Ten Moons Birth Wisdom

15/02/2026

What was your “I wish I’d known” moment?

This is such a useful post from Pandas Foundation (Pre And PostNatal Depression Advice and Support)

There so much you can try to learn before your baby arrives in your arms - but antenatally, it’s all theory.

The real learning hits as soon as your baby is born

And that very often makes you realise that no matter how many podcasts, instagram follows, classes, chats with other parents you did during pregnancy, sometimes that just isn’t enough to be ready.

We’re sharing this question because so many parents tell us they wished they’d known they weren’t alone in how they felt.

By sharing, you might help another parent feel seen, reassured, or brave enough to ask for support.

There’s no right or wrong answer. Share as much or as little as you like ❤️

[ID - Text reads: "What’s the hardest part of pregnancy or early parenthood that no one prepared you for?]"

12/02/2026

What Melanie The Midwife is saying here is something that needs to be applied ACROSS THE BOARD for birthing women.

Anyone who spends time with pregnant, labouring and postpartum women can see that morbidity outcomes for women is WAY down the list of noted outcomes.

❤️‍🩹Increase in postpartum infections, including sepsis
❤️‍🩹Increase in more severe perineal tears
❤️‍🩹Increase in assisted deliveries
❤️‍🩹Increase in unplanned caesareans
❤️‍🩹Increase in PTSD and birth trauma (for labouring women, their partners and their babies
❤️‍🩹Increase in babies needing to be in the SCBU or NICU

This is not about saying, all pregnant women should have a homebirth.

It's about having homebirth as a legitimate, evidence-based safe option for all pregnant women to consider if they want to.

Just as they have the planned caesarean or induction discussed by professionals.

But they need to have home birth midwives talk to them about it - not journalists, labour ward practitioners with no experience or confidence in home birth, or consultants who have never (or would ever, perhaps) see home birth as the safe and legitimate option that it is for most women, even first labours

12/02/2026

This is a personal post, but such an important one for our family, because it marks the start of a wonderful new adventure for us all 🎉

Taking much longer than we could ever have imagined (8 months in total!) yesterday we finally exchanged contracts on the sale of my mum’s house and the purchase of her new one.

It’s been a particularly hard time because the reason for the move is to support my lovely mum, who’ll be 88 in May, as she navigates her way through deteriorating mobility due to chronic arthritis in her legs, plus the middle stages of vascular dementia.

But, it means we’ll finally be able to move in together at the end of the month, giving my mum the social and emotional support she needs, whilst giving us the joy of being around her at this challenging part of her life.

Seeing her struggle more and more with fading independence and capacity while we tried to get the house sale across the line has been torturous and brutally frustrating at times.

And there were times when we thought we’d missed the window of opportunity to support her.

There’s an unpredictable road ahead, but I’ve never been more grateful to have the unconditional loving support of my amazing children who didn’t bat an eyelid when I first floated the idea of multi-generational living to help their grandma, Jeannie Beannie.

Let the fun begin! 🙌🏻🥰

11/02/2026

Midwives ARE the solution! And the sooner society accepts and actively embraces that, the quicker we will see reductions in postnatal trauma, morbidity, families being empowered, less babies going into NICU, more women feeling stronger and more confident mothers. This is not a drill…midwifery models of care shape our future

10/02/2026

There’s still time to book your place on this great antenatal course starting at The Parent Hood of Harlow on 24 February 🙌🏻

10/02/2026

Choice in childbirth

All pregnant women and people have the right in the UK to choose how, where and when their baby arrives into their arms.

Theoretically they can opt for a variety of different methods and, up until recently, many women had that choice.

Planned caesarean, home birth, midwifery led birth in a dedicated birth centre, planned induction.

Unfortunately over the last few years the choice has shifted significantly for a variety of reasons that is NOTHING to do with pregnant women.

But is all about avoiding litigation, compliance, coercion, obstetric violence, control, political and media agendas.

Pushed to the edges of choice are the women and families going through the system, the highly trained, professional midwives desperately trying to sustain women’s choices, the obstetricians who are often the puppets of litigators.

Home birth can be the most wonderful experience for many women and this vital service is being systematically dismantled in many places across the UK

NCT are standing with midwives to keep this option for birthing women and people.

Please sign the open letter from The Association of Radical Midwives (ARM)

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUlQL0WEvDx/?igsh=MXNsOXAzaTFmMGZpcw==

07/02/2026

I am so excited to share this wonderful new antenatal course starting at The Parent Hood of Harlow in collaboration with Dragonfly Wellness

Starting on Feb 24th, the course offers pregnant women and expectant parents the chance to prepare for the realities of becoming a parent for the first time or if your family is growing.

We can’t wait to meet you

05/02/2026

A lovely idea from Greater Anglia - collecting donated Easter Eggs and Easter activities at local stations for the children’s ward at PAH
🐣🐰🌸🏥



Stations where you can leave donations:

Harlow Town
Harlow Mill
Sawbridgeworth
Bishop’s Stortford
Stansted Mountfitchet

05/02/2026

A lovely idea from Greater Anglia - collecting donated Easter Eggs and Easter activities at local stations for the children’s ward at PAH
🐣🐰🌸🏥



Stations where you can leave donations:

Harlow Town
Harlow Mill
Sawbridgeworth
Bishop’s Stortford
Stansted Mountfitchet

04/02/2026

Tonight during the last session of one of my antenatal groups we dived deep into medicalised labour and birth, looking primarily at induction.

The group spent time exploring the absolute risks of stillbirth at term and beyond, and the facts about babies predicted to be ‘too big’ or ‘too small’ and how to advocate for yourselves.

Sometimes when you’ve declined something in can feel as if doctors and occasionally midwives are then triggered to go into a sustained and relentless campaign to get you to do what they’re suggesting