First Time Mum's Chat

I've always found when communicating with your little one and navigating through those ups and downs of parenthood, that trying to think like they do is a big help. Yes, of course it's easier said than done. Applying a good dose of empathy and thinking like they do often goes a long way and helps a lot. In this week's episode of First Time Mum's Chat I'm talking with author, sp...

Something that is incredibly important when interacting with your little one during those early days is to do all your can to build trust and closen your bond with them. I teach parents how to improve their connection regularly via baby massage. In this episode I'm talking about secure attachment parenting and why building a secure attachment bond is so important. I'm chatting with Dr. Dia...

Similarly to your physical body, part of your energy body connected to your physical body goes through a lot of changes during pregnancy and postpartum and in this week's episode I'm exploring the area of energy centers or chakras with energy worker, workshop leader and author Lisa Erickson. I've found going within and focusing on these chakras highly beneficial in helping to heal, ach...

This week First Time Mum's Chat has reached the exciting milestone of our 100th episode. It has been an honor to serve mums who are commencing their exciting journey into parenting for almost two years. I'm looking forward to our next 100 episodes and continuing to help build your confidence and self-esteem as you continue in your parenting journey. In this episode I've referenced a nu...

Introducing your little one to the world of music is something I've always been a big believer in and something I regularly did during my childcare career to help calm and relax them. Singing to your child is an excellent bonding activity and there's no need to be put off if like me, you're no Celine Dion. Your kids just want to hear you as you are and they don't care what you soun...

If you've been a listener of First Time Mum's Chat for some time then you will know that I'm a big fan of encouraging babies and infants to develop their own imagination, fun and activities and earlier this year, I put together an episode of First Time Mum's Chat focusing on the Montessori Method which very much encourages this approach. I received a lot of feedback following this...

This week on First Time Mum's Chat, I'm thrilled to be chatting with Dr Diane Speier, who has been a birth and postpartum professional both in the USA and UK. Diane has been helping parents make a smooth transition from pregnancy to parenthood for more than 40 years. She is the author of Life After Birth: A Parent's Holistic Guide for Thriving in the Fourth Trimester and in this episod...

Many mums that I speak with feel lost when it comes to their postpartum period and I've spoken with a number of ladies on First Time Mum's Chat who've related how alone they felt and what they went through. This week's guest Sarah Bilger is a mom with an engineering background. Sarah felt so strongly after her own experience with the lack of support and lack of talk on all things p...

In this episode you'll hear me share:- Tips on how to identify whether your baby is likely to be suffering from colic. Simple to follow baby massage techniques to help relieve your baby's colic. So go ahead, my dear mum. Click to listen and get started. Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple Podcasts "I love Helen and First Time Mum's Chat." <-- If that sounds like you, please...

In this week's episode of First Time Mum's Chat, I'm chatting with Sandra Kwesell who has a background working with children, youth and families in settings including day treatment, counselling, education and therapeutic settings. Sandra's life journey is the result of her brother's mental health issues that ended in his suicide at the age of 18. Sandra has developed her Pillar...

There is a lot of tension and insecurity around being a new parent and this becomes even more of an issue when you are away from your family. Ann-Christin Villegas knows all about this, after relocating from her native Germany to Virginia in the USA and giving birth to two girls, both in the USA! Ann found the process frustrating and challenging finding information and resources and she kept meeti...

As a first time parent coping with infant feeding problems, identifying allergies and finding ways to deal with fussy eaters often feels like a fulltime occupation doesn't it! It's the last thing you need on top of the other stresses you have to deal with daily as a new parent. I've wanted to chat with someone such as a paediatric dietitian for sometime and was delighted to recently me...

Kinesiology is an area that has always fascinated me and something I did some training in many years ago. For those unfamiliar with kinesiology, briefly it is a system of diffusing stress and energy blocks within the body to help people move out of dis-ease into a place of wellness. It amalgamates Eastern wisdom with Western Science to facilitate energetic shifts that allow your body to heal itsel...

Having spent many years looking after babies and toddlers during my career as a child care educator and more recently as a baby massage instructor, I'm not surprisingly very much used to interpreting their often non-verbal communication. Many parents question me when I talk about this a lot when I'm teaching them how to massage their baby using the baby massage techniques. One of the impor...

The transition into motherhood is a challenging time for many moms and there's never a more important time to ensure you look after and nurture yourself. A recurring theme on First Time Mum's Chat has been the lack of information available to moms to help them with their own health and wellbeing during the postpartum period. Yes, it's important to always ensure that your little one is...

This week's guest Dr. Ravi Rajaratnam, is a management consultant. So what does a management consultant have to offer someone commencing their parenting journey you ask? Well, Dr. Ravi is an accomplished mentor, coach, and speaker, and specializes in mind and brain wellness and has spent decades teaching business leaders to reach their full potential. He realized that there is a common theme t...

Being pregnant and giving birth is a dramatic time for women and taking the time to help your physical postpartum recovery is extremely important. I've interviewed a number of guests on First Time Mum's Chat who've shared their expertise and tips on dealing with such issues as pelvic floor problems, postpartum back problems and diastasis recti. This week's guest Peter Lap has worke...

During my many years as a childcare educator, I've always tried to encourage the infants I've worked with to develop their own imagination and create their own fun and activities. Over the years, this has become increasingly challenging. There is so much competing for our kids' attention spans today isn't there! Whether it's advertising or television or the internet or social m...

When it comes to the growth and development of your little one, I think it's safe to say that most mums have a tendency to be oversensitive. We all have stories to relate of parents we know or have seen being hugely over protective. However, no one knows your little one like you do, so it's important to seek professional help if you feel something is amiss with their natural development. A...

As a baby massage instructor, I'm always striving to impart to new parents the importance and massive benefits of massaging and touching their little one. When they are born, after 9 months in a safe, nurturing environment, they find themselves in a very different place with much to adjust to. However, their journey is far more challenging and dramatic when they are born prematurely. Firstly t...

In this week's episode of First Time Mum's Chat I'm thrilled to have the opportunity of chatting with Sue Atkins. Sue is an internationally recognized parenting expert, broadcaster, speaker and author. Sue has written numerous books and regularly appears on the award-winning flagship ITV show "This Morning", Good Morning Britain and Sky News as well as being the parenting exper...

So what do you do when your little one isn't speaking or trying to communicate with you verbally? In our modern hustle and bustle and highly competitive world, it's easy for parents to worry if their baby's verbal development seems slow or delayed. As a childcare educator and baby massage instructor, it's second nature to me to look for and interpret those non verbal cues. I highly...

Bringing a little one into the world and raising them is a big thing, right! I think it's fair to say that we generally anticipate that our moms will help support and guide us during the start of our new parenting journey and help share the load a bit. But what about those of us who are isolated and don't have that luxury due to living far away from family, no longer having a mum or being...

Bringing children into the world and raising them is often a stressful time for you as a parent, so why make it harder on yourself by projecting your expectations and demanding perfection from your children. Whilst it's important to provide that guiding hand, you also need to "live and let live" and allow your kids to make their way in the world, warts and all! Trying to protect them f...

It's a really big deal to bring another human into the world and many of the moms I speak with rush into this journey before planning and thinking ahead with their partner. Preparing for your pregnancy is extremely important and I urge you to think ahead and take steps to ensure you are both in the best of health and in the right mindset. This week's guest Dr. Jane Levesque is a naturopath...