When I gave birth to my eldest daughter it wasn't the experience that I had imagined. We had attended a NCT antenatal group and felt fully prepared but we were not ready for the emergency cesarean section that was needed due to 'failure to progress' (I will forever hate that terminology), Strep-B, sepsis and complications both during and after the procedure which led to me being barely conscious for the first 16 hours of my daughters life. Unsurprisingly, I began to experience postnatal depression before we had even left our week long stay in hospital.

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It was a scary time for me, but with the support of my fellow NCT mummas and my own family, I was forced to get out and about with a baby who I loved but not as much as I felt I could.  I found large baby and parent classes intimidating and, with a baby who was easily overstimulated, overwhelming. The only groups I found myself feeling confident in were our baby swimming classes and a lovely baby massage session that we attended at a friends house with a small group of mums. Through swimming and massage I found myself understanding my daughter a bit more because I was really having to look and listen for her cues, and we developed a closeness and a bond that finally helped my feel that 'rush of love' every talks about.

With a degree in Sports Coaching and Therapy, these were also areas that I felt knowledgeable... something that felt familiar after my whole world had changed!!

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When maternity leave was over for me and I returned to my 9-5 office job, I found myself hating it. My husband was a stay at home dad, while I left after breakfast and returned in time for the bedtime routine, in a job with zero appreciation or satisfaction. After a few months of indecision our swimming teacher told me they had a vacancy in the area, and I'd be perfect for it... so I gave it a shot. I had no expectation that I'd actually be offered the job!!

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This was the start of my new career path. It was hard work but I fell in love with it! Supporting parents and watching their tiny babies turn into amazing 4 year olds who could independently swim widths of a deep pool. I had more time with my family and bucket fulls of job satisfaction. But what I loved the most was supporting the less confident parents, the ones who had similar stories to mine and seeing them connect with their babies and thrive in the water. And it was this that spurred me on to train as a baby massage and baby yoga instructor with Blossom & Berry, and Little Diamonds was born!

 

Since day one of my training I knew exactly how I wanted my classes to be, I wanted the small and intimate safe haven that I couldn't find when I had my eldest daughter. For this reason our face to face classes have a maximum of 5 families, allowing parents to connect and receive support if they want it. They are calm classes, where we take things at yours and baby's pace... and if you don't manage to do any massage during the class that's absolutely fine too! We'll make you a cuppa and you can just sit and cuddle while you watch and learn. There is always opportunity to offload or ask the advice of your peers, plus lots of support outside of the class too.

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But I found so many people couldn't make our class times due to various reasons, and I wanted to make it accessible to everyone, which is why our Baby Massage Course is now available online too.

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I want you to learn with love, and learn to love. Because at the end of the day, it's the love we feel which keeps us going and will create a better and kinder world.