Specialist pregnancy & baby stores should be classified as "essential retail", especially when chocolate shops, off licenses and stationers have. We wish to keep our stores open to provide a safe source of personal support to expectant mothers and parents of infants and young children.

Many pregnant women, nursing mothers and new parents have felt side-lined during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. Much of the usual support network has needed to be replaced with virtual interaction for obvious reasons. Preparing for, or looking after, a new baby is an exciting but daunting stage in life, especially for first time parents. Whilst online content is available in many forms, without face to face human empathy and advice, individuals may be left with unnecessary levels of anxiety and stress.

For new parents, seeking advice from a specialist store on their local high street is essential. Our JoJo store teams have years of experience and for nearly 3 decades we have been available to answer pleas for help from our customers. With a product range including maternity and nursing fashion and bras, we offer professional socially distanced maternity & nursing bra measuring. Wearing a well-fitted bra, at a time when the body is changing so much, is known to ease discomfort, backache and help to prevent mastitis. During pregnancy, a woman's body can change shape at pace. Following a growth spurt, and expectant mother may have nothing that fits. New babies may arrive prematurely, leaving partners urgently seeking smaller sizing. While a new mother struggles to nurse their little one, helpful partners or friends will rush to store for advice and essential nursing products to ease the journey. All stages of the child's development: bath time, healthcare, weaning and potty-training; require essential products that may not be easy to source from non-specialist supermarkets.

Specialist retailers do not experience high density footfall, especially during this pandemic. Keeping our retail teams safe is our top priority and we have taken their advice when delivering out in-store safety guidelines. Social distancing and sanitising our fastidiously clean stores is second nature. Our wish to keep our stores open is not always the best commercial decision, but we are looking at this problem with a holistic approach; at JoJo we want to to help our communities, and have no desire to take Government handouts:

• We want to assist and reassure the desperate father, worried about how to stop their perfect newborn scratching their face after one day home from hospital.
• We want to welcome the distraught new mother who has finally made it out of the house with their little one only to discover the reason for the baby's agonizing cries are a "poonami" which needs an emergency helping hand in out baby change area.
• We are here to help you choose the best way to ease sore little gums when your little one's teething has kept you up through the night.
• We want to support the parents who are mid potty-training when their toddler has an accident in the street.
• We are here for you when your child's wellies are pinching just before your daily exercise, or they have lost their winter mitts or hat.

NB. It goes without saying that we request you hand sanitize on entry. The baby change, customer WC & nursing areas are ready for that little emergency. We quarantine tried on clothing before putting back on the shop floor. 

Please help us promote this cause. We are astounded that when some of our senior politicians are new parents, they should be in tune with the needs of pregnant woman or other parents. JoJo and other specialist Pregnancy and Baby Retailers should be classified as essential retail in the current and any future lockdowns in the whole of the UK. www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk 

PS. The lovely photo shows two of our dedicated JoJo team. As proud mums they are holding up a catalogue in which their children feature as our little models.