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If you're on maternity leave and eagerly awaiting the arrival of your little one, you might find yourself with a bit of extra time on your hands. This period of anticipation can be both exciting and nerve-wracking, but it’s also a wonderful opportunity to prepare, relax, and indulge in some self-care. Here are some suggestions of things you can do while you wait for your baby’s big debut. From practical preparations to enjoyable pastimes, there’s plenty to keep you occupied and ready for the adventure ahead.
Go to these classes...
...if you're not already doing so! They are taught by my wonderful colleague Becky Talbot and are LUSH! Nothing like the buoyancy of water to bring relaxation and comfort to late pregnancy! They run in term time in North Cambridge.
Have a massage.
It raises your oxytocin levels, lowers stress, helps you to shift from work mode to birth/mum mode.
My personal recommendations:
Emma Kenny and Nicola Leighton. I love these two. Seriously.
https://www.emmakennytherapies.com/
Julia East. Pregnancy yoga teacher, ex-midwife and all round lovely human being Massage for women - Joyful Babies
Stock up on food.
Whether by cooking and freezing, or by ordering/researching premade meals, send a little care into your future and get preprepared. Future you will be grateful for this forethought.
Nap
Late pregnancy is tiring. It might fee like you're doing nothing, but you're growing an entire human being!! Let yourself rest as much as possible. Sleep if you can, or just lie down propped up and listen to your favourite music, hypnobirthing or relaxation tracks. I have hypnobirthing tracks on offer if you want to listen to my voice talking you through a relaxation or birth preparation.
Read this article anout Zwischen
This is a beautiful blog on the last days of pregnancy and how it is a time of in-between.
Watch TV that makes you feel good
Think.. brain candy. Old reruns of shows you love or that make you laugh. Things that you can watch without too much intellectual brain power. Movies that give you the feels, whether it's hilarity, romance or heart break. Do you need a laugh, or a good cry? Things that evoke feelings will help you process and release any underlying feelings you're holding about the journey ahead.
Declutter
I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of telling people to clean their houses, especially not when heavily pregnant! But! Getting rid of stuff that you don't need at the moment, or at least packing away clothes or stuff you won't need for the next six months can help life feel more organised. It will give you physical and emotional space to be ready to move into this next bit of life. You can always unpack the stuff later, but for the next six months or so, you might prefer the extra room rather than have all the things you won't use, wear or need around you.
Take photos
You may feel like a Blooming Goddess, or like a Weeping Whale or something else entirely. Perhaps the idea of photos fills you with horror! However, in a few years, or decades, you might disagree. You might long to see photos of you when your were pregnant, when you had this comparatively tiny moment of time when you carried your baby with your everywhere and wondered what the future would bring. And your child might want to see them too. Would you find it interesting to see photos of your parents when you were close to being born? A captured moment of your beginnings, of the cultural context, of your mum? You don't' have to look 'good' in them. This isn't about making an insta-able moment. This is about capturing a moment of real life. Your kids will want to see your real genuine self, not some idea of what you thought you 'should' look like. It's your authenticity that makes the photo beautiful. Honestly. (This also counts for feeding your baby, cuddling them even when you look tired postnatal etc).Don't remove yourself from a lifetime of family photos just because you're not a supermodel. I've written more about this here
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Alongside running The Baby Village, Bryony teaches pregnancy and baby yoga classes, runs a private practice as a general counsellor, offers Mother's Mentoring and Birth Trauma Recovery counselling.
She also runs therapeutic groups including Tender Postnatal- a group for mothers in the first year and Mothers Rising - a consciousness raising group for women with children.
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