Mum turns her struggle into helping hand for new parents
A MUM who lost her home and car when she had to give up work to care for her extremely premature daughter has turned her heartache into a drive to help other expectant mothers.
Natasha Earle’s world was turned upside down when her daughter Amber was born eight weeks premature in 2012.
The then 28-year-old, who was already mum to son Luca, now 11, was horrified at the lack of support for mums in her situation.
She told the Evening Times: “She was quite small and had some difficulty so I had to come out of work.
“There was no support for us. My partner, Frank, and I were workers so there was no support, we weren’t entitled to anything. It was incredibly stressful and when I got back on my feet, I realised how many other people were in the same situation.”
Natasha, who is also mum to one-year-old Chileh, discovered dozens of women had difficulties during their pregnancy or after birth but didn’t know who to turn to for help.
After finding out large corporations often scrapped “perfectly good” unsold baby items, she requested they donate them to her instead and started building packages filled with vital goods for expectant parents – and she was surprised how quickly it took off.
To date, the charity Birth, Baby and Beyond has delivered packs to more than 1,300 families and, thanks to funding from Tesco Bank, it can offer a choice of “luxury item” to be included within the kits, such as a cot, a pram or a Moses basket.
Natasha’s charity handles some of the most extreme cases across Glasgow, from cash-strapped families, to women escaping domestic abuse and even those have fallen pregnant as a result of rape.
She added: “It can be quite heartbreaking. Last week, we delivered a pack to a woman and I was crying.
“When I got home I was really upset because she’s really trying but she’s just struggling. I felt so bad for her.
“It took me a few days to recover from that one.”
Natasha, who lives in Kelvindale with her family, and her team will join that client as part of a new documentary set to air later this month.
The programme follows the mum-ofthree and others like her as they set out to help the community.