heraldsun.com.au Herald Sun, Wednesday, February 7, 2007 Maternity mates Working mums-to-be outsource home duties Carla Danaher family reporter BUSY mums-to-be are paying baby planners to prepare their home for their new bundle of joy. With more pregnant women choosing to work right up until the birth, they are handing over the job of shopping for a pram and fitting out the nursery to professional baby organisers. It follows a British trend that has seen expectant mums outsource their baby preparations. Mother-of-two Sarah Hart, who runs Melbourne baby organising service immaculatereception.com.au, said women were busier than ever and often didn't have help from family. "A lot of women still think they have to cope on their own," Ms Hart said. "We're trying to ease the load and the shock of having a baby. It's all about giving the woman a better experience. "More people are outsourcing things and realising they don't have to do it on their own." Busy mums can have their house cleaned, nursery fitted out, the fridge stocked, meals delivered or a breast-feeding consultant organised. Ms Hart said gift vouchers for services were popular presents for new mums from their mothers' groups and work colleagues. Croydon mum Fiona Billimoria used immaculatereception.com.au this month to prepare for the arrival of baby Keira, born on January 11. Ms Billimoria, who also has son Callum, 2, said having her house clean and organised while she was in hospital took a lot of pressure off. "You are physically recovering from the birth and you're tired, you shouldn't have to worry about having the house clean," she said. Ms Billimoria said she didn't want to repeat what happened when she came home with Callum. "I remember coming home and spending the first day back cleaning up the house," she said. "When you're recovering from the birth it's the last thing you should be doing." Founder of British company Baby Planners, Keely Paice, said women could spend up to 250 hours preparing for their first child. Social commentator Bettina Arndt said women were busier than ever and should take advantage of any help. "We have a lot more women in the full-time workforce, working longer hours," Ms Arndt said. "As a culture, we've become more accustomed to the idea of outsourcing. "If you can afford to employ someone else to do jobs you haven't got time for then why not? "I don't see anything wrong with it." -with DAILY MAIL

Kate (South Melbourne):

Dear Sarah,

I have just got home to a wonderfully clean and spotless house! Thank you so much. It's wonderful to feel for once I don¹t have to get up and start cleaning the minute the baby sleeps!

Please send over a feedback form and thanks again for a brilliant service.

Kate x

Lisa (Kew):

Hi Sarah,

I just wanted to say a huge thank-you for the amazing work you did for our family. I always knew it was such a great concept but now to have received a service just confirms how wonderful immaculatereception.com.au really is!!

Marcus was delighted also knowing his workload at such a busy time was halved!

We are doing really well with Jay at home at the minute and all enjoying our little addition to the family. The kids have been fantastic too.

All the special touches like the fruit platter, meal, little cakes and package just add to the excitement of coming home to a beautiful and organised home!

Thanks once again,

Lisa and family.

Kate and Mark (Northcote):

Sarah,

Thank you for everything you did to get our home ready for our arrival. Your service was exceptional.

Knowing things would be done when I was in hospital was a huge relief, (helped me to relax A LOT), and you did all the things I like to do before we go away, eg. clean fridge, clean sheets etc. and the food was delicious!

Dealing with immaculatereception.com.au staff was a positive and helpful experience and there was nothing missed in the service.

We would highly recommend your services to any parents-to-be.

Thanks again.

Dear Sarah,

I just wanted to let you know how impressed my daughter (Kate Robins-Browne) and her husband Mark were with your service. We initially planned for it to be a surprise, but Kate was going crazy cleaning things so we told her.

She said that she felt so much more relaxed after that knowing that even if she went in early the house would be clean when she came home. They were both extremely happy with the service provided.

Thanks again

Gail

Sarah,

Congratulations on last night's successful forum. I had a great time, most particularly with your last three speakers - found them to be fantastic and very helpful.

Regards

Dyan McKee

Hi Sarah,

I thought the forum was fabulous - very necessary for new parents and long overdue! It was well organised, well attended and although I found a couple of the speakers (the earlier ones who read from notes) a little hard to hear and follow I thought that overall it was terrific.

I'm more than happy to be involved in future forums, just let me know when and where. Thank you for the introduction at the start of the night and for your push with the books. I was thrilled that Dog Poo raised a bit of a chuckle!

So, well done and let's stay in touch. I'm also more than happy to put a bit of info in the next edition about the forums - if there are no dates as yet we could do a short blurb and "phone for more information".

Cheers

Penny

Media release