17.13 Pregnancy, labour, birth and the baby - accessible knowledge for parents and professionals

Issues around labour and birth and the development of maternal infant attachment and bonding has been an area of interest to parents and also to midwives in supporting parents in their journey to parenthood.In this session, we are joined by author and midwife, Laura Godfrey-Isaacs, who will be discussing her graphic guide for parents, which midwives may also find helpful in expanding parents’ feeling of preparation and access to information.We then move the focus to mothers' individual birth experiences and the early development of mother-infant bonding which have long been of interest to parents and to midwives. We are joined by psychologist, researcher and educator, Dr Carmen Power, who will be talking about the impacts of physiological and psychological aspects of labour and birth on the mother's mental health, her baby's early behaviour and early communications between baby and mother, providing some key areas that the midwife can develop to support the process of bonding.Hosted by:Sue MacdonaldContributions from:Dr Carmen Power, Psychologist writer, researcher, educator and consultantLaura Godfrey-Isaacs, Artist, Midwife, Writer & Creative Producer