Category: Baby Blog

1. #FirstDay - Join the campaign for more midwives, worldwide.

   Posted on 10:33pm Wednesday 26th Feb 2014

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   Yesterday I read about the Save the Children's launch of the #FirstDay campaign.

   Yesterday I was told that 2.9 million babies a year never reach the second month of their life.

   Yesterday I was horrified to learn that over 1 million babies a year don't live to see their second day.

   Yesterday I was thankful that I had qualified midwives to help me and my daughters make the smooth transition from labour, to birth, to life, so that they did have a tomorrow.

   So why am I telling you this? Some of my friends already know the fragility of a new life and while it is an exciting time, it can also be equally as frightening. So the challenge is to write a 100 word post on "what my midwife did to make sure my baby had a second day".

   I took for granted that I would have a "good birth" with my first daughter. I was in a good hospital, with a great reputation and thankfully a calm attitude. I remember almost being left to my own devices because I was so chilled but then my waters broke and everything accelerated, I wasn't so calm, I wasn't so chilled but my midwife wouldn't allow me to panic and talked me through. The little one was rocking in my pelvis, her heart rate was dropping and their was talk of surgical intervention, my midwife knew I didn't want that and encouraged me to carry on. My eldest daughter arrived, naturally and without complication because of that midwife. 

   My second daughter decided that she was going to arrive at home, within 2 hours of labour starting .... she also arrived before the midwives did. But despite her safe and speedy arrival, the midwives were on hand to cut the cord, check her weight and find a small heart murmor.

   Those days maybe a distant memory now but the actions of those midwives made sure I have and continue to create memories with my girls.

   (Okay so that might have been a little more than 100 words)

   So what can we do, aside from writing our own blog posts?

   Save the Children want to:

   •    Save the lives of 2 million newborn babies a year

   •    Ensure that every baby is born with the support of a trained and equipped midwife

   If you’ve got one minute:

   Sign the petition to ask David Cameron to put a global plan into action in 2014 that will ensure every baby is born with the life-saving help of a trained and equipped midwife and use his influence to get world leaders to do the same.

   Text a donation: a donation of £3, the price of a cup of coffee, could save 10 newborn lives by buying 10 tubes of antiseptic cream. Text COFFEE to 70090

    

   Share the link to the newborn campaign online and ask people to take action or donate

   If you’ve got 10 minutes or more:

   - write about the campaign online and why it’s so important that the world acts this year to save newborn lives

   - Join the 100 word challenge blog linky here

   
   If you would like to share this post, please mention @savechildrenuk and #firstday 

2. Pampers UNICEF campaign

   Posted on 3:33pm Thursday 28th Nov 2013

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   Vaccines are something that we take for granted in the UK but this is not always the case across the globe. We are therefore delighted to bring this post to you in association with the Pampers UNICEF campaign to share with you how Tesco is backing the project in the global fight against Maternal and Newborn Tetanus.

   From October to December, Pampers and UNICEF, the world’s leading children’s organisation, come together for the eighth year to launch the “1 pack = 1 vaccine” campaign. This year, Tesco has upped the stakes and set the challenge to its shoppers to help raise the cost of one vaccine every second of the campaign period – that’s nine million life-saving vaccines helping to protect the lives of 3 million women and their newborns! 

   A team from Tesco and Pampers visited Senegal, West Africa, to see the success of the UNICEF vaccination programme and meet those who have witnessed the devastating effects of MNT first-hand: 

   Ami Seck tragically lost her first baby boy to tetanus;

   “After a few days, we noticed the child was trembling excessively,” Mame Touty, Ami’s mother-in-law says, “We spent nine days in hospital, but the boy died on the tenth day. When it happened we were very dejected. After the regretful incident, Ami became pregnant again, but we learnt lessons, we had an antenatal care package, and everything went smoothly. Everyone knew that our baby boy died but we are a living example of how you can get out of the maze.”

   

   Moussa Pouye is the Chief Nurse at Dabaly Health Post, Nioro District, Senegal talk about dealing with a case of tetanus;

   “I had to deal with a case of tetanus where the lady had no antenatal care or tetanus vaccinations. I met with the Supervisor of the Health Centre and he gave me 200 doses of tetanus to do an immediate campaign in the area to avoid another case. We made sure all other women in the village were protected. The village, Touba Saloum, now has its own Health Hut and all the women are subscribing.”

   

    

   Ways you can help:

   Visit your local Tesco today and pick up your pack of Pampers or buy online at Tesco.com: 

   1 Pack = 1 Vaccine

   During October – December 2013, for each Pampers^®- UNICEF pack purchased, Pampers^® will donate the cost of one tetanus vaccine to support UNICEF in the fight against Maternal and Newborn Tetanus.                                                                         

   UNICEF Pledge Donations

   By becoming a monthly donor to UNICEF today you can join thousands of other parents who donate every month to improve the lives of these vulnerable children. Visit www.supportunicef.org/Pampers to see the difference that you can make.

   

3. Win a "Once Upon a Bedtime" Love Boo Gift Set

   Posted on 9:46pm Wednesday 27th Nov 2013

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   We love Love Boo and hope you do too.

   (I am a poet and I didn't know it).

   We are therefore delighted to have a fantastic giveaway for you to win the brand new Once Upon a Bedtime Gift Set (RRP 21.99), just in time for Christmas.

   

   Once Upon A Bedtime gift set contains:

   • Soft & Splashy Bubbles, 250ml
   • Kind & Calming Massage Oil, 100ml

   Which makes it perfect for baby showers, new babies (and Mum's). It is not only beautifully presented, it smells divine too.

   To be in with a chance to win, just enter below:

   a Rafflecopter giveaway

   Listed on PrizeFinder.com

4. Kelo- Stretch Cream : Review

   Posted on 8:24pm Wednesday 9th Oct 2013

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   As part of our Baby Blog, our new mum blogger has been reviewing the Kelo-Stretch Cream. Kelo-Stretch™ (125ml, £25.99) launched in April 2013 by speciality pharmaceutical company Sinclair IS Pharma and it has been specifically formulated to prevent and correct stretch marks. Stretch marks affect as many as 75% to 90% of pregnant women.¹ They can also appear during adolescence or be a consequence of rapid weight gain or weight loss. Stretch marks may also be caused by hormonal disorders

   So after months of testing, here is what she thought .....

   Pitter-patter of tiny feet, a new bundle of joy that you can’t wait to meet;  what a dream to be a new mum.  Stretch Marks…. not such a dream! But, there is help at hand, in fact there are a lot of products out there that claim to prevent or help existing stretch marks and I am sure that like me, most pregnant woman are rubbing lotions and potions into their growing bumps religiously (and mine was definately growing).

   So how do we know what really works, why do some pregnant woman get stretch marks and some don’t? I put KELO-STRETCH cream to the test through my pregnancy, it features a unique dual formula to address the main causes of stretch mark formation and there is a LOT of science and evidence behind it.

   

   I applied it as per the instructions twice a day from the 4^th month of pregnancy. It sank easily into the skin on application which was a blessing when dressing for work in the morning as you don’t want to be hanging around waiting for your skin to dry off.  It’s also fragrance free, which for me was a true positive because I had made the decision in my pregnancy to be as ‘organic’ as possible and stopped wearing perfumes etc.  For this reason it does have a slightly ‘medicated’ smell about it but that doesn’t stay around for long and gave me confidence that the product had been developed to work rather than just smell good. It claims to increase elasticity and hydrate the skin and I must say that my skin always felt plump and smooth.

    

   So, the million dollar question – did it work? I can happily report I have zero stretch marks! I am still using it now post pregnancy just to be sure, but not one in sight. Will I ever truly know if it was the KELO- STRETCH cream preventing them? Possibly not, but if I am ever blessed with another pregnancy I certainly won’t be taking a chance – KELO-STRETCH cream will be top of my list!