A bit about us
We're passionate about supporting families
Our founders Jennie, Karen and Laura have worked in infant feeding support in West Kent for a total of 20 years.
We dream of a future where all parents find evidence-based, compassionate, empowering support wherever they turn, where strong communities come together to support each other, and where skilled practitioners across diverse specialisms work together as a team.
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With your support, we're building a community to do just that.
Our impact
We support over 1,000 families a year with breastfeeding and early parenting.
A typical year for us:
147 face to face support and social groups
1,400 1-1 specialist appointments
600 social visits
800 volunteer hours donated
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Our families consistently rate our service as excellent, with 97% of those who review our service likely or very likely to recommend us.
Listen to Emma, Abbie, Harriette, and Liene's experiences of Baby Umbrella appointments and our social groups.
Our founders
Jennie Yelverton
Education and
Practice Lead
Jennie supports our staff and volunteers to embody our charity values to the best of their ability and leads our staff supervision and support function. Jennie oversees training and education development and delivery for staff, volunteers, parents and professionals; as well as leading on Diversity and Inclusion.
Karen McCully
Clinical, Community and Client Lead
Karen is our Clinical Lead, responsible for maintaining our high levels of knowledge and skill in Breastfeeding support. She leads our relationships with governmental and healthcare bodies and is our Designated Safeguarding Lead. She also leads on outreach events and community fundraising as well as being fully embedded in almost all of our face to face groups on a weekly basis.
Laura Shtaingos
Finance, Operations and Marketing Lead
Laura runs our strategic planning, reporting and compliance processes. She is also responsible for creating operational processes that are effective and support our service delivery. As marketing lead, Laura works to ensure our service is known, liked and trusted; by those who need us. As fundraising lead, Laura has overall responsibility for income generation to support our service.
Our trustees
Since our founding in August 2020, Baby Umbrella has recruited a strong team of trustees with various skills.
We are always looking for new volunteers with diverse points of view to ensure that we reflect the communities we serve - please get in touch if you feel you can help!
Ema Saunders
Chairperson
A founding trustee, Ema is a seasoned HR professional and executive coach, having worked at Savills for 14 years. Ema is a trained peer supporter for Baby Umbrella, and has personal experience of the services provided through Baby Cafe after having her son.
Alissa Brumby
Trustee
A trustee since October 2020, Alissa brings a wealth of experience working in the Third Sector. Having led philanthropy teams to raise funds for many worthy causes, Alissa is passionate about maternal mental wellbeing and hopes to support Baby Umbrella raise vital funds to continue their work. She has also benefitted from Baby Umbrella services herself.
Marissa Conway
Trustee
A trustee since March 2024, Marissa is a feminist activist and charity executive, currently working as the CEO of United Nations Association - UK. Having used the services herself, she strongly believes that all new parents, especially new mothers, deserve the "village" of support that Baby Umbrella provides. Marissa supports with strategic, governance, and fundraising expertise.
Alison Day
Trustee
A trustee since October 2020, Alison brings over 10 years of marketing and communications experience to the Baby Umbrella team. Whilst also working as a Peer Supporter, she is passionate about supporting parents on their journey and in particular with their mental health and wellbeing.
Chloe Gastrell
Trustee
In her position as trustee since October 2020, Chloe supports Baby Umbrella with legal and governance advice, having worked as a qualified solicitor specialising in Intellectual Property and Media for over 10 years. She cares deeply about supporting new parents with breastfeeding and their mental health, and has benefitted from the services offered by Baby Umbrella herself.
Jane Gerard-Pearse
Trustee
A founding trustee, Jane is a stalwart of our local perinatal support community. A qualified nurse, midwife and lactation consultant for 14 years, Jane brings specialist knowledge and experience to the team.
Nicola Kirkwood
Trustee
A founding trustee, Nicola is passionate about maternal mental wellbeing. A qualified doctor, she currently works at Maidstone Hospital as a Consultant Oncologist. Nicola also has personal experience of using the services provided by Baby Cafe Tunbridge Wells, before it became part of Baby Umbrella.
Rebecca O'Dwyer
Trustee
As Treasurer trustee since March 2024, Rebecca supports Baby Umbrella with strategy and finance. She has spent the last 12 years working across banking and finance, currently as a Director for a leading Investment Management firm. She is passionate about improving maternal experiences and benefitted from the support of Baby Umbrella after the birth of her son.
Jaime Phipps
Trustee
A trustee since March 2024, Jaime is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner within General Practice. She brings clinical and governance expertise to the Baby Umbrella team. Jaime has a particular interest in maternal mental wellbeing and she has previously been a breastfeeding peer supporter. Jaime has also benefitted from the services provided by Baby Umbrella herself.