New parents are exposed to an enormous amount of information from different sources throughout pregnancy, birth and beyond.
With family and friends offering advice with the best of intentions based on their own experiences and the internet providing limitless content based on popular search topics, it’s easy to see how parents can become overwhelmed and confused.
It’s not uncommon for parents to search for answers on the internet or seek guidance from someone close to them, but unless the information is coming from an expert like a midwife, how can we be sure that it is accurate and safe for our babies?
Hospital midwives are a trusted source for mums during their pregnancy, birth and those early days in hospital. It can be daunting for a new parent to leave the care and comfort of a hospital to start their life with their newborn which is perfectly understandable given how much they have had to learn in those first few days.
To help ease the transition from hospital to home, Epworth Maternity have created a video educational series to support new parents.
The learning videos were produced with decades of clinical midwifery expertise as well as practical knowledge based advice. The series is broken down into individual two minute videos which cover everyday newborn topics like feeding, nappy changing, bathing, dressing and swaddling, plus topics for mums like self-care, exercise, nutrition and partner support.
Epworth Geelong Maternity Nurse Unit Manager Hayley Carter spoke about the important role of a midwife in guiding new parents in the parenting roles.
“Our families often comment that they wish they could take a midwife home with them,” she said.
“This video series offers the next best thing, providing an extension of our care from hospital into the home.
“We know that parents rely heavily on the internet for information, tips and advice and this new video series offers expert guidance anywhere at any time our parents need it.”
The video series is accessible for maternity patients on their point of care device when staying at Epworth Geelong and available to view online once they are at home.
The Epworth Maternity video series is available online by visiting epworthgeelong.org.au/our-services/maternity