Things To Celebrate From 2019

2019 was my third year doing The Bump to Baby Chapter and it was a wild one. Wild like in this above photo wild, surviving the nights, managing 2 young children at home, writing blogs and scheduling emails at 2am with a baby on my boob, or walking around with her on my shoulder whilst teaching an antenatal session… you see, wild!!!

The groups who I have taken Delphi to when she was just 6 weeks old and those who I was pregnant when teaching to those who were due the same time as me, will always be a memorable part of my life. You see TBTBC is a massive part of my life and sometimes this year, my mama life and my TBTBC life had to merge in more ways than I was use to.

Despite this or, maybe, because of this, it has been the best year yet. We’ve grown our community of new Mums and Dads, started new things and made some wonderful friends along the way.

So other than getting a newborn to sleep with a 3 year old in the house, here are some of the (less astounding) achievements of 2019.

1.  How can I not start with welcoming baby Delphi into the world- my fourth and last baby. Her birth was amazing, like super amazing. Not because it was free from challenges but because I just felt so calm and in control of my choices throughout pregnancy and my birth. As well as a beautiful baby and a family that is now completed, I also got some incredible birth photos too thanks to Chui King Li. I’d recommend to anyone to take photos of your birth.
2. Speaking of new editions… we’ve welcomed 5 new midwives to the team this year to cover my maternity leave. That’s Mia, Bunty, Hannah, Sue and Oli who have been amazing this past year. I would not have.been able to keep a family of 4 children a float and TBTBC alive without you wonderful midwives keeping the ball rolling. And of course, Debbie, who is always keeping the plates behind the scenes spinning.
3. With new midwives comes new possibilities…. We’ve branched out to The Roastery in Quedgeley and Jacks Cirencester this year. Meaning that we are now spreading all our midwifey knowledge and helping parents further afield to get prepared for birth and their baby. This makes me want to do a little happy dance ??
4. Speaking of further afield… We have now launched an online course which means that women all over the world can feel better prepared for what to expect in labour and what to do to stack the odds in their favour to get a great birth. This course has been purchased across the globe (insane I know ?) in Hong Kong, Australia and the USA. ?
5. The launch of the post natal courses. Some amazing things have come from these courses like the awareness created for PND from mother Laura. The amazing work of Helen who is a sleep wizard and Olivia, a cranial osteopath who helps a lot with baby’s that are struggling with the adaption to the outside world. Both Helen and Olivia have taught me and lots of mamas this year so much about babies. Like why they don’t sleep and reasons why they might’be colicky/Refluxey. I can’t wait to continue these courses into 2020.
6. Lastly is the blog, whilst it hasn’t been as active as I would have wanted- the blog is often the plate that comes crashing to the ground- it has had over 35,000 visits this year from readers across the globe. Educating mamas on pregnancy, birth and the newborn time was my goal when I started this little venture, and thanks to this little blog I’ve managed to reach more than I could have ever managed. We have also landed ourselves in the Top 10 UK Midwife Blogs too which is amazing.

I really couldn’t have survived this year without having such an incredible team – the midwives, Debbie and our lovely venue owners. Most importantly though, thank you to all those who have come to an antenatal class or hypnobirthing day with us.

Thanks to those who have purchased an online course, who have wrote a blog for the site or came to a buggy walk. Thanks to those who have shared a post, commented or told a friend about us. You guys keep the cogs on turning over here as the community that you create is so uplifting, supportive and empowering ? ????????? so THANK YOU for supporting me so that I can keep on supporting you ❤️?

Happy New Year to you all … now let’s have a drink ?

If you’re a pregnant mama and want to get involved in our Great Big Bump to Baby Chapter community then head over to the website for how.