Relax Stretch & Breathe

24/10/2025

23/10/2025

22/10/2025

👶 Skin-to-skin contact involves placing the naked newborn on the mother’s uncovered chest immediately after birth. This simple practice helps babies adapt to life outside the womb, keeping them warm, reducing stress and crying, and supporting vital functions such as breathing and heart rate.

New Cochrane evidence confirms what many already practice: immediate skin-to-skin contact between newborns and their mothers gives babies a better start in life.

Babies held skin-to-skin within the first hour after birth are more likely to:

🩵 Breastfeed exclusively
🩵 Maintain healthy body temperature and blood sugar
🩵 Breathe and adapt better outside the womb

Importantly, the evidence is now so strong that researchers argue it’s no longer ethical to conduct studies that separate mothers and babies after birth.

“Withholding skin-to-skin contact would now be considered unethical, as there is enough evidence to show that the practice improves newborn health and survival,” says Karin Cadwell, senior author and Executive Director and Lead Faculty of
Healthy Children Project Center for Breastfeeding.

Read more on our website: https://www.cochrane.org/about-us/news/strong-evidence-supports-skin-skin-contact-after-birth-standard-care

20/10/2025

November 2025

Here's where you can find sling libraries for free and friendly support, please share far and wide!

I'm also very findable in our New Baby Network space in the Cornbow Centre in Halesowen - look out for more stuff happening there!

Please book where possible: https://happyslinglady.eventbrite.com

5th November
11am - 1pm
Merry Hill Sling Library
Odeon Dudley

6th November
10.30am-12noon
Solihull Sling Library
Coffee House

9th November
11am-1pm
10-11 Back Carrying Workshop
11-1 Halesowen Sling Library
Unit 5, Cornbow Centre, Halesowen

15th November
10-11 Back Carrying Workshop
11-12 Stretchy Wrap Workshop 12-2 Weekend Library, Cotteridge Friends Meeting House

13th October
11am-1.3pm
Antenatal Carrying Workshop
Unit 5, Cornbow Centre, Halesowen

All library sessions are FREE to attend and you can find plenty of support and information for carrying your newborn to preschooler and beyond.

They are in child friendly, accessible venues and if you need any further support before you attend don't hesitate to get in touch. We aim to be as flexible and inclusive as possible - you don't need any previous carrying experience, to book in advance, to be planning to carry all the time, to own a pushchair, to be a first time parent...

Free stretchy wraps are available to borrow for 4 weeks from all libraries. All other carriers are just £15/month to borrow (that's less than 50p a day!).

If you need a carrier outside of sling library times you can always reserve online and do a doorstep collection. All instructions for our slings/carriers are on our website and include plenty of videos. You can see all available slings and make reservations here: https://happyslinglady.myturn.com

[ID: the dates and time listed in boxes in rainbow order]

15/10/2025

14/10/2025

At NCT, our Infant Feeding Line is here to support you, whether you’re breastfeeding, bottle feeding, or combining both. Open 365 days a year, 8am - Midnight, we're here for you 📞 0300 330 0700⁣
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25/09/2025

M&S are urging shoppers to stop using one of its baby sleeping bags - as it poses a 'potential strangulation hazard'.
The retail giant issued an urgent product recall about the Marks & Spencer Stripe 2.5 Tog Sleeping Bag T92/4648S after discovering it doesn't meet the requirement of British standard testing. The neck measurement on the sleeping bag, sold throughout August online and in-store, doesn't satisfy the requirement of BS EN16781 - a safety standard for children's sleeping bags.