Baby Sense speaker profile: Tina Otte

One of the expert speakers at this year’s Johnson’s Baby Sense Seminars is Tina Otte, an internationally certified Childbirth educator (CBE), qualified midwife and a specialised prenatal exercise instructor. She is the specialist editor of Your Pregnancy magazine and the author of a number of books on pregnancy and birth.

Tina and has been preparing expectant couples for the childbirth experience and early parenting for 30 years. She has a special interest in pre-birth life and the influence it has on who we turn out to be, as well as the importance of that “golden hour” after birth.

Tina Otte

In her seminar talk, Birth with Sense, she will be focusing on the importance of skin-to-skin contact between mom and baby in that magical hour after birth. There is a need for close intimacy at this time and it is critical that a mother be allowed and encouraged to HOLD, TASTE, TOUCH, LOOK AT & TALK TO her new baby.

Both mom and baby are using all their senses as the bonding process starts to occur. Benefits for babies that Tina will talk about include;

A more rhythmic breathing pattern
Stable temperature
A normal heart rate.

They feel safe and are soothed by the sound of mom’s heartbeat. Mom’s instinct kicks in and allows her to tune into her baby’s needs more easily.

Hear more from Tina at The Johnson’s Baby Sense Seminars in Durban (16 August), PE (23 August), JHB (06 September) and Cape Town (13 September). She will be joined by Meg Faure (Baby Sense co-author), Dr Claudia Gray (paediatrician) and Sr Ann Richardson (Toddler Sense author), giving expert advice and survival tips for those hectic first few weeks and months of parenthood.

Book now online www.babysense.com/talks-and-workshops or call (021) 671 3245. Cost per seminar is R240 and R80 for the massage workshop.