UK Enterprise 2020

84 | UK Enterprise Awards 2020 Jun20357 Best Breastfeeding Products Manufacturer 2020 & Leading Provider of Organic Cotton Breastfeeding Covers - Scotland The introduction to breastfeeding and the numerous challenges that come with it can be daunting to new mothers. This is where Dee Drysdale and her business Infinite Mommy comes in. Dee aims to support and encourage mums who are new to breastfeeding, and their families, to have as confident a breastfeeding journey as possible. Following her double win in the UK Enterprise Awards 2020, we profiled Dee and Infinite Mommy to discover more about the wonderful service they provide. In 2016, Dee Drysdale founded Infinite Mommy as an introduction to the support service, offering a vast range of eco-friendly, stylish and comfortable breastfeeding covers that provide mums with a support structure for growing in confidence, while they find their feet learning to breastfeed in public spaces. Having worked with countless families throughout the years, it has solidified Dee’s passion for this and has even made her more determined to support mothers with both their mental and emotional health during this phase of motherhood. Today, Dee helps mum to tackle the difficulties and joys of breastfeeding, deal with the challenges that couples and families face together during this period, as well as support mothers in making the transition back into public, while breastfeeding as natural and comfortable as possible. Striving for high-quality, comfortable, stylish products that promote a confident journey, Dee believes that these are qualities shared by anyone who is truly passionate about making a difference. It is no secret that there is an ongoing debate regarding breastfeeding in public. Currently, the UK government is actively promoting breastfeeding by running Breastfeeding Friendly campaigns that create awareness for breastfeeding in public, and aim to encourage more mothers to breastfeed. Whilst Scotland has passed laws that protect mothers’ rights to breastfeed in public. Numerous breastfeeding organisations welcome local businesses to work with them to support breastfeeding in public, as well as invite the brick-and-mortar establishments to sign up to their Breastfeeding Friendly Scheme. Those who do sign up receive a Breastfeeding Friendly sticker to place in their windows that informs mothers that their premises are a safe and welcoming space in which they can feed their babies. This drive to normalise breastfeeding in the UK is very encouraging. It creates space conducive to Dee’s service to support mothers when it comes to reintegrating into public life while learning to breastfeed. Additionally, it allows Dee to be part of the greater cause of increasing the number of babies that are breastfed. The early days of learning to establish breastfeeding can be very lonely for new mothers. During the pandemic it has exposed how much this isolation can affect a mother’s mental health and their decision to continue breastfeeding or not. However, Dee wants to encourage and support as many mothers and their families to push through the early days of breastfeeding, so they may have as long and enjoyable a breastfeeding journey as they desire to have. One of the ways Dee is hoping to achieve this is by expanding her support service to a digital 30-day support program, aimed at mothers who don’t yet have the confidence to reach out to breastfeeding groups or their health care professionals. As a mother currently breastfeeding her 10-month- old son, Dee finds this stage of breastfeeding to be challenging with a teething and distracted baby. As for her solution? Dee says, “My solution for this phase of our babies’ development is my soon-to-be-launched range of breastfeeding / teething necklaces. This is a range of bright silicone bead necklaces worn by mums that is designed to stimulate baby’s sense of touch while being breastfed or for baby to teeth on while being held or carried around.” For Dee, what matters the most is that people are treated with dignity, kindness and respect. As such, by creating a platform for mums and families who choose to reintegrate into society while breastfeeding to explore and grow in confidence while learning to breastfeed in shared spaces, Infinite Mommy is her way of extending those values into the world today and in the years to come. Contact: Dee Drysdale Company: Infinite Mommy Web Address: www.infinitemommy.com