Sharon Trotter RM BSc

All about my book Breastfeeding: the essential guide All about TIPS Limited All about my work on neonatal skin care and cord care
A registered midwife and mother of four, 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. My work on breastfeeding and baby skincare has been published in various journals over the past few years (see publication above) and this now includes subjects like skin-to-skin contact, cup feeding and a soon to be published article on cord blood banking (Midirs June 2008). 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 best selling breastfeeding books out of 449 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]
	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 5500 visitors a month (145 000 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 260) have helped to complete trials of baby wipes, baby skincare products, baby baths, breast pads & treatments, cuddle towels, open cups, nursing bras 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 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 continues to be sponsored by Halos n Horns and was given out to parents at the Birmingham Baby Show last month. 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.
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.

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.