I have since learnt that her reactions were probably more to do with how ‘new’ the sounds were that she was hearing. Depending on how well she understood the sound would have had an effect on how much she responded.

Research

Research has confirmed that babies respond noticeably to sound from about 5 months. Not only are they aware of the noises inside the womb, like your blood rushing and heart pumping, they can also hear noises from outside of the womb and they ‘learn’ to recognise them. To ‘learn’ the unborn baby must use their memory. How can that be?

Dr. Peiper was one of the first scientists who believed that unborn babies had the capability to form memories. In his experiments, he observed that unborn babies reacted intensely when they first hear a car horn, but that after they heard it several times, they reacted less and eventually stopped moving around. He proposed that the sound of the car horn left a ‘trace’ that was an early form of memory. This ‘memory trace’ is now called ‘habituation’ (getting used to things), which is considered one of the simplest, yet essential, learning processes.

Common sounds

When I was using the same sounds (i.e. favourite nursery rhymes, the sounds of a drum, clapping etc), these will have quickly become familiar to my baby and will have left a ‘memory trace’. My baby won’t necessarily have responded to hearing those sounds. On other days, when I was playing new instruments and listening to new repertoire, my baby will have been hearing ‘new’ sounds and will have been encouraged to respond with great vigour!

There is still a lot to learn about the processes involved in memory and learning in the uterus but, early exposure to different sounds and music seem to go a long way to forming another foundation for a head start at birth.

Photography: Martin Lindstrom @Flickr

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• What is Milad un Nabi?
• How is Milad un Nabi celebrated?
• How will you be celebrating with your child?
• Watch a video of a Milad un Nabi parade

What is Milad un Nabi?

Milad un Nabi is the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. While many Muslims don’t celebrate birthdays (as there is no evidence of the Prophet doing this), Milad un Nabi is a joyous occasion, as the birth of the Prophet is considered a great blessing for humanity.

How is Milad un Nabi celebrated?

Milad un Nabi is a public holiday in most Muslim nations. It is common for Muslims to gather in public and listen to religious leaders talk about the Prophet’s deeds, telling stories about his infant and his adult lives. The Prophet’s memory is also praised with songs and salutations, and people often decorate their homes and mosques with lights and flags. It is also common for families to donate to charity and prepare food for the impoverished and sick.

While Milad un Nabi is a happy occasion, celebrations are relatively low-key, as it also marks the anniversary of Muhammad’s death.

How do you celebrate Milad un Nabi with your child?

Do you put decorate up at home, or attend a mosque service or public reading? At Mindful Mum, we’re keen to learn more about Milad un Nabi, so please feel free to start a discussion in the comments section at the bottom of this page!

Watch a video of a Milad un Nabi parade

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photography: Arian Zwegers @Flickr

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Ingredients:

• 40 tomatoes chopped in half
• a splash of olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 onions, peeled and chopped roughly
• 1 celery stick relieved of mud and slugs and roughly chopped water, from the tap

Method:

1. Take the halved tomatoes, with skin on (I cannot be bothered to skin tomatoes though I am sure the end result would be smoother if you did. Let’s rename the soup ‘rustic’ as way of explanation) and pop seeded side up on baking trays.
2. Artistically drizzle olive oil over them, then add salt and pepper.
3. Pop in an oven for around 8 hours on Gas 1. Needless to say, we went out whilst the tomatoes were doing their sun blushed shrivelling act.
4. Once suitably shrivelled, pop the tomatoes and the oily juice they’ve produced into a large saucepan and put in the fridge. At least overnight, 24 hours if possible. They seem to produce more juice when left to sit and weep.
5. When you’re ready for your soup, fry the onions and celery in a splash of the oil from the tomato mixture until soft. I leave the lid on and keep the heat low. The smell should remind you of Heinz, but fear not, it isn’t that sweet.
6. Then add the tomato mix from the fridge and let the pan get nice and warm, but don’t boil.
7. Add half a pint of tap water, stir, remove from the heat and blend with a hand held blender. Check the consistency. I’m more a purée fan than thin consommé adorer, but add whatever amount of water suits you, remembering that the more you add, the more you dilute the flavour.
8. Heat through and give it a final blend just before you serve. This soup has some texture but I like that. You could peel and de-seed the tomatoes to remove the texture if you so wish. You could also add some fresh basil or some chilli, depending on your disposition.

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Deaths in the first year also fell to a record low at just 3.7 per 1000 live births compared to 4.3 per 1000 in England. The results also found links between obesity and stillbirths as well as death during infancy and smoking and deprivation.

The number of stillbirths in England and Wales in 2010 was slightly higher than Scotland sitting at 5.1 per 1000 live births.

Continuing to push stillborn and infant deaths down

Health secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, welcomed the news but said Scotland will continue to strive to push the figures down even further.

She said, “The death of even one baby is a tragedy. The report shows that the rates of stillbirths, neonatal deaths, perinatal deaths and infant deaths were the lowest ever recorded in Scotland.

“The rate of post-natal deaths equalled the lowest ever recorded. However, we want to drive the number of deaths down further.

“We have been aware of the increased risk of poor pregnancy outcomes in the more deprived areas and are working to reduce antenatal inequalities.”

The report also shows a buck in trend from 2002-2009 with the total number of births falling to 59,082, down by 281 from the previous year.

Source: ISD

Photography: Catherine Scott @Flickr

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Click here to view the embedded video.

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See below for further details of the Aveeno Baby Calming Comfort Lotion.

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• 300g plain chocolate (70% cocoa solids) broken into pieces
• 75g unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 405g tin condensed milk (though mine was just under 400g – no matter)
• 175g sultanas
• 125g mini marshmallows
• 200g Malted Milk biscuits all broken into bits

Method:

1. Line a large tray with greaseproof paper and check it fits in your fridge.
2. Melt the chocolate, butter, condensed milk and syrup in a pan on a low heat until completely smooth and combined.
3. Remove from the heat and leave to cool a little – about 5 mins. Add everything else and stir until all covered in chocolate.
4. Tip onto the lined tray and then cover the lot with a large piece of greaseproof paper and use your hands to manipulate the lot into a block of fridge cake that’s pretty much even in thickness all over.
5. Leave in the fridge until set which takes about 4 hours.
6. Once set, take the entire block (with both layers of paper still on) and place on a chopping board.
7. Then peel off the top layer of greaseproof paper and use it to rest one hand on top of the block as you saw the cake into strips with a serrated knife. (Warm hands melt the fridge cake quickly, hence why the greaseproof paper is so useful as a hand-rest.)
8. You could then package these strips up into bars to go into lunch boxes, or saw again into smaller bites as you see in the picture.

NB: You can eat more smaller bites than whole bars. That’s a rule of bake-me-not chocolate cake.

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• What is vitamin D?
• Why do we need it?
• Are we getting enough?
• Are children at risk of deficiency?
• Vitamin D supplements

What is vitamin D?

Vitamin D is found in only a few foods such as: oily fish like mackerel, salmon and fresh tuna as well as in other foods such as eggs, meat and fortified cereals and margarine. Very little vitamin D is obtained through the foods we eat and actually, we get most of our supply of vitamin D from the summer sun.

Why do we need it?

Children (and adults) both need to ensure they are getting enough vitamin D for healthy bone growth, development and repair. Getting enough vitamin D is also important to allow the efficient absorption of calcium for healthy bones and teeth. Therefore, in children, low levels of vitamin D can lead to poor bone health and can increase the risk of rickets.

Are we getting enough?

Every person is different and the amount of vitamin D a person will absorb from the sun will vary from person to person depending on their age, ethnicity, location and exposure. However, in the UK it is recommended that in order to obtain enough vitamin D throughout the year we must spend around 20 minutes in the sun on most days between the months of April and September and between the hours of 10.00am and 3.00pm without wearing any sunscreen.

Are children at risk of deficiency?

Due to high awareness of the effect of sun damage on the skin, many parents are wary about their children spending time in the sun without protection. However, as most of the vitamin D we need comes directly from sunlight and very little is found in the foods we eat, children are therefore often at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D supplements

It is recommended that all children over the age of six months (if breastfeeding or having less than 500mls of formula milk per day) should be taking a vitamin D supplement until they are at least five years of age. This is because the requirements of some vitamins (such as vitamin D and vitamin A) are high in young children and even if children are eating very well they may still risk not getting enough of these nutrients.

Giving babies (as described above) 7mcg of vitamin D daily should be enough to ensure they are not at risk of being deficient. Vitamin D only supplements are hard to find, however, for babies and young children, vitamin drops (such as the Healthy Start Vitamin Drops) which contain adequate levels of vitamin A, D and C are a great option to give your little ones daily. For more advice or for support with choosing the right vitamin drops contact your Health Visitor or GP.

Photography: Eduardo Merille @Flickr

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The project was developed by Jenny Bailey, a midwife teacher at the University in partnership with Colleen McCants and Fay Cross in the Information Services department.  It was designed to provide an ‘additional and innovative’ training tool for student midwives, to allow them to ‘practice their management of care and communication skills in a virtual environment’.

‘Real life’ practice

The simulated process uses avatars to allow students to ‘role play’ through scenarios they may not encounter during clinical practice.  It is said to be so realistic that clinical skills such as taking pulse and blood pressure, giving pain relief and checking contractions can be practiced, even allowing student midwives to sit on the floor beside the Mum in labour, and rub her back.

Better services

Professor Cathy Warwick, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Midwives said:

“This project demonstrates that there is wonderful and ground-breaking work being done by midwives and I congratulate Jenny on her award. Midwifery practice is always moving forward and innovating. This shows that if we give midwives the resources and freedom to do this, the result is better services for women, babies and their families.”

Jenny Bailey was thrilled about her win, saying:

“I am absolutely thrilled to be a winner, especially considering the excellent calibre of the other candidates. Hopefully, the virtual maternity project will continue to go from strength to strength.”

Find out more about the Virtual Maternity Unit on the University’s Second Life Island.

Source:  University of Nottingham Press Release, Victory for virtual maternity unit in national midwifery awards, 27^th January 2012

Photography: Salim Fadhley @Flickr

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• Colour code your babies
• Invest in a whiteboard
• Have a plan
• Make it easy for people to help

Colour code your babies

Crazy as it may sound it does help to give each baby a colour. If your multiples are identical you can tie a short piece of braid or ribbon round their ankle or wrist to avoid any confusion. Even if the babies look nothing alike you can use the colours to identify feeding bottles, medications, record books and a dozen other things. Before long you will see the colour and know immediately which baby the item belongs to, so even when you are sleep deprived you won’t risk giving one baby a double dose of vitamins. If you have any older children don’t forget to give them a colour too!

Invest in a whiteboard

Choose a wall and put up the biggest whiteboard you can find. Life is about to get complicated and this really will help you to keep track, especially when you’ve been up all night or don’t want to repeat yourself to every helper. You can use it to note things like:

• GP, Health visitor and hospital phone numbers
• Contact numbers for grandparents, your partner at work, the cleaner etc
• Shopping list
• Jobs that need doing
• Feed times
• Notes on each of the babies (in their colour)
• Phone messages

Have a plan

With twins, feeding on demand is difficult and with three or more it’s pretty much impossible. It really does help to have a plan, which you can write on your whiteboard so everyone knows what is going on. Include times you expect the babies to feed (although of course you may need to change this if they are hungry earlier than expected) and when you will do things like laundry or running the steriliser. Most importantly, plan times to eat and rest yourself and make sure everyone knows that feeding mum is just as important as feeding the babies! You will probably make adjustments as you go along but having something written down can be a real comfort, at least you know what you are adjusting. If you follow the plan, even roughly, all the important things will get done. Everything else can wait.

Make it easy for people to help

When you have multiples you will probably find that you have lots of offers of help. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to accept the offer if you have to give a long explanation or can’t find anything. Think of all the jobs you might want someone to do, laundry, putting clothes away, food shopping and so on and make it easy. Label the cupboards so your mother in law will know where to put the sheets, stick a notice by the dishwasher to let people know how to turn it on. The easier you make it, the more people can do for you leaving you free to spend time with your babies.

Photography: Nate Davis @Flickr

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