SALE Moor mum-of-two, Helen Calvert, has teamed up with other mothers and healthcare professionals, to help new parents navigate the first weeks and months of their parenting journey.

The Growing Families conference in Manchester City Centre on October 6 is the first of its kind in the UK. It aims to tackle the mountain of postnatal information available and present evidence-based ideas in an accessible way, allowing parents to make informed choices that are right for their families.

Helen and the Growing Families team work daily with individuals overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices new parents are expected to make.

They wanted to support those facing information overload, by gathering professionals from many different branches of perinatal care to share their expertise in negotiating the important transition into parenthood.

Helen explained: “The phrase I hear the most at the end of the first year as parents is “I wish someone had told me.” Growing Families is not about telling you, but it is about helping you to choose what information is relevant to you, and making that information available to you from some of the most knowledgeable people in the field.

"It is about helping you to face those postnatal weeks with confidence, armed with a toolkit of ideas that you can use, adapt, enhance or discard, whatever the circumstances of your growing family.”

The day will offer opportunities for parents to explore their own ideas about parenting style (understanding me), discover what baby expects (understanding baby) and find out how they can maintain the relationships that matter (understanding us). Key speakers include Professor Helen Ball from Durham University’s Parent-Infant Sleep Lab and Alison Baum from children’s charity Best Beginnings. Helen will be sharing wisdom from her studies regarding ‘normal’ sleep patterns and expectations surrounding sleep and Alison will be focusing on maintaining the relationships that matter to us in the midst of the challenges of new parenthood.

Attendees will also be able to personalise their experience by choosing from breakout sessions featuring topics such as breastfeeding, formula feeding, slings and baby carriers, looking after your emotional wellbeing, coping with additional challenges (such as prematurity, illness or disability) and the use of doula birth partners. Helen continued: “The information you can read about parenting seems to fall into two categories: those dealing with routines and strategies that appear to make life easier for parents, but don’t much take into account the needs of baby, and those focusing on the biological and evolutionary needs of baby, but that don’t seem to offer many solutions as to how on Earth a normal person in the 21st century can meet those needs without losing their mind.

"We aim to send people away from Growing Families with their sanity intact and a toolkit of ideas to tackle the challenges of new parenthood in a way that feels right for them.”

Growing Families takes place on October 6 at The Friends’ Meeting House, 6 Mount Street, Manchester, M2 5NS. Tickets to the event are £30 each or £50 for two, including refreshments, lunch and goody bags.

For more information and tickets, see www.growingfamilies.co.uk