Libby & Co was born out of a passion for helping parents and their babies thrive, after finding a lack of support for families in those early days, weeks and months after having a baby. Libby and the team offer advice and support, in-home care, gentle sleep solutions and breastfeeding support.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
I love working with babies and I love sharing my knowledge and empowering parents to be the best they can be, helping new parents to enjoy their babies. It is so special to be a part of and to provide in-home support to make the return home with a newborn less fearful for new parents. There seems to be a gap out there for parents to have more help from someone who is both caring and knowledgeable: someone qualified to support mums, dads and babies.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I worked with babies as a nurse initially, then trained to be a midwife and worked as one for 25 years, where there was constant upskilling along the way. I met Andrina Wilson in my most recent position at ADHB and we realised that there is a lack of continued support for new parents past the Ministry Of Health Government-funded first 6 weeks. Andrina and I realised we had similar beliefs surrounding maternity care and were both concerned about this gap. When I went to her to discuss my idea (she was on maternity leave), she was almost through her holistic gentle sleep training, so between us – and with me being a certified lactation consultant – we thought we would offer this service.
From a mental, emotional and physical perspective, we felt many families needed more support on an ongoing basis . Although basically an organic start, previous families and friends started contacting me for additional advice and physical hands-on support. However, there is nothing similar out there – such a huge gap in the market.
