When creating our courses we collaborated with some of the world’s leading experts in the childcare and medical worlds. They include:
Breastfeeding Expert. Midwife and Breastfeeding Educator, UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative.
Baby Nutrition Expert. Paediatric Dietitian, Antenatal Dietitian and Member of the British Dietetic Association.
Registered Midwife. Midwife at Kingston Hospital and specialist midwife in Perinatal Mental Health Midwife.
Consultant Paediatric Neurologist. Consultant Paediatrician at Cambridge University Hospital NHS Trust.
Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and lead obstetrician in maternal medicine at The Whittington Hospital in London.
Consultant Obstetrician and Lead Clinician for Labour Ward at The Whittington Health ICO NHS Trust. Obstetric lead for the North Central London Maternity Network.

Family doctor and General Practitioner with a specialism in mental health and children.
Child development and parenting expert. PhD in parenting and child development from Cambridge University.
Nursery & primary school teacher. Montessori specialist.
Nurse, trained health visitor and midwife. Sleep expert and sleep education consultant to the NHS. Director of Millpond Sleep Clinic.
First aid trainer and trained paramedic. St John Ambulance.
First aid trainer. St John Ambulance.
Chief Executive of the Child Accident Prevention Trust.
Early Years Education Specialist. Former Director of Early Years at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, former advisor to the Department of Education, Ofsted inspector and Headmistress.
Osteopath with MSc Paediatric Osteopathy and Bachelor’s degree in osteopathy (a BSc Hons, BOst Recognised). Doula with Doula UK. Special interest in antenatal osteopathy and supporting gentle births.
Nurse Consultant at the Greater Manchester West Foundation Mental Health Trust, with over 30 years of direct clinical experience of children and young people presenting with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and self-harm.

Registered Nutritionist (Association for Nutrition)MSc(merit). Nutritional Medicine from University of Surrey. Registered Health Visitor with a PGDip as a specialist practitioner in Public Health, & Registered Nurse.
Mark is the co-founder and Headteacher at HackLab. He is an experienced school teacher who was recognised by Ofsted as an ‘Outstanding’ classroom teacher in 2014 and is a Raspberry Pi Certified Educator. He has been interviewed about coding on the BBC and the Naked Scientists show and recently presented a TEDx talk at Kings College London in the autumn of 2016.
Emily is a lead researcher in Statistics and Child Health National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford. She works on the Perinatal Mental Health Indicators for England project. The project was commissioned by the Department of Health for inclusion in the NHS Outcomes Framework and Public Health Outcomes Framework from 2016.
Community Midwife Team Leader at Whittington Hospital, London
Senior Research Associate at UCL Institute of Education. Working in partnership with Save the Children.
Senior Lecturer in Developmental Psychology – Anglia Ruskin University
Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) in London and author of “You’ve Got It In You: a positive guide to breastfeeding.”
Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant based in the northwest of England, working within the NHS in research, training and project management, in private practice assisting mothers and babies with feeding issues, and the tertiary sector with various national organisations.

Dr Amy Brown is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health at Swansea University where she leads the MSc in Child Public Health.

Dr Helen Crawley is a Director who manages and co-ordinates First Steps Nutrition. She is a dietitian and public health nutritionist with over 30 years experience in public health nutrition across the lifespan.

Pharmacist

Wendy Lewis-Cordwell, Director of Bereavement Care Services – Cumbria and Lancashire, and the North West Bereavement Care Development Consultant for Child Bereavement UK. With 27 years experience in the NHS, and a trained facilitator for BSA ‘When a Patient Dies’, National Gold Standards Bereavement Care Training, Child Bereavement UK, Grief Journey UK, NCPC Associate and Bereavement Care Services, educating professionals in areas of loss and bereavement.
BA (Hons), Mont Dip, Dyslexia Guild, PG SpLD, PATOSS
Head of Specialist Education and Wellbeing for Cavendish Education
Education Consultant for The Child and Adolescent Development Centre
Jessica is a Level 7 Specialist Teacher and Assessor with a specialism in Dyslexia and in-depth experience of supporting children with Autistic Spectrum conditions and/or social communication difficulties.
Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry and President of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD)
BDS MFDS RCS (Eng) MSc MOrth RCS (Eng) FDS (Orth) RCS (Eng)- Specialist Orthodontist
Lead FGM midwife for the WHITTINGTON Health Trust and has been working for WHITTINGTON since 2004 a registered Nurse with a BSc in Midwifery.
Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist. ‘Labour Ward Lead’ at Whittington Health. Miss Wilson is passionately interested in women’s experience and safety through all stages of pregnancy. She also holds the position of Royal College Workplace Behaviour Champion.

Deputy Head of Maternity Services NHS England
Specialist Registrar and Fellow in Obstetric Anaesthesia at The Whittington Health ICO NHS Trust.
Trainee representative for The Central London School of Anaesthesia.
Barts Health – NHS Trust has very kindly allowed Essential Parent to use its wonderful “Going home – our guide to postnatal care” leaflet to provide the information for many of our articles, including this one.
I am doctor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, I started working as a doctor in London and then moved to Manchester more recently to complete my specialty training. I have an interest in finding innovative ways to improve the care of women both during the antenatal period but also during childbirth. Working within this field is an incredible privilege and I find it very rewarding.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) works to improve health care for women everywhere, by setting standards for clinical practice, providing doctors with training and lifelong learning, and advocating for women’s health care worldwide.

CASS Clinical Leadership Fellow
The Portland Hospital
Irene Gafson is an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with an interest in medical and patient education. She works Asa post-CCT fellow at the Whittington Hospital and a senior teaching fellow at UCL Medical School.