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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 

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Clothing small children is no mean feat. Especially when those small children develop tastes and fashion sense (I use the term sense loosely) so when Vertbaudet asked us to review from their new Spring & Summer catalogue, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to ask the 8 year old to choose her own outfit.

I was suprisingly pleased at her choice.

Note :  This is not my daughter in the pictures ....... her mane of curly hair, would never look that sleek :-)

She choose this coral party puffball dress for £32 and matching coral bolero cardigan for £ 22, which is a very "girly" choice for her and she obviously wanted to wear it as soon as it arrived. Unfortunately the weather didn't really lend itself to a summer dress (the rain outside trying to convince me that spring is nowhere in sight), so we compromised and added black leggings and pumps to create a great look.

The dress is 100% cotton satin and comes plain or printed (depending on your choice) and it has a pure cotton voile lining. While this is lovely, all parents want to know how it washes and I am pleased to say that at 40 degrees, it didn't lose any of its colour or quality. The only thing it needs to lose are its creases ....... how does one really iron a puffball dress??

She is delighted with the dress and I can see it being a key item in her spring wardrobe ..... I am just waiting for her to ask for it in the other colours too!!

Disclaimer : We were sent the Vertbaudet dress and cardigan to review but all opinions on the quality are our own (and the 8 year olds)

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You may or may not have noticed that we have a shiny spangly new badge on the Lilypad and we are thrilled to say that we are a "Little Fun Fest Blogger Extraordinaire". *sounds fanfare*

What is that baffled face? Do you mean you have no idea what I am talking about?

I have to admit that I had not heard about Little Fun Fest until after the event last year but I knew that it was something we would want to get involved in. It is basically a festival for the under 10's (and having never actually been to a festival myself, I thought it was a great way to start by taking the whole family) , based around having fun. What is not to love?

The website says that Little Fun Fest aims to provide funsters with their very own festival experience. Funsters can lose themselves in music, magic, rides, stories and dance. They can enjoy being a child and use their imaginations and energy in beautiful surroundings with other funsters. We want grown ups to join in the fun too, but we also want them to be able to sit back and watch their funsters enjoy a memorable day and take home a permanent smile.

It sounds like there is something for everyone, which is good especially when you have a big age gap between children but whenever I think about festivals, I am always thinking that I can't wear my heels, so I think I am finally going to have to admit defeat and purchase some wellies ..... just to make sure I look the part of course!

So if you fancy joining us on our Little Fun Fest adventure, tickets for Little Fun Fest can be booked here

All entertainments and rides are included in the entrance fee.

Disclaimer : We have been awarded tickets for our family to go to Little Fun Fest but all opinions are our own, so we will let you know how we get on!