We are so lucky to have so many amazing babywearing consultants in New Zealand. One of our most experienced is Shelley du Plessis from Hamilton. Shelley has her own business, Up-a-Bubba, offering a range of super helpful babywearing services.

Shelley has fostered a huge number of babies as well as carrying her own babies, so she has had probably the most carrying experience of anyone in New Zealand!

"In all my years as a newborn foster mum and having over 30 babies come and stay, I have gained invaluable experience and come to realise there is not a lot of support for new parents and sometimes life can be pretty full on and as a mum we never put ourselves first nor often ask for help.

This is why I started to offer postpartum care here in Hamilton. I wanted to start mothering the Mothers and help support, nurture and empower them in their new roles as parents.

I have the ability to walk alongside you as you navigate the 4th trimester and get to know your newborn baby.

Since Shelley is also a trained Doula, so she can support you in a wide variety of ways in the weeks and months following your baby arriving.

Here's what one of Shelley's recent clients had to say:

"I learnt so much from Shelley. She was so generous with her time and experience. She answered a million questions (almost literally) and thanks to the time I spent with her I grew to trust myself a bit more as a mother. I'm so grateful for that and I highly recommend her as a baby wearing consultant and a postpartum doula."

— Beth

Here's an overview of the services Shelley offers:

- Zoom Consults Available  - 30 minutes and up 

- Postpartum Support - your helping hands

- 3 hours and up Price varies

- Emotional and physical support when women need it most.

- Feeling isolated, without any close support? Overwhelmed by all the well-meaning advice, from the wealth of information available about parenting. Or just having difficulty adjusting to parenthood.

She can help with:

- Assistance with Newborn Care - Care of Older Children in the House - Rests and Naps for Mum - Companionship for Mum - Time for Self care for Mum - Light Household Tasks - laundry, vacuuming, dusting, tidying up

-Consults at your home

All prices below at are at my home, please add $10 if you would like me to come to you, within a 10km radius of Hamilton City Centre. If you are outside Hamilton, please contact me to discuss costs.

- Tum-to-Mum Package (3 Part)

The ideal gift to expectant parents wanting to babywear right from the start. You will have an initial consult before babies is born and two after baby has arrived.

- New to Carrying - 2 hours 

Can include you and a friend - perfect if you are new to babywearing and don’t know where to start. We all go over all aspects of babywearing and I will have a selection of the different types of carriers for you to try

- New to Carrying Lite - 1 hour

This is ideal if you are new to babywearing and you already have an idea of what you want. We will cover everything in the standard consult but will only go through two carriers of your choice.

-Moving On - 1 hour

A good appointment length if you would like to work on a specific skill and have some experience of carrying already. ie Learning to Back or Hip Carry.

-Tips and Tweaks - 1/2 hour

You already have a carrier and you want some hints and tips on how to improve on where you are already at. ie: Finding your carrier uncomfortable or can't get baby positioned correctly.

-Carrier Hire

Duration Varies $10/week

-Take-it-up-a-notch Workshop

Got a group of friends all wanting to learn how to back wrap in a woven, or want to learn a different carry. This is the one for you.

-Babywearing Basics Talk/Demo

What to know more about babywearing? I go over the basics of babywearing and bring a selection of carriers/dolls for you to try. Great for babyshowers, playgroups, antenatal groups, first time mums.