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Parenting is one of life’s greatest joys, but between juggling sleepless nights, endless to do-lists and being a support network for everyone else, it can be hard to find time for you in amongst the chaos. To mark World Mental Health Day (10th October 2024) and raise awareness for all types of mental health, Vital Baby is launching the ‘It’s at the Heart of What We Do’ campaign, designed to educate, guide and support parents facing mental health difficulties.
Aiming to create a strong support network for parents, Vital Baby announces its collaboration with the “It’s at the Heart of What We Do” experts, MANtenatal, The 360 Mamas, and well renowned psychotherapist Anna Mathur. This initiative is dedicated to providing a wealth of expert advice, mental health resources, and practical tools that assist parents to navigate the ups and downs of parenting.
To support and help parents struggling with their own mental health, Anna Mathur shares a few tips to build healthy coping mechanisms and ask for help when needed. From those "I just need five minutes!" moments to finding balance amid the chaos, here are some simple, practical actions to implement if they’re facing an internal battle right now.
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‘It’s at the Heart of What We Do’ expert Anna Mathur explains:
“So often, the recognition that we are finding things hard is followed by the sense of failure. Someone might say to themselves ‘I should be finding this easier, I don’t feel good enough’. As a therapist, when working with parents who feel this way, we tend to conclude that they are simply finding hard things hard, and that is not a sign of failure or a question of how much you love or are grateful for your child.
“It is natural and expected to feel challenged and stretched at times of immense change and transition. Finding things hard, can however, be a prompt to seek additional resources or support. It is said that ‘parenting takes a village’ yet so often people struggle to accept or seek the support they need and deserve. I encourage parents, where they can, to allow others to practically and emotionally support them, and to find those who can validate their experiences of parenting and any specific challenges they face, either online or offline. Having 2-3 people in your life who support you without judgement meets a fundamental human need to feel seen and connected.”
By recognising that it’s perfectly normal to feel challenged, parents can foster a healthier mindset that empowers them to seek help when needed. The journey of parenthood is not meant to be travelled alone; it thrives on community, understanding, and mutual support.
Here are Anna’s tips to give you a fighting start in trying times:
Tip 1: Don’t Dismiss Your Feelings
Many parents I see as a psychotherapist feel shame about their emotions, often thinking, “I should feel grateful when I’m overwhelmed.” It’s okay to feel both grateful and overwhelmed! Instead of criticising your feelings, label them and add, “and that’s okay.” For example, say, “This is hard, and that’s okay.”
It’s natural to find parenting hard, overwhelming, or frustrating. By not shaming yourself for your emotions, you can better assess what support you need in those moments of overwhelm. If you think you shouldn’t feel a certain way, you’re less likely to reach out for help!
Tip 2: Widen Your Support Network
Despite being more digitally connected than ever with friends from school, work, and parenting groups, many still feel lonely. The frequency of notifications doesn't equate to meaningful connections, leading to a sense of isolation.
Loneliness can affect your enjoyment of motherhood, even when surrounded by others. To combat this, seek deeper connections with a few select friends by consciously opening up beyond the usual “I’m fine.”
Tip 3: Take Any Opportunities for Rest That Arise
As a parent, it's easy to believe you must juggle everything perfectly. If you see rest as indulgent rather than a basic need, you may find yourself on the verge of burnout.
I advise parents struggling to rest to visualise plugging themselves into the wall like a phone. Also, consciously slowing down your speech and movement signals to your body that you’re not in a rush, reducing stress. Remember, you need rest and energy to fully engage in joyful parenting moments and handle challenges.
Tip 4: Update Your Anxiety Toolbox
Anxiety often serves as a background buzz in parenting, but it can take up a lot of mental space. Whether it’s the belief that you should always protect your child or past trauma making you hypervigilant, it's important to update your anxiety toolbox with new strategies to manage those anxious moments.
Many techniques can prevent thoughts from spiralling into anxiety. One effective method is counting backward from 100 in threes when you notice yourself ruminating. This interrupts the spiral while helping you calm your body with deep breaths.
Tip 5: Mother Yourself
In our quest to raise happy children, we often neglect our own mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Remember, you’re the pilot of your parenting journey. If you’re running on empty and in survival mode, it’s crucial to prioritise your own needs.
Nurturing your well-being not only benefits you but also helps your child. As you consider your child's needs, remember to ask about your own. Don’t hesitate to accept support from others when offered; it’s part of caring for yourself.
The campaign will be brought to life through real-life journeys, plus engaging social media content designed to encourage parents to talk, so that every journey can be filled with kindness and care (even if it is amongst the chaos!).
If you’re trying to conceive (TTC), you probably know that there are certain foods and nutrients that become especially important once you’re pregnant. But nutrition plays a vital role even when trying to conceive, much like laying a strong foundation before constructing a house.
Certain nutrients create that foundation by supporting egg and sperm health (yes, nutrition matters for both partners), hormone balance and creating a hospitable environment for a fertilized egg to implant. In fact, studies show that certain nutrients can help increase fertility and improve success rates for both natural conception and fertility treatments.
In other words, nutrition is a key player in the TTC journey, but getting the right nutrients in the right quantities can be tricky. That’s where supplements come in. Just as you’d take a multivitamin to fill in nutritional gaps for optimal health, fertility supplements can give you that extra nutrient boost.
Choosing supplements for your fertility journey
When choosing a supplement to support your fertility journey, look for science-backed, high-quality ingredients. Our editors are careful to select and partner with brands that use ingredients that have been clinically studied to support fertility. Eu Natural® (pronounced you) covers all those bases and more. We love knowing that Eu Natural® products contain zero artificial additives, binders, or fillers and are lab-tested to ensure purity and potency.
When choosing a supplement to support your fertility journey, look for science-backed, high-quality ingredients. Our editors are careful to select and partner with brands that use ingredients that have been clinically studied to support fertility. Eu Natural® (pronounced you) covers all those bases and more. We love knowing that Eu Natural® products contain zero artificial additives, binders, or fillers and are lab-tested to ensure purity and potency.
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Vital Baby is a family-run, UK business with over 50 years’ experience in the baby industry. They listen to what parents want and build this into their products. They have won 116 awards across the Vital Baby range since their re-brand in 2019 and sell products to customer across the globe. Their ambition is to be parents’ first port-of-call for trusted baby products - anytime, anywhere.
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