About the Author

Susan Ann Stelfox is a first-time author and a first-time mother. After a long bout with breast cancer, survivor Stelfox became pregnant at age 40. Because of her health history and the lateness of her pregnancy, she was extremely focused on the pregnancy and birth of her child.

When her baby arrived she was overjoyed and relieved. But she soon found that she had a lot more to learn. In her own words, "I naively thought that my mother's presence for the first week would teach me everything I needed to know. I soon realized that I was not prepared for the realities of life with a newborn and the changes it brings."

Knowing she only had this one chance at parenting and wanting to give her son the best possible start in life; she began a crash course in baby care and development. She found the whole subject fascinating, and soon read everything she could find on brain research and infant development. Like many new parents, Susan invested in many of the "super baby" products on the market.

After reading many wonderful parenting books, she often found herself thinking, "I wish I had this information sooner." Through her research she also discovered that you don't need hundreds of expensive, special toys. What your baby really needs is lots of loving interactions: Cuddling, talking, playing, singing, reading and music.

Two years after sharing the idea with her pediatrician and other new mothers, Baby Be Loved: Growing and learning together during the first 24 weeks was born. It is the book she wished existed when she was a new mother, all presented clearly, simply and in one place. It saves new parents from ever having to ask, "Now what?" It helps build parent-child bonds, and provides support, and even inspiration, for new parents, whose lives have just been turned upside-down and inside out.

In developing Baby Be Loved, a new career has developed for this entrepreneurial mom. Susan participates in parenting and publishing groups.  She is a member of the National Association of Women Writers, Women's National Book Association, the Mother's Club of Palo Alto & Menlo Park and Mothers and More. Her essays and articles on child development have been published in regional parenting