Words by: Bernice Campbell
When Mama Maya founder, Robyn Jones was in labour with her eldest son, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck.
While at the time, Robyn was concerned for her son’s wellbeing, her care providers assured her that a nuchal cord was quite common and rarely caused any problems for the baby.
Nevertheless,Robyn was grateful for her access to world class health facilities and highly trained specialist medical staff, and most of all to the health of her now five year old son.
This experience in birth lead to the gift that keeps on giving to new mamas both in Australia and all around the world.
Not long after Robyn’s birth experience, she heard about the work of the Birthing Kit Foundation Australia (BKFA).
BKFA provides training programs and clean birthing kits to women in remote areas around the world to help reduce the incidence of infant and maternal morbidity and mortality.
Every two minutes, one woman dies of complications related to pregnancy or childbirth – 99% of these deaths occur in developing countries.
In a country like Uganda, 1 in 16 women die in pregnancy or childbirth.
It’s a sobering statistic when, in Australia, this statistic is as low as 6 in 100 000 women thanks to our access to excellent maternal health care.
While counting her blessings, Robyn came up with the idea of Mama Maya because “every woman deserves a clean and safe childbirth.”
Robyn explains “I took something that every parent of babies owns multiples of, a simple muslin wrap, and built a one-for-one model around it, with a focus on stylish, timeless design, sustainability and philanthropy”.
Mama Maya makes gorgeous organic muslin cotton baby wraps.
They make perfect baby shower gifts – unique, practical and with a beautiful purpose.
The wraps are luxe quality with rounded corners, beautifully soft against precious skin and generously sized at 120cm x 120cm.
So even the wriggliest of babies will have trouble squirming free!
They feature a timeless signature ‘spot print’ and are currently available in grey, ink and salmon.
But it’s not just all about the wraps, that’s not the half of it.
Through a partnership with the BKFA, the sale of each and every Mama Maya wrap funds one clean birthing kit and caregiver training to ensure at least one woman will have access to a cleaner and safer birth.
In addition to the benefits that the gorgeous wraps provide to the mamas and bubbas who receive and enjoy them, and the direct enhancement to the birthing experience of women in developing countries, the wraps are also ethically made.
Robyn is conscious that “Mama Maya is kind to both our makers and the environment”.
The wraps are manufactured from GOTS certified organic cotton muslin, by fair trade manufacturers using sustainable printing methods and are packaged in a reusable bag, with recyclable labels and post packaging.
Mama Maya launched in early 2016 and since then they’ve funded birthing kits for close to 2000 women in developing countries.
This has been one of the biggest motivators for Robyn, who left the corporate world as an Account Director at a large media agency in Sydney.
Whilst the change was daunting, Robyn finds her new social enterprise “infinitely more fulfilling”.
Not surprisingly, Robyn is inspired by entrepreneurial people who’ve left the safety of their corporate gigs “to make it on their own, take some risks, follow their heart and do something they are truly passionate about”.
Luckily, Robyn calls many of these people her friends, and they inspire her to grow her business.
And with a tribe like hers, it’s not surprising that Robyn has a big year planned for Mama Maya.
Off the back of a newly launched website, Mama Maya is adding two new colours to the range and have partnered with like-minded Thankyou Baby, a brand who is working hard to fund child and maternal health programs in the developing world.
Robyn promises there are a “few other fun things in the pipeline already”.
For more information visit MAMA MAYA website by clicking here. Or follow socials @mamamayaorganic
