Welcome to this new blog.

This will be a space to talk about parenthood.  About trying to conceive, pregnancy, birth, parenthood and every little nuance in between.  There won’t always be full agreement, but this is a safe space where we can treat one another with kindness.  I aim to take a holistic view, balancing science and emotion, mind and body.  To be evidence-led, but also to consider the more ethereal, more difficult to define moments along the journey of parenthood.

My reason for beginning this blog is that how we welcome our children to the world and facilitate their journey to adolescence and beyond is important. Beyond important.  It’s vital.  It’s vital to the future of society.  This journey undertaken by every family who nurture a new life should be foremost in the minds of all forward thinking politicians, of all planners and constructors of society.

At the very start of this journey is the first hour.  The baby’s arrival and the hour that follows.  An hour where the baby gazes at surroundings, at family and most of all at their mother.  The gaze is returned and eye contact sustained.  The baby is quiet, alert and receptive.  Bonding can begin.  The breastfeeding relationship can begin.  This first hour is just one hour in the life of mother and child, but will never be repeated.

“The hour following birth is undoubtedly one of the most critical phases in the life of human beings. It is not by chance that all human groups have routinely disturbed the physiological processes in this short period of time, via beliefs and rituals. Our cultural milieus are to a great extent shaped at the very beginning of the mother-newborn interaction.” Michael Odent MD

Birth is important.  While it is not the end of the world if birth doesn’t go how we expect and it is of course never too late to make up for lost time, this first hour is ideally the most potent time to start paving the way for the future journey.  An hour in which mama, baby and the rest of the family begin to weave the first stitches of an intricate and unique fabric that will wrap around their family unit and keep them safe as they walk along that path.

The science is supporting us.  Oxytocin, adrenaline and endorphins are described as a ‘complex cocktail of love hormones’ and will likely never peak so high again as in this moment if the birth is allowed to progress naturally.

Let’s make the best of our first hour…