Pinky McKay -

“We were friends for about five years before we had babies -we worked together and at weekends we partied together. Later, we spent holidays together with our respective partners. Then we had children.  As we have journeyed through pregnancies and into parenthood, the differences between our styles of parenting are so glaringly obvious that it's…

1. Grow your own Not only is breastfeeding your baby protective against illness, it is the ultimate home grown,  natural resource!  Consider the fuel needed to produce infant formula – from producing milk and transporting it to processing a finished packaged product and transporting it to stores, as well as chemicals used for…

You may have heard a million jokes about mother-in-laws, but when it comes to dealing with your own, up close and personal, especially when you become a parent, it isn’t easy to see the funny side.  Unfortunately, we can’t choose our in-laws – they come as part of the package along with the person we fall in love with. And, here lies the…

A new book for parents (definitely not for children!), ‘Go the F— to Sleep’ has been lauded as a ‘publishing sensation’. A parody of a lullaby-based children’s book laced with the ‘Eff’ word, this delightfully illustrated book by Adam Mansbach, a Rutgers University creative writing teacher, was inspired by Mansburg’s struggle to…

I have just returned from visiting another lovely, intelligent mother who is doing a wonderful job with her baby, but is convinced she must be doing ‘everything wrong’. She feels guilty that she has messed up her baby’s early days (she hasn’t at all!); she feels inadequate because (she thinks) she can’t read her baby’s cues (she is making…

For some It's overwhelming 'love at first sight': "The moment I met Olivia ‘on the outside’ I thought, “Of course it’s you!” and fell instantly and totally in love with her. It was a total Earth Mother, mother lioness reaction, and one I could never have imagined the intensity of nor described before it happened. I was suddenly and absolutely…

Today,  I was called to advocate in court (in my capacity as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant)  for an illiterate migrant woman who had her baby removed whilst a patient in a psychiatric ward. This poor mama had been fully breastfeeding her 4 month old when she reported that she had been raped. While in a police station the…

“Can you come and see me, pleeeease?”  Alison was sobbing down the phone. When I had seen her as an antenatal client she was strong, capable and pro-active about being prepared for becoming a mum. Now, she was vulnerable, teary and awash with post birth hormones. Being in hospital with ‘helpful’ people prodding her body was an experience…