Motherhood

I asked, “have you fed her? Do you have a bottle with you?” She answered ‘no’ to both questions. I told her, “I don’t own any bottles but I can breastfeed her if you are ok with that – she’s hungry!” There started a discussion. My friend knew how breast milk would help her tiny baby thrive, but she hadn’t dared to raise the issue.

It’s perfectly normal to have feelings of grief and self doubt when weaning from breastfeeding happens earlier than you have planned. But there can be other, strong emotions, including vicious mood swings that can be related to weaning, whatever the age of your child or if this was a ‘natural’ weaning decided by your baby or a gradual ‘mother –led’…

“I feel like such a failure.” I hear this every single day from mothers. The saddest thing is that every time I hear these words, the mother is doing a wonderful job: she is intelligent and responsive with a beautiful connection to her baby. Her baby is proof that she can’t be a failure – alert, animated and engaging. So why is her confidence so…

Dr. Elise Bialylew, is bestselling author of, The Happiness Planand founder of Mindful in May, the world’s largest online global mindfulness campaign that teaches thousands of people to meditate, while raising funds to build clean water projects in the developing world. She shares 6 ways to bring mindfulness into your busy day.

We hear a lot about postpartum depression, but depression can also take place during pregnancy. In fact, it is almost as common. One of the best ways to avoid to severe postnatal depression is to receive diagnosis and treatment during pregnancy. But with so many bodily changes and outside demands during pregnancy, how do you know what is and isn’t…

"I breastfeed my son who has just turned one. I’ve never given birth." Sandra's story of inducing lactation and sharing breastfeeding with her wife, who birthed their son.

While it is awful watching a friend suffer with depression, especially if she seems to be pushing you away, there are ways to show your support. Here are some suggestions from mums who have been there. Consider which steps you can take, start small and please don’t take it personally if your efforts don’t seem appreciated right now. Remember,…

Regardless of how she is feeding her baby, the mother hasn’t let her baby down at all but this is so hard to rationalise as she reframes her entire self-image as a mother. she may have seen herself as the earth mother breastfeeding anywhere and everywhere, being outspoken about women’s rights to breastfeed, she may have been breastfed herself, so…

Shaming people into exercise and to support a zillion dollar diet and supplement industry hasn’t worked in the past, as our obesity and inactivity rates continue to grow. But what it does achieve is continue to support a culture that puts the emphasis on what we look like, rather than acknowledging the diversity that is health and well being on an…

“I was incredibly stressed and I knew something was very wrong but I thought, I am a mum, I should be able to cope,” says Sandy, a Melbourne mother of two who was diagnosed with postnatal depression when her first baby (now three) was three months old. Sandy’s bubble of pretence burst when, after a few days in a mother baby unit, she was told it…