The New Arrival of MAMA Academy!

In May 2009 my life changed forever. I, Heidi Eldridge founder of the Mama Academy, was a healthy young Mum, pregnant with my first baby. I developed gestational diabetes but was content as I managed to keep my sugar levels low through a carefully planned diet. My antenatal appointments were filled with excitement as everything was going to plan. Both myself and my baby looked very healthy and happy all the way through until I reached 36 weeks. At a routine appointment, my midwife couldn’t find my baby’s heartbeat.

Aidan James Eldridge was born still on the 15th May 2009 weighing 5lb 4oz. His death is marked as “unexplained” on the post mortem results but it is thought that my placenta had stopped working. The shock and devastation that followed cannot be described & my life was completely turned upside down. I had no idea that babies were still dying in the UK, or how common it is.

I have since been blessed with another son, Tobiah Lysanias(Goodness of God, drives away sorrows) who arrived safely into the world on the 1st October 2010. During this pregnancy I made sure I was well educated & armed myself with as much knowledge as possible so I knew the warning signs & when to get checked by my maternity team.

After attending various Sands meetings I noticed that many mums were receiving inconsistent advice from their midwives. I did a lot of research and got in touch with my local hospitals to present my findings at their MSLC meetings. It was at these meetings that I learnt the true value of midwives, and that they need support & access to new information, just as much as expectant Mums do. This led me to set up MAMA Academy, the pregnancy school!

MAMA Academy provides vital education to both expectant Mums and healthcare providers. We aim to help Mums have healthy pregnancies and keep Midwives up to date with all the latest guidelines, studies and research. All our information is provided by our team of healthcare professionals and the midwives side of our website has been accredited by The Royal College of Midwives. Our mission is to make a difference in the world and see the numbers of baby loss decrease.

You can make a difference too by sharing our facebook page, sending us your pregnancy stories for other mums/ midwives to learn from, and by becoming a MAMA member for free via our website.

Thank you for all your support and helping us to make a difference :-)

by Heidi Eldridge founder of the Mama Academy.