aqua-anya

Hi there,

In need of some advice and/or opinions on travelling to West Africa with 6 month old babies!

In a tricky situation. My partner's family live in Benin, West Africa, and everyone wants to meet the new arrivals. Our twins are now 2 months old, and we're thinking of travelling over the Christmas period. If we don't go then, we probably won't have an opportunity for another 2 years. It will be hot and humid (but not raining season), we'll definitely have contact with the local population, and there's always the risk of malaria, hepatitis, yellow fever etc that can't be vaccinated against.

I guess the main risk is malaria. We've checked the rates and it's not too bad if managed, i.e. stay in the city only, in a hotel by the sea, sleep with bednets, have A/C room and car, avoid spending a lot of time outdoors in evenings, wear long sleeve light clothing etc. In the city, the rate of malaria is 5 infectious bites per person per year; so for a 1 week stay, the risk is less than 1%. Then again, it only takes one bite. The babies could potentially take preventative medicine, and we could use repellant, but I'd really rather not. Medical facilities are easily accessible should anything happen.

When we travelled there last year, I caught a tummy bug and spent 3 nights in a clinic. I'm Aussie so my immunity to the local environment was poor, but now I'm obviously biased as to how 'safe' it is there.

What are your thoughts please? Would you go? Safe to travel with all precautions, or better not to?

And, if you have travelled with a baby to Africa or another part of the world with similar risks, please spare a moment to share your views!

Sally, much the same, some days its just a milk and poo factory here! Twins and I will hopefully see you all tomorrow at 2:30. Anna xo

Sounds great :-) Havent visited Peck Rye park much... where abouts is the picnic area? x Anna

Aww, congratulations everyone! Cant wait to meet all the new arrivals! We had our twin girls on 7th June. Melody is a timid little pea; Alessandra screams the house down if the elixir of life isn't poured down her throat the instant she wakes up. Lots of fun though :-) Looking forward to a meetup, hopefully before summer is up. Anna

Congratulations Sally & Ian! Great news, enjoy your bundles of joy :-) Anna

Sunday sounds good! Anna

I'm still in :-) Is the start time 7pm?

Hi Astrid83, I'm not sure how many people she can take as a maximum, but i guess the smaller the group the better. She says it's better when partners participate too so that doubles the headcount. As long as there are 2 of us (or more) the price goes down from ?375 to ?255. let me know what you think :-)

Hi all, is anyone keen on trying hypnobirthing?

My doula is really lovely and offers courses at home. If I can get a group together it would be a bit cheaper. All details are on her website http://www.mellowbirthing.co.uk/#!hypnobirthing/c6ay

Please let me know if you're interested, I'm due in June so would love to get it started asap! :-)

Daniel B - congratulations! Im no expert but Ive been looking for a birth doula and noticed that many doulas also provide postnatal services that include cooking, laundry, support etc. The http://doula.org.uk/ website has been useful. We've also employed a domestic cleaner who has started to come once in a fortnight so that we get comfortable with each other before the babies arrive.... If I was going back to work I think I'd be looking into au pairs/nannies/night nurses... 'Double Trouble - Twins and How to Survive Them' mentions other options such as nanny share, nanny trainees, and live-in student help. lots of options to explore :-)

Ditto, I'm new here too. Due in June, first timer.. Saw your posts about the meetup on the 19th, thanks for organising. I would love to join in! Shall I do anything to RSVP?

thanks everyone :-) Will give all those suggestions a try! And congratulations to you too!

Hi there, I'm expecting twins in June (lest they come earlier!) - first time mum. I don't know many people in UK as I'm from Australia. Would love to meet other mums-to-be locally to share experiences and for general support :-) If you happen to be interested in meeting-up do let me know please! Anna