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03
Mar 2023
Two former hospital midwives are inviting families who had a baby during the covid pandemic to an event this weekend.
Sue Oxendale and Jane Bamford have set up social enterprise Taking Baby Steps to offer extra support with issues including anxiety during pregnancy, birth trauma, and baby loss.
The pair encountered many parents facing those challenges during their combined 35 years as midwives at Harrogate District Hospital.
Sue said the issues were exacerbated in 2020 and 2021, when many women had to give birth and go through the early days of parenthood with much less support from their families than would usually be possible.
She told the Stray Ferret:
Sue and Jane left their hospital roles last year to set up Taking Baby Steps and were given several grants, including £10,000 from the National Lottery, to fund their work.
They have begun to work with parents looking for more support than is available through the NHS and the funding enable families on low income to access their help.
The pair will also offer support to NHS professionals and students to help them deal with the challenges they may face while supporting patients.
Meanwhile Jane, along with her husband, experienced her own struggles with infertility and unsuccessful IVF, before adopting two children.
Those experiences influenced her work at the hospital, she said, and led her to take an interest in issues relating to fertility, trauma and anxiety. She said:
Tomorrow's event will focus particularly on families who have been affected by the covid pandemic.
From giving birth without their chosen birth partners to missing out on the support of wider family and other parents during the baby's early weeks and months, Sue and Jane believe there has been a significant impact on new parents' experiences and their feelings about the beginning of their parenthood.
The drop-in session will bring together parents to chat about their experiences and find mutual support.
It takes place tomorrow at Chain Lane Community Hub in Knaresborough, from 9.30am to 11.30am. Tea, coffee and cake will be on offer, and anyone is welcome to call in during that time.
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