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Staff photo by Betty Jespersenfrom the Kennebec Journal
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The store at 346 Main St., run and operated by a cooperative of young mothers, sells products made and designed by mothers for mothers -- and fathers. It is also a place for visiting moms to meet, browse through a lending library, quietly nurse a baby or change a diaper.
The growth of the business and the energy of the members has inspired them to take Blessed Baby up a notch. They plan to start a Mothers Center; an informational meeting is scheduled Sept. 18 at 6 p.m.
Founder Heidi MacIsaac said the idea of opening a store that sold the products she wanted to use for her children started last spring. She began searching online for the new generation of cloth diapers. Unlike the clunky ones from a generation ago, these are easy to use and earth-friendly. She said in the process, she discovered a new world.
"I found an entire community of women dedicated to natural parenting who all work from home," MacIsaac said.
Through word of mouth, she got in touch with area mothers making products at home but were stymied in how to develop their small businesses. The idea of the co-op was born.
She said there are different levels of membership and a percentage of each sale goes back into the business. The more time a mother can work at the store, the lower the percentage.
The store also connects women to services such as doulas -- women who work with expectant moms and post-delivery, lactation specialists and La Leche League, yoga classes for moms and tots, reiki massage, baby photography and a local artist who paints pregnant belly plaster casts.
Karen Kidder of Farmington prepares natural skin-care products for babies and mothers from herbs and flowers in her garden. She said when she first heard MacIsaac's idea, she signed up.
"I was very interested and felt passionate about it. I had gone through post-partum depression after my last baby and felt so alone," Kidder said. "Heidi's mission was exactly what my soul was crying for. We want to give other mothers the support we didn't get."
Kidder, who calls her business Spring Blossom Botanicals, said Blessed Baby has given her a new outlook on life.
"It supports work-at-home moms. It has given me the courage to expand my line of products and the courage to be able to stay home with my children and do something that makes me feel good," she said.
Crystal Davis of Strong, a co-op member whose "gently used" clothes for children and nursing and pregnant moms fills a back corner of the store, has a business called Second Chance Threads. She said she always wanted her own store, but with a new baby, knew it was not realistic.
"Now I have found my little niche," Davis said.
Aimee Grimmel of Mexico sells her own design of baby slings, sacks, and cloth diapers made of cotton and hemp. She also sells through her Web site, www.slingsandsacks.com, and worked with Women,Work and Community to set up a business plan.
"When I heard about what Heidi was doing, I was so excited to find other moms in the area and to work with them. There is a lot of interest in natural parenting, cloth diapering and people wearing their babies and it is such a relief to have other people to talk about it with who are local," she said. "Everything here is about babies," she said.
For information, call 645-4666, or visit Blessed Baby's Web site at www.blessedbaby.org.
Betty Jespersen -- 778-6991
bjespersen@centralmaine.com
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