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The Birth of the Modern Mum

A new mothers no nonsense guide to looking after herself in baby's first year

Published by Ventura Press
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

So much of modern motherhood is targeted at looking good even when you feel crap and making your baby look good even though he or she won’t settle or feed or stop crying, all in the shortest time frame possible. The Miranda Kerr and Heidi Klums of the world make it look easy; have a baby and get back on the runway 2 minutes later with a flat stomach, silky hair and glowing skin.

What about the mothers who get acne from pregnancy, or whose hair turns grey, or can’t loose their baby belly in 10 seconds flat? This book is for them.

Heather Irvine, Clinical Psychologist and head of the R.E.A.D Clinic, appropriately balances clinical expertise with common sense “mother appeal” for mothers struggling in their baby’s first year.

The Birth of the Modern Mum looks at the serious issues such as Postnatal Depression (PND), relationship changes and physical changes that mothers face in their first year with a new baby while still providing light-hearted quick fixes that any mother can implement in short period of time.

Heather taps into the realistic image of motherhood leaving behind the doldrums of medical professionally written books. The Birth of the Modern Mum is a book that any mother can be proud of. It can be placed on the coffee table right next to the Women’s Day or Famous magazines without shame should guests drop by. Because whilst the book tackles the factors that underlie PND and related cognitive and affective dysfunction no mother wants to have a heavy PND-title book sitting around in her lounge room.

And let’s face it, once a book is put away on the bookshelf, in the life of a busy mum it’s unlikely to come out again.

About The Author

Heather Irvine is a clinical psychologist with over fifteen years’ experience working with a range of psychological presentations including women adjusting to parenthood, child behaviour difficulties, trauma, anxiety, depression and personality disorders. She has worked both in Australia and a range of locations throughout Northern England and London in the UK. Heather grew up in the small town of Pearl Beach NSW with her two sisters, mother and father—media personality and child psychologist Dr John Irvine. Heather was awarded the WH Ward Prize at the University of Newcastle for her Masters thesis on parent training models. Heather remains the youngest female appointed director of the Central Coast Grammar School. She is the current Chairperson of the Central Coast branch of the Australian Psychological Society. Heather is also the clinical director of the READ Clinic, which with its twenty-two psychologists is one of Australia’s largest psychology practices. Heather speaks regularly on local ABC radio, writes regular articles for the magazine KidzontheCoast,  and has appeared on a number of television programs regarding parenting, including 60 minutes. She is regularly quoted in numerous other articles regarding women and children in a range of family and health magazines. She was recently awarded the prestigious Roger Wurm Award for her presentation at the 2013 conference for the Australian Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynaecology (ASPOG). She is currently happily married to a husband in the wine industry and has two gorgeous sons. She participates enthusiastically but rather unskillfully in a number of charity fun runs and triathlons.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Ventura Press (June 1, 2014)
  • Length: 368 pages
  • ISBN13: 9780992453282

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