Most women are not fortunate enough to be stay at home mums forever. Whether because of a true desire to re-enter the adult world or whether it is out of financial necessity most mothers will have to return to work after maternity leave.
This can bring with it a number of challenges, both practical and emotional, and can bring up a range of conflicting emotions.
It is not unusual for a woman to waste the last few weeks of maternity leave worrying about returning to work and the night before feeling like …

So baby is out and you were finally hoping that the hormonal, irritable, uncomfortable, disruptive monster you have been living with for the last 8 weeks was going to cough up your once sweet and patient partner and dissappear until the next pregnancy came along.
Tough! Sorry but there are a couple of weeks of torture yet to come. Maybe just one week if you are lucky!
So here is what to expect in your first week of having a newborn and a post partum partner:
Crying: Yep there will be tears. Tears …

You are sick of hearing your perfect friends tell you how their baby slept straight through from 4 weeks old.
With their annoying shadow free eyes and alert thinking! So what can you do to join that elite club of well rested smug parents?
Well you can’t force your baby, toddler or child to sleep but here are some things to try:

Make sure that baby is not too hot or too cold. Wrap them in enough layers to keep them warm but not hot
Consider using a baby sleeping bag. This stops them from …

Group B Streptococcus is a bacteria which can be found in our bodies, most commonly in the vagina and rectum. To us it is completely harmless however it can cause problems for a baby during a vaginal delivery.
Most women will have Group B Strep bacteria present in their bodies at one time or another and around 25% of pregnant women in the UK have it. It can dissappear before labour but if still present at the point of labour and delivery and not properly managed it can lead to early …

When a baby is first born doctors assess how healthy they are to see if they need any help. They do this by giving them an APGAR score.
APGAR is an acronym for Activity, Pulse, Grimace, Appearance and Respiration. Each of these is assessed immediately after your baby is born. The test was invented in 1952 by anesthesiologist Virginia Apgar.
 
Scores are given between 0 and 2 with the healthiest babies getting a total of 10 (5 x 2).
The scoring is as follows;
Activity: This is testing the movement and muscle tone with a …

Baby will not have control of his or her limbs for the first few weeks of life so will make involuntary jerky movements. Swadling can help baby to keep their limbs still and make them feel the security and warmth of being back in the womb. Swaddling is a way of wrapping your baby in a sheet or blanket to hold their arms down. This can be comforting for newborns.
To swaddle your baby:

Lay a square or rectangular blanket on the floor or bed.
Fold one corner down slightly then lay baby on the blanket …