Bridging Nursing, Baby Planning & Evidence-Informed Maternal Care
Meet Sandra Seixinho, nurse, maternal-infant advisor, Baby Planner, breastfeeding counselor, GentleBirth instructor, published maternal health researcher, and graduate of the International Parenting & Health Institute’s Baby Planner Certification Program.
Based in Portugal, Sandra has developed a multidisciplinary professional path that brings together clinical nursing education, pregnancy preparation, breastfeeding support, maternal wellbeing, practical baby planning, and research.
Her work reflects an important understanding:
Preparing for the arrival of a baby involves much more than preparing for birth.
It also involves preparing for the physical, emotional, practical, and relational changes that accompany the transition into parenthood.
For Sandra, these different dimensions of maternal and infant support come together through her nursing background, professional education, research, and public-facing work as A Mãe Enfermeira.
Her journey is a meaningful example of how healthcare professionals can expand their expertise beyond a single discipline while continuing to support families through their changing needs.
A Foundation in Nursing and Maternal Health
Sandra has worked as a nurse since 2019, according to her professional biography published by Conversas com Barriguinhas.
She holds a master’s degree in Maternal Health and Obstetric Nursing, an area of advanced nursing education focused on women’s reproductive health, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum recovery, and related aspects of maternal wellbeing.
Her professional background also includes training as a GentleBirth instructor, breastfeeding counseling, and laser therapy/photobiomodulation related to breastfeeding.
These areas reflect the many interconnected needs families may experience during pregnancy and after birth.
Pregnancy preparation is not only about knowing what happens during labor.
Families may also be navigating:
Physical and emotional changes during pregnancy
Decisions about birth and postpartum care
Breastfeeding and infant feeding
Preparing the home for a newborn
Understanding infant care and safety
Building confidence in new parenting responsibilities
Organizing practical and emotional support
Sandra’s professional education spans several of these areas, allowing her to approach maternal-infant wellbeing through more than one professional lens.
Expanding Her Expertise Through Baby Planning
Alongside her nursing education, Sandra pursued professional training through the International Parenting & Health Institute’s Baby Planner Certification Program.
Baby planning is a distinct professional discipline that focuses on helping expectant families prepare for the arrival of a child through education, organization, resource coordination, and personalized planning.
Although baby planning is sometimes associated primarily with selecting baby products or preparing a nursery, the profession can encompass a much broader range of practical preparation.
Families may need help understanding which resources are available, organizing their home, preparing for postpartum routines, identifying appropriate professionals, or navigating the many decisions that arise before a baby arrives.
For someone with Sandra’s background in maternal health nursing, baby planning adds a complementary dimension:
Supporting families not only with health-related education, but also with the practical realities of preparing for parenthood.
This combination is particularly meaningful because pregnancy and postpartum experiences rarely unfold in neatly separated categories.
The physical and emotional transition into parenthood happens alongside everyday decisions about time, finances, caregiving, household responsibilities, and family support.
Beyond the Baby Registry
One of the most important distinctions within professional baby planning is the recognition that families need more than a checklist of products.
A baby registry may help organize purchases.
But preparing for a baby also involves questions such as:
Who will support the mother during postpartum recovery?
What resources are available if breastfeeding becomes difficult?
How will daily responsibilities be managed after the baby arrives?
What does the family understand about newborn care and safety?
Which decisions need to be made before birth, and which can wait?
What support might be needed if circumstances change?
These questions highlight why baby planning can complement the work of healthcare and family-support professionals.
The goal is not to make every decision for expectant parents.
It is to help families access information, understand their options, organize resources, and prepare in ways that reflect their individual circumstances.
Creating A Mãe Enfermeira
Sandra is also the creator of A Mãe Enfermeira, a Portuguese-language professional platform through which she shares maternal-infant education and information about her services.
Her Instagram account, @amaeenfermeira, identifies her as a nurse and certified Baby Planner, with a focus on breastfeeding and preparing families for the arrival of a baby.
Her publicly displayed profile also describes supporting more than 500 families with breastfeeding and newborn preparation. This is a self-reported figure from her professional Instagram biography.
Through this platform, Sandra makes maternal-infant education accessible beyond an individual clinical encounter.
Her professional presence emphasizes helping families approach pregnancy, breastfeeding, and early parenthood with greater information, preparation, and confidence.
Bringing Maternal Education Into a Wider Community
Sandra’s work also extends into collaborative maternal education.
She is featured among the professionals contributing to Maternidade 360, an online pregnancy and parenthood education program developed by Conversas com Barriguinhas in Portugal.
The platform brings together professionals from different maternal and family health disciplines to help expectant parents prepare for birth and the transition into parenthood.
Its educational topics include pregnancy wellbeing, childbirth preparation, breastfeeding, newborn care, baby planning, postpartum recovery, and practical family preparation.
Sandra is identified on the platform as a Nurse and Baby Planner, with additional expertise in maternal health and breastfeeding.
This multidisciplinary setting reflects an important reality:
No single profession addresses every need a family may experience during pregnancy and early parenthood.
Healthcare professionals, educators, baby planners, breastfeeding counselors, and other qualified specialists can contribute different forms of knowledge.
And families benefit when those professionals understand their respective roles and collaborate appropriately.
From Professional Practice to Scientific Research
One of the most distinctive aspects of Sandra’s professional journey is her contribution to published maternal health research.
In September 2025, Sandra Seixinho and Maria Helena Presado published an original research article in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Global Women’s Health.
The study was titled:
“Perceptions of mindfulness to pregnant women with gestational diabetes: an exploratory qualitative Portuguese study.”
The research explored how pregnant women with gestational diabetes perceived mindfulness in relation to their wellbeing and experience of pregnancy.
The authors were affiliated with the Nursing Research, Innovation and Development Centre of Lisbon at the Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Lisboa.
Read Sandra’s published research.
Exploring Mindfulness During High-Risk Pregnancy
Gestational diabetes is a condition that develops during pregnancy and requires appropriate medical monitoring and management.
Alongside the physical considerations, a diagnosis may introduce additional emotional and psychological demands.
Sandra and her coauthor explored the experiences of seven pregnant women with gestational diabetes through qualitative interviews.
The participants described perceived benefits associated with mindfulness, including relaxation, emotional wellbeing, interpersonal relationships, preparation for childbirth, and confidence during the transition into motherhood.
Importantly, the research was exploratory.
With only seven participants and a qualitative design, the findings provide insight into women’s experiences rather than proof that mindfulness produces specific clinical outcomes or treats gestational diabetes.
The authors identified the potential value of integrating mindfulness into nursing support while also calling for further research.
This distinction is important.
Mindfulness may offer complementary support for some individuals, but it does not replace medical care, glucose management, or other indicated treatment for gestational diabetes.
Why the Research Matters Beyond Gestational Diabetes
Sandra’s research highlights an important dimension of maternal health:
Pregnancy is not experienced only through physical changes.
A woman navigating a pregnancy-related health condition may also be managing uncertainty, fear, emotional stress, changing expectations, and concerns about childbirth or motherhood.
Understanding those experiences can help healthcare professionals consider the broader context of maternal wellbeing.
The study also illustrates why listening to women’s lived experiences matters.
Clinical measurements can provide essential information about physical health.
But qualitative research can explore questions that measurements alone may not answer:
How does a woman experience her pregnancy?
What helps her feel supported?
What challenges affect her confidence?
How does she understand the transition into motherhood?
And what does she identify as meaningful within her care?
These questions complement, rather than replace, evidence-based clinical assessment.
Where Nursing, Baby Planning & Holistic Support Meet
Sandra’s combination of nursing, baby planning, breastfeeding education, and research creates an interesting professional intersection.
Nursing contributes clinical education and healthcare practice.
Baby planning contributes practical preparation, organization, and resource coordination.
Breastfeeding counseling addresses a specialized area of maternal-infant support.
Maternal health research contributes a deeper understanding of women’s experiences and opportunities to improve care.
Each discipline has its own scope and responsibilities.
Yet they can share a common objective:
Helping women and families navigate pregnancy and early parenthood with appropriate information, support, and preparation.
This multidisciplinary perspective also connects with the educational philosophy of the International Parenting & Health Institute.
At IPHI, holistic education emphasizes understanding individuals within the context of their physical wellbeing, emotional experiences, relationships, environment, lifestyle, and family circumstances.
It also emphasizes recognizing professional boundaries and knowing when collaboration or referral is appropriate.
Supporting the Mother, Not Only Preparing for the Baby
Pregnancy education often focuses heavily on the baby.
The baby’s development.
The baby’s supplies.
The baby’s sleeping arrangements.
The baby’s feeding needs.
The baby’s arrival.
All of these are important.
But there is another person whose wellbeing deserves attention throughout the experience:
the mother.
Pregnancy and postpartum recovery can involve profound changes in physical health, emotional wellbeing, relationships, identity, and everyday functioning.
Supporting a family therefore means recognizing that preparing for the baby’s arrival and supporting the mother’s transition are interconnected responsibilities.
Sandra’s professional education across maternal nursing, breastfeeding, birth preparation, baby planning, and mindfulness research reflects this broader area of concern.
Professional Profile
Sandra Seixinho
Nurse | Maternal-Infant Advisor | Baby Planner | Breastfeeding Counselor | GentleBirth Instructor | Maternal Health Researcher
Location: Portugal
Professional Work
Creator — A Mãe Enfermeira
Maternal-Infant Education Baby Planning & Consultations Breastfeeding Support Pregnancy & Newborn Preparation Parent Education
IPHI Certification
Baby Planner International Parenting & Health Institute
Professional Education & Qualifications
Master’s Degree in Maternal Health and Obstetric Nursing
Nurse since 2019
GentleBirth Instructor
Breastfeeding Counselor
Training in Laser Therapy / Photobiomodulation for Breastfeeding
Research Publication
Coauthor — Original Research (2025)
Perceptions of mindfulness to pregnant women with gestational diabetes: an exploratory qualitative Portuguese study
Journal: Frontiers in Global Women’s Health
Coauthor: Maria Helena Presado
DOI: 10.3389/fgwh.2025.1558231
Professional Collaborations
Maternidade 360 — Conversas com Barriguinhas
Featured Nurse and Baby Planner
A Mãe Enfermeira
Maternal-Infant Education and Family Support
Areas of Professional Focus
Maternal Health Nursing Baby Planning Pregnancy Preparation Postpartum Preparation Breastfeeding Counseling Maternal-Infant Education GentleBirth Education Newborn Care Preparation Maternal Wellbeing Mindfulness Research Gestational Diabetes Research Family-Centered Support
Professional Links
A Mãe Enfermeira — Instagram
Baby Planning & Consultations
Maternidade 360 — Professional Profile
Published Maternal Health Research
Preparing Families Through Knowledge, Care & Connection
Sandra Seixinho’s professional journey demonstrates how different forms of education can contribute to a broader understanding of maternal and infant wellbeing.
Her nursing education established a clinical foundation.
Her Baby Planner certification expanded her professional preparation into the practical and organizational needs of expectant families.
Her breastfeeding and GentleBirth education added further specialized perspectives.
Her public educational work through A Mãe Enfermeira and Maternidade 360 extended that knowledge to a wider audience.
And her published research explored the experiences of pregnant women navigating gestational diabetes, highlighting the importance of considering emotional wellbeing alongside physical health.
These are different areas of professional work.
But they connect around one central idea:
Preparing for a baby should also mean preparing, educating, and supporting the people who will care for that baby.
Because families need more than products.
They need reliable information.
They need appropriate professional guidance.
They need practical preparation.
They need opportunities to ask questions.
And they need support that recognizes the full experience of pregnancy and parenthood.
💙 Congratulations, Sandra!
We are proud to recognize Sandra Seixinho as a graduate of IPHI’s Baby Planner Certification Program and celebrate the ways she continues bringing maternal health nursing, breastfeeding education, baby planning, and scientific research together to support families in Portugal.
