Today is World Prematurity Day, a day to celebrate the health and wellbeing of babies born too early. To mark the day, the World Health Organization has issued new guidelines highlighting the importance of skin-to-skin contact from the moment of birth. 17th November 2022: #WorldPrematurityDay Today is World Prematurity Day, a day to celebrate…

Parenting info: New study finds that if mothers are supported to have skin-to-skin contact during a C-section (within 5 minutes of a baby being born), women have a positive experience, with improved bonding and breastfeeding, and feel less anxiety and depression. Why this matters to me? As a mum of a baby born by C-section…

Quick Summary: A 2022 review of 8 studies involving 1,192,700 women found breastfeeding is good for a mum’s heart. The study found mothers who breastfed at some time in their lives were less likely to develop heart disease or stroke, compared to those who did not breastfeed. If you have…

QUICK SUMMARY: A new study has found sticking to a specific “psychobiotic” diet that includes such foods as onions, leeks, cabbage, apples, bananas, oats, grains and legumes as well as sauerkraut, kombucha and kefir helps reduce stress and depressive symptoms. And it’s all to do with the gut microbiome. A…

Health tip for parents: New study finds supporting the emotional connection between mother and a preterm baby improves brain development. This is useful info for parents… Separating a newborn from its mother can lead to emotional trauma, for both the mum and the baby. If a baby is born preterm…

Useful for parents to know (a great parenting tip): Babies start to learn language by hearing speech whilst in the womb. But the sound is muffled. A new study shows that within a few hours of being born, babies start to distinguish sounds and begin to tune into specific languages. Useful for health professionals and parents to know! …

New community cohort study from Alberta Canada (n = 418), 37% were born by C-section. 80% of those mothers whose baby was born by C-section experienced difficulties with breastfeeding. My take-home message for parents: This is a very common story and it is not good enough. Useful info for parents and healthcare professionals This was my story…

Quick Summary: Breastfeeding info for parents. New review paper from Mexico on how the complex nutritive and non-nutritive components of breast milk change over the day/night to help a baby develop its own circadian clock. …

QUICK SUMMARY: A new study from Japan finds that babies and toddlers are more likely to sleep for 10 hours or longer if their mothers ate fermented foods (like cheese or miso soup) during pregnancy. …