I asked my daughter to come up with some really easy tasty nutritious snacks that I could give my  Mums and supporting team during labour.  These are the ideas she came up with.  For more on Phillippa Fern please check out her webs site https://www.phillippafern.com

The following recipes are all plant-based, refined sugar free and designed to be super simple to make.  All under 10 minutes preparation time and no specialist equipment needed.

Apple Chips
Super easy
Prep 5 minutes, cook 45 minutes

2 apples
1 tbsp cinnamon, optional
1 tbsp cardamom, optional

Preheat your oven to 130*C fan/150*C.  Core both apples, but leave the skins on. Using a mandolin or sharp knife, slice the apples into even thin slices.  Depending on the size of your oven you may have to do this in batches.  Distribute the apples over lined baking trays leaving space in-between each piece. Bake for 45-50 minutes, turning once half way though.  Leave to cool and sprinkle with cinnamon or cardamon.  These will last for 1 month in an air tight container.

Super Simple Seasame Power Balls
Super easy
20 minutes
Makes 7-8 balls

90g oat flour*
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
Pinch of salut
4 medjool dates, stones removed
3 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp coconut syrup or maple syroup
10g sesame seeds, optional

*For the oat flour, use a high speed blender of NutriBullet to blitz the oats to a flour consistency.  Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  In the same high speed blender or NutriBullet blend together the dates, tahini and coconut/maple syrup.  Tip the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and work together with your hands to form a thick dough.  Roll into equal size golf balls (or smaller if you prefer) and cover with sesame seeds.  These will keeping in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Cashew Cookies
Super easy
Prep 5 minutes, cook 15 minutes
Makes 8 cookies

100g cashews
110g oat flour*
60g maple syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp coconut sugar (optional)
40g cacao nibs
1 tbsp oat milk to bind

Preheat over to 180*C fan/200*C.  Using a NutriBullet of high speed blender, blitz the cashews to a fine flour consistency.  Be careful not to over blend as they will cream and become soft and buttery very quickly.
Add to a large bowl with the oat flour*, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and cacao nibs.  Using your hands bring the mixture together to form a dough, add the oat milk if you think it needs it.  Shape the cookies into rounds and then press to flatten slightly.  Place on a lined baking tray and bake for 15 minutes or until slightly brown on top.
*For the oat flour, use a high speed blender or NutriBullet to blitz the oats to a flour consistency.

Lemon/Coconut Flapjacks
Easy
Prep 10 minutes, cooking 40 minutes

100g coconut oil
60g maple syrup
250g oats
60g desiccated coconut
2 apples, cored and grated (or blitzed in a high speed blender or NutriBullet)
Juice and zest of one lemon
Pinch of salt

Preheat your oven to 160*C fan/180*C and line a 30cm x 20cm baking dish.  In a small saucepan on a medium heat, melt the coconut oil and maple syrup together and set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, coconut, apple, lemon juice, zest and salt.  Stir in the coconut maple mix and combine.  Tip into the baking dish and smooth the top with the back of a spoon.  Cover with greaseproof paper and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the greaseproof and bake for a further 20 minutes.  Allow to cool and slice into your desired shape.  These will let for 2 weeks in an air tight container.

Banana Bars
Super easy
Prep 5 minutes, cook 50 minutes

230g almond flour
3 tbsp coconut sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
Pinch of salt
3 overripe bananas
2 dates, stones removed

Preheat your oven to 160*C fan/180*C and line a 30cm x 20cm baking dish.  Combine the almond flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ground ginger and pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl.  In a high speed blender or NutriBullet combine the bananas and dates, blend until smooth.  Tip the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.  You should have a thick batter, pour into the baking dish, cover with greaseproof paper and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the greaseproof paper and bake for a further 20 minutes.  Leave to cool and slice into bars. These will last for 2 weeks in an air tight container.

​I​ have just completed 4 individual hypnobirthing courses via Zoom. Four couples. Four babies. Ten hours each. All via Zoom. And pretty much without a glitch. Amazing. Never would I have thought it possible but it works it really does. 
It meant that we never once sat in the same room or shook hands or had any physical connection at all but we were able to deeply connect as well as, if not better than before Covid 19. 
I am very much learning this but would like to share my 5 top tips for using Zoom: Don’t fidget. Keep eye contact. Listen attentively.  Keep the sessions shorter.  Have set questions to involve discussion.
 
Don’t fidget.  Nothing more annoying than trying to listen or connect with someone who continually moves or fidgets, or touches their face and hair. If you have a swivel chair (like me) don’t be tempted to use it while engaging with your clients.
Keep eye contact.  By this I mean a healthy relaxed eye contact rather than a head teachers’ glare.  Try not to have distractions going on behind the computer screen where your gaze will wander off to middle and far distance. 
Listen attentively.  The one thing I feel I missed out on by not being in the same room as my clients is the nuances of how the couple interact with each other. How close they sit. How they refer/defer to each other. How they look at each other.  This tells me different things about each of them that words would not convey.  And so listen to the words they use with each other, to each other, how they address each other. It all paints a picture.
Keep the sessions shorter.  The average concentration span is 20 minutes. So think about planning your sessions around this. I do 1 hour sessions. I have lots of interactive things ie word associations, what’s the first word that comes into your head when I say Labour: Birth: Being a parent..etc. 
Have set questions to involve discussion. I would do this without Zoom but it is even more important now I feel to make a connection and keep the energy active. One of the things I do is I send a questionnaire asking why they want to do hypnobirthing. The points that are raised in this is always worth having a conversation about.
 
Going forward I can see using Zoom is definitely something that will stay as more than an alternative to travelling to and from clients and finding larger blocks of time even when this horrible Covid 19 is under control. Until then I am grateful I can reach out to couples and individuals becoming parents.

 Music is the Food of Love in more ways than we know.
 
Research has found that listening to music while you breastfeed can significantly help reduce anxiety and stress helping you and your baby to relax while feeding. 
When we relax we produce Oxytocin.  Oxytocin is a hormone produced by the pituitary gland which helps smooth muscle contract.  It is responsible for the ‘let-down’ process. 
The ‘let-down’ process squeezes the milk from the milk-producing cells, while the baby is suckling, down the ducts and out into the baby’s mouth.  Some mums can feel this ‘let-down’ process, while other mothers do not.
Any music that you find soothing and enjoyable to listen to will be beneficial to keep you calm and relaxed. 
It is easy to set up and cheap  – you just need your speaker or phone.  
You can listen to specific CDs already prepared with calming relaxing music or just your favourite playlist.  Or an audio book.
It may be something you have listened to and enjoyed during pregnancy or labour.  Your baby will remember this music.
Sing to your baby.
It also helps whenever or if you are pumping or expressing, at home or at work.
 
Feher, Berger, Johnson Wilde 1989, University of New Mexico found that mothers listening to a 20-minute audio on relaxation expressed up to 63% more breast milk than a randomized group of control mothers. 
Among these mothers who had babies in neonatal units, where stress and anxiety is high, the increase in milk volume was 121% compared to the control mothers.
 
Keith, Weaver, Vogel 2012, Georgia College and State UniversityUSA
Found a small study of 162 preterm mothers while listening to music and expressing using a pump, produced significantly more milk with a higher fat content during the first 6 days of the study.