I am a Health Visitor

Jul 11 2022 50

I am a Health Visitor Podcast artwork

Welcome! We are Health Visitors in the UK and this podcast is for other Health Visitors, parents or anyone who works with families from antenatal to 5yrs. In each episode we chat about professional issues, common practice questions and cutting edge research to keep your knowledge current. We've done the reading and we'll discuss it together over a cup of tea, giving you the concise headlines you need to know to feel confident and prepared. PLEASE SEND REQUESTS / TOPIC SUGGESTIONS TO: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/I-am-a-Health-Visitor-1732845000342774/ Twitter: @iamaHV Thanks for listening! Jenny & Amy

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All about Expressing Breastmilk

Jul 11 2022 72 mins

This episode links really well with our previous episodes about combination feeding and giving top ups (linked in resources section below). In this episode Jen shares all her IBCLC wisdom with us on expressing breastmilk. How much do you know about flanges?! We talk about: - when to express - the emotional and physical load of pumping - how to pump - 'hands on' expressing - does th

Infant poo under 6months - what's normal and what's not

Jun 13 2022 50 mins

Jen and Amy delve into the murky world of infant poo in the first six months! What to expect, what is a worry and what isn't. How is poo different between formula and breast or chestfed babies? Or mixed fed babies? What does that green poo mean? What about giving a bit of fruit juice or water for constipation? We answer all your questions and as usual it turns out to be more compli

Is there a new SIDs Biomarker?

May 30 2022 31 mins

Amy and Jen take a dive into a recent research paper suggesting there may be a newly identified biomarker for infants at high risk of SIDS. We look at the recent paper in detail, review the statistics and the methodology and consider what we are able to say and what we are not, as well as possible harms that might come from misinterpretation of the results. We also discuss the arti

Breastfeeding for Public Health Professionals - with Alison Spiro

May 16 2022 49 mins

Amy and Jen chat to the inspiring Alison Spiro who has a PhD in anthropology as well as practicing as a health visitor. Listing all her achievements is a podcast summary in itself, but across her career she has worked as a breastfeeding counsellor herself, established an incredibly successful peer support service, taken both a hospital and community trust to BabyFriendly accreditat

Slings and Babywearing with Maria Renshaw

May 02 2022 31 mins

This week Jen talks to Maria Renshaw who runs a local sling library in Colchester about her experience of slings and all things baby-wearing from a very practical perspective. She goes through different types of baby wearing from soft wrap slings to buckle carriers with some tips on the differences, fitting, safety tips including the TICKs acronym, common worries about hips and kne

BASIS on Sleep Pods and Nests

Apr 18 2022 44 mins

Amy and Jenny chat to the lovely Alice from the Baby and Infant Sleep Information Source (BASIS) about sleep pods and nests. We cover the evidence base - what can we and can't we say about these products. Are they safe or not? In what circumstances? How do we actually know one way or the other? We talk about what manufacturing standards these products are held to, as well as some o

Contraception

Mar 21 2022 57 mins

Jen and Amy go through the world of contraceptive advice. Although not directly our work, it's definitely connected and very relevant to health visitors. Often a bit of a neglected topic, it can be something we feel uncomfortable or poorly prepared to discuss with families. We hope our discussion solves some of those problems as we go through the contraceptive options for families,

The infant microbiome - headlines from the CHILD study

Mar 07 2022 54 mins

Jen and Amy gently guide you through the main headlines of the huge, massive, overwhelming and generally awe inspiring 'CHILD Cohort Study' all about the human microbiome. We will discuss how all the things you might expect, and some very unexpected factors, can all impact the infant microbiome and the important long term impacts this can have on that child's health. If you would l

Measurement of Postnatal Anxiety with Dr Vicky Fallon

Feb 21 2022 65 mins

We discuss postnatal anxiety, specifically the measurement of anxiety after birth. In practice we are often using generic anxiety measures which are simply just not appropriate for use in this specific period of a parent's life. Listen in to learn more about the scale, how it can be used and how you might be able to incorporate it in your clinical practice. As ever, we love to hear

Hepatitis B Selective Vaccination Policy

Jan 24 2022 21 mins

Amy and Jen discuss a government guidance document published in the past year which reviews the Hepatitis B selective immunisation pathway for pregnant people and newborns. We look at this guidance from the perspective of health visitors in practice - what do you need to know? What should be happening, what actually IS happening and what do you need to do when this crops up on your