I have just been to my first pregnancy yoga session and am basking in the afterglow. Pregnancy yoga was one of my absolute favourite things about being pregnant with my eldest and it felt like the most positive and wholesome way for me to make time for myself and connect with my baby.

There isn’t much call to think about nipple cream before you have a baby, but advice from a friend on using the stuff before I had my first baby was some of the most helpful wisdom I received. During pregnancy, it can feel like there is so much to do, so much to buy, and so much to organise and it’s very easy to focus all your planning on the tiny human who hasn’t even arrived yet.

Brace yourselves for a Theresa May style U turn. I have decided that a homebirth would be the best option for me this time. Cough. Yes, yes, I know this is a little surprising based on previous expressions of opinion. After my week 16 midwife appointment I got all arsey about having a big pink sticker on my notes saying: “You are recommended to have a homebirth”.

Cot built. Check. Car seat installed. Check. Baby clothes washed and folded away. Check. Preparing for birth course completed. Check. We have just done a brilliant birth preparation course with LushTums and already I am feeling a lot more calm and positive about what's to come.

What they won’t tell you.

I’ll start off by saying that I absolutely love being a mum. Despite the broken sleep, the dirty nappies, the tea-time battles over the kitchen table, the sometimes mind-numbing monotony of being stuck at home on a rainy day with small children-not to mention the complete emotional rollercoaster these little people put you through (such highs! such lows!), I am incredibly aware of just how lucky I am to be a mum to two gorgeous children. I’ll stop short of using #blessed, but you get the picture; they are everything to me and I am very, very grateful.

But a snapshot of my early days of parenthood still sticks with me...

So, you've had, or are going to have, a Caesarian section. It may not be what you'd hoped or planned for, but the reality is that around a quarter of births in the UK today are by section – and there's surprisingly little advice and information out there for women about what to expect afterwards. I've had three – 2 emergency sections and an elective (planned) section. Here are my top tips:

1) Having a section, especially an emergency section, can be a big shock to the system – physically but, even more, psychologically.

Top Tips for Breastfeeding Success.

Congratulations, you are pregnant! If you are one of the 81% of women who wants to breastfeed, I have tried to condense some key elements and practical ideas of things you can do to help you succeed.Skin to skin as soon as you can after birth You can usually do this no matter what kind of birth you have had- often doctors will let baby stay on your chest after a c-section while they are stitching you up. You can ask that the newborn checks be done a little later so you can enjoy your first golden hour uninterrupted. There are huge benefits of skin to skin including boosting your baby’s immunity, regulating temperature and respiration, creating a secure attachment as well as allowing the baby to initiate feeding. Watch a video of laid back breastfeeding to give you some inspiration

Home From Home - Normalising Birth

A while ago I was invited to give a short talk to around 40 midwives from the Haywards Heath Princess Royal Hospital and also from the Royal Sussex in Brighton. They were keen to hear about what it is we are teaching our pregnant mamas-to-be and learn about the benefits of yoga breathing and why it can be so helpful for women in labour.

I was delighted to be asked and so enjoyed being there amongst such a lovely group of women who are all experienced and passionate about birth - my perfect day out!

When I found out that I was pregnant with my daughter the fear I have lived with for years about giving birth raised its head again. I have no idea where this fear stems from, I haven’t been exposed directly to any difficult births, or heard that many 'bad' birth stories. Perhaps it was from looking at some hippy birth books of my Mum's with some rather graphic pictures when I was only very young...maybe that didn't help, ha ha! But honestly, I was simply terrified. How on earth would I get a baby out of there!

Dear Clair,

Hi, so it’s me… well, you, five years from now.

Firstly, congratulations! You are pregnant with your first baby, and I know how excited you are. You are finally going to have a baby, the one you have wanted for as long as you can remember. All those hours spent playing with dolls, babysitting and watching Supernanny on TV have definitely fully prepared you for being the world’s most awesome mother (ahem)…

LushTums teacher, Kate, talks about her journey from London high-flyer to pregnancy yoga teacher.

 I decided to train to teach pregnancy yoga because there wasn’t anything in the town where I live – Haywards Heath – when I moved here expecting my second child in 2012. Throughout that pregnancy I used to make the journey to Brighton to attend Clare’s classes every week, and I absolutely loved them. I was happy to make the journey as I’d been practicing yoga for years by that point, so understood how the classes would benefit me both mentally and physically. But I worried that any ladies who were new to yoga and living in the area wouldn’t feel compelled to make such an effort to attend a class, and I did feel frustrated that nothing was available locally.