International Baby Planners

July’s Featured Planner: Natalie Nevares of Mommywise

What uniquely qualifies you to be a baby planning expert?
I’m an experienced NYC mom of two kids (two years apart), who had zero support or guidance when I became a mother. I had no friends or family with babies nearby, so I spent my entire first pregnancy researching every aspect of new motherhood. I read and insane number of books, interviewed moms in baby mega-stores and on the street about the products they bought, and attended every class I could, to prepare me for becoming a mother. What I found was an abundance of conflicting advice and information about just about everything. As a woman who’s experienced fertility issues, difficulty with childbirth and breastfeeding, severe postpartum depression, and every aspect of the new mom lifestyle options (full-time work, part-time work, stay-at-home and work-at-home mom), I have a genuine passion for helping new moms throughout the journey to motherhood. I am also a dynamic part of a diverse community of wellness and service providers throughout NYC, and I’m good at matching clients with the right professionals and products that work with their lifestyles.

What qualities should an ideal baby planner have?
The ability to listen is key, and the number one quality a baby planner should possess. I believe that a good baby planner should listen more than they speak, and ultimately be a non-judgmental sounding board for an expectant couple. A baby planner should empower new parents with information that speaks to their values, and help them make their own decisions, to gain confidence about their intuitive parenting skills, versus being told what is “right” and “wrong”. A baby planner’s job should be to facilitate and gently guide new parents, and to help with whatever they need, whether it’s a book or product recommendation, physically showing new moms how to use a breast pump, or delivering a home-cooked meal after the baby is born.

What are your specialties as a baby planner?
I love to research, and my specialty is taking the information I learn from an initial consultation, and transferring it into an actionable monthly plan, including a short list of recommended books, childbirth education and fitness classes that are convenient for my clients, and matching them with the right wellness and service providers. I also love researching products and shopping for the best prices. I’m a big fan of online shopping and free shipping (crucial for New Yorkers!), and I love saving my clients valuable time and money by recommending the top 1-3 products for them (including where to purchase), to allow them to choose from a short rather than long, overwhelming list of products available.

Tell us a little bit about your background.

After five years of traveling abroad and a short career in documentary TV and film journalism, I worked as a travel consultant for a luxury tour operator in NYC. For 13 years, I planned once-in-a-lifetime, privately-guided tours to exotic locales in Asia, Africa, the South Pacific and South America. It was oddly very similar to baby planning in that I traveled frequently to keep up with luxury travel trends, listened carefully to clients requests, and then advised them (based on their interests and my first-hand knowledge of the destinations and hotels), what I recommended for them, as well as orchestrated the details so all they had to do was show up at the airport with their passports!

What is your biggest piece of advice for a new parent?

The two most important pieces of advice I can offer new parents are to ACCEPT help from friends, family and professionals, in every way possible before, during and after their babies arrive, and to make it clear to all the helpers that the new mom needs caring for first and foremost. Many well-meaning friends and family will offer to “help with the baby,” but many of them forget that the new mom needs caring for more than the baby. A new mom needs someone to put food under her face and do laundry more than she needs someone to hold her baby!

What is the nicest thing a client has ever said about your business?
“I don’t know what we would have done without you.” This is the reason I do what I do.

How do you stay current on trends in the baby and child industry?
I subscribe to every baby and parenting publication (online and print), and I consistently meet with other service providers in the industry, to keep my fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in NYC. Social media is another way I keep abreast of what’s going on with products, services and trends in the baby and child industry. I’m an active member of several expectant and new mom groups (both nationally and locally), so I am in daily contact with what other new moms are experiencing, what products they love, hate, etc. In addition to reading an insane amount of product user reviews online, I frequent smaller maternity, baby and nursing boutiques in NYC, to source unique products beyond the Skip Hop, Baby Bjorn and other mainstream products.

More News

• June’s Featured Baby Planner: Amanda Ogle of Cherished Expectations
• May’s Featured Planner: Abigale Cole of UK’s Mama’s Little Angel