New Zealand Babywearing Week 2016!!
What a week! Well, I gave away sooo many things and had many competitions and events this year and for lots of my prizes, I had some very generous help from a variety of “Babywearing” and related businesses…
From my perspective, I wanted their help to show you that there are many other businesses, groups and individuals out there that also want to spread the message of babywearing far and wide.
This was just to signify that I am not alone.. I am not sure all of them realise what I was going to signify with their freebies 😛 I am joking.. In some part they believe enough in my message of getting the concept out there, making babywearing mainstream and talking and empowering midwives, related industries, medical professionals and other practitioners. Well I am assuming they do, otherwise what are you guys doing going around handing out free stuff?! (Again a joke I pestered them!)
This new world of “industry” within the babywearing community in New Zealand is still forming itself. An industry body was just established earlier in the year (head on over NZBWE and give the page a like!). Sling Consultants and paid Babywearing Educators have been a “thing” all over the world for many years before now…
Before this recent training in Christchurch, there were 6 consultants in New Zealand.
18 of us, including myself, completed the Consultant training through Slingababy and more completed the Peer to Peer one day training session. This is the first kind of training of this manner held on New Zealand soil. Things are just beginning to unfold and I think collectively, the babywearing community, maybe able to drive change through to medicine and literature.
New Zealand is used for a “test market” in many different industries and areas of business, businesses literally use our market as a sample to test out their ideas, and if they work, they then take the concept off shore. We could use that to our advantage… If we can get some kind of training program through to midwives facilitated by the DHB, this model could go to other countries…
There is the potential that not only midwives in New Zealand would be confident and capable to teach about using carriers and slings but those across the world… Now I know, right now that seem like a ridiculous goal, but together, maybe we could make some difference… (I feel like I should add “babywearers unite” or some other equally “power rangers like” sentence here hahaha)
So here is a list of awesome businesses that helped me pull off this week, if you haven’t heard of them, check them out and make sure to share the love by giving their Facebook pages a “like” 🙂
Lilypie Bags – https://www.facebook.com/lilypiebags/
MummaBubba Jewellery NZ – https://www.facebook.com/MummabubbaJewelleryNz/
MAMA Maternity – https://www.facebook.com/MAMAMATERNITY/
The Sleep Store – https://www.facebook.com/SleepStore/
TreasureU Limited – https://www.facebook.com/treasureulimited/
Woven – https://www.facebook.com/wovenslings/
Sabonete – https://www.facebook.com/sabonetesoapnz/
Carried with Care – https://www.facebook.com/carriedwithcare/
Natures Sway Baby Hammocks – https://www.facebook.com/naturessway/
Island Custom – https://www.facebook.com/islandcustomnz/
Night Owl Creations – https://www.facebook.com/NightowlcreationsNZ/
Kangatraining New Zealand – https://www.facebook.com/kangatrainingnz/
My Natural Baby – https://www.facebook.com/MyNaturalBaby/
Aroha – https://www.facebook.com/arohatextiles/
Veronica-Jean Photography – https://www.facebook.com/Veronicajeanphotography/
(The order here is based off the competition schedule, there maybe some giveaways that don’t have a business listed here, this is because I purchased these items to give them away to you guys. Like the Constance Hall book, man I wish I was cool enough to talk to her haha I just screwed up my pre-order after a few wines so have a couple spare! And the Bitybean which is still up for grabs on my page until tomorrow night. It is my advertising budget being used here guys, so please make sure you like and share my page so I can prove the benefits to my business advisors & accountant :P)
So again, thank you to all of you, and thank you to those of you who helped me bring this together! (if I didn’t get to you “babywearing industry person potentially reading this” and you wanted to give me something to give aware to help draw awareness, I am pretty sure these guys reading won’t mind yet another giveaway… email me if you like 😉 babywearingwithjess@gmail.com )
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