Baby Week Countdown 2024

 

Improving Me, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Women’s Health and Maternity programme is delighted to be collaborating with the global Bee Happy partnership to celebrate and mark Baby Week Cheshire and Merseyside 2024; with a week of FREE live streamed baby massage workshops, every morning at 10:00am to 10:45am, from Thursday 14 November through to and including 20 November.

This baby massage opportunity is particularly appropriate because Baby Week encompasses #WorldPrematurityDay. World Prematurity Day is celebrated on 17 November each year to raise awareness about the challenges faced by preterm babies and their families, as well as to demonstrate solidarity and compassion for these families.

The global theme of World Prematurity Day 2024 is “Small actions, BIG IMPACT: Immediate skin-to-skin care for every baby everywhere.” Skin-to-skin contact has been proven to be extremely effective for every baby, especially for premature babies. Initiated right after birth, the practice of skin-to-skin contact contributes to the baby’s awareness of touch and affection, playing a pivotal role in establishing bonds and starting and sustaining breastfeeding.

2024 also marks the tenth anniversary of the WHO  Every newborn: an action plan to end preventable deaths, adopted in May 2014 in the framework of the UN Secretary-General’s Global strategy for women’s and children’s health; and the clear focus on strengthening the availability and quality of data on preterm births.

Baby massage was introduced over 30 years ago by the NHS in neonatal wards to support the development of premature babies in intensive care units but historians have found evidence of baby massage dating back over 3000 years. Today, there is widespread belief that baby massage can not only increase a mum’s awareness of her baby’s needs as well as improve the mother’s sense of wellbeing especially if she is suffering with postnatal depression and anxiety.

 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 15 million babies are born preterm globally. This means one in 10 babies is born too early. Preterm birth affects between 7% and 8% of births in the UK. It is a leading cause of infant mortality and childhood disability. Prevalence of preterm birth has been consistently shown to link to significant and consistent socioeconomic inequalities. The University of Liverpool public health research also brings into stark relief the devastating impact of deprivation on preterm birth rates in low risk women. Improving Me is working hard to draw attention to the wider determinants of health and the importance of prevention to ensure all babies have the best start and all women and girls can flourish.

This FREE baby massage opportunity is suitable for early years staff and healthcare practitioners as well parents and carers with babies over 8 weeks old. It is ideal for anyone who wants to understand more about the very real health and wellbeing benefits of baby massage.

But ultimately baby massage is a lovely way for parents or carers to enjoy time with their baby. And don’t forget, give every baby a best start and they will go far!

To book for one or more of the FREE sessions which will be delivered live on You Tube simply email Sonya at: info@beehappybabies.co.uk

You can also check out the You Tube pages at  https://www.youtube.com/@BeeHappyBabies

If you would like to know more about Baby Week and get involved in other activity Just email: info@improvingme.org.uk or check out Baby Week web pages here.

 

Note to editors

 Improving Me is the women’s health and maternity programme for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, aiming to improve the experiences of women and children. The Women’s Health and Maternity (WHaM) programme is focused on developing a safe, high quality, clinically and financially sustainable whole system model of care for women’s services across Cheshire and Merseyside.

There is a widespread evidence base on the benefits of baby massage particularly for pre-term infants:

• Massage on healthy, preterm infants showed a positive influence on brain and visual development (Guzzetta et al., 2009)
• Preterm infants receiving massage therapy gained more weight and slept less (Dieter, Field, Hernandez-Reif, Emory & Redzepi, 2003; Gonzalez et al., 2009)
• Massage therapy led to weight gain and increased bone density in preterm infants (Field, Diego & Hernandez-Reif, 2010)
• Massage combined with physical activity improved bone mineralization in premature infants (Aly et al., 2004).

For further information on Baby Week and Bee Happy, or opportunity to interview collaborators and families wishing to share stories please contact Jo Ward E: jo@jowardchangemaker.org.uk or M:07708 428096

The Bee Happy Babies team

Sonya Elnaschie (co-founder) is a physiotherapist, medical herbalist and nutritional therapist.  Sonya is an experienced lecturer having taught at the University of Westminster and Heartwood as well as previously running a baby massage classes in East London. Sonya is also a research assistant with Meaningful Measures, a company that provides person-centred evaluation, audit and research solutions.

Amy Morrison-Smith (co-founder) is a clinical specialist physiotherapist and principal lecturer and programme leader in physiotherapy at University of Hertfordshire. Amy works in the field of neuro-developmental paediatrics and with a wide range of babies and young children with developmental difficulties. Amy is passionate about improving the health outcomes of children and sits on the East Anglian Regional Association of Peadiatric Chartered Physiotherapists (APCP) committee. She is also a qualified baby massage instructor.

Karen Kelly (partner) is an acupuncturist, massage therapist and infant massage instructor. Karen has a special interest in obstetric and paediatric health care and is currently training as a breastfeeding support facilitator. Karen worked in clinics across London and ran an infant massage business until recently having relocated to Gibraltar