I provide mentoring and support to several of my fellow babywearing professionals as they facilitate their own peer supporter courses, aiming to provide high quality education about safe babywearing for parents and practitioners. For many years this was done under the Born to Carry name with my colleague Anne McEwan, and has now come under Carrying Matters. All courses cover the same basic essentials but reflect the trainer’s own particular interests and skills.

All peer supporters attending a course run by these trainers are asked to complete a standardised assessment at the end of their courses to ensure good understanding of safety, and will receive a certificate of completion.

If you would like to become a trainer yourself, please contact me directly.

Brianna Dymond, based in Birmingham

Brianna (she/her), also known as the Happy Sling Lady, is an educator and IBCLC based in Birmingham, UK. She has been running sling libraries and support across the West Midlands since 2017, and joined the Born to Carry School (now Carrying Matters) as a trainer in 2020. Brianna is dedicated to accessibility and widening the knowledge of slings and carriers across all sectors, including parents/caregivers, health professionals, childcare providers and anyone coming into contact with babies and children

Contact her at brianna@happyslinglady.co.uk

Website www.happyslinglady.co.uk

Socials @happyslinglady

Karen McCully – based in Kent

Karen is a babywearing consultant and lactation consultant (IBCLC) based in Sevenoaks, Kent.  She runs Kent Sling and Cloth Nappy Library across the West Kent area as a non-profit community interest company

Contact her at karen@psbreastfeeding.co.uk or 07951600777

Website – www.kentbabymatters.org

Lizzie Start, based in Essex

Lizzie (she/her) is a carrying educator and charity director based in Essex. She has been running sling libraries for a decade, first in Oslo in 2015 and then in Southend-on-Sea and surrounding areas in Essex from 2016 onwards. With a background in teaching as well as qualifications in adult learning and family support, she has been teaching carrying peer support since 2017. Lizzie founded Cake Club, a grass roots parenting support organisation based in Southend, in 2018, becoming a registered charity in 2022. She also runs the Slings-on-Sea sling library and consultancy (part of Parenting-on-Sea CIC) with three fellow consultants, supervising over twenty peer support volunteers and offering sling library services across multiple venues every week. Lizzie regularly offers carrying safety training to local health and parenting professionals, and has worked with a number of babywearing dance and exercise instructors to ensure that the safety of parents and babies are at the heart of their practice. She is passionate about ensuring inclusivity and accessibility while supporting parents to respond to their babies’ needs.

Gemma Hamilton – based in Glasgow

Becky Young – based in Northamptonshire

Laurna Hislop – based in Inverness

Lysanne Skinner – based in Worthing