.

Saffia Farr, Editor, JUNO natural parenting magazine – www.junomagazine.com

 

 

Visit to Cossham Birth Centre in Bristol

It’s amazing what people can achieve when they put their mind to it and take action. Independent Midwife Sue Learner had a vision in 2001 to transform birth in Bristol. Read the journey of Birth Centre Bristol here.   Back then the birth rate was around 10,000 per year, now it’s more like 12,000, so never has the need for stand alone midwifery units been more necessary. In 2005 BCB was joined by Pip A’Ness who took on the role of making the Birth Centres a reality.



 

I was blown away at how wonderful the suites were, more like 4 star hotels than hospital rooms.  Each room has a large birthing pool, so mum can have their partner in there too, an ensuite toilet and shower room (no need for a bath as there is the pool), double bed for relaxing on before and after baby comes, and cute (non plastic!) crib for the baby. Pip and Lead midwife Gina have kept an eye on all the details, giving the room a wonderful homely, low tech feel. I felt relaxed just being in the room as the ambience instils it.

 



 

Lead midwife Gina Augarde was an inspiration to listen to. A real antidote to all the NHS doom and gloom stories we hear about in the media, not to mention the TV programmes that are on mainstream TV at the moment that only perpetuate the ‘women need to be helped to give birth’ myth.  She is incredibly experienced having come from an established midwifery led stand-alone birth unit in Yorkshire and shared her vision for Bristol; to have all low risk women give birth in stand alone midwifery units leaving the ‘problem’ cases to the Hospitals where the Obstetrician’s who thrive on that kind of work reside. This makes perfect financial and common sense.  If we encourage all low risk women to birth at home or in stand alone birth centres, NHS resources in large hospital maternity units will be freed up to deal with those women who need that specialist care. I’ve spoke to a few disheartened local hospital midwives who know the kind of care they should be giving to women but are not able to offer it due to a lack of  time and facilities. With more birth centres resources this will free up Southmead and St. Micheals to do what they do best for the women and babies that need that level of care.

It was music to my ears to hear Gina say that they were trained to deliver undiagnosed breech babies, should they be presented with one during labour,  and that mums could deliver from 37 weeks to term plus 12 days. Plus all midwives have been trained in aromatherapy massage and the use of specific oils to relax or to stimulate depending on what is needed. How refreshing to hear that rather than the ‘we’ll break your waters to get you going’ line on ‘One born every minute’.



The midwives we met were beaming, obviously in love with their jobs, or it might just be because they have been regularly dosed in oxytocin, the love hormone, that they regularly come into contact with when around newborn babies and their loved up parents.

As well as being the epitome of care for birthing, the centre also offers ante-natal classes and past birth de-briefing sessions with Gina.  A traumatic birth  (as defined by the woman) can leave them feeling off kilter and by talking through thier notes with a midwife can allow them to move on and come to terms with why things happened the way they did, so that they can go on to have a future empowering birth experience.  This service is available to anyone and is free.

To have your baby at Cossham, ask your midwife. As long as you live close enough to get there you can request the centre.  Or you can phone them direct  on 0117 340 5249

http://www.nbt.nhs.uk/cosshambirthcentre

Read some of the lovely reviews from families who used Cossham

https://www.facebook.com/birthcentrebristol

To find out more about Birth centres in Bristol see http://www.birthcentrebristol.org.uk

~ Eva

First Impressions of Njoy Bubble rear facing stroller

We have just had a delivery of the new Petite Star Njoy Bubble Stroller here in Bristol and we are already totally in love with it!

When we receive new products, we have great fun playing around with them and trying to suss out how they work, but we have already mastered this one as it is just so easy to use.

Straight out of the box, all you need to do is attach the front wheels and the canopy and it is good to go. It flips from rear facing to front facing in one swift motion, you don’t even have to remove any parts, it’s so simple it’s ridiculous.

It folds down like most umbrella type buggies, but again, it’s so simple and smooth you could do it with one hand. Once folded it is fairly compact and only weighs 8kgs.

It looks smart and the purple model is gorgeous in the flesh, great for a boy or a girl. And although the stroller is suitable from birth, the carrycot is a great addition, to make sure your newborn is cocooned from the elements. It looks super comfy and attaches easily to the stroller.

We think the best thing though is the price - the look and functions of the buggy would have you convinced it is worth more than the price tag suggests! But stroller, carrycot and footmuff for £260 is an absolute bargain.

We will take great pleasure in demoing and selling these. Like I said, we love it and we’re sure you will too!

~ Siobhan & Jemma

The Home Herbalist Apprentice with Amanda Rayment

Amanda Rayment makes Welcome World teas which we have stocked for many years in our stores and online.  Her knowledge of herbs is extensive and I've called upon her expertise many times in the years I've known her.  In this wonderful course Amanda will share her years of working as Herbalist with you. I spoke to her about the course, what it offers, how it works and who should consider doing it.

 

Eva in conversation with Amanda Rayment (Audio file will open in new tab or browser).

 

To find out more about the Home Herbalist Apprentice course take a look at the course outline on Amanda's website.

 

The Orbit G2 Stroller user review

Fritha has a wonderful Blog that I love reading. She's also an Orbit brand Ambassador and is 'road teasting' the G2 stroller for us. Her are her thoughts so far:

Competition to win an Orbit G2 Stroller is on  until May 8th.

I have had the Orbit  G2 Stroller now for almost a month, a great amount of time I feel to really get to grips with all its features and record how I am finding it.

Our original pushchair was a Mama's and Papa's Sola. We never really did any pushchair research when I was pregnant but instinctively felt the need to be able to see and chat to Wilf past the early baby-stage and onwards into toddler-hood. I later discovered however that most brain development occurs between birth and age two, which is when babies and toddlers need the benefit of a 'language-rich start to life'. Considering that on average a baby may be in their stroller for two hours a day, it makes sense that it would be more beneficial to have the seat facing you where you and your baby can communicate with each other.



I love that the Orbit has the ability to be parent facing for as long as you and your child would like. With the swivel design you can face your child parent, sideways or forward facing. We haven’t tried it forward facing but have used it side facing a number of times when in café’s and also at the zoo!





One of the elements I was really impressed with on the Orbit is its incredibly simple to collapse. I've not quite managed the one handed collapse but it is as simple as removing the chair with two clips, then a simple click and twist of the handle and the whole thing collapses very swiftly and compactly. I’ve always been quite worried about being in a situation where I would need to collapse my previous stroller but have been on a number of train journeys now where I’ve been able to do this by myself with no issue.

The stroller is streamline, which is perfect for city living and also for Victorian hallways. Even with both the panniers open it’s only marginally bigger than our old stroller and with the panniers folded is much slimmer. I would rate the addition of the panniers as one of the best elements of the stroller. As someone who doesn't drive we are used to cramming our shopping underneath our old stroller, which could fit two bags at a push. The top picture shows the pushchair with one of them open, they also come with a waterproof cover in case of rain or if you don't want the world to know what you’ve got for tea.



The Orbit doesn't come with a huge amount of storage underneath but rather a cargo pod, which you can use as a change bag and also to keep the rain cover and other little bits in. The lack of space below is more than made up with the storage in the side panniers above though. You can also wear the pod if needed with the addition of a strap.

I'm quite a gadgety type of person so I was really excited by the cup holder and tray attachment and the snack tray for Wilf. One of the reasons I was so excited to be testing this stroller is that the Orbit is a built to be eco friendly, the trays are BPA-free and made out of PVC-free polypropylene and the all the fabrics used meet the 'Oeko-Tex standard 100 compliance’. This is a standard that sets limits on almost 200 potentially harmful substances and chemicals. You can find out more about the potentially dangerous substances this standard address here. The Orbit is also the worlds first stroller to boast rain shields made from a clear PVC-free material.

Within the first half an hour of using the pushchair the man in the bakery, the lady on the train and a lady who recognised me from playgroup all commented on the stroller for different reasons. It certainly does attract people's attention!

Win the Orbit G2Stroller in our competition (ends May 8th 2013)

The Power of Hypnobirthing

Katrina Berry has been running Hypnobirthing classes at our Stoke Newington store for some years now.  You can find out when her classes are by looking at our events section.

You may have read in the press the story of a mother who gave birth in a hotel when she opted to check in there, rather than go home because she was told she wasn't in established labour. This is the original article first published in the Camden Journal.

Mum Michelle Booth and partner Richard attended Katrina's Classes at our Stoke Newington Store and her story of the birth is a wonderful read and testimony to the  amazing benefits of Hypnobirthing. Not just for the birth but for bonding, breastfeeding and general empowerment that it's obvious the couple got from the classs.

Katrina is also a Doula and can be contacted via her website.

~Eva

 

Real Nappy Week starts today

Every year for as long as I've had children (which is 15 years) we have had a 'Real Nappy Week' where retailers, manufacturers, councils and support groups, get together to promote washable/real/reusable nappies to parents and parents-to-be in the UK.

Nappies was how I got into the whole Natural/Green Parenting 'scene', when I realised how much money we would be throwing away by using disposable nappies. Then learning about the environmental impact and horrible chemicals in them convinced me that washables were the way to go. If the subject is new to you, have a look at the video's we did to explain the issues simply.

During this week most of our suppliers have offers on which we pass on to our customers.  Close Parent the makers of Pop-in nappies have come up with an ingenious idea.  Geocaching is a fun activity to do with the kids. Yesterday we went on a hunt to Cotham Gardens where we found the Geocache in which we have stashed 10 envelopes, each containing a unique code that can be exchanged for a prize or offer in the store. My 2 loved it, so much so that we went on to find 3 more Geocaches around Bristol. There is also one near the London store. Both are within walking distance of the stores so easy to do in 1 trip.  To participate read the info on Close's website and www.geocashing.com  and download the app from your App store. the light version will be fine, you don't have to get the full paid version. The top prize is a 5 pack of Pop-in nappies worth £75!

Our offers this week

As it's Real Nappy Week we've got 10% off all Real nappies in-store, with an extra 5% when you book a Your Baby Your Way consultation this week and have the session by the 15th May.  Having a shop means you get to see and most importantly have a play with the nappies before you buy them. The extra 5% is to promote our excellent personal advice service that you can only get in-store with our One-to-one service.

The discount is available on all nappies, wraps, liners, nets, training pants, swim nappies and buckets but excludes Nappy Fresh and disposables.

~Eva

Noa Noa – Sheer Romance Spring/Summer 2013 Collection

Noa Noa never fails to bring a smile to all of us here at Born. This beautiful range took to the runway in the Copenhagen fashion week, with its romantic vintage florals and soft cottons in the essence of summer.

From the luscious lace on the summer socks, to the carefully placed contrast detail on the beautiful dresses, the attention to detail is like no other. This is what really brings the whole collection to life and why we just love Noa Noa.



And thats not all, not only does this range have an authentic haute culture-like look, each garment is made with love from luscious cotton, which stays looking just as beautiful wash after wash.

~Georgi