Looking through incoming emails, tweets, fb notifications and e-newsletters that inhabit my inbox more and more, I noticed something interesting: Lifestyle Coaches for people entering the pregnancy and parenting pathway. After some investigation, I found a plethora (many, many) web business/sites that offer services on everything from getting pregnant to getting your kid into college.
There are sites by enduring public health organizations that cover the range of conception, pregnancy, birth and early parenting issues – such sites as those by the Mayo Clinic, the March of Dimes, and WebMD – starting with how to get pregnant. You can also find business sites for these range of topics – such as The Bump and BabyCenter.
In addition, there are individualized sites that cover coaching for one or more parts of the process. Sites specialize in getting pregnant, being pregnant, giving birth, caring for a newborn, finding childcare, finding early childhood education, how to talk to toddlers, what to do with children of all ages, how to get them ready for school, how to encourage them in school and so on. Some specialize in a combination of two or more of these topics. Some started out specializing in one topic and are moving along as the owners or writers evolve in their lives.
I realize that this is an outgrowth of the “mommy bloggers.” Many computer literate women found blogging a way to deal with the life-changing event of having a child. For some, the internet became a means of making a living while staying home. Realizing that there was a large audience in this realm, the mommy entrepreneurs evolved…and, not all of them are mommies.
We are beginning to see the next generation: pregnancy and parenting life coaches – individuals who may or may not have professional backgrounds in one of these areas, but are learning to turn their own experiences into businesses that help – or purport to help – others along this part of life’s path. Where does the impetus for this come from? Is it just that the internet makes a new business model possible? What else might be happening here?
For some time, I have thought that young persons entering parenthood these days are at a distinct disadvantage. Bearing and raising children is not easy or cheap. It requires a network of support and advice that used to be present in the extended family. But, we leave home and are much more mobile these days. We may live in Texas, but our baby’s grandparents live in Oregon or Brazil or Turkey. I asked my own exercise, childbirth education, and parenting clients about this. I found that many were in the classes precisely because they felt they had no firsthand experience or knowledge about what it was like to hold, feed or change a baby, let alone be prepared for birth and the sleep deprivation that followed. I also found mommy bloggers and entrepreneurs who found the impetus for their new work sprang from these issues in their own lives.
So, over the next series of blogs, I will be writing about some of these sites and services…both the professional organizations and the new mom entrepreneurs who have turned a difficult life transition into a way of simultaneously helping others while putting food on their tables. It looks to be an interesting journey and I hope you will follow along! I will get the next blog up in a few days, as soon as I am in the next location with internet access. My office is temporarily in the hurricane blackout zone of CT, but they promise me service soon. The first topic: How to get pregnant!
Filed under: Pregnancy Pathway | Tagged: birth, childcare, conception, labor, mother, nutrition, parent, preconception, preconditions, pregnancy, pregnancy exercise | Leave a comment »