Sharon Trotter RM BSc

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Find out about my book Breastfeeding: the essential guide Find out more about TIPS Limited Find out more about my work on neonatal skin care and cord care
A registered midwife and mother of five, I have worked in my local maternity hospital, in between babies, for over 23 years. I now work part-time on the midwifery bank and independently as a breastfeeding consultant, neonatal skincare advisor and Mother & Baby Consultant. As well as my passion for breastfeeding, my other interest has been to look into baby skincare. To this end I have spent years researching and writing about these subjects and have been published in professional journals (see publications above). My proposed new guidelines for babycare are now policy within my NHS area and many other units are following this lead. TIPS Ltd is now a stakeholder with the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) who’s recent Postnatal Care Guidelines (2006) now recommends that cleansers/baby wipes no longer be used on newborn skin. I will continue to spread the word to parents and healthcare professionals throughout the UK and beyond. I would like thank all the people who have contacted me since this web site began in October 2002. I now get emails from all over the world. When I first went online I didn’t think anyone would be able to find me If you have any comments or suggestions about breastfeeding, skincare or this web site, feel free to email me.
	Breastfeeding: the essential guide - ISBN 0954838106 My book, ‘Breastfeeding: the essential guide’, was published in 2004 by my own company ‘Trotters Independent Publishing Services’. The story of my road to publication was featured in the MIDIRS Digest in December 2004. Comments, news, press cuttings, stockists and much more can be found on my new site www.tipslimited.com. Since first becoming available from Amazon.co.uk in November 2004, my book has remained the top ten breastfeeding books from over 800 similar titles! Following an excellent review in the internationally respected ‘Journal of Human Lactation’ my book is now available from the American giant www.barnesandnoble.com. Thank you to all my new customers and I hope you are finding the advice useful.[back to top]
	March 2010 - new look TIPS website… We are FINALLY ready to launch our brand new design website. Everything you have come to expect from our TIPS online community is here but with a fresher look for the new decade. To coincide with the website launch we are delighted to publish our TIPS e-newsletter 18 which is packed full of features including 8 new competitions for you to enter. The results of our trial of belly balms have just been published. This is the first time we have tested baby balms and we are sure you will enjoy trying the winning products. You can read all about the TIPS-tested belly balms here. April 2009 – TIPS Award Scheme introduce one-off trials… April 2009 – TIPS Awards Scheme introduce one-off trials… As well as our standard trials covering baby baths, baby wipes, baby skincare, breast pads/treatments, nursing bras/tops, cuddle towels, decongestants and TENS machines we have recently added one-off trials. When considering products for testing, I aim to source what I believe to be the best products on the market. Where such a product is quite unique, I will set up a one‐off trial ‐ we have done this for the Kamillosan thermometer soother, Shampoo Rinse Cup, Miracle™ Scarves, Miracle™ Bands and the Dribblebuster® bib. More trials are planned for more information, visit the TIPS Awards section of our sister site. September 2008 – TIPS now has a brand new forum! I don’t know where the time goes! Already it’s September and so much has happened in the past few months. For all the news and latest info on recent TIPS trials you will have to check out the newsletters but the big news has got to be our brand new TIPS forum. This new facility went live on August 22nd and it is becoming the place to catch up with your friends and chat about all your parenting dilemmas (of which there are many!). Come and join us online where you can access the latest news, newsletters and post topics on anything you wish to speak about (within reason – please check out our forum rules first). After a few days news of our website had travelled and we suddenly had an influx of 140 new testers in two days! Registration had to be closed while we caught up but we are back on track now so pop across and see what you think. Just a few more registrations and we will be hitting the magic 500th! Stats are also up 25% and they are staying there which is great news for everyone! May 2008 – TIPS Awards are now one year old and the TIPS website continues to go from strength to strength. TIPS Ltd has been trading for almost four years. Following the re-launch of the website in March 2007 traffic has more than tripled! We are now regularly attracting over 4500 visitors a month (200,000 hits) from all over the globe. The new features, including a log-in facility, members’ area, test results, newsletter and online shop, are especially designed to attract even more visitors. Since the launch of the TIPS Awards Scheme, this unique independent testing programme has really caught the imagination of the public. Our ever increasing pool of parent testers (now over 500) have helped to complete trials of baby wipes, baby skincare products, baby baths, breast pads & treatments, cuddle towels, open cups, nursing bras, decongestants and TENS machines. We have more trials out as we speak and many more planned for the future. To see the latest results complete with detailed information on how each trial was carried out click on the TIPS award logo at the top right hand corner of the TIPS home page To find out more on what we are up to or to enter our many exciting competitions with wonderful prizes please check out our e-newsletters or consider joining up as a member or parent tester. We have plans to set up a TIPS forum so watch this space…[back to top]
Skincare and cord care
January 2010 Care of the Newborn by Ten Teachers Hilary Lumsden and Debbie Holmes Paperback RRP: £22.99 ISBN: 9780340968413 Published: 29/01/2010 Almost two years ago I was invited by Hilary Lumsden to write a chapter on neonatal skincare for a proposed publication. Part of the popular Ten Teachers series, Care of the Newborn by Ten Teachers presents a detailed account of care of the normal neonate, including the minor health problems that midwives are expected to deal with on a daily basis, and provides care and treatment strategies for the neonate and family. I am delighted to see the final result in print complete with my very own chapter (7) which includes 3 pictures of my baby sons and a testimonial from a TIPS Parent Tester. You can find out more here.
May 2009 Baby care: back to basics™ leaflet Version 6 (updated in line with the latest research) is being printed as we speak. Sponsored by TIPS award winning company Jackson Reece baby wipes (www.jacksonreece.com) this award winning leaflet is distributed around the UK at various professional and parenting events. Supplies can also be purchased by health professionals or maternity units – email Sharon for details. Not only does this leaflet give you all the hints and tips you need on baby skincare issues, skin-to-skin contact and feeding but it now covers the latest and safest advice on reducing the risk of cot death. If you would like a free copy of this leaflet please email Sharon.
19 November 2008 Sharon Trotter wins the Dermatology award in Nursing in Practice Inaugural Award Ceremony! We are thrilled to announce that Sharon and her Babycare- back to basics™ leaflet has just won the very first Nursing in Practice Dermatology Award for her work on baby skincare issues. This came as a wonderful surprise as she attended the Awards lunch at the Birmingham NEC. The Nursing in Practice Awards 2008 rewards best practice in a variety of clinical areas, and are designed to recognise excellence and innovation in the primary care setting. Categories included: Cardiac care, Childhood immunisation, Dermatology, Diabetes, Mental health including dual diagnosis, Obesity, Respiratory care, Sexual health, Travel health and Team of the year. Thank you to the team of judges at NIP and to Espere Healthcare Ltd sponsors of the Dermatology Award. This is not just a wonderful honour for Sharon and her tireless work in the field of neonatal skincare but adds weight and credibility to the growing evidence that a simpler regime for all babies and children really does make a difference. A special edition of the Babycare- back to basics™ leaflet is planned to promote this recent win. If you would like a free copy please contact us. You can find out more about the NIP Awards and the other winners on the day here or on the TIPS website. If you would like to use this in a news feature and need more details please contact us by email or call 01292 312 410 or 07921 674 987. [back to top]
July 2008 – Examination of the newborn and neonatal health – A multidimensional approach Lorna Davies and Sharon McDonald Published by Elsevier - published 25 June 2008 Price: GBP 22.99 EUR 33.99 ISBN: 978-0-443-10339-1 I am thrilled to announce that my first chapter in an academic textbook has just been published. Chapter 14 is entitled Neonatal skincare and cordcare: implications for practice. It documents the latest research, and highlights the most important findings, from my six published article on this subject. New guidelines for practice are explained, inline with the latest recommendations from NICE, and the chapter concludes with Jacqueline’s story charting her personal experience of how this new skincare regime had a positive effect on her children’s lives – Jacqueline is one of our very own TIPS testers. Examination of the Newborn contains the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on how to perform a complete assessment of the newborn infant, with specialists from different disciplines providing in-depth information on examination of the body systems. The book also includes discussion of the psychosocial and emotional elements resulting from any unexpected findings. [back to top]
May 2008 – Version 5 of the Baby care: back to basics™ leaflet I can’t believe that version 5 of this leaflet is now available. This is now sponsored by not only one but two TIPS award winning companies: Halos n Horns and Weleda. It is distributed around the UK at various professional and parenting events. Supplies can also be purchased by health professionals – contact Sharon for details. Not only does this leaflet give you all the hints and tips you need on baby skincare issues but it now covers the latest and safest advice on reducing the risk of cot death. If you would like a free copy of this leaflet please email me. I have also been busy writing a new chapter on neonatal skincare for the forthcoming textbook by Elsevier called: Examination of the newborn and neonatal health (a multidimensional approach) co-edited by Lorna Davies and Sharon McDonald. You can find out more here. [back to top]
October 2007 - Nursing in Practice Event – London I was honoured to be presenting my work on baby skincare to other primary healthcare professionals at the London NIP Event. You will be able to download this presentation by checking out the NIP website. In addition to their magazine and website Nursing in Practice delivers a series of Events. These are the largest series of free conferences and exhibitions dedicated to primary care nurses across the UK. These in depth educational conferences address all the current clinical and policy issues affecting the primary care community. Nursing in Practice Events have been running since 2003 and all our previous events have received approval from the RCN Accreditation Unit. June 2007 - My article ‘Baby products – it’s all in the labelling’ was published in the June issue of the MIDIRS Digest which concentrated on the way baby products are labelled and how legislation is prompting companies to become more responsible for the way they market their products. This is encouraging and time will tell whether it leads to clearer advice being provided on such products. [back to top]
	May 2007 - Version 4 of the Baby care: back to basics™ leaflet has just been printed. It gives up to date advice on safe skincare, and includes information from the articles I have published in professional journals. Copies of the leaflet will be handed out to parents and professionals at conferences and baby shows around the UK. You can also order copies of the leaflet by following this link. [back to top]

March 2007 - NICE guidelines I am a stakeholder on NICE and I have commented on the forthcoming Antenatal care guidelines in the hope that the latest advice will reflect that featured on the Postnatal Care guidelines last year. I will update you when these are published in 2008. The Postnatal Care Guidelines (July 2006) published by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (www.nice.org.uk) recommend that baby products should be avoided during the first few weeks of life. This is great news and means that more maternity units in the UK will soon be updating their policy on neonatal skincare. The guidelines also recommend not using antiseptic powders or alcohol wipes for cord care of the healthy term infant. [back to top]

February 2007 - I was involved in the second MIDIRS Webinar on 8 February 2007. I hope to encourage debate on neonatal skincare and so that all maternity units in the UK to practise safe skincare for newborns using the water-only regime. The webinar went really well and was followed up in July with a feature on cup feeding and its associated risks. Have a listen and feel free to come back to me with your comments.

January 2007 - my Motion to the 2007 RCM Conference (Seconded by the Ayrshire Branch of the RCM) to stop the use of free samples of baby products on postnatal wards in the UK was sadly rejected.But I plan to resubmit again next year so watch this space! [back to top]

September 2006 - It was gave me great pleasure to present my work on neonatal skincare to the third Annual Midwifery Conference at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.

April 2006 - I continue to work away spreading the message of safe baby skincare to parents and professionals. It was lovely to meet so many new parents at the Glasgow Baby Show and I will be busy over the coming months at the RCM Conference in Torquay, the Baby Show in Birmingham and my first visit to Northern Ireland in June. My latest paper was published in the RCM Midwives Journal. This brings my work on neonatal skincare bang up-to-date and gives evidence of why newborn skin is so delicate and why extra care is vital in the early weeks of life. I have received many emails from midwives, student midwives and nursery nurses asking for details of my work to take back to their units. As a result of this, baby skincare policies are now being updated around the UK which is great. As well as my new 'Babycare: back to basics leaflet' I have also written the skincare tips for the latest Cotton bottoms brochure. [back to top]

December 2005 - So much has happened in the past few months I can hardly keep up! Firstly I graduated with my BSc in Advanced Studies in Midwifery at the University of Paisley. It was the culmination of many years work and as you can see by the picture it was a magical moment.

I am now busy working on my updated skincare paper and hope to have it published some time in the New Year.
If you have been watching the C4 programme ‘Make me a Million’ you will have seen Leila Wilcox and Ivan Massow winning with their excellent range of safe and affordable baby and children’s skincare products called Halos N Horns. I was involved in a purely advisory role because they were willing to follow my skincare guidelines and advocate the use of plain water for the first month of a baby’s life. I am delighted to announce my recent appointment as Director of the Institute of Dermapaedics This was originally set up by the team at Halos’N’Horns and I am honoured to have been given the chance to take forward the issue of neonatal skincare. By setting strict criteria and guidelines for companies wishing to use the 'Dermapaedic' trademark, parents can be assured that successful products will be safe for use on babies over one month of age. The IOD will continue to provide up-to-date information and evidence-based advice regarding ingredients that are widely used in personal care products. I am especially keen to inform the general public on the potential dangers associated with the early overuse of baby products. By raising this issue I truly believe that the spiralling levels of eczema, asthma and related allergies can, in time, be stabilised and maybe even reversed. This is early days but in time the IOD will be known for it’s excellence in baby/child skincare and the ‘Dermapaedic’ trademark will become the respected benchmark for others to aspire – watch this space…[back to top]

June 2005 - I am pleased to announce that I have completed my University course and will be graduating in November with a BSc in Advanced Studies in Midwifery from the University of Paisley. I would encourage any budding students to ‘go for it’ and get back into the academic routine. As part of my course I applied for two modules at level three through the APL (accreditation for prior learning) route. This simply means that my published work on skincare and cordcare (including the actual process of research used) was reviewed and credited towards my degree. This process was not without its difficulties and I intend to feature this shortly. I found it hard to find information on the APL/APEL programme and would like to help other students who are thinking of applying for accreditation for work previously carried out and relevant to their individual course. My statements of learning and written account (5000 words) can be accessed here. I hope this will help other students on how best to proceed.
I have completed the audit at my local NHS unit following introduction of new babycare guidelines leaflet. The results are very positive and will be published shortly.
I have also been busy attending conferences and baby shows around the UK spreading the word about my guidelines and introducing my book, Breastfeeding: the essential guide to parents and professionals. The official launch was held in Scotland on May 6th with the kind help of my guest of honour, Dame Lorna Muirhead DBE. A wonderful day was enjoyed by all and we raised an amazing £825 for the local Malcolm Sargent House, part of the UK Charity CLIC/Sargent. The event has been featured in the local and national press, alongside mentions in the Midwives Journal and the Practicing Midwife Journal. Thanks to everyone who supported me and who gave so generously to such a good cause.
My recent ‘viewpoint’ article called ‘Skin-to-skin contact: treatment or therapy?’ was published in the conference issue of the RCM Midwives Journal (May 2005). This is based on the skin-to-skin article featured on this site.
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August 2004 - Life has been pretty hectic over the past few months and looks set to become even more so in the future. My skincare/cordcare guidelines are now policy within NHS Ayrshire & Arran. My new leaflet is distributed to all new mothers at their booking visit and the maternity unit, including the paediatric wards in Ayrshire, no longer supply free baby products for use with babies under one month of age and only plain water and cotton wool is used. This is a great step forward and will hopefully lead to an overall drop in levels of skin disorders and referrals to skin specialists. I have updated staff within the maternity unit and paediatric units and I will continue to spread the word further a field. In May this year I presented a poster at the annual RCM Midwives conference in Cardiff and was amazed at the positive feedback I received. Recently an article by Joan McFadden, in the Glasgow Herald, highlighted my work and this too has publicised my work to a wider audience. Preparing my breastfeeding book for publication has taken most of the summer so I hope you will all enjoy the end result when it is released? Click here for the full reference to the March 2004 BJM article.[back to top]

January 2004 - Since last updating this website in June 2003 a lot has happened with my skincare and cordcare work. I decided to go back to University and am now studying for my BSc in Advanced Studies in Midwifery. I never thought I would be back at school at the age of 42! Anyone else out there thinking about returning – GO FOR IT!
I have been asked by the British Journal of Midwifery to write another article about Skincare/Cordcare and this is due for publication in the March 2004 issue. I will give the full reference when I have it.
My local Health Trust has now passed my ‘Guidelines for Baby care’, and they are being printed, ready for distribution to all parents and staff in the coming months. I have also been asked by the University to talk to the student midwives on this subject- a very frightening thought! [back to top]

June 2003 - Following on from the article on skincare, I have now researched and written another article on Cord Care. This will be published in the RCM Midwives Journal (July 2003, Vol. 6, No 7.)
The article is called: Management of the umbilical cord - a guide to best practice. [back to top]

October 2002 - As well as my passion for breastfeeding, my other crusade has been to bring about a change in the way we care for the newborns skin. To this end, I have spent a lot of time researching and writing an article, which is published in the RCM Midwives Journal. (November 2002, Vol. 5, No 11.)
The article is called: Skincare for the newborn: exploring the potential harm of manufactured products.