About us:

Mel.

Hi, I’m Mel, mum to my 3 gorgeous boys, a certified babywearing consultant and breastfeeding peer supporter with lots of parenting and perinatal knowledge under my sleeve, and on a mission to support parents in my area from pregnancy through to early years. I also co-run the Tower Hamlets Family meet-up, a free monthly meet-up for parents with local perinatal and early years professionals and experts that aims to support expectant and new parents.

I started babywearing with my first boy was born over 10 years ago. I tried various slings along my babywearing journey but could never find something comfortable that would fit us both properly. Then I discovered woven wraps and fell in love! Babywearing to us is not just about convenience, it’s our way of life.

Shortly after starting babywearing, I started co-running a sling group called Sling Social East London and organised monthly meetings where parents came for help, try new slings and meet other babywearing parents in their area. After months of organising these meetings I felt that I needed to turn my passion into a professional vocation so I could help babywearers to the best of my ability and give them the support they need. The sling meet is now the Tower Hamlets Family meet-up. It’s a separate event from the Bethnal Green sling library and Hackney sling clinics but we offer babywearing support there too.

10 years ago my life was very different. I suffered from PND after having my first baby and I was working as research scientist in a top university where I was bullied and harassed and decided to leave this toxic environment and my career in academia. I wanted to be able to take full-time care of my baby as well as being self-employed. I felt a calling to support other parents with babywearing and so I decided to join Azzura who had created Wrap a Hug on her journey when she told me she was going back to Italy. I resettled Wrap a Hug in East London and embarked on my own consultancy journey in the same spirit. Wrap a Hug grew massively and I now have over 400 slings, different sites and volunteers! I have supported thousands of families over the years and it’s been a great honour to be a tiny part of people’s parenting journey.

Certified Babywearing Consultant, School of Babywearing

Peer Supporter, Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (breastfeeding peer supporter)

CPD: Normal Infant Sleep Development and SIDS Awareness Training, BASIS

Carrying in Special Circumstances, School of Babywearing

Wrapping for Professionals, School of Babywearing

Ongoing CPD: Postnatal Depression Awareness Diploma, Attachment Parenting Awareness, Mental Health First Aid Diploma

PhD in Speech, Hearing and Phonetic Sciences, UCL – focus on accented speech processing and bilingualism

MSc in Speech and Hearing Sciences, UCL

BAHons English Language, University of Sussex

Jasmin.

Hi, I am Jazz, a North London mum to three wonderful girls.
Being a first time parent with a baby that cried a lot, I was finding everything very challenging, I knew I needed to get out for my own mental health but couldn’t even manage that without tears (from us both). That’s when I discovered babywearing and the wonders, connection and freedom it gave us. It helped me to thrive as a mother. It soon became clear that I have a calling to support new and expectant families and caregivers in their own babywearing journey. I love supporting others and my mission is to provide access to comfortable and beautiful slings to all, even if you didn’t know you needed one!

I am a babywearing peer supporter, currently working towards becoming a fully fledged babywearing consultant and enjoy volunteering with Mel at Wrap a Hug sling library, in East London – where my passion for all things slings was born. I’ve recently started up my own sling library so that I can offer a sustainable way to try different slings, Camden Babywearing.

Ann.

Ann trained as a babywearing consultant (School of Babywearing) in 2014 after becoming obsessed with slings and carriers during a doula preparation course a few years before.

She spent several years volunteering with Norwich Sling Library and running a consultancy (Birth Geek Babywearing) in Norfolk before moving to London and finding her slingy family at Tower Hamlets Family Meetup.

Ann’s babywearing adventures have been truly global, including helping at Wellington Sling Library in New Zealand, learning kanga wrapping in South Sudan and manta carries in Peru, among others!

In her ‘other life’, Ann works in broadcast engineering and loves problem-solving everything from how to get a radio station back on air to working out which carrier is going to be the best fit for you and your child.

Her favourite babywearing moments are when a parent’s face lights up when they find the carrier that’s meant for them and when babies zonk out with magic sling sleepy dust. 

Ann Charles

birthgeek.co.uk

Azzura.

I’m Azzura and I’m a babywearing consultant. I created Wrap a Hug and I’m based in Italy. I would like to tell you the story behind Wrap a Hug.

I had a very difficult birth: we had planned a natural birth at home but I ended up having a caesarean section. Afterwards I felt really lonely and tired, even though my baby was fine and I was supposed to be happy.
A friend told me about slings and their “magical” powers and I started wearing my daughter when she was about one month old.
Having her wrapped close to me was very healing! It was so good that I started researching more about babywearing and its health effects.
After some months of happily carrying her around in the woods where we used to live, my daughter started to be too heavy for the stretchy wrap we were using.

This is when we discovered – and fell in love with – woven wraps!!

In time, I have tried different kinds of carriers but none of them gave me the same feeling of closeness and connection to my baby nor were as comfortable as woven wraps. One more good thing I discovered about them is that they can be used from the very early days after birth. This means that you can use just one single wrap for your whole carrying experience, unless you like to get more, of course!
Other mums in my town started asking me about my wrap. They were coming at our place looking for advice and support. That is when the idea of creating a sling library popped in my mind.
However, wraps can be pretty expensive and I already had a job as a singing teacher so the thought of investing money on a new enterprise was scary for me. But my husband believed in my vision: he encouraged me and helped me buy all the wraps to start the business. Then, my sling library came to life! I ran it weekly and soon mums would come to experience carrying.
In the meantime I was also running some music classes where I would teach parents how to develop musical consciousness in their little babies. The lessons were very intense and moving and in that period I realized how happy and satisfied I was when working with children and parents.
About a year later my husband proposed to move to London where he could develop his musical career. I had always liked the idea of living abroad so I agreed.
Of course “Wrap a Hug “came with us!

I’m now based again in Italy.