The Journey to Mama Wellness..

It was never going to be a straight forward journey and many things had to happen to get to here, so let’s start at the beginning. My son was born in 2007 profoundly deaf and it changed everything for me, I never knew love like it. Mother and baby groups were hard to come by back then and I spent a lot of time alone just Joseph and I, I was fine with that but I always felt I needed something more. Eventually I managed to get a place at a local class with other Mums and babies, I was so excited to meet other Mums and arrived at my first class so eager. After our first class, I remember feeling so broken, my beautiful baby was just not responsive like others, he had his little hearing aids on but wasn’t able to hear through them until many months later after cochlear implant surgery. I remember thinking this is a sensory class, how do I learn how to play with my baby? I was young and clueless, I felt very alone and parents didn’t talk to me, maybe because they felt awkward I don’t know, or maybe because I was closed off and had already set myself up to fail. I went to that class once more and knew it was not for me, I hated the way I felt and I knew that I never would want anybody else to feel that way.

And so it began, as Joseph got older my knowledge of play and communication with deaf children grew. I became so passionate about language development in babies and how important it was as a parent to play, talk and give love. At the age of 13 months, Joseph had his cochlear implant surgery and was able to hear for the first time. It wasn’t like the videos you see of deaf children hearing for the first time, it was a long process, from listening to a series of beeps through a new mechanical device, it was a year of turning those beeps into recognisable auditory sounds. The process took a very long time and by 30 months first words started to emerge, at the age of 7 he had caught up with his peers. Being the Mother of a deaf child still is an epic adventure, that we have to be prepared to stop everything at the drop of a hat, if something major happens to the equipment or there are any signs of infection around the implant site, It is part of our daily life to check equipment, ears and his precious head.

I knew that I wanted to support other families and children with communication and play, so this meant I had to go back to learning. I got a job in a nursery as a cook with the hope that I could do my early years training, sadly I didn’t last long as a nursery cook, think my background in London Michelin starred kitchens might have had something to do with it. So I was very grateful when Joseph’s nursery manager offered me a job as a trainee nursery nurse. I was so happy, and two years later I qualified with my early years qualifications alongside my BSL training, I was lucky enough to be offered a role with Wirral Council supporting deaf children from newborn right up to 16 years. I honestly was the happiest girl ever, absolutely living my dream, I had arrived! I was helping families to learn, play and communicate with their children, this was exactly what I set out to do.

But remember dreams change and evolve all the time and by now I had started to believe that fate was playing a part in this journey too, someone was listening to me. My time in education was coming to an end, the teams within the council were reshuffling and jobs were being cut, I had a feeling mine was going to be one of them. I had a friend in Edinburgh who had just started Moo Music, and for some reason I knew I needed to know more. I spoke with my partner and asked him his thoughts and together we researched it an he bought me my first two Moo Music postcodes Heswall and Neston. A couple of months later my job was cut and I dived right in to Moo Music full time an the rest was history! My Moo Music business grew into a wonderful dream job and my classes over the last five years grew ever more popular across, Heswall, Neston, Ellesmere Port and Flintshire. With my background in early years, language development and communication and my initial memories of how I didn’t want a baby class to feel to any parent. I could really see first hand, the magical effect of my classes on babies and mothers maternal wellness. I learnt every day, studied more and more learning how I could continue and make this experience better for both Mothers and Babies. I trained in baby massage, which then meant I felt confident enough to work with newborns and supporting and explaining to parents the importance of movement and sensory play for personal, social and emotional development whilst helping the process of myelination and brain development and having a clear understanding of the importance of developmental milestones and the safe and effective positions to place baby in.

Moo Music to me has been the best part of my developmental journey and has given me to opportunity for personal growth and learning how to run a business.

I can’t pinpoint the transition exactly, but over the last couple of years I noticed a personal shift in the way I think, the way I view the world and my own belief systems. I managed to have a complete life overhaul and with the transition many things and people fell away, I felt like with each step forward on my new path, the people closest to me took ten steps in a different direction, it has been a real test of boundaries, but through it I have found some of the most wonderful people on this planet who view the world just like me, it became so exciting to have conversations with people who view the world similar to me, I started to take an interest in sound healing and would go enjoy a sound bath once a week, this then lead me onto my training to become a sound therapist, possibly my biggest challenge to date, but such a rewarding one. I knew that somehow I needed to build a bridge between my Moo life and that of a sound therapist, because I could see how this would be so beneficial for Mums. So the foundations of Mama Wellness started to emerge, at this point I didn’t know how, where or when, but I knew that something wonderful was about to emanate.

It was a month before the first lockdown of 2020 and I knew that I needed a space of my own to run some of my classes from and really I had been searching for years across all my Moo areas, but nothing suitable came up. One day I finished my Moo Music classes in Heswall and discovered that a studio space was available across the road from my venue, still I wasn’t sure how it was all going to pan out. I arranged a viewing and Mama Wellness started to unfold with the idea that I just wanted to have a space to run a couple of classes from and my sound baths. Then lockdown happened and everything about my Moo Music business had to change, I got the studio, I went virtual with my classes and the plans of Mama Wellness started to form officially. One thing that lockdown taught me and many of us, is that we don’t need to be working at such a fast pace in life and that now, our mamas and babies need the support more than ever.

The Mama Wellness studio is a clean, safe and friendly environment

Everything we knew before had to change, the way I ran my business before changed! Life is so different, classes are smaller and much more intimate, but I am able to offer you a service that is sharing my knowledge and specialities and supporting you the Mama and your tribe. And that is what I feel my purpose is, for now my dream is achieved and I’m so grateful to the universe for supporting me on my journey and now I want to support you on yours.

Thank you for reading and I hope that I share Mama Wellness with you soon.

Claire