How did we get here? You’ve got to the end of a day and maybe it wasn’t all that bad. It was a normal day, but you feel over-wrought or over-anxious and you can’t find a why. Or the day was a difficult mixture of emotion and ill-moods, and looking back you can’t pinpoint the moments at which it went south. Or maybe it feels like there’s no rhyme or reason as to why the day ended as it did, but we feel stuck in a cycle of frustration regardless. “How did we get…

t’s the one thing I was consistently warned about while pregnant. “Enjoy your sleep while you can, it won’t be like that for long”, it’s something you tend to hear on the regular (although, I would argue that having to walk downstairs onto cold tiles to go to the loo for the fifth time in the middle of the night isn’t exactly restful sleep). I don’t think one can ever truly prepare themselves for the years of nights to come, but there’s something that I do think we should prepare ourselves…

Warm hearts. Warm meals, warm clothes, warm hugs, candles, warm cups of tea held in front of a warming fire, blankets, wool.

Playsilks to crawl through, brushing against cheeks as they tunnel. Candlelight flickering in the middle of a cloudy day. A warm voice reading books…

I found blood two hours after I’d first put pen to paper and changed weeks into words on a page. For two weeks I hadn’t dared, just in case. I jotted down quick notes: week four, I’m pregnant and grandad dies; week five, frenzied, trying to sort everything out…

Slow conscious celebrations to share with your children. Low-effort, inexpensive and, above all, simple.

It’s so important to me that…

In light of current events and the latest MMBRACE report, I feel privileged to share this piece written by Leata-Mae D’Avoine a little earlier than intended. Leata-Mae parent, full spectrum doula and holistic wellness facilitator. Find her…