Brazenmom

The ‘what to eat during pregnancy’ debate was recently brought to the fore when a Sainsbury’s worker refused to serve a pregnant woman unpasteurised cheddar cheese. In a letter of complaint, Janet Lehain (31 years of age and mother of two) described the confrontation as “the most patronising encounter I have had the misfortune of experiencing in a long time”. She said that she only succeeded in persuading the member of staff at the Fairfield Park store to sell her the cheese by promising not to eat any of it herself. Since the incident, Sainsbury’s has admitted that “unpasteurised Cheddar does not pose a risk to health during pregnancy” – a recommendation made by the Food Standards Agency. Read the rest of this entry »

The big 37 week mark has come and gone: my baby girl is fully grown and if she is born any time from yesterday she will be considered a full-term baby, not prem. Awesome. Her head is getting ready to ‘engage’ and I have put together a vague semblance of a birth plan (involving no epidural – I do consider myself quite insane) that I still need to write down in my antenatal book. Note to self: write down birth plan. Other than that I am still shitting – no changes there. I have had very few ‘baby dreams’ of late, other than one significant dream that certainly makes up for the lack. I had a dream that I was in labour for what seemed like ever and when I eventually gave birth, my baby looked like a miniature H.R. Geiger Alien but cream-coloured rather than black. I remember being a little scared of the baby but I still loved it, which, hopefully, is an indication that if I breed a mutant I will still love it. So that’s good news. Read the rest of this entry »

If somebody tells me about the “Mozart Effect” one more time I am going to start breaking faces. I realise that my metal music alliances may be enough to freak out the most liberal of thinkers but it would be most appreciated if people did their research.

The Mozart Effect is a theory that is based on a set of research results, which indicate that listening to Mozart’s music may induce a short-term improvement on the performance of certain kinds of mental tasks known as ‘spatial-temporal reasoning‘. Popularised versions of the theory credit the playing of classical music to babies with boosting IQ, improving health, strengthening family ties and even producing the occasional child prodigy. This idea was entrenched in the 1997 book by Don Campbell, The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit. Although there have been numerous studies conducted in support of the Mozart Effect, the theory remains controversial and there are many academics and studies that debunk the extent and consistency of the proposed effects of classical music on babies. There are researchers who argue that the Mozart Effect represents only the short-term effects of classical music on mood and arousal. There are also studies concluding that although classical music may have a calming effect babies, it does not in fact improve IQ. This is why researchers continue to test whether the Mozart Effect is real and if any other styles and pieces of music have the same effect. Read the rest of this entry »

Attention alternative moms: hold on to your platforms, piercings and corsets! I am OVERWHELMINGLY eager to share an awesome discovery that I know is going to make you as excited as it made me. The company is called Rockabye Baby! and the site is Rockabyebabymusic.com. You may wonder how I discovered this delicious beauty of a commercial enterprise. Well, my baby girl was the lucky recipient of a Lullaby Renditions of The Cure album; purchased for her from the Rockabye Baby! site by her very wise Aunty ‘F-dawg’, who couldn’t have chosen a more perfect gift. The treasured CD was delivered in black wrapping adorned with a lime-green ribbon, making my baby girl squirm with glee inside my bulging belly. If the wrapping was able to elicit such excitement I can’t wait to see how she will react to the music when I play it to her.

Rockabye Baby!, headquartered in Los Angeles, aims to make children’s music cool – not only for babies but for their parents too. The company specialises in lullaby renditions inspired by punk, metal and classic rock acts including the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Nirvana, U2, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and Queen.The possible launch of a lullaby rendition of Slayer is sure to send fans with babies into some kind of frenzy (be sure to check out the site and vote for the next Rockabye album). The company also provides gift packaging and wrapping options that will make your gifts all the more special.

My favourite Barbie was the one with the blue party dress and the poofy eighties fringe. My second favourite was my Party Pink Barbie which came adorned in pink, jewels and glitz – the showstopper being a furry pink shawl sprinkled with sparkly silver stuff. I had some other pretend ‘Barbies’ that I managed to destroy: I used hand soap to wash one doll’s beautiful red hair and it remains, to this very day, stuck together in one giant dreadlock; and I had a mermaid Cindy (or something) which apparently was not supposed to be used in water despite the fact that she came with a beautiful mermaid tail – her crimped hair changed from ‘Darryl Hannah in Splash‘ to ‘Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich‘. Poor dollies. Taiwanese plastic is pretty sturdy but does allow for creativity that encompasses body modification, hair design and facial piercings. If my mom had taken a look at my Barbies perhaps she wouldn’t have been so surprised when I got my first tattoo, purple-black hair and piercing. I spent many a happy hour ‘playing Barbies’ with neighbours, friends, cousins and even brothers – although their version of the game was called ‘army bases’ and involved G.I. Joes, lego, micro-machines, farmyard animals and plants from the garden. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s bitch about breastfeeding in public. This is a sensitive subject for many and as a non-mom, about to become a mom in three weeks, I need to get my non-breastfeeding opinion out there for the record. Here’s my stance: just cover the boob please … that’s all. I know it’s natural and I know that the stigmas attached to breastfeeding are pretty irrational and I probably subscribe to most of them – I am a product of my Western upbringing – but come on moms. Help me out here! I was with my husband in Harrods the other day – in the food section – and a woman was sitting on the edge of one of the freezers, boob in full view, breastfeeding her baby. It was gross and I was appalled. I subscribe to the philosophy: “If you don’t like it don’t look” but in the food court of all places. Is that even hygienic – what if ‘leaky breast’ happens all over the place? What if the baby vomits milk on things or people? It’s not like Harrods lacks the facilities – they are quite beautiful in fact. Read the rest of this entry »

New research proves that the more germs a child is exposed to during early childhood, the better their immune system in later life

A recent study completed by researchers at the School of Medicine at the University of California found that being too clean could impair the skin’s ability to heal. The research gives gravitas to the “hygiene hypothesis”, first proposed in the 1980s, which suggests that early childhood exposure to bugs might “prime” the immune system to prevent allergies. It has been used to explain why increasing numbers of children in developed countries, where antibacterial sprays and wipes are common, suffer from allergies such as hay fever and eczema. One in three people in Britain suffer from allergies according to research conducted by the charity Allergy UK has found.

The San Diego-based team of researchers, led by Professor Richard Gallo, discovered that normal bacteria that live on the skin trigger a pathway that helps prevent inflammation when we get hurt. These bugs dampen down overactive immune responses which can cause cuts and grazes to swell or lead to rashes. Gallo claims that the common bacterial species, known as staphylococci, which can cause inflammation when under the skin, are “good bacteria” when on the surface, as they can reduce inflammation. By studying mice and human cells, researchers discovered that staphylococci reduce inflammation by making a molecule, called lipoteichoic acid (or LTA), which acted on keratinocytes, the main cell types found in the outer layer of the skin. Read the rest of this entry »

I remember a friend telling me of a vision she had as she was bringing her new born son home from the hospital: masses and masses of mounds of nappies … nappies that are not biodegradable but just hang around for years and years. She told me that the guilt she felt was insurmountable before she had even committed the unforgivable act of using disposable nappies in place of the ‘towlies’ that all of our parents used. Read the rest of this entry »

My non-pregnant best friend keeps nagging me to show her my breast pump. Lurking beneath the inquisitive nature of the request is the undoubted desire to mock. The whole notion of a breast pump is rather bovine – the use of a contraption to extract milk … it’s bizarre. Info everywhere says that breastfeeding is the best. I am keen to try it and it’s a cheaper alternative to formula. This being my choice, I have acquired a breast pump so that I can retain a semblance of a life after my baby girl is born. So while I spend the money that I would have spent on formula on financing gigs and babysitters – my baby will feed away happily on mom’s milk from her bottle; I’m happy and baby is healthy (assuming, of course, that breastfeeding and breast pumping are skills that I am able to master). Read the rest of this entry »

The Jentle Childbirth Foundation has launched a controversial advertising campaign featuring naked pregnant women

With the use of images taken from photographer Joth Shakerley’s forthcoming book Pregnant Women, the campaign aims to highlight the stigmas associated with the public’s perception of pregnancy and childbirth. Jenny Smith, midwife, mother and founder of the Jentle Childbirth Foundation, says pregnancy is often turned into a process rather than a celebration of motherhood and that there is still a stigma attached to breastfeeding. Read the rest of this entry »