HIP TO IT

SUFFERING BACK PROBLEMS FROM CARRYING HER CHILDREN, THIS MUM CONJURED UP A NEW KIND OF BABY CARRIER TO HELP PARENTS TRAVELLING WITH THEIR KIDS

- • By Emma Levett

Laura Campbell has suffered with arthritis since she was 16. It flares up in times of stress and was a source of pain after she had her two kids, Elodie and Lincoln, with her back, knuckles and toes swelling up painfully.

"It made it painful to carry both kids," she tells WHO. "Then I'd be having the mum guilt when I had to keep putting them down. I tried babcarriers, but snapping the straps in was hard with sore knuckles and I'd get anxious, which transferred to the baby."

It came to a head after Laura had Lincoln in 2021. Looking for alternative ways to carry him, she found a hip seat on Amazon.

“It was ugly and brown, but it did the job,” she says, explaining how it buckled around her waist and meant she was carrying her child’s weight on her hips rather than using her arms and back. It also worked for kids up to age 4.

“I'd not seen anything like it in Australia, and I decided I could make one that was more comfy, functional and stylish,” she shares.