pregnancy-friendly products

Having so much at stake, pregnant clients are highly concerned with the formulas used during spa services, preferring natural and organic ingredients. Along with family and friends, they can be great retail clients for spas that carry a maternity-minded retail skin care line or even go all out into the pregnancy and baby boutique business.

“I had a protocol written for our line, which is something spas look for,” notes Amy DeCamillis, who in recent years rounded out the original retail offerings of her Denver-based Bella Mama luxury skin care line to include backbar belly oils and foot salts. “Our products can be used for anybody, but they pay attention to pregnant women’s needs such as swollen ankles and expanding bellies.” The products contain no additives or preservatives, she adds; essential oils and botanicals combine to address skin care issues during pregnancy.

Sutherland agrees that spas and their clients set the bar high for maternity formulas and detailed service protocols. “Our protocols are 120 pages long,” she says. “That emphasizes how important the training side is to us. Therapists love it, because it opens up a whole new skill for them.”

Training and hiring require an investment when a spa adds maternity services, but it comes relatively risk-free because typically the decision to offer this menu is market-driven. Kienow’s experience at Little Palm Island is repeated at day spas: the pregnant clientele shows up, inspiring the owner to think about catering to these specialized needs. Cash layout is limited to some special pillows, products and staff training; there’s no expensive equipment or reconfiguration of space.

Ilacqua knew from the beginning that maternity would be in the mix; she developed a menu of monthly services starting with the third month of pregnancy. “We’re in a bedroom community of under 7,000, in a coastal area just south of Boston,” she explains. “This is a family community with disposable income and lots of children. If you have that market, you might as well take advantage of it.”

The opposite is true as well, cautions Kienow. If your current clientele is not in need of these services, adding them can compromise your spa brand. “Make sure this fits in with the rest of what you do,” she advises. “We’re a global-inspired spa. We’ve designed our maternity services to fall within that theme. We have no radios, cell phones or children here. We’re on a tropical island in the middle of the ocean, and people have nothing to do but relax.” Still, a little marketing never hurt.

post-pregnancy

Maternity services naturally lead to what comes next: treatments first for the new mom and then ongoing attention to the older mom. You can follow the example of Som Visao Spa in Vancouver, British Columbia, which approaches maternity services through five “wellness programs:” fertility; first trimester; second trimester; third trimester; and postpartum. That last stage provides a six-month program that includes lifestyle coaching for the new routine, workouts to get back in shape, treatments to revitalize the skin, hair removal and even nutrition for both mother and baby. It’s the rare new mom who doesn’t at least try to get rid of the stretch marks and back into the bikini.

Spa Epidauros in Richmond, Virginia, calls its postpartum service the “4th Trimester Healing Hour.” It features a full-body massage “to help realign and restore your body as it naturally adapts and returns to being one person again.” In anticipation of spas wanting to keep the maternity client beyond the birth, Bella Mama offers two post-pregnancy products—a sitz bath concentrate and a nursing salve. “When they’re done nursing, they can use the salve on their cuticles and elbows,” notes Amy DeCamillis.

“Once a mama, always a mama,” says Sian Sutherland, who emphasizes that the postpartum period is no time to abandon this market. “The first six months of motherhood are a very exhausting time. The nights are endless, your body acts as if it’s still pregnant, your ligaments continue to tighten up and hormonally there’s a lot going on. Imagine having an hour that’s totally focused on you under the supervision of someone who really understands what your body is going through.”

Part 1: Destination Relaxation

Part 2: Pregnancy Friendly Products

Part 3: Marketing to Mamas-To-Be

Part 4: Tips for Your Business