Divya Talwar

This is an investigation I've been working on for more than 6 months with the incredible @elliecaitlindoward We've heard from women who have been inside Crisis Pregnancy Centres for the first time. These are services in the UK that are supposed to offer support to women facing unplanned or unwanted pregnancies but we've found evidence that some are misleading and manipulating them instead. It's going out on Panorama, 2030, on 27th February 🤞

Behind every statistic is real story of harm with devastating consequences. The figures here help explain why maternity services are under such intense scrutiny, with multiple reviews and inquiries under way. They raise difficult questions about safety, outcomes, and inequality across the country. The data shows the system under real strain. And they’re a reminder that this isn’t an abstract policy issue - it’s something that affects real families, in ways that stay with them long after the statistics are published. Divya

Three minutes on air to unpack a real turning point on a story I’ve been working on since last summer is a challenge! Could have done with at least another 20 minutes! I’ve been investigating maternity services at Leeds NHS trust since a bereaved mother - @always_aliona contacted me with major concerns last year. Now after years of fighting, families are finally getting an independent inquiry into those failures. I rarely get to report on relatively positive news. This wouldn’t have happened without the tireless fight of some of the bereaved Leeds families - Including three unstoppable women - @aliona @ambi_matharoo @laurenncaul_ More 👆🏽 Divya 😀 (The Leeds trust said it’s sorry to families and is working to make urgent improvements)

This is a significant update following our BBC investigation into the infant sleep industry last week. There are now calls for ‘urgent action’ to tackle unsafe sleep advice given by some self-described experts. The Lullaby Trust and MP Tom Morrison have written to the health secretary calling for greater regulation to ensure babies’ lives are not put at risk. Over the course of our investigation, our team has spoken to many people, including medical professionals @olivia_lactation_consultant and @doctor.lils , bereaved families, health visitors, academics and parents - who are also backing calls for regulation. We’ve also spoken to dozens of individuals working in the sleep industry who want change including @soundasleepguru and @just_chill_mama . If you’ve been affected by this story, you can contact our team confidentially on: [email protected]

When you are awake at 3am with a baby who will not sleep, the internet can feel like a lifeline. But a large following, a book, a TV appearance, or celebrity endorsement does not automatically mean someone is qualified to give safe baby sleep advice. In this episode of The Baby Tribe, I speak to BBC journalist @divyatalwar21 , whose investigation alongside colleagues @marthedeferrer and @amyj.journo exposed dangerous advice being given to exhausted parents by some self-described baby sleep experts. This is not about blaming parents. Parents are tired, vulnerable, and looking for help. But safe sleep advice matters. Qualifications matter. Regulation matters. And confidence is not the same as competence. Full episode out Tuesday. #babysleep #safersleep #sidsawareness #parentingtips #newparents babytribe postnatalhealth motherhood fatherhood infantsleep parentingpodcast bbcnews divyatalwar

We showed two NHS medical professionals and a leading infant sleep academic ALL the footage we gathered from our undercover consultations with two popular self-described baby ‘sleep experts.’ We didn’t pick or choose what we shared. They were all adamant that there was no information or advice given on the calls that could have benefited a mother. There wasn’t just unsafe sleep advice, they also raised concerns about the advice and misinformation around breastfeeding, normal infant feeding, and more. Thank you to @olivia_lactation_consultant , @doctor.lils and prof Helen Ball of @basis_babysleepinfosource for your invaluable help with our investigation. There are many others who have helped along the way too. Brilliant investigation team - @marthedeferrer and @amyj.journo @natalie_trus To watch the full TV doc - see the link in my bio. And if you want to share anything with us - email the team at [email protected] Divya 😀

This is our undercover mum - @marthedeferrer posed as a first time mum with a 9-week old newborn who was waking often at night - very biologically normal at that age. She shared her genuine experience when her healthy daughter was that age. We secretly filmed one popular ‘sleep expert’ advising our undercover reporter to put her newborn to sleep on its front, a practice @lullabytrust says is proven to significantly increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (Sids). Medical professionals - @doctor.lils and @olivia_lactation_consultant who watched our undercover footage said moments had left them feeling “sick” and “horrified”. Infant-sleep consulting is a completely unregulated industry, but there are growing calls for this to change. NHS advice is to “always place your baby on their back to sleep” in their own sleep space, like a cot, for the first 12 months of their life – to reduce the risk of Sids. Tap the link in my bio to watch the investigation in full. If you have a story to share with our investigation team - email [email protected] #SleepConsulting #BBCNews #babysleepexperts

Emily paid more than £500 for a video consultation with Alison Scott-Wright, the self described magic sleep fairy. Her then 4-month-old son’s sleep had left her feeling ‘pretty broken’ and she needed some help. But she says what happened in the consultation left her ‘shocked’. Emily says she was given advice that went aginst NHS and the @lullabytrust safer sleep guidelines. Emily didn’t follow any of Scott-Wright’s suggestions, but some parents have told the BBC that when they were desperate and vulnerable they did follow her advice that was against NHS guidance. We went undercover and did our own consultation which was reviewed by @doctor.lils and @olivia_lactation_consultant . You can watch our full investigation on YouTube - link in bio. If you want to share your experience about this or anything Brilliant investigation team - @marthedeferrer and Amyj.journo If you’ve been affected or want to share anything with our team - email us - [email protected]

Thank you to @divyatalwar21 for this article in today’s @bbcnews - it’s a major issue that I’m happy to see finally getting media attention. Regardless of how you feel about sleep consultants and the industry at large, it exists in part due to a lack of structural support for new parents. And, some sleep situations are completely overwhelming and unsustainable for parents. There is a real need for them to get proper support (and sleep!). The least we can do (aside from advocating + voting for more family centered policies) is to be sure those giving advice are qualified and staying within their scope of practice. I hate how tricky it is to find someone you can feel good about. Being a therapist or an RN or simply having your own kids doesn’t mean you have the specific training necessary to be giving sleep or feeding advice to parents. You deserve transparency and to know who you’re giving your money (and trust!!) to. At HSB our team consists of highly qualified sleep consultants who have all not only gone through rigorous sleep education (via @babyledsleepcertification including extra work in @holisticsleepcoachingprogram @bebomiainc @thepossumsclinic and @neufeldinstitute and @circleofsecurity ) but have backgrounds in social work and early childhood education. We keep up with the latest research by attending yearly conferences in sleep and breastfeeding. We also have a resident IBCLC/ SLP to support our clients with any feeding concerns. We will always recommend outside providers when we feel a baby may have a medical condition that is outside of our scope of treatment. At HSB we don’t give sleep “training” advice. We will never advise you to leave your distressed infant alone, especially not under 6 months of age which directly goes against the literature. For additional evidence based, free safe sleep advice I recommend @lullabytrust and @basis_babysleepinfosource as well as the work of Professor Helen Ball. What do you think? Have you had experiences with sleep consultants that weren’t great or felt wrong/ unsafe??

‘It’s normal for a baby to be waking and needing parental support to get back to sleep’ 😴 A new investigation by BBC News has taken a closer look at the unregulated world of self-styled ‘baby sleep influencers’, or ‘sleep consultants’, with medical professionals warning some are giving advice that could put babies at risk of serious harm. Senior BBC reporter @divyatalwar21 and NHS midwife Olivia Hinge joined @bbcnuala in the Woman’s Hour studio and shared what the investigation found. Whilst some practitioners have legitimate medical training, others with no qualifications were offering dangerous advice to exhausted parents. Speaking on Woman’s Hour, Olivia also shared some practical tips for families struggling with infant sleep, who may be looking for support. For trusted information and guidance regarding your baby’s sleep, head to the NHS website or speak to your GP. And if you’ve been affected by anything discussed in this post, visit the BBC Action Line website for links to support. You can listen to the full conversation on BBC Sounds - it’s the Woman’s Hour episode from 5 May 📻 . . . #bbcwomanshour #bbcsounds #babysleepadvice #sleep #Advice @olivia_lactation_consultant

The BBC investigation into the baby sleep industry highlights something many of us working in this space have been deeply concerned about for a long time… This is an unregulated industry. Anyone can call themselves a “sleep expert” - with no requirement for qualifications, accountability, or alignment with evidence-based guidance. And that matters, because the families seeking this support are often exhausted, overwhelmed, and trusting. Babies are entirely dependent on the advice given. While there are practitioners doing safe, evidence-based work, there are also examples of advice that directly contradicts guidance from the NHS and @lullabytrust - around sleep position, cot safety, feeding, and even medical concerns. That’s where the risk lies. Not in parents asking for help - but in not knowing who is safe to trust. We need transparency. We need standards. And ultimately, we need regulation - so that all families can feel confident the advice they’re receiving is safe, appropriate, and within scope. Because sleep support should never come at the cost of safety. If you’re choosing to work with someone, ask questions. What are their qualifications? What guidance do they follow? Where are their boundaries? Parents deserve better. 🤍 Please share far and wide Thank you @divyatalwar21 @marthedeferrer @soundasleepguru @doctor.lils @olivia_lactation_consultant

New BBC Investigation out today! We’ve gone undercover to investigate the booming but completely unregulated baby sleep industry. Trigger warning - infant death. Secret filming revealed practices being promoted by some self-described ‘experts’ that could significantly increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (sids). Anyone call themselves an ‘expert’ - and there’s no checks, no oversights and no accountability. There are many in the industry who are giving safe advice - that is within guidelines and fills a genuine gap in post natal support for new families. BUT we have found a dangerous side of this industry with some popular ‘sleep experts’ giving advice that goes against NHS and @lullabytrust guidelines. NHS Medical professionals @doctor.lils and @olivia_lactation_consultant have told us the advice could cause serious harm to babies, and even death. There are urgent calls for regulation after the death of 4-month old baby Madison Bruce Smith - a recent inquest found he died whilst asleep - having been placed in an unsafe position by someone who was unregulated. If you want to read the full investigation, comment SLEEP below and we will DM you a link. Brilliant investigation team - @marthedeferrer and @Amyj.journo @natalie_trus If you’ve been affected or want to share anything with our team - email us - [email protected]