Midwife

• Dr Mary Steen-Greaves is a mother of three and has been a practicing midwife for over 20 years. During that time she has become involved in a wide range of midwifery and family health issues and has led several service development projects and research studies aimed at improving care and services for women, babies and their families.

• Mary’s PhD focused specifically on the care and consequences of perineal trauma after childbirth and she invented a cooling device to alleviate pain caused by injury and stitches. Mary is also a qualified aerobic instructor and teaches antenatal and postnatal exercises and also baby massage to young mums and dads.

• Mary is also involved in the promotion of maternal health and well-being, active birth and natural pain relief methods. She is presently doing work around life with a new baby, how to manage emotions, stress and relationship conflict during pregnancy and following birth and involving fathers in maternity care.

Wendy Dean is the founder of Baby Sleep Answers(www.babysleepanswers.co.uk)as well as a busy mother to four children; Ben 9, Caitlin 8 and identical twin boys Ewan and Joseph aged 4.

Wendy graduated from Manchester University in 1998 with a PhD and in 1999 Wendy's first child, Ben, was born.

She quickly joined the ranks of sleep deprived parents and felt that she was not getting the help she needed to encourage her son into a healthier pattern of sleep. Using her academic skills, she researched the most popular techniques to help children sleep and finally found a way that worked for Ben and for her.

Three children later, she wrote and published The Baby Sleep System. To date, The Baby Sleep System has helped almost 5,000 families overcome their children's sleep problems.

As well as appearing on television, Wendy frequently contributes to some of the UK's leading parenting magazines including Mother & Baby, Practical Parenting.

Development Expert

• Maggie is a developmental and health psychologist who focuses on psychological aspects of infancy and early child development and the experience and well-being of parents with young children.

• She has carried out research studies in many areas of her field and has particular expertise in relation to women's experience of care during pregnancy, labour and childbirth, especially when babies are born with problems, such as those resulting from premature birth. She is currently doing work in Oxford around women's antenatal worries and problems, the experience of a caesarean section and how babies and families are cared for in neonatal units.

Fertility Expert

• Dr Gillian Lockwood is the medical director of Midland Fertility Services in the West Midlands, an independent clinic providing more than 900 IVF and ICSI cycles a year to both NHS and private patients.

• She regularly gives expert advice on TV and radio programmes including ‘A Child Against All Odds’ (BBC1), ‘The Baby Race’ (C4), Jeremy Vine (BBC R2), ‘Heaven & Earth’ (BBC1) and ‘Woman’s Hour’ (BBC R4). She has also advised on scripts for ‘Holby City’ and ‘The Archers’.

• She is the vice-chair of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Ethics Committee and is a spokesperson on ethics for the British Fertility Society. In 2004 she became a special advisor to the government’s Select Committee on Science and Technology which undertook a review of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.

Money Expert

• Nicola Cairncross is Europe's leading wealth coach and the official "Wealth Coach In Residence" for Visa International PLC.

• She speaks regularly at events such as The Millionaire Mind, The World Internet Summit and "Inspire Scotland", on Wealth Creation and Internet Marketing, and was the original founder of Wealth Creation Conferences Ltd.

• Nicola devised and launched The Money Gym coaching programme in 2002 which includes home study materials, one-to-one coaching calls and interactive workshops. The Money Gym has achieved a six-figure plus turnover but, more importantly, has enabled several of its clients to become millionaires.

• Nicola has been featured in several newspapers and magazines, including Woman & Home, The Times, The Observer, The Mail On Sunday, The Mirror, The Scotsman, RED Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Marie Claire, Essentials, Top Sante, and has been a guest on Radio 5 Live and CNN Breakfast News Worldwide.

• Dr. Mark Harrold has worked in the field of behavioural psychology for the past 25 years. He gained his PhD from the California School of Professional Psychology-Los Angeles. The focus of his research at that time was on optimal parent training approaches.
• A former Irish Times columnist, he is a regular contributor to both broadcast and print media on behavioural psychology approaches.
• Dr. Harrold is married with two children aged 4 and 6 years.
• He currently works on a part-time basis with the H.S.E. disability services in the Northeast region and is Consultant Psychologist with Nua Healthcare, a care organisation for people with challenging issues in their lives such as Aspergers Syndrome.
• Dr. Harrold has developed and delivered numerous parent and care staff training courses designed to create a happy environment both at home and in a daycare setting. This training has been adopted by a variety of caring agencies across the country.
• Dr. Harrold has authored a number of book chapters on behavioural psychology and has published a book on effective parenting techniques for the contemporary parent entitled, "Parenting and Privilege: Raising Children in an Affluent Society".

Fitness and Nutrition Expert

• Laura Williams is a personal trainer and fitness expert. She specialises in working with people who don't necessarily embrace the idea of exercise and who don't know where to start. Laura also devises workouts for newspapers and glossies aimed at women who are time-poor and have busy lives.

• Laura is an accredited Level 3 Personal Trainer, qualified in Nutrition and Weight Management. She also holds additional qualifications in both Pilates and Sports Conditioning. Laura is an established diet and fitness journalist ? she writes for Essentials, Zest, Practical Parenting and has her own fitness column in the Canary Wharf newspaper, The Wharf.

• Laura's approach seeks the best possible results with the least amount of effort, based on her theory: why waste time away from home and family at the gym when you can hone and tone in the comfort of your own living room?

• Julie has twenty years experience working as a hospital dietician with a BSc and MSc in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from Trinity College, Dublin. Julie has been involved in writing information for the consumer on many areas of diet and lifestyle and edited a series of Textbooks for the Nutrition Society of the UK. She is a Fellow of the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute (INDI). She currently works in UCD managing a PhD training programme.
• In 2008 she had her son Leo and so has very recent and first hand experience of nutrition in pregnancy, breastfeeding, weaning, and currently is dealing with feeding a fussy toddler!
• Julie lives with her husband, Greg and their son Leo in Dublin.

Relationship Expert

• Since joining Relate in 1990, Denise has become a renowned practitioner and qualified psychosexual therapist, family counsellor, supervisor and trainer whilst running a successful private practice. She is an integral member of the counselling and training team of her local Relate Centre, Northampton, offering life-skills workshops and courses on ‘Parenting Skills’ and ‘Moving On’.

• Denise regularly provides expertise on relationship issues for the media. As an agony aunt, she writes for two magazines and has a weekly slot on BBC Radio Northampton. BBC One O'Clock News, Sky News and Radio 5 Live all seek her opinion regularly on family matters and she has also tangled with John Humphreys on Radio 4’s Today Programme.

• Denise is married and is an active grandmother and mother of three, giving her a wealth of firsthand experience when it comes to relationships matters on the home front.

• Susan Gilmore is Director of Gymboree Play & Music Ireland (www.playandmusic.ie) and a mother of three. Susan graduated from New York University in 1995 with a Masters degree and has been living in Ireland with her Irish husband since 1999. In addition to her role as head clown at Gymboree Play & Music since 2000, Susan has been playing at home with her own three children since 1998.
• As the head of Gymboree Ireland, Susan understands the importance of play in a child's development. However, as a busy mother of three running her own business she also understands how difficult finding time can be. Susan has been helping mum's find the right balance teaching them the best quality games to maximize the fun and the benefits at every age.
• Susan also helps parent's navigate through temper tantrums and sibling rivalry to get to the fun so they can enjoy parenthood.
• Susan has been featured in several newspapers, magazines and breakfast shows including The Irish Times, Woman's Way, Parent and Child, Ireland AM and Good Day New York, as well as offering parenting workshops on Temper Tantrum Taming and the Importance of Play in Child Development.

Skin Expert

• David is a dermatologist who specialises children's skin. He trained at Cambridge University and Guy's Hospital, London and has undertaken research projects at the Institute of Child Health at Great Ormond Street Hospital. At the time of his appointment as consultant at Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1982, David was the UK's first full-time specialist in paediatric dermatology.

• David deals with the full spectrum of serious skin diseases that occur in children, with special interests in eczema, haemangiomas and birthmarks, particularly pigmented birthmarks.

• He has also worked closely with many patient support groups, including DEBRA (epidermolysis bullosa), Caring Matters Now (for congenital melanocytic naevi), the Birthmark Support Group, the National Eczema Society and the Ectodermal Dysplasia Society.

• David's wife practices traditional Chinese medicine and he is father to four sons