The Doula Manda

Find me on TikTok as @thedoulamanda @thedoulamanda?_t=8b8FRuoAg9V&_r=1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">tiktok.com/@thedoulamanda…

@makesmilk There's also a rise in home education in our area.

Never seen this before - multiple Facebook messages from local London primary schools saying they still have Reception spaces for September. Dip in birth rate or families not staying in London.

At last night's wonderful home birth I was struck by the similarities between fireworks & contractions. A calm night sky suddenly consumed by overwhelming light & sound that leave your senses reeling a moment before the peace returns as if it had never left? Sound familiar? 🎇🎆

Diary Update Nov/Dec 2022.

On #WorldMentalHealthDay it is important to include babies, young children and their families as part of the conversation and highlight just how fundamental sensitive, responsive and trusted relationships are to infant mental health and wellbeing. #First1001Days

@peanut Eh.. Sentiment understood but Hard Disagree. Parenting is really tough. Pretending it isn't doesn't help anyone and under-values the amazing contribution of parents & particularly women who shoulder the primary burden of early years parenting.

It’s not difficult to take care of a child, it’s difficult to do anything else while taking care of a child.

@Maenie @makesmilk @marksandspencer They're not stored on site! Stored in central warehousing and shipped back, same with all seasonal goods. Check the dates on the Easter chocolates you see on sale 'too early' too!

@TheDoulaManda @makesmilk @marksandspencer Never known this to happen in the retailers I worked in! Where do you think they have the space to store them? Anything left after Christmas is reduced and sold off as quickly as possible to get rid of it.

Dear @marksandspencer, dozens and dozens of boxes of mince pies with a best before date of the 12th October? Really? Really?

Oi @welovefrugi, what nonsense is this? 👀 You used to be a top pick for bold gender neutral clothes now this is regressive & needless. It's a jumper. It's blue with penguins. All kids can wear it. Quit it. 🐧. @letclothesbe #letclothesbeclothes #everydaysexism #penguinsforall

@polyamoryday Hiya - did you get my email?

@TheDoulaManda Please dm us your email or contact us at Polyamoryday@gmail.com Very happy to speak, thanks

#Polyamoryday22 returns this November. Would you like to get involved in helping to organise? Do you have a talk or workshop to offer (online)? Know a great speaker to recommend? DM us. See Polyamoryday.co.uk for prev. editions. #polyamory

Turns out nothing catapults me back into young adult fiction quicker than sitting with my birth bag in the car, my own baby in bed, and waiting for the call to say that labouring person would now like my support. YA is perfect. Occupies just the right amount of my brain. 📚

@hannah_croft_HV @StockportBirths @iHealthVisiting This looks perfect for me! This is absolutely my wheelhouse. So excited.

Coming soon! – Perinatal Mental Health & parents who identify as LGBTQ+ Date: 18th OCTOBER 2022 Contact us at Training@ihv.org.uk to register your interest or find out more @iHealthVisiting

🧵It is estimated that approximately one third of women and birthing people would appraise their birth as traumatic. We know that birth trauma is more likely to occur when women and birthing people are not listened to and are not presented with choices in regards to their care.

@cjmay79 @makesmilk @BBCNews I can't bring myself to 'like' this tweet for obvious reasons but I spotted that too and absolutely cannot believe it.

@makesmilk @BBCNews Yes! I scrolled down to the ‘Have your say’ and made a pretty strongly worded complaint about the language in this article. It gets worse when they even use the child as the agent in the sentence …e.g. “she had sex with him.” 🤯

Are we STILL here? When a headline says someone ‘had sex with a 14 yr old’, the word ‘sex’ is being misused, @BBCNews.

Gearing up to soft launch my website & social media later today, it's not all quite as polished or ready as I had hoped, several pages & documents are still unfinished, but all for the perfect reason that I had to redirect some writing time to supporting an imminent birth! #doula

(Obviously any parent making the right choice for them should be supported. This isn't a formula VS breast or ECS VS VBAC argument. It's a "did you have *all* the accurate and clear info you needed to choose + *all* the support you needed to succeed in that choice" argument.)

Vitally, by obscuring this information & making informed consent all but impossible, the status quo covers up a devistating lack of support. If we discussed the facts dispassionately we'd need to be honest about the number of families put at risk by these failures of support. 2/2

'Protecting women'* from information they may find difficult is rooted in misogyny, is endemic throughout the birth & infant feeding landscape, & has real consequences on health & life. 1/2. *& those lumped in with them in the case of trans/enby birthing & chestfeeding folks

#NCT #SlingLibrary at #CrayfordLibrary from 10am tomorrow. All welcome. Try slings, get advice for free, or hire one to try at home AND we're restocking so you can now buy one from us preloved (but barely used owing to lockdown!) Take a look! #babywearing facebook.com/10335613896687…