Heidi Sze is a dietitian and nutritionist from the Mornington Peninsula. Here, staff reflect on her new book Nurturing Your New Life.

‘For me, 2019 has been the year of pregnant friends. While it’s all very exciting to see people entering a new stage of life in this way, it can be difficult to see the pressure they are put under by society to be the most perfect pregnant person ever. Heidi Sze’s book is gentle and non-judgemental, and includes sections on self-care during and following pregnancy, tapping into your intuition, recipes for post-baby life, and of course looking after a new baby. Sze is a dietician, and has a really great outlook on food and how to embrace body changes, rather than fearing them. This is the book I’ll be buying for all of the new parents in my life!’

– Ellen Cregan

‘I’ve been a fan of Heidi Sze’s popular parenting blog since a friend recommended her to me earlier this year. The first article I read was all about introducing your baby to solids and it was filled with advice that I found both inspiring and realistic. Since then I’ve made a few of her recipes – most recently this delicious cauliflower bake – and I’ve also enjoyed reading her soothing updates about the good and bad of daily life with her two small people. Nurturing Your New Life is her first book and it’s honestly such a reassuring and practical book for dealing with the realities of pregnancy, and the early months of parenthood. I wish I’d read it earlier!’

– Bronte Coates

‘I am surrounded by babies and their parents. I’m in one of those times in my life where it seems everyone I know is sleep deprived, slightly anxious and looking at me with envy as my beautiful kids are now all grown up and can feed themselves, dress themselves, sleep through the night (and day), and communicate exactly what it is they want. They are unable to clean up after themselves but at least now they are not dribbling their meals over me.

Heidi Sze’s book is absolutely full to the brim with practical and accessible advice for the families dealing with early days of parenthood. There is comforting news about sleeping, feeding and being mindful about how your entire life has changed. I wish I had this book decades ago because I would have jumped at a chance to read how all parents are shocked to the core and overflowing with love. Also the recipes to feed your toddler at the back of the book are actually delicious, in particular the salmon smash is my new go-to for excellent sandwiches.’

– Chris Gordon

‘It’s not often that the word ‘lovely’ is the most accurate word to describe anything, let alone a book about pregnancy and parenting, but my overwhelming impression of Nurturing Your New Life by Heidi Sze is of a genuinely lovely book, one that has been thoughtfully brought into the world with the kindest of intentions.

Mornington Peninsula local Heidi Sze is a dietitian and the author of the popular parenting and food blog Apples Under My Bed. Nurturing Your New Life is her first book and the kind you can enjoy reading from start to finish, as Sze writes about her own parenting journey throughout with a wonderful, unassuming honesty, but it is also easy to jump in and read from any chapter. I, as the parent of a toddler who still finds certain aspects of sleep challenging, turned first to the section on sleep!

The sleep section immediately put me at ease and made me confident that this is a book I could give to any parent or caregiver without fear of offending them. Crucially, while Sze had her own expectations and preferences for parenting before she had her first child, she is open about the things that went to plan, the things that did not, and the fact that her preferences and experiences will not be identical to anyone else’s. She is also clear about the influence of her circumstances on her experience of parenthood, and I found her compassionate reflections on heartbreaking and joyful aspects of becoming a parent quite touching. Sze’s experiences and advice will be most relevant to new and expecting mothers, but this is an inclusive, non-prescriptive book that would also be a reassuring read for anyone involved in the full round-the-clock care of a baby.’

– Elke Power