Australian Midwife Incorporates The HUG into Her Practice

Sandra Morgan-Young, newly Certified HUG Teacher, is a pediatric nurse, midwife and IBCLC in Parkdale, Victoria, Australia. She now serves young families as a Maternal and Child Health Nurse. With her many years of experience, Sandra is delighted to find that HUG Your Baby training gives her new ways to support the parents she meets. Let's hear what she learned by completing the Certified HUG Teacher training.

Sandra and baby, Owen

It was exciting to realize during my HUG training that I did not need to try and teach parents everything I thought they needed to know all at one time. Though I was concerned I would not have time to include HUG techniques in my already busy consultations, I'm finding that I now spend less time talking generally and more time concentrating on the particular infant I'm with. As a result, I feel an increased connection to parents, who love discussing their infants' personalities and are so proud of their babies' achievements. Consultations have become less one-sided (me talking at parents) and more interactive. And, I notice that parents are not getting that "glazed over" look so much.  

My philosophy has always been to help families enjoy their parenting, see how capable their infant is, and increase their confidence. Parents really want practical techniques, and l find The HUG is easy for me to teach and for parents to understand. Most parents already instinctively use swaddling and swaying and whispering to their infants as means to calm their child. The HUG helps me reassure them that they are on the right track, and then add some additional ideas and techniques.  

I was already aware of some of the HUG material discussed, but this online HUG training gave me a great framework for presenting the material for increased impact. The handouts are useful too. I find The HUG ideas are catchy and memorable and fit easily with other frameworks. They appear to be culturally acceptable, which is so important.

What is great about The HUG is that it is relevant in all the areas that l am passionate about: sleeping, settling, teen parenting, breastfeeding, infant massage, premature infants, depressed parents, and bonding. And, dads love the "Rebooting" idea. Some grandmas have learned ways to be supportive without giving a bottle or food.

l love exploring "goodness of fit" with temperaments of children and their parents. I also like to put a positive spin on individual attributes. For example, I told one sleep-deprived couple that their baby was very mature (since he was born at 43 weeks), and they glowed as they described his ability to play under his gym and on Mum's tummy. 

It is interesting to reflect on "sticky spots" with parents (which I can relate to the literature on 'ghosts in the nursery') and how to respond to and unravel them. The HUG's "Roadmap to Breastfeeding Success" really resonates with me and dovetails well with a recent presentation I made on a similar subject.

The "Just tell me what T. O. Do" tool for helping a crying baby (talk, observe, do or act) has proved to be a useful teaching tool. It also reminded me that the 6-week peak crying period is based on a baby's gestational age.

The thing I have found most challenging is practicing "Broadcasting" a child's behavior. Sometimes I struggle with "Starting Here, not There," as my natural inclination is to take a more "prescriptive" approach to teaching. 

I have been teaching parents for over 35 years and am always looking for better ways to support new families. The HUG is giving me those new tools and techniques. I look forward to consolidating my HUG skills and to convincing colleagues to join me in this exciting, new approach to parent teaching.

Getting "a HUG" from Iran!

I just spent a wonderful week in Durham with Maryam Mozafarinia, a NICU nurse and newly graduated Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, who is the first Certified HUG Teacher from Iran. Maryam discovered HUG Your Baby over the internet and corresponded with me for a year or so while she translated the material into Farsi, developed "HUG for Iran", and completed a remarkable Masters of Nursing research. project using HUG Your Baby resources and materials. Maryam, now immigrating to Canada,  joined me and my family for several HUG adventures and good old fashion family times.

Saturday I cooked her a belated Thanksgiving dinner, trimmings and all, and my family joined in with stories, song and sharing. (Here she learned to make the almost-famous Tedder sweet potato orange cups!) We had just enough energy after dinner to catch a set of the Onys Club Boys show where my son, Jonathan, plays the bass.

Over the weekend Jim and I Skyped briefly with Maryam's Mother in Iran and had several Skype visits with her dear Uncle in San Diego who immigrated to our country decades ago.

Sunday we went to "The Longest Night", an amazing show at the UNC Planetarium. (Jonathan contributed to the writing and performing of the music for this show.)

 Monday she joined eleven other HUG enthusiast for the fist-ever "HUG Visioning" - considering HUG's past, reviewing its present activities and imaging HUG's future. (More on this soon).

Tuesday morning we visited Dr. Jim Helm, a NBAS (Brazelton Exam) trainer, in Raleigh at Wake Medical Center's NIDCAP-based NICU.  We started the afternoon seeing  patients together at UNC's Family Medicine where we discussed how The HUG can be integrated into the day-in and day-out life of a primary care provider.That afternoon Maryam met with the UNC School of Nursing to explore the possibility of (and received positive encouragement about ) participating in their upcoming DNP program.

Wednesday Maryam helped me with the all-day HUG training for UNC's Maternal-Child Nursing Faculty. I was delighted that she had time to share more details about her Masters thesis with a room full of fine educators.

Thursday morning I put her mighty MSN mind to work analyzing the pre- and post-test from the Wednesday teaching (which showed an exciting increase in learning.) We finished this academic project just in time for Jim to take her to the Carolina Friend's School where she met with an Arabic class and talked about her mother country and its language. After a yummy dinner with Jim and Jon at our favorite Indian restaurant, we attended the Friend's School Holiday dance performance.

Maryam is young, but I needed a NAP after so much excitement!

It is hard to say how very blessed Jim and I feel having invited Maryam into our home and into our lives. It amazes Maryam and I that we so recently "met" over the internet and now have so many rich, real-life stories to share. We spent four days discussing our passion for supporting breastfeeding moms,  empowering new moms and dads, and facilitating the growth and development of their babies. After a week of nurses, childbirth specialist and birth conversation Jim is entertaining the idea of childbirth education as his next career!

Using Skype to Share The HUG

Earlier this month we had a HUG Your Baby training in Durham. I was delighted to welcome a dozen doulas, five nurses, and a social worker to his fun, all-day workshop. We reviewed The HUG "Zones" and "SOSs" as well as the powerful HUG techniques: "Broadcasting" and "Commentating" on a newborn's behavior. There was time to share stories, to role-plays (with those small-for-gestational-age dolls from the dollar store!), and to review some moms-teaching-moms video clips.

An important part of any HUG training is to learn about the variety of HUG experiences across the USA and even around the world. I was eager to introduce participants to the incredible, new research by Maryam Mozafarinia. And, what a surprise it was to our HUG learners to be able to see and hear the researcher herself coming to us from Canada through Skype.

After receiving permission from me, Maryam translated The HUG DVD and handout into Farsi. As a NICU nurse she understood the stress that fathers of premature babies experience. She demonstrated that The HUG decreases a father's stress level and enhances a father's knowledge of his baby's behavior.

How wonderful that Skype brought Maryam into our classroom, allowing us to hear directly from this skilled researcher who is the first Certified HUG Teacher in Iran!

© HUG Your Baby 2012

Finland Professional Studying The HUG

It is always fun to be in touch with like-minded professionals from around the world. Awital Zingg-Bollag is a certified Hypnobirthing Practitioner and teaches childbirth preparation classes in Finland. See her webpage here. Because she is from Switzerland, lived in the States for five years and now lives in Finland, she mostly works with international women.

I love how she describes her journey to this work.

"In an effort to allow other mothers-to-be to become more educated on the miracle of pregnancy and birth, to enable them to critically question the status quo, and to help them achieve their goals of having a calm and peaceful birth, I started my training as a HypnoBirthing® 
practitioner."

Though her life is busy with a 4- and 2-year-old and 9-month-old, she is in the process of becoming a post-partum doula. HUG training is part of this process. We wish her well in her important efforts to support and encourage women in her corner of the world!

HUG Your Baby goes to Bermuda!

My name is Katrina Ball. I have a very supportive husband and am a mother to a 19 month-old named Elijah. The birth of my son motivated me to serve and educate women going through this same, wonderful time in their lives. During the birth of my son and during the early months of his life, I had great support from family, but I would have gained so much more confidence and knowledge had I experienced the type of support I am now able to give others.

I am a Certified Baby Planner through the International Academy of Baby Planner Professionals and am currently awaiting my certificate as a Birth Doula. In addition, I am working towards certification as a Postpartum Doula, a Childbirth Educator, and a Breastfeeding Counselor through Childbirth International. Having attended several births as a birth doula, I am seriously giving thought to studying midwifery as well.

In Bermuda I have started a Professional Baby Planning and Childbirth Service called Mindful Mothering Along with the childbirth classes I teach, I also wanted to teach a newborn class, and that's how I discovered The HUG program. I immediately resonated with it and have chosen this program to use in the newborn classes I teach. I have also begun to use the HUG priniciples as a doula and breastfeeding educator.

Recently, I attended a birth and noticed the mom needed some special help when her baby started getting fussy. I brought his hands to his chest and gave the shushing sound, and he quieted down immediately. It is wonderful to see The HUG in action already!

HUG Your Baby goes to India!

Breastfeeding Support for Muslim Women

HUG Your Baby goes to Ghana!

HUG Your Baby donates The HUG DVD to this important project!

"Born and raised in Ghana, Africa, Linda works as a midwife in the small hospital that she and her husband, an OB/GYN, opened last May. She is licensed as a State Registered Nurse as well as a State Registered Midwife. Her current load includes attending about 2 births a week, serving as General Manager, Human Resource Manager, and Executive Director of the hospital,teaching childbirth classes every Saturday and more! Talk about multi-tasking!!!"
Read on in CAPPA Newsletter!

Get "Two HUGS" in Mexico City

Watch this video (3 minutes) to see how a doula gives "Two HUGS" to her patients in Mexico.

"El Abrazo llega a México" - The HUG goes to Mexico!

"Guadalupe Trueba imparte el curso de Birth Doulas aprobado por DONA International en México y ha encontrado muy útil el material contenido
en "El Abrazo" (Coming your way soon in English!)




Guadalupe Trueba is a doula and a doula trainer in Mexico. She is excited to share her experience using The HUG in Mexico City.

Giving Birth in India

Priti lives in Hyderabad. She hears birth stories that send a chill down her spine. Five months pregnant herself, she wants a different experience. This week Priti feels the kicking of her new baby for the first time. These tiny flutters just below her belly button, remind her that a REAL person is living inside of her. As a mother-to-be she dreams of holding her baby close, nursing with confidence, and sharing her child with others she loves. Priti wants to welcome her little one into this world... gently, lovingly, in the same spirit in which he or she was convieved. Medication, inductions, forceps, c-sections...this is the world of medicine. Priti wants less - less intervention - so that she can have more - the power of giving birth.

Priti finds her way one day to the work of Birth India (http://www.birthindia.org/). Here she discovers that others share her dreams. Women involved with Birth India see birth as an experience to embrace. Though medical professionals are important for the 5-15% of babies who need intervevtion, Birth India knows that the majority of new mothers will deliver healthy, full term babies when given the resources and support they deserve. Priti meets with the local childbirth educator, reads the literature they suggest, and grows to understand the importance of choosing natural childbirth both for the mother and for the baby. With the kind help and support of this birthing community, Priti takes control of her birthing experience.

Raj was born today - full term, a healthy, viginal birth. Now as he lies between her breasts, he looks up to his mother with a quiet, alert stare - like they had already known one another, for a long time. He comes to this world with a vigor and a determination Priti can already see and appreciate. Priti shares this precious moment with her husband, her mother, and her sister. For months and years to come she will share her choice of how to give birth with other young women as well, for now Priti has her own story to tell - one that can give knowledge and inspiration to others.