Photographing your newborn baby
by Janine Giannini, mom to two beautiful daughters Michela and Gabriella and owner of Moments and Memories Photographic Studio. She’s passionate about newborn baby shoots
I remember when both my little girls were born I constantly had a camera out capturing all the moments I could even when they were fast asleep, those beautiful angelic little faces. Even now my camera isn’t far away. They just grow up and change so fast it is scary; I can never have too many photographs to look back on.
I have so many clients and friends asking me for tips on how to take better photographs. Although professional photos can be great, I know as a busy mom it’s not always possible or practical to organize these shoots, besides the spontaneous shots at home and on holiday are special moments you can’t afford to not have pictures of.
Here are some tips so that you can record some of your own beautiful newborn photos in the comfort of your own home.
When taking photographs of baby don’t be afraid to try different angles, outfits, or baby lying in different positions. To vary your images try a few of the
following: lay baby in a softly padded basket, on some cushions covered with a soft fluffy blanket, white always works well however soft pink for girls or blue for boys is a nice way to add a little colour. You can also photograph baby on their back and on their tummy. Don’t forget to take close up pics of your little ones hands and feet, they are only this tiny and wrinkled for a short while.
Sometimes I love to get my girls all dressed up and clean to take some pictures, much to their dismay, but I always keep a little camera in my bag…. often the perfect camera moments are when you least expect it.
Happy snapping!
Baby stimulation DVDs for parents reviewed
by Tanya Kovarsky mother of baby Max, a magazine editor, and 8-time Comrades Marathon runner. Aside from her family and friends, she considers chai tea, her Blackberry, running shoes, baby jogger, Grey’s Anatomy, Glee and Twitter among the great loves of her life. Follow Tanya on Twitter @TanyaKovarsky
EXPLORE PLAY – Year One
I have long stopped reading about where my baby “should be” with his milestone developments, so I was a little nervous about watching Explore Play, frightened that the experts would be telling me that my baby would be ruined for life since he wasn’t crawling or feeding himself with a spoon. I needn’t have worried, for on Explore Play, it felt like I had found friends, who encourage humour rather than strict rules when playing with babies, and who give extremely useful advice that any mom, new or experienced, can benefit from.
Explore Play sets out to encourage play and support milestone development, and features the producer Tanya Haffern, along with Ann Richardson (of Baby Sense fame), and Shannon Eggers, a play therapist. The DVD is divided into four sections (0-3 months, 4-6 months, 7-9 months and 10-12 months) and features discussions and play ideas relating to each baby stage. The play section is divided in outdoor, kitchen, water and general, plus there are safety tips, and a helpful ingredients list (ie what you need for each game). Before each game, we are also told which skills are developed (eg physical, intellectual, language).
One of the first bits of expert advice is that your baby is an individual with his own strengths, that no two babies develop the same way, and that milestones happen along a natural path of progression. My favourite advice though was that we should relax, take pleasure in our babies, enjoy playtime, and never make it a mission or chore.
There are great discussions and advice around stimulation and overstimulation (echoing Ann’s BabySense philosophy), and how to understand your baby and read their cues. I felt it would have been useful to cross-reference to pictures or real babies while the experts were talking so that the viewer could have visually “got” what they were talking about.
I liked many of the games, and appreciated that most of the materials can probably be found at home. The games are age-appropriate, though I’ve already tried some of the younger games with my baby, and he loved them, while two or three of the games in his category are a little bit too tricky. But as the experts in Explore Play say, if babies aren’t ready or enjoying a game, move on, and try again the following week. Our favourites have been water balloons and syringe squirting in the bath, a play drawer in the kitchen, and flowers in floating water.
I will definitely follow Explore Play Year Two when we’re ready for more fabulous advice, reassurance and play ideas that come with no guilt or big expense!
Click here for information about Explore Play
BABYNASTICS (3-6 months, 6-9 months, 9-12 months)
With so many baby stimulation classes out there, I often worry that as a working mom, I don’t have the op portunity to participate with my 
10-month-old son in them, plus I’m sometimes concerned that maybe he is not reaching his development potential. So I was ecstatic (and relieved of the guilt) when I came across a DVD that offers easy and accessible stimulation exercises at home.
The exercises, formulated in conjunction with a paediatric occupational therapist, are aimed at encouraging brain and body development, and can be followed straight from the TV (think Jane Fonda aerobics for parents and babes!). The three DVDs have exercises and advice for each respective age group (eg learning when to stimulate for 3-6 months, developing skills for sitting, rolling and crawling for 6-9 months, developing gross and fine motor skills for 9-12 months). The DVDs don’t assume that your baby will definitely be at a certain stage, and so exercises are adapted, for example in cases where babies are crawling, and when they’re not.
What I loved is that the exercises are easy to watch and do – they’re gentle and fun, and often done while singing songs or using basic equipment such as different textures, boxes, paper or a stability ball. What’s more, you’ll probably find that you do some of the exercises already, without realising it. The exercises aren’t too overwhelming, but when my baby did get tired or lose interest, I simply stopped and started when he was ready again, as per the suggestion.
Another reason why I liked this DVD series is that there’s “real talk” from mom to baby – no baby talk or cootchie coos. My baby’s childminder has also watched the series and enjoyed it, and it feels like we’re effortlessly adding more stimulation exercises daily. Now if only there was an adult version of the DVD that could help one shed those last few post-preggo kilos!
Click here for more information on Babynastics or to order accessories
Preparing for a calm and happy birth
by Hailey Fudu a mother of two, a childbirth educator and labour/birth doula practicing in Johannesburg, originally from California, who loves moms and babies!:) For more information on active and natural birthing in Johannesburg, please visit the Genesis Clinic website.
In today’s busy world many mom’s rush through their lives and it all becomes a blur. This blur often begins when the pregnant mother decides she can’t wait for her baby to arrive and books in for an induction or elective C Section. I would like to share some information that women deserve to know before making a final decision regarding their birth choice.
I have had the privilege of working with mothers through their pregnancies, births and after they are settling in at home. Adjusting to a new baby is a challenge, but this challenge can be approached with tranquillity, or chaos. When a mom lets her labour happen naturally her baby is best prepared to enter this world. Few women know that 35 out of every 1000 babies born by caesarean suffer from breathing difficulties, while only 5 out of every 1000 babies born naturally.( National Collaborating Centre for Women’s and Children’s Health. Caesarean Section: Clinical Guideline. London: RCOG Press; 2004). Babies with breathing difficulties end up in high care and lose out on the essential first hours of breastfeeding and skin to skin contact (which ironically helps the baby absorb any access fluid in their lungs). My hope is not to spend a lot of time going through the statistical benefits of letting babies come into this world without the rush. I only want to encourage mom’s to do their homework and if they do, they will find that the World Health Organization, National Childbirth Trust and other highly reputable sources of research, overwhelmingly show the benefits to mother and child of birthing naturally unless clear medical intervention is necessary.
I have assisted in many births at the Genesis Clinic in Johannesburg. This clinic is a very unique environment for birthing. More clinics like this are beginning to open in South Africa. At Genesis each woman has her own private room, bathroom and garden for her labour and birth. There is no feeling of being rushed, and the woman can listen to her body and is allowed the space to move and do whatever feels most effective. When this type of atmosphere is created, the child’s entrance is gentle and well supported. The result: a happy and calm mother, and a non-stressed baby that is ready to begin breastfeeding. Rooming in with one’s newborn should not be a privilege for the rich. When a qualified midwife delivers a baby, the cost goes down rapidly. Women don’t always know that gynecologists /obstetricians are trained in dealing with surgery and complications; they do not specialize in natural birth! The first 24 hour period after birth is critical for the establishment of the breastfeeding relationship and after nine months in the womb, shouldn’t that closeness and ability to feel mother’s loving touch and heartbeat continue?
When mothers and their babies get off to the right start and begin to work together in the calm, slow pace of the early days of motherhood, the stage can be set for a healthy and balanced lifestyle. I would like to wish all the mommies to be many blessings!
What’s in a name?
by Gina Jacobson, a wife, a mom, a leo. She works for a non-profit organisation, is a procrastinator, loves sci-fi, sushi, good books and Scrabble. Her blog is made up of A Bit of This a Bit of That.
In Jewish tradition a child is usually named after a relative that has passed away. In our case, Aaron was named after my father.
We thought long and hard about the name we would give our son. Would we give him my fathers actual name or name him using the first letter of his name. We chose to use the first letter.
Next came the choice of a modern name, a biblical name, an old fashioned name or a ‘made up’ name. We made lists, we researched meanings, we argued. Eventually we decided on a biblical name, something simple and timeless. The decision was made easier once we found out Aaron was a boy.
You would think that was all but you would be wrong…
We were going to give Aaron a second name after Paul’s father and were having difficulty in deciding when my mother-in-law asked 
us if we wouldn’t mind giving him a second name after her mother, as Paul’s sister had named her daughter after their dad already. We didn’t mind and started looking at names with a ‘B’. This proved a little more difficult and we decided to stick with the biblical names.
All in all the process was an interesting one, sometimes painful, mostly fun. I hope that one day when he is able to comprehend it, he isn’t too upset with the names we chose for him.
How did you name your children? And if they are old enough, do they like the name?
Waterbirth
by Sally Cameron, midwife, mother of 2 and co-owner of www.earthbabies.co.za . I am passionate, creative, trying to be Green unschooling single mom. It’s a journey.
The idea of birthing a baby into water has been around for quite a long time but was made popular by a French obstetrician Michel Odent in the 70’s and was the first to publish and article in a medical journal on the use of birthing pools. Having had two home waterbirths myself and been present as a midwife at others, it is a way of birthing that I really believe is of great benefit to the mother and the baby. If researching birth options it is really one worth look at.
Benefits of waterbirth:
1) Allows the mother greater comfort and mobility, it is easy to change positions in the water
2) Reduction of pressure on the abdomen. Buoyancy promotes more efficient uterine contractions and better blood circulation, resulting in better oxygenation of the uterine muscles, less pain for the mother, and more oxygen for the baby.
3) Helps the mother save energy, the water supports her weight so that her energy can be used to cope with the contractions.
4) Relaxes the mother, the more she relaxes the more effectively she dilates and labour time is reduced.
5) Relaxes pelvic floor muscles.
6) Less need for pain medication in labour, the water stimulates the touch and temperature nerve fibres in the skin, this helps to block the sensation from the pain fibres – known as the gate theory of pain
7) The water and being surrounded by the pool creates a safe, cocoon like environment where a woman can let go of her surrounding and focus inward.
8) Has been proven to help speed up a slow first stage of labour.
9) Helps lower blood pressure, especially if the increase was due to anxiety.
10) Give the mother the chance to birth upright and in a position she is comfortable with
11) Birth partner can be very involved in the birth, some choose to be in the pool, others support from the side.
12) Pushing stage is often shorter
13) Gentle introduction into the world for the baby.
14) A mother with a good birth experience and a baby with an easy non traumatic entry into the world have the best start together.
15) The warm water softens the vagina, vulva, and perineum, leading to less tearing and need for stitches.
The most common concern that is usually raised about waterbirth is about the baby drowning. Babies only breathe when they receive stimulation like cold air on their skin, if the baby is born into warm body temperature water; there is no stimulus to start the breathing process. This only happen when the baby’s body is born and the baby is brought up to the surface.
If you are interested in have a waterbirth the best option may be to find an active birthing unit with a private midwife as they usually have the most experience in waterbirths. You can also choose to have a waterbirth at home with a midwife attending the birth. For more information on waterbirth you can visit our website www.earthbabies.co.za
Things I didn’t think would happen..
by Gina Jacobson. Gina is a wife, a mom, a Leo. She works for a non-profit organisation. Is a procrastinator. Loves sci-fi, sushi, good books and Scrabble. Her blog is made up of A Bit of This a Bit of That.
Almost two years ago I gave birth to the sweetest most delightful baby. He barely made a peep and he latched straight away. My heart swelled with love for him, once the pain killers wore off and I was able to comprehend the magnitude of our little miracle. For three nights the nurses took him to the nursery and brought him to me when he wanted to feed, I got to spend all day watching this amazing little bundle. He was perfect. I was in love.
Then we came home.
The first thing I realized was that my perception of the world around me had changed. The car ride home from the hospital was one of the most nerve wracking experiences of my life. Every car, bike and pedestrian was a potential threat to my baby. Watching a movie (in 6 parts over 4 hours) made my heart clutch when a child or baby was portrayed, my mind kept replacing the baby on screen with my baby and most times I could not bear to watch. Introducing our three little Daschunds to the new baby was too scary to contemplate, it turned out we didn’t have to worry, they became very protective of our newest family member.
The second thing I realized was that I was an hormonal mess. I remember sitting on the floor sobbing because all of the bras I owned were sticking out of my shirt, I was hysterical, why did no one tell me I would need to get nursing bras that looked like regular bras? Did I mention I was hysterical? The simple solution was my mom swinging past the shops on the way to visit us and arriving with three new bras. At which point I burst into even more hysterical tears because she loved me! I think my husband thought his wife had been replaced by an alien.
The third thing I realized was that no matter what you read, no matter how many people you talk to and no matter how much you learn before having a baby there are things that are still going to make you say “why the hell didn’t I know that?” I read, I researched, I asked questions and still every day brings new questions and revelations.
The fourth thing I realized was that when people say that there is a little piece of your heart walking around out there, its 100% truth.
I’m learning to embrace the unknown, to roll with the punches and go with the flow. Almost two years down the line I still look at my child and shake my head in wonder at the things he teaches me. Every. Single. Day.
Posted in baby, parent/baby, parent/child, parenting
