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American Baby’s Hot Mamas: Rebecca Minkoff and Jessica Seinfeld on Moms Helping Each Other

Monday, September 24th, 2012

In some ways, Jessica Seinfeld is just like us. True, she’s married to Jerry Seinfeld and will never hurt for money. But twelve years ago she gave birth to a daughter, Sascha, and like many women, wasn’t prepared for how it flipped her life upside-down. She admits that while it was fantastic, it was also “very new and stressful.” She found it hard to get out of the house. She couldn’t imagine how women who were already having a tough time in life also dealt with new motherhood. And quickly her charity, Baby Buggy, was born.

Cut to newer mama Rebecca Minkoff, designer of fabulous handbags. When she welcomed her first child a year ago, a son named Luca, she also got inspired to help moms. She found her way to Jessica’s charity through Bravado, makers of comfy and cute nursingwear. (Rebecca tried to get away with just wearing a sports bra, but her milk came in, and like many a new mommy, she quickly realized why nursing bras exist!) Starting now, 20 percent of Rebecca Minkoff-designed nursing tanks will go to Baby Buggy. Also, for every nursing tank sold, one is given to a mom in need. Check out the $39 tanks for sale at Diapers.com; they’re also shown below.

I sat down with Jessica Seinfeld to ask a few questions about giving and getting baby items:

American Baby: One question we get is, “How can I help families who need baby supplies?”

Jessica Seinfeld: You can check out BabyBuggy.org and see our network. [They have dropoff spots in New York City and Los Angeles.] Also, if you can’t find one of our partners across the country, you can go to a domestic violence shelter, or you can call, depending on where you are, a help line, like 311 in New York City or 211 in LA. Whatever your local help line is, you can call and find out how you can give back, and what organizations in your town accept donations for families in need. Head Start centers are another important place you could try.

American Baby: If you’re one of the families who need things, do you turn to those same places?

Jessica Seinfeld: Yes. Though it so depends on your circumstances. I’m not totally qualified to answer, since it depends on on where you’re from. You can reach out to a help line first and foremost, and if you have a social worker in your life, that person will be able to connect you to the right place to get donations. 

American Baby: We always ask people to not take secondhand cribs and car seats if they can help it, because there are safety hazards associated with those hand-me-downs. But how do you get around that, if you’re having trouble affording them?
Jessica Seinfeld: We would love to be able to help with those, because there’s such a critical need and they’re so expensive. It sort of kills us to not be able to do it, it breaks our heart every time we have to say no. But the safety and liability issues are too great. Certainly, if you have neighbors or friends or relatives who have that gear and can assure you that everything has been safe and okay with those items, you can go that route.
American Baby: And in your opinion, what are a few of the must-have items for a new mom?
Jessica Seinfeld: What’s really important to one mom is maybe not so important to another. But a great baby carrier is a very important item, I think. It allows you freedom and accessibility to the world when you’re home and maybe feeling a little low, because you haven’t been out of the house much. For me in New York City, a stroller that was small enough to go on the subway and bus was really important. Basically anything that allowed me to be mobile was really important to me. And I stuck to basics. Swaddling blankets were my luxury item, I just loved a good swaddle. I didn’t really get a lot of stuff, to save clutter. I had just started Baby Buggy, and getting too much stuff would have defeated the whole purpose of what I was trying to do!

 

 

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