Our philosophy is to nourish the most important bonds, first with yourself, then with your family and close relationships. We help parents seek out the practical tools and knowledge they need to feel empowered and supported as they child-rear. From pregnancy to the early learning years, we are there through it all!

Distributed on a bi-monthly basis Nationally, Nurture features comprehensive, informative feature articles giving their readers insight into the many styles of natural parenting that exist in today’s world, thus ‘allowing’ parents to take an ‘intuitive’ approach based on their own individual family’s needs.

Fundamentally, Nurture advocates the principles of Attachment Parenting, and the Attachment Theory – A Secure Base for Babies and Parents. Attachment is a deep and enduring emotional bond that connects one person to another, across time and space (Ainsworth, 1973; Bowlby, 1969).

Founded by Kristy Pillinger in 2012, Nurture is now in its twelfth year of publication. Kristy, at the time of the birth of her firstborn, William, (which was no easy feat), realised after searching for support in line with her values or ideals in parenting at that point, was practically non-existent in terms of a natural parenting publication. One that shared her vision as a mum, and one that would answer all the questions she had to being an informed carer. Kristy knew she wanted to home-school William and was one to take a proactive, evidence-based approach to making the parenting decisions that were right for her and her family. It was then that Nurture was born.

Over the centuries, parents have been implementing child-rearing techniques without much awareness of the possible long-term effects. We now know that the key emotional systems in the human brain are powerfully moulded by parenting experiences. In the past, it was assumed that a child’s developing brain could withstand all manner of stress, however, research is now demonstrating that from birth, a child’s brain and nervous system, are highly vulnerable.

The parenting techniques and relational moments parents experience with their children can have a direct effect on the wiring of the brain and long-term nervous system regulation, as well as their capacity to have deeply enriching relationships with others. Given our current knowledge, that some of the historically accepted ways of being with children, can leave them vulnerable to suffering a range of mental, emotional, and physical health issues later in life, we no longer have the luxury of remaining ignorant about how society parents its children.

The attachments and challenges that we have with our own parents, our partners, our children, our siblings, and our friends, can be strongly associated with the patterns of attachment blueprints we formed during the critical periods in our early development, with our primary caregiver. What parents do, matters during this formative time (Anne Thistleton; 2018).