Birth, Courage, Kindness, Midwifery and birth, Newborn, NHS, Nursing, Skin to skin contact, Women's rights

Skin to skin

Follow @JennyTheM

This is my first blog day – blog sounds such a sad word it needs an injection of sunshine So here is my sunshine injection – all about Skin To Skin .
I want to inspire midwives to think carefully about the precious time before birth when the woman is approaching motherhood and the unborn child is about to become independent —- or is it?
Babies need their mothers love at birth they need to be held snuggled, have skin to skin and to feed – all those weeks inside and suddenly “POW”it’s lights, camera, Facebook,photos,text “what’s the weight?” Pressure to be back to normal for the woman (is there such a thing? Media pressure to run on a sandy beach holding a beautiful baby wearing white linen – this is not reality – reality is tiredness overwhelming love , sore perineum , visitors who don’t iron – midwives be honest – help the mother and child have so much skin to skin they overdose on love – talk about bed sharing honestly (Basis online is evidence based information about safe sleep for babies founded by Prof H Ball of Durham Uni is wonderful ) – remember we have become westernised – the cot , disposable nappies , and everything that goes against mammalian responses – let’s get back to nature and promote skin to skin for three hours – and let’s be real – let’s be human xxx #skinToSkin xxx

Published by Follow @JennyTheM

My passion is to encourage all staff globally who work in maternity services to challenge separation of the mother and newborn and rethink skin to skin contact in any birth setting❤️ I am also constantly thinking about how we can best facilitate skin to skin contact especially in operative births and/or when a woman is taken to the operating theatre post-birth for any procedures. Skin to skin at birth is non-repeatable,once in a lifetime chance. I also want birth-workers, women and families to consider how long a newborn has been out of skin to skin contact. My work is inspired by Dr Nils Bergman - he motivated me to start blogging and tweeting about #SkinToSkin contact . I also talk a lot about courage and compassion two values which for me belong together especially in today’s NHS - I present around the UK helping future midwives and midwives by giving strategy advice on being a midwife in today’s NHS . I am also very interested in leadership and what it entails - leadership isn’t about being “in charge” but helping others , raising others , being compassionate, kind and having integrity- it’s a lifestyle ❤️ Tweet #SkinToSkin//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jso

9 thoughts on “Skin to skin”

  1. Jenny this is brilliant! Well done for starting a blog- it’s a great way to share knowledge and ideas! I learnt something about skin to skin…and it’s true-we need to try to return to nature. Thanks so much for writing and sharing!

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  2. I always thought it strange that western women have their babies and then they are put in a plastic box. I tell my ladies that the baby has spent 9 months on the inside of their skin so they should spend some time on the other side. They need to be weaned away from their mother but this takes some time. Keep your babies close. Supporting a colleague introducing slings into our unit for PN mothers. Great hey?

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    2. Hi helenyoungmidwife! Wondering how you were getting on re introducing slings on post natal ward??

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  3. Jenny, I’ve just seen an amazing photo on facebook but can’t find a way to share it with you, I will try and tweet it to you xx
    Charlotte

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  4. Pingback: Gentle Caesarean With Delayed / Optimal Cord Clamping & Skin to Skin | midwiferymattersblog

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