We’ve got a guest blog from one of our own clients today, Dean & Steph from Daddynatal and Bump, Birth & Beyond. They’ve had a brilliant week, going from teaching local classes, to national coverage via a TV appearance. I thought it would be really helpful for other people who have small businesses to hear that opportunities for national coverage are out there, if you’re prepared to work hard and make the most of the opportunities available….. 

While everyone else seems to be winding down for Easter things have never been busier at Bump Birth and Beyond Ltd. It has been a hectic week, but a very positive hectic week!

Our busy week kicked off on Saturday, listening to the first interview Dean had recorded for The Baby Show broadcast on Star Radio. The interview was focused on the role of the dad in pregnancy, and very exciting for us, as it was the first ‘official’ interview Dean had done, and it definitely was a great learning experience.

Then, Sunday saw us officially announce our partnership with Peterborough City Hospital at Peterborough Baby Show. Bump, Birth and Beyond are now running DaddyNatal and Active Birth Classes, on behalf of the hospital, free to parents. How fantastic to have a Head of Midwifery who is so forward thinking, she really is one of the first in the country to recognise that fathers/birth partners have huge antenatal education needs which have never (until now!) been met.

There was an excellent response to the news of the classes, with signups both on the day and since. Both courses are already 10% full, and we are still awaiting the formal press release and for the community midwifery team to start promotion yet!

Sunday also marked the completion of the first part of training for our new Daisy Birthing teacher, Alison. Courses have been so successful that Steph cannot keep up with demand on her own, so we are extremely excited about Alison’s arrival. She will commence teaching in June which will allow us to offer more courses in even more locations.

On Monday and Tuesday evenings, Steph was out teaching her regular Daisy Birthing classes in Peterborough and St Ives. Steph teaches classes to around 40 pregnant ladies a week, as well as managing all the bookings and day-to-day admin of the company. And she looks after our two toddlers full time as well!

Little did we realise what more the week still held in store… At 10pm Wednesday evening, Steph arrived home from yet another Daisy Birthing class to the news that Dean had been invited down the next day onto The Vanessa Show on Channel 5 to talk about fathers at birth. Turns out a producer had heard his interview on The Baby Show website and wanted him there for a discussion segment about birth! How could we refuse…?!

So scrapping all previous arrangements for Thursday, Dean travelled to London to record the show. To say he was nervous would be a major understatement! He was petrified to be doing his first TV appearance only a few days after his very first ever live media interview! But, of course, he was also really excited. The people were brilliant and he had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Pearl Lowe and Christina Hopkinson, as part of the segment on the discussion of fathers at birth. They were lovely and certainly put Dean at ease (although nerves kicked back in once the cameras started rolling!). You can see his appearance here and judge for yourselves how Dean got on at The Vanessa Show.

Feel free to comment as we would love to hear your feedback. It was a long day though – Dean left home at 11.30am, and didn’t get home again until 8.30pm (luckily Thursdays are Steph’s evening off!)

But there was still work to be done… Friday saw us at a meeting at Peterborough Hospital to discuss some of the logistics of our partnership, and then followed by an agreement that we would produce contact and reference packs for the community midwives, so that became our focus on Saturday!

However, the support and excitement of what we are doing, coming direct from the midwives is so refreshing. It really is a pleasure to be working with them all.

And finally, we finished the week on Sunday with one of our Couples Antenatal Workshops in Kettering. Our classes are jointly run between the both of us, to make sure that we cover all the essential points from both the mum and birth partner perspective. It was a really great class – we thoroughly enjoyed it, and then arrived home in time to spend the remainder of the afternoon in the garden with our two children.

So a busy week made busier by some unforeseen media appearances! A great experience though and we look forward to seeing what the next few weeks brings us.

So that was our hectic week how was yours?

Things are perking up here at WCHQ (that’s Weston Comms HQ, I’ve decided to give us a title…) Why? Because I’ve finally listened to what people are telling me. I know,  funny eh? Yesterday Karlee Aiken, of Aiken Bodiestold me that she’d been waiting for me  to call her as  she was so keen to rebook  her advertising in the Chelmsford New Baby Guide. She advertised in the New Baby Guide, and one other place in the last 12 months.

The Chelmsford New Baby Guide has worked so well for her business that it’s all she’s going to do for the next 12 months. That’s such a powerful testimonial isn’t it?

I was so pleased to hear Karlee tell me that. We’ve never actually met, but I’ve told so many people about her classes and what she does, as she’s a great example of really working positively with women to help them get out of the house and exercise whilst keeping their babies with them. I’d never told her this of course, as I didn’t want to sound too cheesy with a client…

So today I’m going to email three people with testimonials:
1. Debi Hogston of Waterbabies - for making my littlest excited at the prospect of “Debi swimming” rather than sobbing at the mention of the word swimming…
2. Tracey Jane Hughes of Bras4Mums - for uplifting my boobs (literally) and uplifiting my business (through her support and advice)
3. Natasha of Buxton Press - for being reliable, smart and cost effective printers

Actually, there’s a number 4. Weleda baby- Jacqueline told me that she’d finally tried the Weleda Baby range as I’d been “going on about it” – the calendula shampoo and body wash has sorted Samuel’s skin out nicely and the nappy cream is their no 1 choice now for bottom care. You can’t get much better than that can you? Wait, you can! You can get free stuff from them – check out their facebook page and see what you can win! I’ve had a lush Rose Soap. It is lovely…

Who could you write a testimonial for today? Who do you use, like or appreciate? Tell them about it!!

Colic. I don’t want to get into whether it exists or not, because I believe it does. And that some babies suffer with it more than others. Looking at images of babies crying to put into this post, I got choked up just thinking about the nights we had with both our boys where they were inconsolable…

Fox news has reported today on research in the Journal of Pediatrics which suggests that “that infants who took a daily drop of probiotic supplement cried one third less than babies who didn’t. Probiotics are healthy bacteria that help keep the intestines working properly. Dr. Joseph Levy says, ‘If there are less spasms and the muscles don’t contract so strong, the baby won’t feel pain. ‘Colic affects up to 28 percent of infants but doctors aren’t sure what causes it. When diagnosing the condition doctors refer to the rule of threes–crying for more than 3 hours .. At least three days a week .. For at least three weeks. Probiotic products for babies are already on the market but parents should check with their pediatrician before adding any to their child’s diet. Dr. Levy says, ‘not every probiotic is the same and not every baby that cries has colic.’

More studies need to be done before probiotics can be used to treat colic. And I’m not suggesting parents should put yakult into their babies by any means, but this sounds basically like common sense. And these days, with two toddlers under my belt, I’m all for the simplest approach to helping our babies, toddlers and children through whatever ailments they are suffering from.

At any rate, I’m pleased to hear that colic is being thought about by professionals, rather than suggesting it doesn’t exist. When Elliott was a baby I remember a midwife with 25 years experience telling me that infacol and other “remedies” have no scientific backing. I was disappointed to hear this as it came well recommended by others. She then went on to add that it is entirely possible that it’s having a positive effect because babies and parents feel like they are doing something to help themselves and each other through the misery of colic filled evenings. And that to me, is common sense again – the placebo effect yes, but if it’s making mummies, daddies and babies a little more able to cope together, I’m up for it.

What do you think of this research? Did your little people experience colic? How did you cope with it? What worked? What didn’t? Am sure there are people out there who would appreciate anything if they’re in the midst of dealing with it at the moment…..

Here’s a couple of links to other sites with suggestions for helping babies with colic:
Bupa suggestions for colic in babies
NHS Choices suggestions for colic in babies
Netdoctor suggestions for treating colic in babies

Quick post to share some research I was doing tonight. These are the top words, relating to babies, that people have searched on in the last 90 days on google..

This next list is the words, relating to babies, that have had most growth in terms of searching in the last 90 days, on google…

If I were you, as well as capitalising on the first list, I’d be formatting my www site so it included a link to the evian babies, made sure my blog commented on big babies – is it possible to have them naturally(?), on your experiences of weaning and reflux and maybe even a comment on kiddicare – are they the tesco or lidl of the baby world? And I’d be providing links to all sorts of places of support on all these topics. Why? Because they are the upcoming trends and what’s on the minds of your customers and there’s nothing better than them finding that they are thinking about the same things as you are…..

Nite….