Mums' health comes naturally

Morella Lascurain (foreground) with naturopath and medical herbalist Rebekah Paddy (right) and clients Susan Hofstetter and daughter Leah

A taste of what is now her own medicine was enough to spur a business-shy doctor to set up her own clinic specialising in natural health.

Although Morella Lascurain's heart was set on a home birth for the arrival of her first child two years ago, complications with the baby in posterior position meant a trip to the hospital seemed unavoidable.

But when the difficulties were solved by a homeopathic pill under the tongue and two acupuncture needles in her toe, the Venezuelan doctor was converted to the possibilities of natural medicine.

She now runs her own natural health clinic, Mother-Well, in Grey Lynn, specialising in care for mothers and children.

Also working at Mother-Well are naturopaths, homeopaths, acupuncturists, herbalists and massage and reflexology specialists.

And not content to leave it there, Lascurain is taking the brand beyond the clinic walls with the Mother-Well range of natural products.

As the number of patients through the clinic grew, she became more aware of the way chemicals in everyday skin products could affect the health of the unborn and babies.

Struggling to find natural products suitable for young skin, she teamed up with her natural skin care specialist, Kate Robertson, to create her own.

Mother-Well products are plant-based and offer the healing properties of herbs, essential oils and other natural ingredients.

The range includes Yippee-Nappy and Bottyguard balms for the nappy area, Blissful Babe moisturiser, Capit Off emollient to help remove cradle cap, Calmocolic Oil for upset stomachs and Stretchy Belly Oil.

The range is sold online, at the clinic and in a handful of health stores initially, and sales have boomed since January when a distribution agreement was signed with health supplement company Thompsons.

That saw the number of stockists rise from 10 shops to more than 100 within three months. Selling to what she describes as a motivated market of new mums, Lascurain believes the products also have potential overseas.

Discussions with an Australian distributor are under way and she would love to take the products to her home country of Venezuela - one of the fastest growing cosmetic markets in the world.

Although the products make up 80 per cent of the company's revenue, Lascurain has not lost sight of the importance of the clinics and plans to open a second in Auckland in the next year.

The Grey Lynn clinic sees 50 patients a week. Lascurain believes its specialisation in children is its strength and the fact that it brings together a variety of remedies under one roof, "whereas a lot of natural health practitioners are one-man bands working from home".

Lascurain credits her medical school training for the discipline that helps her juggle two children under 3 and the growing business.

Safe for baby

* The use of chemicals in skin products spurred the idea for the new range.

* Plant-based, it contains the healing properties of herbs, essential oils and other natural ingredients.

* The products were initially sold online, at the clinic and a small number of health shops, but sales have boomed since a distribution deal saw outlets rise from 10 to more than 100 within three months.