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Business in Bloom
2:30pm Thursday 17th July 2008
Mother-of-twins Ruth Peters is nearly a year into her new business of selling organic maternity and nursing wear. With eco-conscious parents striving to limit their babies' exposure to unnecessary chemicals, organic children's clothing is growing in popularity.
Finding organic maternity and nursing clothes when pregnant was not so easy for Ms Peters, however, so she decided to introduce her own range, called Mama Cocoon.
Ms Peters, who lives in Wallingford, said: "I had become concerned about the number of chemicals and pesticides used to make ordinary cotton clothes. As the twins were spending such a long time each day next to my clothes whilst feeding, I wanted to limit their exposure to unnecessary chemicals.
"I was already a convert to organic foods and liked the idea of babies' organic clothing. But I couldn't find any organic cotton nursing tops.
"When you think about the amount of time a baby spends next to your clothing, then you realise it's just as important to have chemical-free clothing yourself."
In fact, Ruth says she found it hard to find any nursing tops she liked - regardless of whether they were organic or not.
"The design just wasn't right with so many of them. Many were slightly too short and exposed my stomach.
"Others did not fit well or feel good and very few allowed you to breastfeed discreetly, especially with twins.
"I also failed to see why a top couldn't be designed to be worn during both pregnancy and nursing."
So, even though Ruth had no experience of running her own business - she was previously a teacher at St Mary's in Henley - she decided to design and manufacture her own tops with the support and advice from her Business Link which started her off with a £250 grant towards her website.
Ruth said: "I meet regularly with my personal Business Link advisor who provides a huge amount of support in an area that is all so new to me. My advisor also lets me know about relevant networking and sales opportunities."
Ms Peters found an ethical supplier in Turkey to manufacture her tops and is also supplying a shop in France with the new garments.
"I really wanted a UK manufacturer, but there just isn't one that incorporates Elastine, which is so important to keep the tops stretched over the stomach."
Hands-free umbrellas, baby music CDs and other items are also available from Mama Cocoon. Although Ms Peters is learning to walk before she runs and growing the business at a rate that still allows her to enjoy time with her twins, demand is high and Mama Cocoon is set to be a blooming success.
o Contact: 01491 833064 ww.mamacocoon.com
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