Author's own
As a child I had an intense fascination as to how a woman could grow a person inside her. By aged 15 I knew that I wanted to help mothers and after exams, applications and intense interviews I was ecstatic to gain a place at the University Of Greenwich to become a midwife. I turned 18 in July and was on delivery suite making my dream come true by October.
I will never forget the first birth I saw as a fresh faced midwifery student. It changed my life forever.
Author's own
For the first time I felt true fulfilment. I wasn't wondering anymore. Midwifery is what I was meant to do. At the point of qualification I was one of the youngest midwives in the U.K.
Almost a decade later I am still humbled every time I am part of bringing new life into the world. I became a senior midwife by 22, co-ordinating wards and delegating staff. It was around that time I noticed a significant problem.
Thousands of vulnerable expectant parents struggle to get off to a good start with their newborn. A lot of ads I see on the TV, social media and online mis-inform expectant parents, leaving them confused.
Companies are declaring themselves as experts, when they simply aren't. They are mainly sales driven.
Author' own
Many expectant parents arrive at hospital in labour with a lot of unnecessary and harmful products for their newborns, such as plastic chemical ridden nappies, fragranced baby wipes that strip delicate skin barriers, bleached maternity pads, harmful washes and lotions (read more here).
Dad then has to run out and leave his partner and their newborn to frantically try and shop for the right items whilst I try to re-build mum's confidence in that she hasn't 'got it wrong'. We just need to make some changes and get some extra bits. I was having to unpick marketing campaigns to ensure newborns were given the healthiest start in life. According to Penelope Jagessar Chaffer, babie now have 30,000-50,000 chemicals in their bodies that our grandparents did not have. (Watch Chaffer's TED talk here http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/11/12/atrazine-herbicide-effects.aspx)
Author's own
The moment I decided to act was after seeing a new mother sobbing because she had become so confused about what was safe for her newborn and had lost all confidence.
I have about another 40 years worth of work in me as a midwife, how could I continue to just observe this problem?
I got to work designing and manufacturing a pre-packed changing bag with everything a pregnant woman needs for labour, birth and beyond. Thereafter it's to be used as a changing bag and comes with a removable, washable organic liner, organic changing mat and stroller straps. My whole life experience as a senior midwife has gone into making and packing this bag.
Author's own
Read more here https://www.mlmaternity.com/about-our-bags/
Expectant parents no longer need to research for hours, shop for days or worry about what could have been forgotten. Instead they have a premium quality grab-and-go bag packed with premium quality products. All bags are made from environmentally friendly materials such as recycled leather and fluorocarbon free, organic cotton canvas. In fact MLM provide the worlds first ever fluorocarbon free baby changing bag. For parents MLM is "confidence you can carry"
Author's own