Interview with Founder and Owner of Eggs and Soldiers Sofi Chabowski

Today Zoe speaks to Sofi Chabowski, owner of eco-aware baby shop Eggs and Soldiers.   Sofi talks about her tragic first pregnancy, her other pregnancies including dealing with finding cleft palate in her Son Luca, her amazing business, juggling family life and more. An emotional episode that gives insight into dealing with pregnancy abnormalities and birth defects and the strength of Sofi and her family.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   Sofi used cloth nappies for her eldest child as she had heard that disposable nappies were poor quality in Dubai. The more she read about it the more she discovered and thought about the financial and environmental side. Sofi then decided to sell cloth nappies herself, it was a small business as first with a basic website and she would sell on markets. She ended up doing a pop up shop with a friend, she took over her friend’s business and then kept growing to where the shop is now. At her 20 week scan for her first pregnancy Sofi found out that things might not be ok, they were then told that the baby was incompatible with life due to a heart defect. Her second pregnancy was ok and Kiya was a Christmas baby with no issues but her third baby Luca was found to have a cleft, which meant travel to London again and more specialists. After detailed scans they could not see any other issues apart from the bi-lateral cleft – but it was a very worrying time as nothing could be ruled out completely, particularly regarding genetic abnormalities as a cleft lip can often be a symptom of something else. When Luca was born there were no additional issues to the bi-lateral cleft. It has been quite a journey for Sofi and her family, she had to learn how to feed all over again amongst other things and Luca has had to have three surgeries with more to go. But they have all managed tremendously and Luca is proud of his cleft, it’s part of who he is.   BEST MOMENTS   “You don’t need to buy as much as you think you need to buy”   “As heart-breaking as it was we just knew it was right”   “I’m very open and honest about it as though it was hard and horrible to go through we went through it…we survived”   “Your baby’s your baby, you don’t want them to change”   “If you have a load of baskets you don’t have to tidy up, you don’t have to be a neat person!”     VALUABLE RESOURCES  www.petalscharity.org www.tommys.org www.eggsnsoldiers.com Eco-aware and sustainable baby shop in Dubai. Use ZOECM10 for discount.   ABOUT THE GUEST Sofi Chabowski, found and owner of eggs and soldiers baby shop, based in Dubai and online (www.eggsnsoldiers.com Use ZOECM10 for discount).     ABOUT THE HOST Zoe Cresswell Devoted mother of two (and a big hairy dog), UK trained midwife, doula and personal trainer, specialising in pre and postnatal fitness. Zoe was born in the UK and before moving to Dubai in 2013 and worked as a midwife in central London, both in a birth centre and a very busy NHS hospital. Although late to the scene, Zoe is an aspiring athlete having won numerous triathlons and representing Great Britain where she placed within the top 10 on the world stage. With her husband James, the couple will soon be launching their cloth nappy company, Bop & Bee, where they hope to inspire families to swap a few disposable nappies a day for the more planet friendly option of cloth. Zoe’s goal is to share her knowledge and experience, tell real life stories, manage expectations and open up those often difficult conversations. Zoe’s own motherhood journey has been full of twists and turns as she put everything on hold and went through numerous miscarriages and rounds of IVF.   CONTACT DETAILS Instagram : @zoecresswell_me Facebook: Zoe Cresswell LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zoe-cresswell