The Pregnancy, Baby & Toddler Fair incorporates a programme of free talks and children's activities throughout the day.
To reserve free places at any of the following talks, please scroll to the bottom of this page and complete the Booking Form. Note: To reserve seats at a talk(s) you must first have purchased admission tickets for the event, which can be done HERE
Talks last approx. 40 minutes.
(10.00 am) First Aid For Your Children
Speaker: Ryan Wilson (Harberry First Aid Training)
Ryan Wilson will be demonstrating how to successfully deal with a choking infant or child. Choking is every parent’s worst fear, but the reality is you will most likely encounter it at some stage of your parenting journey. With quick and confident action, you can assist a child who is choking to free their airway of obstruction and restore normal breathing. Ryan will demonstrate how to deal with choking in both newborn infants and young children and will explain the potential pitfalls of each scenario. Ryan will also take a Question & Answer session on other first aid issues.
(10.30 am) What To Expect From A Pregnancy Scan
Speaker: Joelene Weir (From Bump to Baby)
During your pregnancy, if everything is fine and straight forward you will get 2 scans on the NHS: one around 12 weeks, normally known as your ‘booking appointment’ and another around 20 weeks, normally known as the ‘anomaly’ scan. However, 9 months with only 2 scans can feel like a long time. So, you may opt to have a private scan.
In this session, we will talk about the range of scans from:
(11.00 am) Child Car Seat Safety
Speaker: In Car Safety Centre
Over 70% of child car seats are either unsuitable for the child or incorrectly fitted – and in some cases both! Parents must know how to select the correct car seat – because even if a seat is fitted correctly, but not compatible with your child’s age and size, it will not perform how it is intended to. Attend this session for guidance on how to select and fit a car seat appropriate for your child.
(11.30 am) Improve Your Child’s Sleep
Speaker: Danielle Francis (Nurturing Nights)
In this talk, Danielle will be addressing how sleep works and some common hurdles parents face with their child’s sleep. You can also expect some myth busting around infant sleep and ways you can help improve some of the issues you may be having. Danielle will also be doing a Q&A session to get your sleep questions answered. With so much conflicting information on the internet, parents can be left confused and defeated. So, come along and have a chat with Danielle to get some gentle, evidence-based tips and techniques for your family’s sleep.
(12.00 noon) What’s Stopping You From Having Your Dream Connection?
Speaker: Anne Matthews
Disconnections between parent and baby can occur at any time during the miraculous journey of conception through to birth and beyond. Anne Matthews specialises in helping parents to reclaim their authentic, heart and soulful connection with their baby and child. By learning how to read and interpret your baby and older child’s Baby Body Language – a parent and baby can mend and heal from traumatic disconnect. Anne has developed and taught the concept of ‘Baby Body Language’ to parents, teachers and health professionals in the UK, Ireland and the USA. See www.wholesomelyconnected.com for more information.
(12.30 pm) Bonding With Baby Before Birth
Speaker: Window to the Womb
At Window to the Womb, we provide private baby scanning from 6 – 40 weeks gestation. Join us to find out how your baby has been developing from week 6 and how bonding with your baby during pregnancy offers many benefits, not only to the baby but to the parents as well. Includes a Q+A session with a Sonographer.
(1.00 pm) Family Financial Planning
Speaker: Michelle Toal (Mortgage Direct NI)
With 14 years’ experience as a Protection Specialist, Michelle Toal has helped thousands of clients keep their families safe and financially resilient – and she has first-hand experience of just how important it is to have correct protection in place. Book in for this session and learn how to protect your family against the financial impact of critical illness / death.
(1.30 pm) Birth Options and Positive Birth in Northern Ireland
Speakers: Leslie Altic and Emma Fraser
There are many options and decisions to make when planning for birth. As doulas and antenatal practitioners, Emma and Leslie are passionate about supporting parents to build a plan for birth that increases their confidence and supports a positive birth. We have worked with parents from across Northern Ireland to understand their options – from birth at home to caesarean birth. We will share tips and information so that parents can have the most positive birth in any setting, from creating your birth environment and birth preferences.
(2.00 pm) Baby Naming Ceremonies
Speakers: Team from NI Humanists
The team of accredited celebrants from Northern Ireland Humanists will talk about baby naming ceremonies, a great way of celebrating and welcoming a new addition to your family. The focus is on the child – or children – being named and the friends and family that surround them.
People choose to have a humanist naming ceremony because they want to bring family and friends together to celebrate one of life’s key milestones. They are ideal for families who want to mark the occasion in a way that isn’t religious.
A naming ceremony can be held anywhere – in your garden, a park or a beach! It’s all about bringing your closest family and friends together to celebrate the occasion with you and your child.
(2.30 pm) Has my Child’s Speech and Language Development Been Affected by the Covid Pandemic?
Speaker: Joanna Cushley
Between the ages of 2-5 years is when children do the majority of their language learning. Prior to this, children learn the building blocks of communication. This includes skills such as attention and listening, play skills, eye contact, following instructions as well as getting their message across and their needs met – both verbally and non-verbally.
Many parents often express concerns that their child isn’t engaging or mixing with other children, isn’t following instructions, is late to start talking or their speech sounds unclear. In particular, following the recent covid pandemic there are many concerns around children’s social development due to opportunities that they have missed out on.
During this talk, I will be addressing the average milestones for speech and language development in the 0-5 years age group, the impact covid has had on this development as well as signs to look out for that may indicate difficulties. I will present strategies that you can use at home to assist with your child’s speech and language development – and when to seek professional help.
Joanna Cushley is a paediatric specialist speech and language therapist. She is the owner of Speech Therapy NI and runs a clinic from Kingsbridge Private Hospital in Belfast.
(3.00 pm) Workplace Rights: From Pregnancy to Parenthood
Speaker: Ruth Tinney, Employment Relations Officer at the Labour Relations Agency
In this talk, you will receive information on your rights in the workplace throughout pregnancy and parenthood. Some topics covered include: pregnancy at work; maternity leave and pay; returning to work; and flexible working. There will also be a question and answer session.
Booking Form
Please complete this form and send to us using the ‘Submit Request’ button.