Wow, what an enormous effort from all those involved in the Mother of All Rallies held in Canberra on the 7th September. Despite the rain, parents, children, midwives and supporters gathered together to demonstrate our frustration and disappointment at the continued lack of support for home birth in this country. I was honoured to be a part of the 2000 odd people gathered and could feel the strength and unity of our collective voice. Well done everyone! What wonderful momentum we have created together to continue to lobby for such important change.

In this newsletter, we have some fantastic articles from recently published authors. Ian White, shares some of the amazing properties of using Australian Bush Essences with your children. UK author, Patrick Houser talks about the value of Fathers. And Tania Andrusiak and Daniel Donahoo discuss how to protect our children from the pestering behaviour of mass marketing campaigns. I have also added a personal article sharing my own journey of tacking fear in pregnancy.

Happy reading everyone!

Lentil Vegetable Patties.
Need some new ideas for family meals, school lunch boxes or occasional treats? Visit the recipe section of our forum at http://forums.naturalparenting.com.au/recipes/. We have heaps of information here for all taste buds including vegetarian, vegan and gluten free recipes shared from budding chefs among our members.

For those looking for a simple dinner idea here is a great recipe contributed by one of our forum moderators learnermum.

Ingredients
250g floury potatoes, chopped
250g Sweet pot, peeled, chopped
1 cup peas

See then complete recipe here Lentil Vegetable Patties Recipe

Visit the recipes section of our Forum

Got a recipe you'd like to share? Login to your user account and add it in our articles section!

WIN an INDIGO KIDZ Positive Affirmation Card Deck or an AFFIRMATION GARDEN PICTURE BOOK for your child!!

We have three books and two cards sets to give away.

Indigo Kidz aims to develop calm, confident children through meditation, relaxation and nurturing their innate spirituality. Our products teach children through the use of story telling, visualisation, positive affirmations, breathing techniques and muscular relaxation. Meditation Books, Picture Books, CD's, Affirmation Cards, Chakra Posters, Positive Posters and workshops are available. You can visit the Indigo Kidz website at www.indigokidz.com.au for more information.

To enter send your contact details to susan@naturalparenting.com.au by the 20th October. Please ensure your email has "Indigo Kidz Competition" in the subject title.

Good luck!

Last month's winners

Congratulations to our September newsletter prize winners!
Winners of the GAIA Men's Packs are: Darren Goldfinch, Jamie Quinton and Maria Mastwyk. Winners of the Smallprint Gift Vouchers are Priya Sri and Andrew Moylan. Congratulations everyone! Your prizes will be sent to you shortly.

Want your business, event or product displayed on our site? Our goal is to promote business, events and products that we see as best promoting the optimum health and wellbeing of children and families and encouraging environmentally sustainable practices. Listings, are free!

If you are interested in listing on our website, please see our Listing Terms and Conditions.

Forum News
Congratulations to our Forum Administrator, marguerite on the birth of her baby daughter, Heather. Warmest wishes to you and your family Lisa, from all at NFP. We wish you much love and happiness.

A big thank you also to Nyree, in taking on this role over the coming months while Lisa takes time to be with her family.

For thought-provoking conversation and useful information on an enormous range of parenting topics visit http://forums.naturalparenting.com.au/. This is a great place to connect with like minded people and make new friends.

Expressions of Interest sought for Natural Family Shop

Interested in attracting thousands of potential new customers to your site? Looking for a collaborative business opportunity that doesn't require heaps of investment in time and money? Wanting to work in partnership with Australia's leading Natural Parenting website?

If you answered yes to all of the above questions we want to hear from you. Natural Family Publishing is seeking expressions of interest from like minded businesses to operate an ecommerce shop from within our family of websites. We are looking to work with an enthusiastic, professional individual or company who shares a similar philosophy and has demonstrated experience in running large online shops with a wide variety of relevant products and services.

NFP will provide all technology and marketing support required to incorporate the shop into our existing sites. The successful applicant will operate all other facets of the shop including shipping and payments and pay an agreed commission to NFP.

Please email all expressions of interest or any questions to susan@naturalparenting.com.au by 31st October 2009.