0 Your letters: Mom and baby business

With reference to the article “Are you ‘mommylicious’ enough? (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 29, 2012), I would like to add to the list another word and that would be “mommercialization”, i.e. the commercialization of mother and baby products. The trend started from celebrities and actors who endorsed various baby products and posed with their little one on magazine covers. They kept the media guessing and then declared their pregnancy with a surprise. It has become fashionable in higher circles to flaunt one’s status as a mother. 

And now it has percolated into the world of a simple housewife, too. There are grand baby showers for the mother before a child is born. Later, the birth of a newborn is declared to friends by photos posted on Facebook. There are certain exclusive “mom and baby only” stores across major cities in the world selling products appropriate for pregnancy, for newborns and for toddlers all under one roof. There are special maternity clothes on the market. Some big fashion giants have launched special lines for expectant mothers that are showcased in fashion shows. 

There are maternity slippers, maternity gear and even certain beauty products that are chemical free to be used especially during pregnancy to protect the health of the mother and the child. The markets are flooded with powders and supplements to be taken during pregnancy. Decades ago, healthy children were born without using these products. Now consumers are lured into buying them. For newborns, there are many things from tinned formulas to diapers to special baby toys. 

The market nowadays is full of so many products that parents are spoiled for choice. A mother and baby together is a good combination for business owners to attract customers. There are various books on parenting available on the market, but anyone who has become a parent knows that it is learned by practice only and there is no definite formula to raising a baby. Every child is different and so are the parents. The term “yummy mummy” has also come into use, which means an attractive, fashionably dressed young mother. 

Such celebrity mothers can be spotted with their children at school functions or out shopping. At the end of the day, the bottom line is that the mother and child bond is the same as it has always been. For a mother, her baby is her world; the only difference is that there is a section of a business market that is cashing in on this newfound popularity of a mother and baby being seen together.

Niharika Ghosh
Purwakarta, West Java
source : the jakarta post