getting some feedback from other mums and mums-to-be

[elituesbay]

Hi all,
My husband and I are studying the possibility to start offering a new service for families, a "Newborn baby video shoot". Our background is in media and advertising and we are very family orientated so we thought on doing our bit to help others perpetuate those special moments.
We have created a quick and simple survey that you can take in less than 2 minutes. It will help us a lot to understand other parents' points of view.

This is the link: www.surveymonkey.com/r/8SP67DX

Thank you so much in advance.

And congratulations to all those mummies expecting a baby soon, (I, myself, am due on February ;)

Hi, before I do the survey could you please confirm your use of the term 'newborn'. Are we talking about minutes post birth or a few days afterwards? I have some questions if its just minutes /hours post birth?

(have asked MNHQ to see if another topic is more siutable for this request)

sure, it would be a video shot after the mum is out of hospital since we think that would be more comfortable for mum and family, and probably up to the baby is two weeks old.

and yes, please, if you or MNHQ have other suggestion for a topic discussion let us know. :)

Thank you & best wishes for February :)

I'll do the survey now but if you want any honest feedback about your idea or to know the types of questions that I'd ask then please let me know. (I'm not about to post them on the Childbirth board unasked for as they are not snuggly lovey type questions & I don't wish to upset anyone... )

Hi elituesbay - we'll pop this over to Start-ups for you.

Thank you BeccaMumsnet!

absolutely MidnightVelvetthe4th! :)

Thanks elitues :)

OK from what I gather then your service will probably involve booking & paying in advance rather than booking & paying in the 2 weeks in between birth & the video shoot. No problem as most people like to be as organised as possible. Also people like to buy gifts for new parents & this may be a thoughtful gift for parents to be.

However I'm interested in how you would handle the following (not expecting you to answer them at all here, just hoping you have thought about them really) Would you consider postponing the shoot or refunding if:

• the shoot cannot go ahead because the baby has a health condition at birth, is ill, is not able to leave hospital within 2 weeks.

• What your reaction would be if the mother loses the baby or experiences a stillbirth or loses her own life during birth

• what happens if the mother has PND & is not well enough for the video shoot? At 2 weeks in with rampant PND with my first I was barely able to function let alone put on a happy act for a camera.

I speak from experience when I say that some mothers feel an utter failure during those first 2 weeks due to things that people assume comes naturally, such as bonding or breastfeeding & if they are bought a lovely video shoot as a gift then would have the added stress of making the effort to portray what they did not feel. Would there be the option to cancel the video shoot if the mother is struggling? Or maybe to postpone until a later date, say 6 months or so...

Also just some general thoughts:

• Given that the mother will still be bleeding, sore, leaking, stitched together & maybe breastfeeding every hour (its such a magical time! :) ), if she is travelling to your premises for the shoot then maybe consider a quiet breastfeeding room & think about comfortable cushions & seating rather than having her on the floor or bending low. Maybe keep spare outfits/towels/mop handy in case of accidents :) & allow lots of time

• maybe have some colouring paper, pens, beads on wire or toys available for siblings who need to occupy themselves whilst parents & newborn are being videoed by themselves.

• Have you considered a 3 in 1 package of pregnancy, birth & child at 12 months? I know some mothers who would be eager for that :)

• I also know mothers who love the photos with props, you know the ones with the baby in a flowerpot or some such. Perhaps consider this sort of thing instead of 'just' the baby :) however also beware of mothers like myself who refuse to gender their baby with clothes/toys so have gender neutral props as well in primary colours not just in blue or pink.

• I know of an entire family who took all the adults to every prenatal appt, the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles etc would all be in the waiting room. Would you accomodate families who want more than parents in the video? If not & the mother is a sole parent would you allow another adult to stand in in the absent parent's place?

• Maybe consider marketing videos not only to parents but also grandparents. Not so much the newborn ones but maybe a baby-at-a-few-months-old-with-grandparents type thing? Very useful for Christmas presents cynical

• Also (with school photos looming this week) what formats are you thinking of, a DVD? the school photo people charge a LOT extra for a memory stick with the video on, presumably as it can be shared without any further cost.

Good luck with it, I hope it works out very well for you & I think there's a market for it :) sorry this was so long

Thanks a lot MidnightVelvetthe4th. We are still on the market research stage and your feedback is very helpful indeed. We've thought of most of the things you talk about, since being parents ourselves understand that when coming to given birth can be very unpredictable. :S and the following weeks as well! (I myself struggled with breastfeeding for the first couple of months.) But let me share with you a few of our thoughts later on through a PM, and I hope it answers most of your doubts.
By the way, great suggestion the 3 in 1 package. :)

Talk to you soon xx