“To make babywearing accessible” – an interview with Meghan Harley Yugulis
Hello, Meghan. Please tell us a few words about yourself and your babywearing journey
Hi, I’m Meghan - a mom, a scientist, a breastfeeding advocate, a babywearing supporter, an athlete, a student. Passionate about breastfeeding, babywearing, education, and learning. I’m a workaholic whether it’s paying the bills or volunteering, my free time doesn't really exist!
I found babywearing while pregnant with my son. What I found wasn’t just a way to wear my child, but a community. A close-knit community that offered tools to help me wear and care for my child, and a way for me to help me find my “new normal” for myself. I’ve been wearing E since he was a week old, we started with a stretchy wrap. By a month, we were using ring slings and soft structured carriers. By three months, we had found meh dais and wovens. I still use most carrier types with my son who is now two. And enjoy getting to share my knowledge and passion for babywearing with others.
Why did you decide to be an educator?
I’m very active in my local community and try to remain involved with the online babywearing community as well. I was recruited to be a leader in my local organization in Spring 2016 and completed the Center for Babywearing Studies Foundation course in 2017. I really enjoy teaching and working with folks one on one so pursuing additional educational opportunities like CBWS training is helping open more doors for me to share what has helped me so much.
What is your mission as an educator? What is the most important thing that you want to communicate to your 'students'?
To make babywearing accessible. That anyone can (or can choose not to) babywear. I see a lot of folks who think they cannot babywear due to size, price, or gender/role. It’s really wonderful to help make babywearing accessible to anyone who is interested and break down some of those misconceptions. I always want to leave the choice to babywear in their hands. You can be a great parent whether or not you wear, it was a great option for us and that inspires me to want to help others have that same opportunity.
Wonderful mission! I think that it's not always easy. What was the biggest challenge so far…?
My biggest challenge is that so much of the babywearing world happens online. Being able to describe what things someone can do to get a more comfortable fit can be difficult. We all learn in different ways and when someone is new to wearing terminology can be confusing. I spend a lot of time linking to videos, photos, and other babywearing educators who have great tutorials available. I really appreciate the diversity across educators and their children in videos, it helps me provide a video that better matches the individual/child and their needs. Everyone should have access to help, even from a distance so that they can be successful. A lot of people seem to have a carrier they never used because…. I really want to eliminate those “becauses.”
…and the greatest success?
Increasing knowledge, and thus accessibility, of local babywearing resources. I’m very fortunate to be in a position where I can work to improve access in my local community. I’m currently the Lending Library Committee Chair (librarian) of my local Independent Babywearing group. I’ve worked to increase awareness of what is available and how to borrow a carrier. We’ve tracked data on each carrier, solicited donations, and made purchases to better meet the community’s needs. We’ve tried to increase accessibility through size, price point, and type of carriers. I feel very successful seeing workshops filled to capacity and twice as many carriers borrowed each month. I cannot personally gift or loan out a carrier to everyone who is interested, but being a local volunteer helps me find additional ways to make babywearing accessible.
I'm really impressed! Please tell me more how you make babywearing accessible to the parents new to babywearing. Do you organize courses for more people or individual meetings? Which forms do you prefer?
If I could have a 60-90 minute one-on-one with each family I’d love it! I find great success being able to work in a smaller setting and can better understand an individual or a family’s needs. Little details can really help steer someone towards a carrier that is perfect for them. And help make the entire process less overwhelming. There are a lot of carrier types, brands, sizes, and price points. So instead of giving them all that knowledge, it’s nice to pare down to what is relevant at that point in time and then provide resources for as they want to consider additional options. Realistically I share a lot of information about carrier type and making suggestions online and then have individuals register for a workshop. This helps them know what type of carrier(s) they’d like to focus on and results in a small group learning environment. I recently taught a series of classes called Summer Shorties. I led this with another local educator; it was a series of 7 classes that met at the park and focused on using shorter length wraps. This was a lot of fun to teach, all the attendees had a lot in common, they were all at a similar place in their wearing journey and knowledge. A new opportunity I’m exploring is partnering with a local store. I recently stopped by their grand re-opening and was able to work with expecting parents and parents who already owned carriers, but needed help with fit. It was a calmer environment than a class of 10+ and allowed me to reach a community outside my current geographic focus.
Oh, you're so versatile and open to many possibilities! What are your plans for the future? Are you planning to add some new areas to your activity?
I’m still working on additional places and ways to share babywearing information. August is the home of World Breastfeeding Week. There are several local events related to La Leche League and Black Breastfeeding week that I’m planning to support. These events are good examples of additional ways to share information and reach new parents who maybe haven’t thought about babywearing but could be interested and benefit from it. One of my biggest hurdles is that often people don’t know babywearing exists or that organizations and educators can help so these opportunities help overcome that.
I’m right now looking at ways to grow opportunities where new parents already are. These are unique in that it would be a chance to reach a group who is already assembled and probably at a similar knowledge level regarding babywearing. My hometown has numerous breastfeeding support groups, one of which I’ve been invited to attend as a babywearing educator. It’s an easy transition in this type of group to offer additional parenting information and education. I’ve also considered partnerships through health department programs and the local children’s hospital. Working out these collaborations can be tricky so I’ve reached out in a few different ways, knowing my success rate will probably start low. Several of my more recent steps related to training, insurance, and certification tie into making these collaborations possible.
The last thing I have in the works is a worksheet for a class or presentation. I’d really like to give people who are interested in wearing a checklist of sorts. As I present carriers and features they can check off if those are things of value to them. This would help me make suggestions tailored to their needs even though we don’t have a one-on-one consultation. I think, it could help merge a classroom setting with a consultation. Plus, it provides a specific next step making babywearing easier and thus more accessible (that’s the theme, right?)
Is there anything that you'd like to add about the role of the babywearing educator?
Well, I love it! But, I always like to remind folks that I'm still learning, that educators are still learning. Acceptable and safe babywearing practices change as you look around the world. Features and carrier types continue to be altered and invented. So hopefully anyone I have the opportunity to work with in the future can not only learn from me but also give me an opportunity to learn from them. I hope I make people feel valued and we are able to learn together.
Thank you for the interview, Meghan – and good luck!
Meghan Hardley Yugulis
A trained babywearing educator and a volunteer leader with Columbus Babywearing
https://www.facebook.com/HarleyHouseWearing/