Jaclyn Currie - Post Partum Doula

NewStart's 5 week Dad Drop In runs January 30th until March 6th!
Drop ins are welcome, but registration is encouraged!

Coffee and snacks provided!

Call Janelle to register!

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🤣 who's done this?!?!

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👉 Follow Us On Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/momspresso/

A wonderful way to bond with your baby!!

A fun way to meet more people and move your body gently!

Mom and baby yoga starts a new 4 week session on Monday July 18th from 11:15am- 12:15pm.

For more information or to register, go to http://www.halifaxyoga.com/events/
Or give us a call at 902-406-9642 and we are always happy to help!

I tried this hack on my toddler and it worked a treat! Thanks Shandelle!!

Local families!!! Get yourselves to the public gardens on Tuesday mornings, it's a delight (and coffee or ice cream after!!)

Another joyous and successful storytime for the books! Join us every Tuesday morning at 10:30 in the beautiful near the cafe for this free and family friendly event.

In addition to International Day of the Midwife today is , a day to honour and raise awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit peoples (MMIWG2S+). We echo the 231 Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into MMIWG & demand political leaders take action:
https://t.co/XfqUkGTVAl https://t.co/XKEfAoByrW

Red Dress Day can be triggering for those affected. The MMWIG2S+ support call line is available free of charge, 24 hours a day 7 days a week. at 1-844-413-6649.

Ok, so of course we all experienced anger and had our own triggers before motherhood. ⁣⁣
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⁣But one thing I've heard again and again from parents through the years is that people don't remember being so quick to anger and having so many temper triggers prior to motherhood. ⁣⁣⁣
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So what's the deal with that?⁣⁣⁣
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Well, here are a few reasons that might be:⁣⁣
✨Motherhood/parenthood is our first time back in the parent/child relationship since our own childhood often reuniting us with vulnerabilities, triggers and traumas that might have long lingered below the surface.⁣
⁣✨We are running on empty! We're busy, overwhelmed with responsibilities and our re-charge time is greatly diminished leaving out patience running low.⁣⁣
✨Our access to old-standby coping skills/resources might have changed. Maybe you used to get to run or exercise more, spend time with friends or anything else that served as an outlet for stress and things are just different in your life now.⁣⁣
✨Mental health. Perhaps the transition to motherhood has resulted in a change in your mental health with anxiety or depression symptoms which in turn has increased feelings of anger and/or diminished patience.⁣
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⁣⁣Do you relate to this graphic? Did you feel a shift in your anger/temper shortness since becoming a parent?⁣
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👋Working on your temper? Check out my Anger Coping Skills Cards for parenting https://www.etsy.com/listing/1182284096/anger-management-coping-skills-cards-for?click_key=3b5aabc85438ae79fc6cca02002a611691cdc026%3A1182284096&click_sum=c8bf6fd9&ref=shop_home_recs_16&crt=1&sts=1

Looking for some things to do next week with your older kids?

Here we go!

March Break Programs are here! 🍀
Register now! :)

Are you bottle feeding? Here's a great way to avoid overfeeding. If you are combination feeding this can also avoid a preference or confusion.

Sometimes parents worry that an air gap will lead to baby having wind, but we now believe that the fast feeding associated with the teat being full is more likely to lead to gassiness.

It's ok to talk about how you are struggling with what you missed out on or found different. These feelings are so common. It's ok to grieve those missed opportunities and experiences even if it feels like your baby is older now and things are moving forward.

Research shows that many parents struggled with feeling lonely and isolated, away from family and unable to make new friends.

Relationship strains and difficulties were common, with families spending more time together in an enclosed space, with stressors increasing around jobs, health and financial security.

Many family members were unable to meet the new baby, often for some time if local travel restrictions were in place, which of course had an impact and particularly affected grandparents.

Some mothers felt that they were missing out on many expected stages they had planned for. Baby showers, christenings and gatherings weren’t allowed, and this simply wasn’t the way they had imagined new motherhood. They couldn’t meet up with postnatal groups or go to classes or indeed do anything that would make coping with all the changes and sleep deprivation a little easier.

Others talked about the grief and loss they were experiencing about the pregnancy, birth and newborn experience they realised they were never going to
have. Some had spent a long time dreaming about moments such as family or older children coming to the hospital to meet their baby, or being able to share the experience of a scan with their partner, and now everything had changed.

Sometimes just saying that you're grieving or affected by this loss is the first step to moving through it. It can help to talk to others - maybe other parents who have gone through it or parents with older children who have enough distance from the experience of caring for a baby that they can be more open in their discussions.

If you are really struggling reach out to a mental health charity, a counsellor or perhaps a doula who can help you work through and reflect on your experiences.

If you're reading this as a professional then there is a real need for support services going forward ♥

Or your phone/drink/remote *just* out of reach!

What is your biggest parenting win this week?

Just your regular reminder that you’re great and your baby thinks you’re marvellous 🙌

If you’re worrying if you’re a ‘good parent’ (and we all have at some point’) then yes of course you are, despite what the small voice in your brain tries to torment you with. You are doing enough and absolutely are enough for your baby.

And no matter how serene, calm & together other parents around you might look, they’re thinking about this too.

And if you’re still doubting it, remember hamsters often eat their babies if feeling a bit stressed. You’re definitely doing better than that.

But I’ll let you into another well-kept secret – it’s actually ok to just to be an ‘ok’ parent.

•You don’t have to be perfect.

•You don’t have to be calm, engaged & loving all the time.

•You don’t have to feel exhilarated & exude love & energy all day long.

•It’s ok to be watching the clock til bed time.

‘Good enough’ is actually supported by science. There’s loads of research that has looked into what babies and children need, based around the idea not of perfect parenting but parenting that was ‘good enough’.

This phrase was coined by Donald Winnicott, a paediatrician & psychoanalyst in 1953 & has been backed up by more recent research that observed mother’s reactions to their baby i.e. whether they could understand what the baby needed, responded calmly and appropriately, and were able to soothe their baby if they were crying. They then measured whether their baby displayed positive attachment behaviours.

They found that as long as 50% or more of the mothers’ reactions were supporting her baby’s needs, then her baby was more likely to show a secure attachment– something we know helps children feel more confident in later life.

The researchers concluded that responsive reactions i.e. knowing what your baby needs & being able to soothe them help a baby learn that their needs will be met and they can trust you... but that doesn’t need to always happen.

You get to have bad days, days when everyone is pulling you in different directions & days when you just don’t know what’s wrong and that’s ok.

One of the core approaches to helping people who are experiencing grief is not only to explore the roots of how they feel, but also to help them cope with any symptoms they are experiencing.

Everyone is different - and has different needs and barriers in terms of time, resources & physical ability - but here are some ideas to try, adapting them to what works for you:

Get outside. Nature is restorative if you are experiencing anxiety and feeling on edge

Be active. Exercise can help burn off adrenaline & release feel-good endorphins. Try and focus on your body as you move – feel the movement, your heart rate & notice your surroundings. Or scream into the forest / take up boxing.

Try not to shut yourself off from everyone. Choose your friends carefully, but don’t isolate yourself. Talk about how you feel to someone who will listen.

Don't be afraid to ask for professional support. Explore counselling, support from a breastfeeding organisation, or holistic support from a doula. See yesterdays post.

Share your experience more publicly with others. Blog. Record something for social media. Or write more privately to get your own thoughts out of your head.

For some volunteering can help both in taking your mind off things and doing something that will make a difference to others in the future. Perhaps support one of the breastfeeding or trauma organisations. Or try something completely different and new.

Try to calm your system. Relaxation exercises such as breathing and noticing things around you can help calm you down. Comfort yourself. Do you have a favourite smell, taste, place, piece of music or clothing that helps relax you? Might yoga or meditation help you?

For some people, keeping a diary and writing down their thoughts helps. For others, relaxing tasks that keep your mind distracted are useful – jigsaws, colouring, knitting etc.

Challenge your negative thoughts. Are they really true? Imagine a friend was telling you the same things. What would you say to them?

Try to look after your health. You know the drill. Plenty of sleep, a balanced diet, watch the alcohol.

Sometimes it can be tricky to find comfortable positions to breastfeed in. Here are some helpful suggestions for our generously sized friends!
Do you have a position that worked well for you? Drop a comment!

What feeding positions work if I'm large breasted? http://www.naturalbreastfeeding.com/ Essie succeeds with Natural Breastfeeding positions for the first time. See how she easily breastfeeds 2-week-old Carlos...

Postpartum Recovery Time Is Crucial, And This Image Shows Why It’s one thing to do know in theory that a woman’s body needs time to recover after birth, but a picture truly is worth a thousand words.

2022 got me feeling like...
Wishing all of you a peaceful year ahead, and hoping this year at last will see a return to more togetherness, more normality, more hugs and more reunions.
What are you hopeful about this year?
#2022

Wishing you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas break! Remember to snuggle your loved ones and relax as much as possible!!

So excited to be joining the Embrace team!!! Amy has worked so hard for accessible post partum care in and around HRM.

Hey everyone... Meet Jaclyn!

Jaclyn, our newest Postpartum Doula to the Embrace Doula team, started her career helping postpartum families as an accredited breastfeeding counsellor. With personal experience having to overcome difficulties feeding her son, she found the support of friendly professionals, baby groups, and classes to be crucial for her. Understanding the importance of her own family having accurate, educational, sensitive, and friendly support led her to increase her knowledge and experience of postpartum families, and to becoming a DONA trained Postpartum Doula. Jaclyn strives to bring the same level of care and compassion that she received to families navigating the postpartum period.

Jaclyn is able to bring culturally sensitive practices to her interactions with families, as she has an extensive background of world travel and teaching. Originally from the UK, she worked with families in Switzerland as an au pair, travelled to Peru, studied in Brazil, and worked in the Middle East. As of late, she has called Bedford, Nova Scotia her home since 2015. As someone who does not have family close by, she understands the importance of reliable, understanding, and sensitive support during the postpartum period. It takes a village to bring your baby home, and Jaclyn would love to discuss how she can become a part of your village, and to help you get the best start with your growing family.

Send us a message, or head to our website to get a free consultation!

If you are in the trenches of Parenthood, this is for you this week especially!

Positively Present