It’s official – from April, all new mothers in England will receive a six-week check focusing on their physical & mental health, as well as one for their baby.
This fantastic news marks a landmark success for NCT’s #Hiddenhalf campaign, which we at Seraphine have been proud to support.
“It’s fantastic news that NHS England has responded to our
calls for better postnatal mental health checks. This is a huge step forward
and means more new mothers will be supported to talk about their mental health
problems and get the help they need.”
Angela McConville, NCT’s Chief Executive
About the Six-Week Check
This new appointment will be separate from your baby’s six-week check, though it may be scheduled immediately before or afterwards to save you a journey. It’s an opportunity to focus on how you are coping, both physically and mentally, and to raise any concerns you may have with your GP.
The hope is, that this dedicated maternal health check will help to catch more cases of postnatal mental illness & get mothers who are struggling, the help they need.
Why it’s So Important
Mental health problems affect at least 1 in 10 women during
pregnancy or the first year after birth.
But around half of new mothers’ mental health problems don’t get picked up at all.
The old system of a combined mother & baby appointment simply didn’t offer enough time to tackle tricky issues like postnatal mental health.
Now every new mum will have at least 10 minutes with a healthcare professional to focus purely on her.
Here at Seraphine, we are thrilled to hear such positive news & would like to congratulate the NCT & everyone else involved in this campaign!
She glowed in a full Seraphine outfit for a photoshoot with French magazine Point de Vue. She was simply radiant in our powder blue maternity coat with our white blouse & faux leather leggings for a smart casual look.
Stephanie also wore our blue tailored dress for an event at the European Convention Centre in Luxembourg.
Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, mother of 7-year-old Princess Estelle & 3-year-old Prince Oscar, was a big fan of Seraphine maternity clothes, as were all three Swedish Princesses.
Princess Madeleine of Sweden, mother of 5-year-old Princess Leonore, 4-year-old Prince Nicolas & 1-year-old Princess Adrienne, chose Seraphine for the most special occasions while she was pregnant.
She commissioned this stunning bespoke maternity gown to wear to the prestigious Nobel Prize presentation ceremony in Stockholm.
Mother of two boys, 3-year-old Prince Alexander & 2-year-old Prince Gabriel, Princess Sofia of Sweden discovered Seraphine through her sister-in-law Princess Victoria.
She wore this full Seraphine outfit recommended by Crown Princess Victoria, who had previously worn both pieces.
The mother of 6-year-old Prince George, 4-year-old Princess Charlotte & 1-year-old Prince Louis, Kate relied on Seraphine maternity dresses & coats for royal occasions throughout her pregnancies.
This week on the blog, we’re taking a
behind the scenes look at our charity partnership with Frip Ethique – Oxfam’s
social enterprise, based in Senegal.
For the past 4 years, we at Seraphine
have been donating all of our un-sold stock & un-used samples to the scheme
– approximately 14,000 maternity garments so far!
By donating unused maternity clothes, we are minimizing our waste & helping Frip Ethique to fight poverty & make a positive impact in Senegal.
Frip Ethique means ‘ethical second-hand clothing’. The scheme employs 36 full-time workers based in Senegal, most of whom are women. Their job is to sort clothes donated to Oxfam and sell them on to local market traders.
So not only does the scheme
provide permanent, fair employment for its own workers, but it enables over 500
small traders to make a living running their own businesses.
All profits from the scheme are invested back into Oxfam’s work fighting poverty in Senegal.
Life at Frip Ethique
The women working on the scheme are paid
a fair wage, offered job security, sick pay and a pension. These are just a few
of the things they had to say about how Frip Ethique had positively impacted
their lives.
“Working at Frip Ethique has changed my life. The work is good. We work together; we laugh together. It’s changed everything.” – Charlotte Lopy, Clothes Sorter
“Now my children are all at good schools… I’ve worked at a lot of places but this is the best… We’re well paid, we’ve got job security, and we have sickness benefits and pension.” – Amy Collet Gueye, Stock Manager
Here at Seraphine, we are passionate about reducing our impact wherever we can. We are proud to work with Frip Ethique, minimising our waste & making a difference to the lives of people in Senegal.
Dust off your Charleston skills ladies, we are officially back in the 20s! As we enter the 2020s many parents are looking back to the glitz & glamour of the jazz age for a touch of vintage baby-naming inspiration.
When it comes to colour names, the last decade was all about bold bright shades like Scarlet, Violet, Saffron & Blue. But 2020 is ushering in a new age of softer pastel hues.
The name Grey, in particular, has been climbing up the charts & can work for both boys & girls.
Of course, not everyone’s looking as far back as the 1920s for naming ideas. One of this year’s top baby name trends is a little more recent!
Many of those becoming parents this year were kids or teenagers in the 90s & some are choosing nostalgic 90s inspired names.
Names we love:
Brittany Nicole Austin Amber Nicholas Kyle
4) Baking Boom
According to the SSA (Social Security Administration), Baker is one of the fastest climbing baby names in the US at the moment. And Baker is just the cherry on the cake when it comes to the blossoming baking baby name trend…
Keeping on top of
things isn’t always easy. It’s hard enough alone, but add your partner, kids
& childcare options into the mix and it can start to feel like you’re
fighting a losing battle!
Enter, Coorganiz – the new family organisation app designed by mums, for mums.
Set up in 2017 by entrepreneurs and mothers Anne-Béatrice Sonnier and Emma Berger, the app is designed to help parents manage their busy lives more easily, coordinating between partners, grandparents, nannies and anyone else who helps out with baby.
You can share your little one’s schedule – from doctor’s appointments to your childcare rota – especially helpful for those heading back to work. And as your child grows, the app can handle all their weekly activities, play dates, appointments & more.
Everyone in your group will have up to date info, with automated reminders for all your events – Coorganiz takes care of it all.
On top of this, you can share shopping lists, to-do lists, notes, documents, images & contact numbers with everyone who needs them. So you can be sure that everyone looking after your little ones is on the same page & has access to all the info they need.Coorganiz is available both on the App Store and Google Play as well as on your desktop with everything you need to organise your family life.
Almost 100,000 parents
are already using Coorganiz to help them stay organised. Why not give it a try
& see what all the fuss is about!
The secret’s out – the Pantone colour of the year is… *drumroll please* Classic Blue!
Described as a timeless and enduring blue hue, Classic Blue offers elegance & simplicity.
Suggestive of the evening sky, it’s a reassuring shade that is said to highlight our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era – whether that’s from one decade to another or from pregancy into motherhood!
Leatrice Eiseman, Pantone Color Institute’s Executive Director explains what inspired this year’s choice:
“We are living in a time that requires trust and faith. It is this kind of constancy and confidence that is expressed by Classic Blue, a solid and dependable blue hue we can always rely on. Imbued with a deep resonance, Classic Blue provides an anchoring foundation.”
Our favourite thing about Pantone’s choice this year is that it’s SO easy to wear!
It’s such a dependable shade, you can wear it anywhere. Whether at work, at home, or even for special occasions, a classic blue dress will never be out of place and we have plenty of gorgeous options for your maternity wardrobe.
It’s also the perfect shade for an accent accessory to complete your outfit. Add a blue bag, scarf or even a statement pair of boots for a truly eye-catching addition.
During pregnancy your body is changing so quickly, that turning to such a dependable shade can be a wonderful way of feeling more comfortable & confident in your new curves.
Presenter & musician, Myleene welcomed her third baby
this year – little Apollo.
She relied on Seraphine maternity occasion wear for red carpet events, galas, premiers & more! She also loved our skin to skin top after Apollo was born.
Australian Actress & star of A Discovery of Witches, Teresa
Palmer welcomed her third baby in the spring – a little girl called Poet.
She celebrated International Women’s Day with friends wearing one of our signature knotted maternity dresses – the same style loved by the Duchess of Cambridge.
The couple, who recently celebrated their 16th wedding anniversary, learned the happy news by way of a gorgeous gender reveal with Hello! Magazine.
Ola is currently six months pregnant with her first baby, but her pregnancy journey didn’t have the smoothest start. After three years of trying naturally, she conceived on her first round of IVF.
Ola wore a stunning Seraphine maternity gown in soft mist grey for the big reveal, then slipped into our cosy grey roll neck afterwards – the perfect neutral colour palette for a surprise gender reveal.
Ola confessed, “If you take a while to conceive, you end up not worrying about what sex the baby is, you just pray that it will be healthy.”
Her husband James agreed, “I never used to believe people when they said that but it’s so true. It doesn’t matter, girl or boy, it’s a miracle either way.”
Gender Reveal Outfits
Whether you know your baby’s sex & want to let friends
& family know, or like Ola & James, you want the surprise for yourself,
a gender reveal is a wonderful way to break the happy news!
When it comes to the perfect gender reveal outfit, check out our collection of stunning maternity cocktail dresses online. We’ve got options in pink or blue if you want to drop a hint, or a whole range of more neutral colours & prints if you prefer to keep people guessing.
Nothing says royal baby quite like a Seraphine maternity dress – we were the preferred maternity brand of the Duchess of Cambridge throughout all three of her pregnancies after all!
This blue lace dress is inspired by one of ours, which was worn by Kate Middleton, The Duchess of Cambridge when she was expecting Prince Louis.
She wore our gorgeous lace dress to meet the King and Queen of Norway on her official royal tour of Scandinavia back in 2018.
Kate’s Top Maternity Coats
Our Wool Maternity Coat in camel is also featured in the movie, which makes sense – the Duchess of Cambridge was a big fan of our maternity coats while she was pregnant.
She wore our Natasha Cashmere Blend Maternity Coat during both her second & third pregnancies. She also looked stunning in our Marina Maternity Coat as she arrived in New York at the start of her first official royal visit to the US.
There’s nothing like a festive movie night this time of year, so why not give it a watch over the Holidays & play spot the Seraphine style!
Nothing compares to those precious fourth trimester days with your new baby – getting to know each other, learning to pick up on their cues and falling head over heels in love!
Here are our top must-haves for that special post-pregnancy phase…
1. Skin to Skin Top
The benefits of bonding skin to skin with your new baby simply can’t be overstated. From the moment they arrive, a simple skin to skin snuggle has the power to soothe, regulate their temperature & even boost your milk supply!
Our signature tops allow you to enjoy all the benefits of skin to skin while keeping your hands free!
Getting out & about with your new little one during the fourth trimester is so important, and babywearing is the perfect way to do it. A stroll around the park with your baby strapped on will help to boost your mood & ease you back into your active lifestyle.
Featuring an innovative zip-off pouch at the front, our 3 in
1 coats & hoodies are designed to provide a flexible fit through pregnancy,
and then zip up over a baby carrier after baby is born.
If you plan to breastfeed, then a good collection of nursing clothes & nursing bras is a must.
Many of our maternity dresses & tops are made with discreet built-in nursing features, so you may find that you can keep wearing many of the pieces you bought for pregnancy!
5. Nursing Shawl
And last but not least, there’s nothing quite like being snuggled up with your little one in a knitted nursing shawl while you feed.
Our soft shawls are designed to keep you covered up in
public & cosy at home.
Most importantly, enjoy this special time mama – the fourth trimester flies by & they grow so fast!
Sabine is a classically trained master gold & silversmith who handcrafts beautiful jewellery pieces & objet d’art from her atelier in London.
She’s designed pieces for the Nelson Mandela Foundation, had her work worn on the Oscars red carpet & recently worked on a gold plated corset for Angelina Jolie, who wore it at the premiere of the new Maleficent movie… all this while raising her two gorgeous little girls (two & four).
After launching her own exclusive collection – Arabian Nights – at the prestigious ‘by appointment’ department at Harrods in 2010, she turned her attention to creating a more affordable ‘ready-to-wear’ line… allow us to introduce, Atelier Romy!
Beautifully crafted
in sterling silver, vermeil and fine gold, these covetable pieces offer the
look & feel of high jewellery and range in price from just £50 to £500…
perfect for Christmas, or even a push present!
Our favourite pick for a push present is a ring or charm from Atelier Romy’s classic Emerald Collection. Select pieces can even be hand engraved on request, so you can personalise your gift with the initials of your new little one.
Such a special piece of personalised jewellery makes a beautiful gift for a new mum or mum-to-be, and can even be passed down to the next generation as an heirloom 18th or 21st birthday present.
Here at Seraphine, we are always inspired to see successful entrepreneurial mamas taking charge and doing what they love all while wrangling little ones – we think Sabine is doing an amazing job!
Autumn has to be our favourite season for getting outside into nature. Nothing beats bundling everyone up in cosy coats & wellies for a big family adventure.
Seraphine model & mama of 2, Gabie loves our 3 in 1 range – she’s tried them all & has worn them with both her little ones, 3 year old Kaia & 1 year old Mason.
New mama Charlie & baby Jessie love the slate parka –
she had only good things to say…
“Cannot recommend this baby wearing parka enough! So warm and snug, Jesse loves it and I can just remove the panel for when he’s running around the park in years to come”
