Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital launch educational videos for parents

Great news for parents.

With new restrictions due to Covid-19 making it more difficult for a lot of parents to attend things like ante-natal classes, many parents are missing out on important educational information. While there are a lot of parenting books around, nothing really compares to the hands on experience of ante-natal classes. That's why the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital has launched a series of antenatal educational videos aimed at guiding parents through pregnancy, birth and parenting. The online resource is made up of 27 videos which fall under three categories: Pregnancy, Labour and Birth and Parenting. The suite of videos has been developed by the Hospital’s multidisciplinary team and includes information from Physiotherapy, Dietetics, Parent Education, Perioperative Medicine and Perinatal Mental Health teams. Topics covered under Pregnancy include: changes in pregnancy; concerns in pregnancy; perinatal mental health; exercising in pregnancy; lower back and pelvic pain; perineal massage; and eating and digestion during pregnancy. The aim of this section of the series is to support women on their pregnancy journeys and to provide an understanding of changes to the body that occur during pregnancy. Topics covered under Labour & Birth include: signs of labour; stages of labour; a toolkit for labour including techniques and supports, to enhance both the labour process and the woman’s experience of labour and birth; coming to hospital and care in labour; pain relief options; interventions; breathing for stages of labour; and eating at the time of birth. This part of the series aims to give women an understanding of the labour process so that they can remain central to their birthing experience. Topics covered under Parenting include: practical baby care; maternal wellbeing after birth; the transition to parenthood; tummy time; plagiocephaly (flat head); and eating during breastfeeding. The series of videos can be accessed at www.coombe.ie/parent-education.