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Sustainable Kate 'I'VE TOILET TRAINED MY BABY!'

New Zealand Woman's Weekly

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October 13, 2025

The social media mum is saving the planet from disposable nappies and more

- Kasia De Vydt-Jillings

Sustainable Kate 'I'VE TOILET TRAINED MY BABY!'

As their four-month-old daughter Orchard wakes, sustainability influencer Kate Hall and her husband Tim are immediately responsive, both beaming while they tend to their baby.

Tim carries their wee girl back from the toilet - yes, toilet, they're doing elimination communication and loving it – and Kate is completely at ease chatting to the Weekly as she reaches out for her baby and begins to breastfeed.

It's a picture of family harmony and contentment, something Kate, known to thousands online as Ethically Kate, has longed for since she was a little girl. But after a miscarriage, an ectopic pregnancy and emergency surgery to remove one fallopian tube, it's a dream she once worried would never happen.

"I've always wanted to be a mum," says author and speaker Kate, 29. "Even at high school, I was known as the person who had Band-Aids, Panadol and tampons in my bag. I just can't help but mother and look after people and animals."

Now it's her reality, Kate and Tim share that being Orchard's parents is the best thing they've ever done, but they're also careful to add that it isn't always as perfect as it looks. There are plenty of ups and downs.

Kate explains, "This was our third pregnancy. I only have one fallopian tube and it had started to feel quite dire.

"There were moments of utter despair, like it's never going to happen. I described it as feeling like a dishwasher with no dishes to wash. I felt like a mother with no baby."

Their first pregnancy tragically ended in miscarriage. The second was discovered as ectopic at a medical appointment when Kate thought she'd miscarried again. Instead, she was rushed in for emergency surgery.

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