cocos_sleaford

13/02/2026

🩵 B I R T H S T O R Y 🩵
Photos and story hared with permission from Asha. Thank you Asha for sharing.

“Throughout my whole pregnancy a home water birth was our preference and we did everything to plan for it. I had such a relaxed mindset going into birth which really helped my pregnancy. Mary, my midwife, was such a fantastic support throughout, and fully backed our decisions!

However, at 37 weeks I developed gestational hypertension (high blood pressure caused by pregnancy). My options became a little more limited, however a complex home birth plan was put in place and I could decide on the day how I felt and what the best decision was in that moment. It all hugely helped towards a more relaxed approach to birth!

I had weekly scans from then onwards. I went along to my 41 week scan and although the baby and blood flow was absolutely fine, they hadn’t grown in a couple of weeks. After a lot of discussion at the hospital, with my husband, and with my doula, we made the decision that a relaxed C section was the best option. Mary my midwife was actually not working on that day but specifically asked me to keep her updated, which was really appreciated.

Our C section, although not part of our original home birth plan at all, was incredibly relaxed, with minimal interventions. The consultant on the day eased any of my worries and told me to ask all of the questions (many were silly) that I needed to. After our surprise little boy was born (we had decided to find out at birth!!), I was able to have 4 hours of undisturbed skin to skin with him when he was just a few minutes old!

Once home we saw the lovely Mandy the day after and pretty much all of the Cocos midwives over the next few weeks. In particular, I had fantastic breastfeeding support from Michelle. Those visits in those first few weeks were invaluable and definitely contributed to our successful breastfeeding journey; we are still going 4 months later! Mary also made an extra trip to come and see us 3 weeks post birth in order to just see how we were and discharge us!

I am so grateful for everyone who helped us to have a relaxed birth, even though it wasn’t our plan. Thank you to the Cocos team for all your support. We are so happy and grateful that we have our gorgeous little boy!”

06/02/2026

https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/news/fsa-asks-parents-and-caregivers-to-check-their-infant-formula-products-as-danone-recalls-some-batches-of-aptamil-and-cow-gate

Further batches of Danone infant formula products have been recalled today (6 February 2026). The FSA is asking parents and caregivers to check the batches listed in the Product Recall Information Notices and stop using any that are affected.

21/01/2026

💕B I R T H S T O R Y💕
Photos and story shared with permission from Mariessa. Thank you Mariessa for sharing.

“Florence birth story

I had the absolute pleasure of having Mandy again as my Cocos midwife for my 2nd pregnancy! Anyone who knows Mandy or has had her as their midwife knows just how amazing she is, she supported me through every appointment and was always so accommodating to our eldest (who was only 9 months when we fell pregnant again).

At my 20 week scan was told I had a low lying placenta and a potential amniotic band. I was told this could result in a c-section if not moved by 32 weeks, this sent me into a bit of a worry and panic but Mandy was amazing at being at the end of the phone, even in the evening, to reassure me and fully explain everything, which calmed my anxieties no end! Luckily all was moved & well at 32 weeks.

My labour was a very speedy one with our little Florence! I was in the hospital on the Tuesday, with what we thought was labour starting however Florence moved to be back to back and everything stopped very quickly and we came home.

Mandy very kindly came and checked me at home to see what position baby was in on Wednesday evening and reassured me all it would take was some good contractions and they’ll be ready to go!

Mandy wasn’t wrong, I woke at 2:45am on Thursday 9th October, with my first contraction and they were coming back to back!! My husband luckily got us to the hospital in time, with me feeling babies head coming as we got near the prison!

The midwives at Lincoln hospital were amazing, I had a midwife & a student who were incredible and trusted everything I was saying and just let me and my body do the work, with the help of the amazing birthing comb (fab recommendation from Mandy in my first pregnancy, enabled me to have 2 births with no pain relief or gas & air)

After only 20 minutes of being at the hospital, our gorgeous Florence Iris was born at 4:55am weighing a lovely 7lb5oz.”

20/01/2026

🤰🏼B I R T H S T O R Y🤰🏼
Photos and story shared with permission from Faye! Thank you Faye for sharing.

“On the 26th November 2025 I gave birth to my wonderful baby boy Arthur I was fortunate to meet Mary again who was my midwife for my other 2 children Alice and Sid.
Mary helped me through a very difficult time during my pregnancy due to my break down in marriage and having experienced some difficulties times I forget how many times I didn’t cry on her shoulder but without her help I wouldn’t have got through it. I experienced some complications during my pregnancy gestational diabetes and high blood pressure but Mary was there every step of the way I don’t know how I would have got through it without her. Arthur didn’t like to do things by the book and was transverse then breach but at the last minute decide he would be head down and I could go naturally instead of the c section I wasn’t keen on having. When I was due to be induced at Pilgrim Boston on duty that day was the wonder Di unfortunately things didn’t go to plan with my induction and had to be rushed round to labour ward to have my water broke and Di was my midwife she was brilliant a great sense of humour and just was made you feel at ease very quirky straight to the point and it’s what you need during labour.
I ended having an emergency c section in the end but Arthur is doing amazing and I was lucky enough to have Mary and Di come to my house after and meet baby Arthur. All the other ladies are wonderful as well and I must have driven them mad with my blood pressure even after Arthur’s birth. But honestly they are a wonderful team and appointments were like my safety net when I could just let all my worries out.
Thank you so much and thank you Mary you were my rock and I will never forget what you did for me and seeing me through my pregnancy.”

19/01/2026

🌊B I R T H S T O R Y🌊
Photos and story shared with permission from Stacey. Thank you Stacey for sharing!

“I would love to share my birth story and experience with Sleaford community Cocos. Starting from my very first booking appointment where I met my midwife Mandy, who I have seen for every single appointment throughout my pregnancy. Mandy has been absolutely amazing and reassuring. I always left every appointment feeling listened to and happy, nothing was ever a silly question especially with being a first time mum to be! I was very anxious about birth as you never know what to expect. So I think it is important for people to hear all about the positive birth stories and to have that positive mindset!

On the 7th of January at 23.45 my waters decided to pop. On his due date! Within about 30 minutes I started getting contractions that became stronger and faster quite quickly, they were coming every 4 minutes within an hour! I rang the labour ward and was told to come in. Upon arrival at about 2.30am I was met with a midwife called Gill who looked after me until the on call Cocos midwife came out. That midwife was Di, I hadn’t met Di before but she was the midwife for a friend not long ago and they sang her praises. I’d always liked the idea of having a water birth. So I asked if I could get in as soon as possible, unfortunately my BP was playing up so I couldn’t get in straight away and I had a another bag of waters behind the baby that needed to be broken manually. Gill did this and as soon as they broke I could feel the pressure of him dropping down into my pelvis. Luckily my blood pressure came down and I could get into the pool.

As soon as I got into the pool I felt a massive sigh of relief, I felt weightless and the pain eased straight away by relaxing in the warm water. At this time Di arrived to look after me and I can’t thank her enough for the support and encouragement getting me through the delivery and delivering our little boy into the world safely. I got into the pool around 4am and by 6.51am he was here! The pushing stage felt never ending and there were times I thought I couldn’t do it anymore, especially as our little boy was OP (back to back), but Di’s and my partner’s encouragement helped me get through it. Di’s personality shone through and even her cracking jokes made me laugh during labour! She was very to the point and made me feel so much more comfortable with what was happening.

Thank you so much for all your amazing care and support ladies, what a lovely team you are! ❤️”

18/01/2026

🏡B I R T H S T O R Y🏡
Photos and story shared with permission from Mollie. Thank you Mollie for sharing your story.

Home waterbirth and hospital transfer.

“I knew I wanted to have a water birth as I’d read about all the benefits and felt like it was the right thing for me, however I hadn’t realised that a home water birth was an option for me before speaking to my wonderful midwife Mary, and the fabulous Lauren when she covered one of my appointments. They were both so positive and reassuring about a water home birth that it made me consider the option. I discussed with my husband and we attended the birth workshop. After hearing more about home births and the positives in terms of reduced interventions and a more relaxed birth experience we knew it was the right decision for us. We were empowered by the team to plan for a home birth, which I’m really thankful was able to happen. All our questions were answered in terms of what happens if something is wrong, what happens if me or baby need to go to hospital etc etc so we felt very safe and reassured.

My waters broke at 11:30pm Sunday night. I quickly started having contractions and we contacted labour ward. After a few hours we contacted the ward again as my contractions were very close together and soon after a midwife from another team arrived to support us. She monitored me and helped my husband get the pool ready. She later left as I was only 1cm dilated. By this point I was in the birthing pool which was a huge source of pain relief. As my labour progressed and my contractions got more intense we contacted the ward again, who were very reassuring and supportive, and contacted the community midwives again as I felt I needed gas and air. I was over the moon that my midwife throughout my pregnancy, Mary , was able to attend, along with student midwife Darcy and a wonderful midwife from the Wolds team. So me and baby were well looked after! I felt safe and supported which was incredibly important and what I think helped my labour to progress. I was soon fully dilated and pushing. Due to a change in babies heart rate, Mary had to call for an ambulance as a precaution, however she told me not to worry as she knew I would have the baby before the ambulance arrived and she was right. Baby Florence came quickly after that and I got to pull her out of the pool and put her in my chest which was so special. Shortly after, I was transferred to hospital as initially my placenta would not come, but then came very quickly resulting in some blood loss, I’d also had a tear which needed some stitches which ideally needed to be done in hospital. Mary and Darcy came in the ambulance with me. The paramedic crew were also fantastic.

Our care at hospital was great, the midwives and medical staff were fantastic, as well as Mary and Darcy who stayed. Baby soon came to hospital with her dad and I got my stitches and lots of cuddles with baby. We later went home.

We received a lot of postpartum support of which was very grateful, we met most members of the team and they were all kind, helpful and compassionate towards all three of us. I also received a lot of breast feeding support as initially latching was very tough but thankfully they were more than happy to help and I am still breast feeding now. Florence also received excellent support, it was identified she had jaundice and required support at hospital which was done swiftly. Once home Florence received support and monitoring from the Sleaford team and outpatient long term jaundice clinic and the jaundice has since resolved.

Although going to hospital after birth wasn’t the plan as ideally I would have liked to stay at home, I always said I’d go with the flow and do what was best for me and baby. I’ll always be grateful for the care and support we received from Sleaford cocos and thank you for empowering us to make the best decision for us, meaning I could have a positive birth experience.”

18/01/2026

💙B I R T H S T O R Y🩵
Photos and story shared with permission from Jade! Thank you Jade for sharing.

“On the 12th of January 2025, our world changed forever with the arrival of our little boy. As my first baby, I imagined labour would take its time, but from the very beginning he showed us he was ready to meet us. What I believed to be early contractions started at around 11am, and with calm reassurance and guidance from a COCOs midwife, I tried to settle into the day—even heading out for breakfast, contractions and all, because somehow avocado and egg on toast felt essential in that moment.

By mid-afternoon we went to Pilgrim to be checked and were gently told I was only 1cm dilated and that he likely wouldn’t be born that day. But our little boy had other plans. In the blink of an eye, everything changed. Just hours later, at 6:58pm—right as our midwife’s shift was ending—he was placed in my arms. Only 1 hour and 23 minutes of active labour stood between anticipation and overwhelming love. It took time to fully process how quickly and powerfully it all happened.

We were home just over 12 hours later, back in the safe, familiar care of COCOs. Throughout pregnancy and the days after birth, we were supported by so many incredible midwives, and every moment with them meant more than we can put into words. Saying goodbye was unexpectedly emotional—it felt like the closing of a chapter that had carried us through one of the most profound transformations of our lives. The care we received was exceptional, and we will forever be grateful for the role they played in bringing our son safely into the world.
Thankyou so much!
Jade & Matt”

17/01/2026

✨B I R T H S T O R Y✨
Photo and story shared with permission from Rachel. Thank you for sharing your story.

“In 2022 I was induced at pilgrim hospital but due to complications, and my son’s heart rate plummeting, I ended up with an emergency caesarean.
I was so nervous throughout my pregnancy last year, worried that something was going to go wrong again.
My midwife was Di and she made me feel so comfortable and at ease throughout. I loved how straight to the point she was and her humour made me leave appointments smiling. I opted for an elective caesarean this time and it made me feel so much more at ease. Our little girl was born on 3rd November at pilgrim hospital and I was surrounded by the loveliest team of midwives and staff throughout my stay.
During the antenatal period and for the 2 weeks after birth, I saw most of the Cocos midwives at some point and all I can say is they are a fantastic bunch who clearly love their jobs and the rewards that come with it.
Thank you all so much for the care myself and my husband received during both pregnancies
Rachel and Liam Trafford xx”

17/01/2026

We’d love to share a birth story this weekend if anyone would like to share! Send us a message!

14/01/2026

The benefits of Continuity of Carer ⬇️
COCOs = Continuity of Carer offers Outstanding Support

Having a baby is not just about clinical outcomes, it’s also about the experience. Research shows that care from the same midwife throughout pregnancy, birth, and after birth makes a real difference.

The COSMOS trial, led at the Women’s, found that women in caseload midwifery were less likely to need a caesarean, an episiotomy, or pain relief during labour. Their babies were less likely to need special care. Women also reported feeling more satisfied and supported.

This model of care also saved costs for the health system, proving that continuity of care benefits everyone.

Learn more in the Women’s Research Report 2024: www.thewomens.org.au/research-report-2024

14/01/2026

TONIGHT!
See link to book!

Book here! ⬇️
https://forms.office.com/e/GKtNeAMyFL