Tuesday, 1 September 2020

Welcome New Member, Fabienne Wilkinson to the Single Mums Business Network. Fabienne is a VA and Paralegal.

 


I am delighted to welcome Fabienne to the SMBN – Fabs is a Virtual Assistant and Paralegal based near Cardiff and she has joined the SMBN to help her gain exposure to her new business and to join a network of like-minded professional single mums. Here is what Fabienne says:

I am a virtual assistant offering secretarial services for individuals, business and also paralegal services to the legal sector. I left my Paralegal job in London nearly a year ago and relocated to Cardiff to raise my daughter and start our new adventure together. 

You can visit Fabienne’s website HERE, or connect with her on FB HERE, and LinkedIn HERE

I have no doubt of the calibre of Single Mums in the UK and the SMBN is here to ensure that these ladies get the recognition and exposure they deserve, and the best possible opportunity to succeed in enjoying their families and achieving financial freedom.

Members enjoy exposure to their business with every visit to the SMBN and associated PR.  Please don’t hesitate to join us if you are a Single Mum working hard to pay the bills alone, we are here to help you.  You do not have to be a single mum to join, we have friends of the SMBN too. Every time a new member joins she is not only helping herself but helping every other member and friend of the SMBN, we welcome you x

https://singlemumsbusinessnetwork.com/

Fabienne will be included in the next Single Mums Business Magazine (below) and all PR hereonin

Tuesday, 23 July 2019

KIH Bed Pregnancy Cushion Testimonial Tuesday from Chiropractor Melissa Folly


It’s #testituesday!
Submitted by: Melissa Folly 05/11/2014
‘I bought a KIH Bed from Julie earlier this year and have been very impressed with the quality and comfort of the product. As a Chiropractor I often treat ladies in variable stages of pregnancy and the double layer to the pillow allows a fantastic transition between stages. The removable covers are great and easy to remove and wash. I would highly recommend Julie and her KIH pregnancy products. From
Melissa Folly at Shires Chiropractic Clinic.’
Melissa has since bought a second KIH Bed for her Cheltenham practice.

Thursday, 6 December 2018

KIH Products Volunteering Day

I had a lovely time at Bristol Shelter today volunteering my painting skills! it was really lovely to hear first hand some of the projects they are working and how many people they are helping on a day to day basis.

So many of us are so vulnerable to being made homeless and Charities such as Shelter are crucial to help us through difficult times.  Taking time out from our own day-to-day business and activities to volunteer in such away helps us to remain grounded and connect with the real issues that surround us.

With connection comes greater understanding and raised awareness of how we can help to build a better society.  It just needs a few leaders, a few game-changers, a few people in power with the ability to make small life altering changes to what is perceived to be normal.

Longer tenancy agreements (of course with landlord protection clauses!)
The freedom to decorate ones home
The freedom to hang pictures (enjoy a private life & make a home!)
The freedom to have pets in your family

Being a tenant is rarely a lifestyle choice
Being in receipt of benefits is rarely a lifestyle choice
Minimum wage is legal, not ethical
Working a 25 hour week really need not be a problem.. Most people would jump at the chance to work in school hours & be removed from the benefits system & vulnerable living

Decent working hours, decent wage, decent tenancies, and happy landlords with a property at the end of covered mortgage payments #whatmorecouldyouwishfor!

Also, mortgages - end, tenancies, never end, you find that rent til the day you die.  So much work to be done here guys! More leaders & game changers required.

@ShelterBristol #housingcrisis #minimumwage #flexibleworking #johannhari @kihbed 

Monday, 8 October 2018

The KIH Bed Pregnancy Cushion is in SCOTLAND



The KIH Bed Pregnancy Cushion is in SCOTLAND Great news if you're #pregnant in #Inverness - you can now enjoy a Pregnancy Massage on your belly full-term - at the Sleeping Beauty Salon in INVERNESS

@sleepingbeautysalonlimited 
for more info on the KIH Bed Pregnancy Cushion visit www.kihproducts.co.uk



Thursday, 21 June 2018

Laying Prone in Pregnancy and Pregnancy Massage Tables

When I designed the KIH Bed Pregnancy Cushion in 2011 so that I could lay prone during my third trimester of pregnancy I immediately embarked on research to ensure that this position was safe, not only for me, but for my unborn child.  I had miscarried during my first pregnancy in this is not an experience I wanted to do everything in my power to avoid ever happening again. My research reassured me and so I enjoyed the use of the KIH Bed during my own pregnancy. I am sharing some research with you in this post.


When I decided to bring the KIH Bed to market, already satisfied with the pregnancy safety element, I then needed to ensure it complied with other health and safety aspects such as breathability, toxicity and fire, and so the KIH Bed underwent British Standards Safety Testing as carried out on cot mattresses and household furniture (BS7177, BS5852 and BSEN713).  All the safety testing boxes ticked the KIH Bed was protected, mass produced and launched to market in 2013.


In the last five years the KIH Bed has been used and loved by professional practitioners such as Osteopaths, Chiropractors, Physiotherapists and Massage Therapists as well as by mums-to-be for private use in the home, with consistently excellent feedback from both practitioners and their clients.  


Some therapists however are still nervous to lay their pregnant clients prone as traditional pregnancy massage training advises to lay a client on her left side.   This post is to offer some insight and clarity into the sometimes confusing advice. The choice used to be to lay a client on her left, her right, or her back. The right hand side and the back cause concern with respect to pressure on the aorta and vena cavae.


'The researchers say that previous studies have found that sleeping on the back is associated with a disruption in normal breathing patterns. They also say that lying flat on the back during late pregnancy can reduce the mother’s cardiac output (the amount of blood pumped out from the heart with each heartbeat). This is because the major veins in the body that return blood to the heart (the vena cavae) are positioned just to the right side of the centre of the body. As such, it is possible that in heavily pregnant women, the pressure of the baby when lying flat or just to the right could interrupt the return of blood to the heart. This could reduce the mother’s cardiac output and, in turn, affect blood supply to the uterus and placenta.'


Equally where pregnancy massage couches did exist they were designed in such a way that put pressure on the uterine ligaments and lumbar area.  The KIH Bed has been designed to support these. Normally past 13 weeks gestation the client would not be comfortable to lay on her front due to the discomfort but this would be the stage to use the 4" depth of the KIH Bed to release pressure and to support the lumbar vertebra.  The KIH Beds 'sling' design soft cover will support the uterine ligaments at variable stages of pregnancy. The full depth of the KIH Bed is 8" offering full term support.


In 2017 a report was published on the PMC titled the ‘Influence of the prone position on a stretcher for pregnant women on maternal and fetal hemodynamic parameters and comfort in pregnancy’.  Extensive research was carried out and part concludes that:
‘The prone position was considered safe and comfortable and could be advantageous for improving oxygen saturation and reducing the systolic blood pressure and respiratory rate.’ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5463251/  It is worth reading the full report and worth noting that the KIH Bed was designed to offer the same curvature to the spine and comfort to the client as the stretcher that was used in these experiments.




It is also worth reading up on Optimal Foetal Positioning and Spinning Babies: http://optimal-foetal-positioning.co.nz/ https://spinningbabies.com/2013/12/


Just as training courses are updated when it comes to advances in technology it is time for pregnancy massage training to be updated based on equipment and clinical information that is now available, that was not available when the original training courses were developed.


I hope that this post is insightful and useful to those of you who have been in any doubt and further supports the work of those currently using the KIH Bed Pregnancy Cushion to fully support their clients throughout pregnancy.

Julie Hawkins, KIH Products Ltd. 21/06/2018

Saturday, 26 May 2018

Finalist at The Mpower National Business Awards

A big 'thank you' to Nicola Huelin and her team at Mpower for making me a finalist at The Mpower National Business Awards. I am a finalist in the 'spirit' category, that recognises not only my achievements to date with KIH Products but how I am actively working to help others, via my blogs, book, facebook page and support network. We all come up against naysayers on a daily basis and it takes a lot of self-belief not to let them kill your confidence. Remember. 'Only you can stop you!' - you know inside what you are capable of and 'who you are' - do not exept anything or anybody who is toxic to your wellbeing. Do not underestimate your ability to survive difficult changes. @Mpowermumsinbiz #mpowerawards #mumsmakeithappen

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