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However you birth your baby, you need to honour the amazing job you have done growing and bringing your baby into the world. Rest and recovery are a priority.  If you have a C Section, this means major abdominal surgery, so it’s important to get the support you deserve from your loved ones to allow you to rest and snuggle your sweet new baby and establish breastfeeding - this can take a wee bit longer after Csection surgery.   If it’s an option financially, a post-natal doula can be a god-send to support and care for you and your new family. Above all, please be as gentle and kind to yourself as you are to your baby.

We have asked our Boobie Foods Mums who had Csections for their best tips to

Councils promoting eco-friendly living want women to stop using tampons and parents to use cloth nappies. While workshops explaining changes have banned gendered language to make a “safe space”. By Susie O'Brien

Victorian councils are seeking new ways to induce parents to switch to washable, resusable nappies, including paying them up to $150 a year to ditch disposables.

Twelve Melbourne councils are conducting a joint survey to work out how to implement a reusable nappy program for residents. Reusable nappy sales have surged in recent years as products are easier to use and cheaper than disposables, but the idea of washing dirty nappies is holding many parents back.

The study is led by the City of Monash and includes Maribyrnong, Bayside, Boroondara and Stonnington Councils, among others. The aim is to reduce the use of disposable nappy waste, which accounts for around one tenth of bin contents.

Similar programs in other areas include recycled nappy hir

If you’re worried about low milk supply, you aren’t alone – recent studies show that the number one reason women say they give up breastfeeding is because they don’t think they have enough milk. Pinky McKay, IBCLC lactation expert, shares her top tips to help you increase your milk supply without a whole lot of stress.

Watch your baby, not the clock

Breast milk production is based on supply and demand: the more milk your baby drinks, the more milk your breasts will be signalled to make. Babies regulate the volume and composition of your milk by their sucking and by how often they feed. As your baby sucks at your breast, he stimulates milk production.

Trying to impose a strict feeding schedule, rather than watching your baby’s cues, is not only

I was a new Mum, not getting a lot of sleep but very hesitant to try the 'cry-it-out' methods that were presented to me. My motherly instincts told me there was a kinder way for my baby who seemed to be comforted by my touch and yes, mums milk.

A friend had texted me through a link to a baby sleep event- I think she felt somewhat sorry for my lack of sleep. I'd heard of the name, but not yet had the energy to pick up any of her work so it seemed like the right time. I went along solo (well with bubs by my side), feeling somewhat wired after yet another rough 2-hourly-wakes throughout the night and a bit anxious about how I would keep my baby girl settled for the long car trip and event. As I arrived at pram city, I took a seat up the front ready to get the answers when it came to my wakeful bubba.

I absorbed every word the speaker had to say and so appreciated her 'keeping it real', but loved that she supported a gentle and holistic approach that resonated with how I

Breastfeeding has been going well: your baby is thriving and happy. But now you are returning to work and feel sad at the prospect of weaning your baby.

Take heart, returning to paid work doesn’t mean you have to stop breastfeeding. Your baby can enjoy the health, immunity and nutritional benefits and you will still have that unique connection through the one thing that only you can do for your baby  - snuggling him close as he drinks your milk.

Getting used to your newborn is such an intense time as you recover from your birth experience physically and emotionally and there is a lot of trial and error as you work out what is best for you and your baby. The thing is, it’s ok to take a few short cuts and, as a mum of five, there probably aren’t many I haven’t tried – some were helpful, some not so much. Here are my top hacks to make things easier for you and your new baby.

Here at Boobie Foods, we talk a lot about IBCLCs – International Board Certified Lactation Consultants. In fact, Boobie Foods founder, Pinky McKay is one of Australia’s most recognised and respected IBCLCs.

An IBCLC is an allied health professional with specialist education in lactation, infant feeding, infant development and nutrition. But what exactly does an IBCLC do, and how do you know if you need to see one?

What does an IBCLC do?

An IBCLC offers non -judgemental reassurance, support and information to help you reach your personal breastfeeding goals. If you want to set yourself up for a positive breastfeeding experience, especially if you have had challenges with a previous breastfeeding experience (yes, IBCLCs do antenatal consults too); are struggling with nipple or breast pain; have a premature or unwell baby or a baby with a special medical condition; multiples – twins, triplets; want to breastfeed after breast surge

For a new mum, the holiday season can be overwhelming and exhausting. It can also impact your milk supply and may mean that your baby, sensing your own stress, becomes increasingly unsettled. Then, as relatives ask, ‘are you sure you have enough milk?’ your self-doubt increases and you reach for the bottle. This is often described as ‘holiday weaning’.

But please take heart, we have top tips for you to beat holiday ‘boobie traps’ so you keep your boobs full and your baby at the breast.

It’s your baby’s first Christmas. It’s exciting but also a bit overwhelming too as you try to plan the big day with family and friends.

Hopefully, if you have a newborn, you haven’t put your hand up to host the day, but this means you will be a guest at somebody else’s house and this can present other sorts of stress. Check out our survival plan. 

Learning to breastfeed so it becomes natural and easy can take a few weeks or longer, just like learning a dance with an inexperienced partner who also needs to learn the steps (coordinating sucking, swallowing and breathing). Soon, breastfeeding is mostly a sweet interlude in your days and nights, as you snuggle together and drink in that sweet baby breath and stroke his fine skin as he fills up on your mama milk. But, at the risk of sounding like a Debbie Downer, even when breastfeeding is going pretty smoothly, there are a few things that suck, big time ....

We hear a lot about postpartum depression, but depression can also take place during pregnancy. In fact, it is almost as common. Here, Dr Dawn Kingston, Canada's leading expert on Perinatal Mental Health explains the warning signs of PRE-NatalDepression. 

One of the best ways to avoid severe postnatal depression is to receive diagnosis and treatment during pregnancy. But with so many bodily changes and outside demands during pregnancy, how do you know what is and isn’t normal?

Pregnant women are frequently reassured that the mood swings, anxiety, irritability, mental fog and emotional outburst they’re experiencing are a normal sign of pregnancy. Television sitcoms have always played it for laughs. However, the truth is that prenatal depression occurs in 16 to 20 percent of pregnant women, and it can range from sadness to real dif

Breastfeeding will be more relaxed and comfortable for you and your baby if you get a good latch right from the start. A good latch can head off breastfeeding problems before they happen: it will enable your baby to get more milk and to drain your breasts effectively and this will signal your breasts to make more milk, increasing your supply. And, although you can expect a wee bit of discomfort as you begin breastfeeding, rather like trying out a new pair of shoes, having a good latch at the breast will avoid damaged nipples and painful feeds.

Signs of an effective latch include feeling comfortable, without pain, ‘pinching’ or a ‘biting’ sensation; your baby’s mouth will cover some or all of your areola, depending on the size of your areola (the dark part surrounding your nipple), with most or all of the underside and some of the top of the areola in your baby’s mouth; your baby’s lips will be flanged outwards, like ‘fish lips’ and baby’s tongue will be cupped under you

There’s nothing quite like four hours of broken sleep and cracked nipples to get you “in the mood”, right?

Mama, it’s completely normal for your sex drive to take a nosedive after you’ve had a baby.

Spending your days (and nights) snuggling, comforting and breastfeeding your new baby can leave you feeling completely touched out – not to mention the significant biological and hormonal changes going on inside your body right now.

Here are 5 interesting facts about breastfeeding and sex that you might now know:

1:Breastfeeding hormones can affect your sex drive

Apart from feeling dead tired and touched out, there are also some biological reasons why your libido has go

You have most likely heard very good reasons to breastfeed: boosting baby’s immune system; providing breast milk that changes to meet your baby’s needs; a lovely way to bond and allowing instant comfort for an unsettled baby.

Another important reason to consider breastfeeding is evidence that it can reduce your own and – if you have a baby daughter – her risk of breast cancer too.

One of the most common reasons for breastfeeding problems is unhelpful advice. We have asked real mums, ‘what was the worst breastfeeding advice you have been told? ‘

Here is what they said – and why this is bad advice:

Hello, Welcome to Tits up.

When things go ‘tits up’, they are broken.

‘Tits up’ can also mean, ‘brave up and get on with it.’

This is what mothers do – when things are broken, we pull up our big girl pants and we wade through the muck.

As an IBCLC lactation consultant, I have seen more 'tits' than the late Hugh Hefner, however my ‘Tits Up’ podcast isn’t all about boobs and babies.

As mums, we all have our ‘tits up’ times, and we need to laugh, cry, rage and be real about these, so we can bust the BS, superficial images of perfection that cause so much stress and anxiety to us all.

Women can feel a huge sense of relief when they see they are not ‘the only one’ just putting one foot in front of the other and hoping they don’t fall flat on their backs – tits up!

It’s important though, not to get bogged down in disappointment and complaining, we need positive models to inspire, encourage and lead the way through the hard

The kids have explored every inch of the backyard and even the local park is off-limits. This is lockdown life with kids – it’s hard and it’s exhausting. If you’re struggling for new ideas to keep your little ones entertained during lockdown, especially if you are also feeding and caring for a baby, we’ve got you!

We’ve pulled together a list of fun resources for kids of all ages.

There’s something for everyone: from exploring the world’s museums, to story time from space – all without leaving your home.

For the animal lovers

Animals At Home Explore Melbourne’s three zoos, listen to keeper talks and see what the giraffes are up to on Werribee Zoo’s savannah.

Atlanta Zoo Panda Cam Watch Atlanta Zoo’s pandas chew bamboo and tumble about. So cute!