Meet the Irish businesses for and founded by mothers

Ever wonder just how many new babies are born each year? Well, according to the CSO, over 50,000 new babies were born in 2023 alone, meaning there are thousands of families all around Ireland getting to grips with this new phase of life. While there’s no shortage of new baby gadgets aimed at this engaged audience, there’s often been little focus on providing services designed to help the thousands of new mothers across the country. Happily, that tide is changing with a host of innovative businesses now setting up shop to help mothers navigate the early years of parenthood.

In the case of Carla Kelly, her new business, Ask the Midwife was born out of her own experience as a new mum. “When I had James eight years ago, I was the first of my friends to have children and there was nowhere to go to meet other mums,” she explains, “or even ask a question. What I wanted was a welcoming space where you could go and ask an expert whatever questions you have, meet other new mums, and have a chat.” Determined to change this, Carla qualified as a midwife over COVID, and from there, teamed up with her business partner, Anna Fayne, to open the doors to her Dun Laoghaire premises last year.

Now approaching its first anniversary, Ask the Midwife offers a range of services from a sleek and calm space in the centre of Dun Laoghaire. With a staff of experts on hand, Carla and her team offer parents bespoke training including First Aid courses, auxiliary services like night nurses for sleep-deprived parents, and studio-based classes for pregnant and post-partum clientele like Pilates with local instructor, Sophie Mallen. “We’re open a year in May,’ says Carla. “We’ve clients who came during their pregnancy and have been able to ask me or any of the other midwives any questions they have about childbirth, so they’re going into labour knowledgeable about what they do and don’t want, and then we see them coming back here with their baby which is great.”

For local mothers, Ask the Midwife offers an inclusive meeting space for mums and their babies. “Our classes are baby friendly, so you can come here, go to a class with your baby and then have a coffee and a chat afterwards,” she says. “I love being here and seeing mums come in for a class and make a connection. That’s incredibly rewarding. We have one group who just finished up a baby massage course, and now they meet up at that time every week for a walk. That’s lovely to see and exactly what I envisioned when I was thinking about starting up this business.”

Helping new mums navigate the world of postpartum health is also top of the Ask the Midwife agenda. “Women’s health is an under-serviced area but I think people are much more aware now that they don’t just have to put up with an issue they have, so we’re seeing huge demand for our women’s health physio,” says Carla.

With demand for activities and expert advice high, providing services that make daily life easier is also a key area for businesses to explore. So says Naomi Byrne of Naomi’s Kitchen, who offers a popular New Parents Food Box, packed full of delicious home-cooked meals for new families. “It’s by far our bestseller,” says Naomi. ‘We sell tenfold of it versus our next bestselling box. We get a lot of businesses either buying it for their staff who have just had babies, or friends buying it as a gift for new parents, as they know people have enough baby grows! And it’s good food. It’s home-cooked with fresh ingredients, so it’s giving people a convenient way to eat well in those early days of having a baby when you’re trying to figure it all out.”

With an established event catering business as well, the food delivery service emerged from a pivot in their offering during COVID, with the website following soon after. “At the time, we were primarily an events business,” explains Naomi, “and we fell between the cracks of the different supports offered. I literally started emailing our contact list, offering to prepare and hand-deliver food to anyone who needed it. This was around the time people were cocooning, so we started to see a lot of demand coming in for that, and it all grew from there. Now we see some families continue to get the boxes even beyond the newborn stage, as it’s a good way to get delicious and nutritious meals conveniently, and it’s one less thing for you to do.”

Convenience and quality are also top of mind for new business, ReBorn Ireland, which this year launched a new parent-to-parent marketplace. Founded by mum of two Dee Peacock, the platform focuses on offering preloved items that have been vetted for quality to parents across the country. “What’s really important to me is that preloved items are still a quality buy,” Dee explains. “Our aim is that the marketplace feels like a user-friendly shopfront, where our parents can easily upload items for sale, and also easily buy quality items. With my first-born for instance, I literally bought everything and ended up with so much stuff. At one stage, I had three cots! What we want to do is not only help people buy quality items, but also show that if you do invest in a quality buggy or cot and take care of it, that you can then sell it on and get some of your investment back and the next owner gets value for their money with a good product.”

Along with facilitating the resale of products, ReBorn also aims to provide help and advice to parents through their Instagram and TikTok content. “We’ve started a series called ReBorn Parenting Series where we have different experts on – like a sleep consultant – to share advice and help for our parents,” Dee says. “We want to make it easier for parents to get expert advice, along with helping to connect our sellers and buyers. The feedback has been great so far, and we’re working really hard to make the platform as streamlined as possible.”

With an ambition to continue to grow the marketplace, Dee notes that value is key in the current economy. “People are finding it tough,’ she says, ‘so what I’m seeing is that people want value for money. Our aim is to enable parents to get that, and to be able to upcycle and declutter as well, so it’s a win-win for everyone.” With an array of new businesses finding a dedicated following, it’s clear that catering to new mums is good for business.