Hannah Elizabeth

I was gifted this item a number of weeks ago and I have been trialling it for the past month. Carin is developed with the purpose for helping everyday women manage bladder control issues all too common, especially after having children.  As a midwife, I find myself often talking to women about their pelvic floor. During pregnancy we enquire about urine and faecal incontinence. This involves the inability to control bladder and bowel movements. It can range from mild leakage, to complete loss of control. We recommend all pregnant women do daily pelvic floor exercises 10 times, 3 sessions per day, but if there are any problems, we recommend self-referring to our women's physiotherapists. At delivery, we talk again about pelvic floor exercises, especially if there are any perineal trauma. The physiotherapists automatically will see any women with third or fourth degree tears as an inpatient. Finally, it is routinely discussed again at both discharge and at home visits.  The Carin...

International Day of the Midwife is celebrated each year on the 5th May. As you can see, this post is a little late but I thought this year, I would instead share how I celebrated...at work! I was unfortunately working both night shifts either side, so I started the International Day of the Midwife working the night shift, and finished it working a night shift.  I was initially meant to be on labour suite for both shifts but with staff shortages elsewhere on the unit, I was instead pulled to the postnatal ward on the first night, then the antenatal ward on the second. I think I had the best of both worlds, as both my shifts were absolutely lovely with a great time. Had it of been the other way around, I think it would have been a different story.  Labour suite had set up a little party in one of the patient lounges, and the managers had made individualised cards for gratitude. There was also a little goodie bag of treats, including a sweet donation from a Scentsy seller and a ...

Apologies in advance for the lack of vlog this week. I do have footage but I have literally just got back from Amsterdam and Wakefield so haven't quite had time to edit it just yet. My plan is to edit over the next week and put up the next vlog next Sunday. After that, it will be the holiday vlogs.  I haven't even started to look through it just yet, but I have a feeling it will be quite a bit of footage. I may do one big vlog, but I think I will do 5 mini vlogs instead, with a vlog for each day. I don't want to get too far behind with posting, therefore I think I'll be uploading a few a week, instead of just on Sunday.  I hope that makes sense! Speak soon. 

Following on from last week's swimming costume post, I am sharing my day time outfits. For me, comfort is at the forefront of so-called fashion. I am also a bit of a cheap stake, so I wear and abuse my clothes until I can't anymore!  One of my favourite pieces is so old. I was looking through old pictures of Portugal and I actually wore this the last time I was in Portugal, 10 years ago! Of course, I've got a little bigger than then, so it doesn't fit quite as a dress anymore, so instead, I pair it with shorts. I still love it and it's so comfortable. I also love that it has a slight ruche at the waist for shaping.  Over swimming costumes, whilst I sunbathe, I tend to put on a sarong if I'm just walking around the house or resort. I have two of my favourite ones, with the pink being from Debenhams a few years ago and the blue from Turkey years ago! These are a couple of items I shove on depending on the outfit or weather. The Pink cover up is for slightly colde...

I am honestly blown away by this new-to-me subscription box called the  Degusta Box . This contains a complete surprise selection of 10 - 15 new products with a different theme each month. Usually it's based on a country, however this month's was International vs UK.  I was a little disappointed with my delivery as I was expecting it to arrive much sooner than it did. I then got told it was coming the day I was leaving to Portugal, so I let the courier know I would collect it from them a week later, only to get an email with a picture showing delivery at my house, an hour after arriving at the airport. It literally sat outside my house for over a week so I was pleasantly surprised it was still there when I arrived back.  The box is pretty large, containing up to 15 full size products. Once opened, there is multiple layers of packaging from brown paper, to multiple leaflets, to bubble wrap and then the products (some with more bubble wrap). Everything was well secured and ...

As a midwife, and probably any healthcare professional, it's always the negatives that stand out the most, and the job can be really hard at times. I think often, we talk about the negatives and focus on them too much. I have done so much better since I first started the job; I remember the first few months, I would come home crying and dwell on every single thing, thinking maybe if I'd done this or did I do that?, but now, I feel confident in my abilities and my escalation so I feel comfortable that I am doing the best job I can.  Last month, my day was made when a beautiful woman I cared for brought in a bunch of treats for the staff to thank another midwife and myself for the care she received the previous year. The treats were truly delicious. I wish I'd taken a picture of the boxes before everyone tucked in, because they were gorgeous. I did record a little clip for the vlog, but it didn't do it justice. They were from a company based in Nottingham called " El...

Sandwiched between two holidays, the last two weeks have been busy work days!  Click here to watch the vlog or see below.  Coming back from Portugal, I went straight back to work with 6 shifts in 7 days. It was a little exhausting but enjoyable. It was strange to do a night shift on labour suite again, as it's been almost a year and I was utterly exhausted. After the first night, I started walking down the canal banking so I was glad I wasn't driving! Luckily, I looked after some lovely families who all made it worth it, and welcomed 4 new babies into the world. To top it off, one of the women who I looked after a year ago, came out of her way to say thank you and bring in a much of treats to celebrate her baby boy's first birthday. It was so nice to have an update and hear the appreciation she had for the team and especially myself.  On the Sunday, I headed to Luke's mum's house for a Sunday roast. It had been a while since I'd been over so Luke was pretty much...