About
Hey Mama!
Welcome to my little corner of the internet! If you’d like to know a bit more about me, grab a cuppa and read on. ☺️
Despite attending private antenatal classes before welcoming our first baby in 2018, my husband and I still felt lost and overwhelmed after his birth. The well-meaning advice from healthcare professionals, family, friends, and the picture-perfect parenting we’d seen on TV often clashed with our natural instincts. We didn’t always have the confidence (or time!) to trust ourselves, which led to some regrets along the way.
Our journey into parenthood wasn’t exactly smooth. Our son arrived six weeks early via emergency C-section, with a rare condition called bilateral choanal atresia (blocked nasal airways). He was resuscitated at birth, spent six weeks in the ICU, and underwent several corrective surgeries. For weeks after he came home, plastic stents in his nasal passages made breastfeeding incredibly challenging.
Determined to provide him with breastmilk, I became a pro at expressing. In the hospital, he was fed through a tube, and at home, we used bottles. I’d planned to transition him to breastfeeding, but the challenges felt impossible, and I didn’t know where to turn for help. By six months, we’d switched to formula because I was burnt out from pumping and trying to regain some balance after those turbulent early months.
We also didn’t think bedsharing was an option with a premature baby, but when our son turned one, we discovered Montessori-style parenting. Transitioning him from a cot he hated to a floor bed was a game-changer!
Seven months later, we welcomed our daughter via planned C-section. This time, her birth was calm and joyful, and my recovery was so much smoother. She latched onto the breast right away and naturally weaned at 5.5 years old!
Now both our kids are in school, and we do our best to follow a gentle parenting approach in our everyday lives.
Before starting a family, I graduated with an honours degree in biology from London in 2001. My early career was dedicated to supporting premature and sick babies, starting as a laboratory technician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, making Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) IV bags. I later spent 18 years at UCL–Great Ormond Street Hospital as a laboratory scientist and manager in vaccine research. Through this work, I honed my ability to sort fact from fiction—an invaluable skill for parenting!
In January 2022, I launched Informed is Best to help parents make informed, research-backed decisions for their children. Later that year, I combined this passion with my love of sewing and launched Touched Out Mama, making breastfeeding clothing for mums. Both ventures now live under the Touched Out Mama brand.
In 2024, I completed the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM) Foundation Course in Breastfeeding Support and started The Signposting Mums Club on Facebook to help connect and empower parents.
When I’m not working, you’ll likely find me doing Pilates, litter-picking in the New Forest, walking our cheeky toy poodle, or at a local dressmaking class.
If you have any questions or just want to chat, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
With love,
Polly xx
