I am a mum of 3 and whilst what I do is not unique, I hope with my instinct, experience and integrity I can offer my own personal touch, by talking to new parents and getting to understand what they want but also what they do not want.

I have lived in Australia and the UK both without family support, I needed to believe in myself and trust that I could do this – this mothering thing. I looked at not having support as a chance to parent my own way, the way that felt right for me.

I got a lot of it wrong of course – and still do, but I got a lot right too just by following my own intuition. Being an adult is hard, being a parent is harder and being a great parent – I think is a constant evolution, learning of new skills and a journey together with your child.

We all have unique personalities, traits, strengths, weaknesses, our own history of how we were parented and how we grew up – advantage or disadvantage. But by engaging with each other we can help each other to feel good about ourselves, learn about life, have a laugh or a cry – real life, real friends, real interests and choices.

I discovered babywearing whilst pregnant with my first born but didn’t really know much about it until I moved to the UK and found the Sheffield Sling Community. I have now completed many, many hours of study to become a Trageschule Certified Babywearing Consultant as well as continuing professional development whilst learning about the benefits of being a connected and an ‘attached’ parent.

I breastfed all three children but it wasn’t until my third child that I really understood the importance of breastfeeding and now regret that my first two babies were mix fed and that I had switched to formula by 4 months – I knew no better and nobody told me that I should. I completed a Breastfeeding Peer Supporter course to help and support new mums and their babies.

It is so surprising to me that this stuff is not taught to pregnant mums or even in schools because that is where we really see change – in early education. Because my daughter sees me breastfeed I have no doubt that she will at the very least attempt to breastfeed her own children and I believe my sons will be supportive of their wives in breastfeeding – that to me is the power of education. Will I one day be the matriarch of the family who has started new generations of breastfed and carried babies?

I have also just finished the start of my journey as a Postnatal Doula in completing the required workshop, I will now progress towards certification in a number of ways – always learning – both practical and educational. It’s an exciting time and couldn’t think of anything better than help new parents and their newborns.