Blog

I’m so glad that what so many of us in the sling world have been saying for YEARS is now part of world guidelines; showing how this closeness is so vital to human health and wellbeing, and busting the myths of clinginess we have worked hard to debunk.

Babywearing makes a difference to so many. I believe that every parent should be offered the chance to try a comfy sling and show how to use them safely as part of routine antenatal/postnatal care. ... See more

MYTH: you should leave babies to settle alone so that they become independent.

Excerpt below from 'Building a Happy Brain - A Guide for Parents' written as part of a collaboration between UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) & WHO (World Health Organisation).

These people know their stuff. As lovely as your mate from the baby group and your mother in law are, they are not trained experts. People can have had multiple children, be really well meaning and still be way off with their info! Having lots of children does not make someone a trained, up to date professional.

Trust the experts. They really do know.

Link to the complete booklet here: https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/04/happybaby_leaflet_web.pdf ... See more

Tomorrow Anna and I are running the first “My Baby My Mind” workshop at the snug for parents-to-be: how mental health can be challenged by the arrival of a new baby and how babywearing can become a very helpful tool, practically and therapeutically!

Looking forwards to it... ... See more

This is fascinating... does this feel like your experience? The amount of time a mother spends feeding and caring for her baby in the first few months of life...

But that it DOES change. If things feel tough: remind yourself that that’s right now: it’s not permanent. ... See more

A data scientist breaks it down.

How adorable!

Dear mama... thank you
😘

Artist unknown

“A mother's mental health during pregnancy and the first year postpartum is of the utmost importance to the cognitive, social, and emotional development of her child. Perinatal depression is associated with increased risk for wide-ranging adverse child development effects that can affect infant and early childhood mental health. Although effective treatments for perinatal depression exist, it is currently unclear if treatment of maternal depression alone is sufficient to ameliorate the negative effects of maternal depression on child outcomes. Interventions focused on the mother-infant relationship and dyadic interaction may be required to address the potential effect of maternal depression on the child.”

Part of an abstract from “Perinatal depression and infant mental health by Janice H. Goodman, Psychiatric Nursing, June 2019 Volume 33, Issue 3, Pages 217–224

**A sling could be part of this intervention, as could the social groups that come from sling libraries and people creating safe spaces to empower and inform parents, like our 4th Trimester groups.** ... See more