Meet the Birmingham mum who makes life easier for fellow mothers

A mum turned entrepreneur from Birmingham has found success making life easier for women with her innovative products.

Keira O’Mara, aged 43, launched Mama Designs nearly 13 years ago when she was on maternity leave after being made redundant from her job in marketing at a soft drinks company, and since then has helped tens of thousands of women.

She initially came up with the idea of Mamascarves, designed for discreet breastfeeding, to help fellow mums feel less self-conscious feeding their baby in public. The product had great success with mums including celebrities such as former Spice Girl Mel C.

As time went on, she developed more award-winning products as her experience of being a mother grew. With three children ranging in age from two to 14, Keira has the first-hand experience of the products needed to make motherhood easier.

Her latest creations are eco-friendly sanitary pads, which are washable and re-usable, and have been a huge success since the first lockdown. Her best selling and award winning baby product is an all-year-round multi tog baby sleeping bag, the Babasac.

Speaking of the pads, Keira said: “As soon as I learnt disposable pads are full of chemicals and one pack contains the same amount of plastic as five carrier bags, I knew I had to do something about it. I wanted to show others the benefits of eco-friendly period products. Lockdown slowed everyone down and made people revaluate their habits and lifestyle and I think more people are making more eco friendly choices as a result of that.”

Mama Design’s pads are manufactured by a factory with over 10 years of expertise of creating eco-friendly pads, and Keira brought her own personal experience of testing sanitary products to perfect the design.

Keira said: “The reusable sanitary pads are our biggest seller. Our audience varies from 12-year-old girls starting their periods to 90-year-old women looking for sustainable solutions to incontinence. Customers have noticed less period pain, lighter periods, and an all-round better experience during their time of the month.”

On the Babasac, Keira said: “Most babies sleep in baby sleeping bags as it’s the safest and most comfortable way to get babies to sleep. However, parents would normally have to buy different weights or togs for summer and winter. The Babasac is made with removable layers to ensure it can be used all year round, for changeable British weather and if baby is hot or sick a layer can easily be removed”

Mama Designs already sells a wide range of products for sleep, breastfeeding and nursery accessories, with plans to continue to expand.