Member Article

Channel 4 unites midwife-founded pregnancy brand with UKTV’s W on parenting programming

My Expert Midwife, a midwife-founded company that makes products for parents and parents-to-be will launch its first ever TV campaign with the sponsorship of parenting content on UKTV’s factual entertainment channel, W. The new partnership, brokered by Channel 4 and Harrogate-based Alchemy, launches on 23rd June 2022 featuring a series of 10 second idents that will run across approximately 25 hours of programming per month. Sponsorship idents will be visible around some of the nation’s favourite parenting and baby content, including Jo Frost: Nanny on Tour, One Born Every Minute, Emma Willis: Delivering Babies and Three Day Nanny. My Expert Midwife’s co-founder, Lesley Gilchrist, appeared on One Born Every Minute for two seasons, where the programme followed her and her team as they cared for pregnant women and their babies at Leeds General Infirmary. The idents produced by Ranch will communicate the brands 140+ years of midwifery expertise and the brand’s commitment to helping parents-to-be through every step of their journey to parenthood and beyond, showing common mum-to-be or new mum problems and how My Expert Midwife products and services offer practical solutions. My Expert Midwife was founded by registered midwife, Lesley Gilchrist and massage therapist Claire Charlton in 2017. Drawing from their personal experience and professional expertise the brand launched a range of no-nonsense products developed to tackle taboos around pregnancy and childbirth for new and expectant mums and new babies. At the heart of the business is a team of expert midwives and the brand has a portfolio of 19 products all designed to help prepare, soothe and recover during pregnancy, birth and beyond, alongside midwife-developed webinars, antenatal classes and e-books. Spritz for Bits, the brands iconic and award-winning perineal recovery spray, has helped over 300,000 women recover following childbirth. Products are sold online and in Boots, John Lewis, Ocado, JoJo Maman Bébé and Next, and are glowingly recommended by thousands of mums.

Lesley Gilchrist, registered midwife and co-founder My Expert Midwife said: “One Born Every Minute was groundbreaking and has helped thousands, if not millions of couples prepare for birth, and my involvement in the programme was life-changing, so it feels right that My Expert Midwife is now sponsoring parenting content, including the show, on UKTV’s W. “Millions of people will be reached with entertaining and informative programming that we feel fits perfectly with our brand value to help parents and parents-to-be at every step on their journey to become a family.” Emily Neild, Marketing Director for My Expert Midwife said: “We are so excited to be sponsoring parenting content on UKTV’s W. For the first time we’re able to use the power of TV to communicate our brand proposition to a captive audience of people who are already seeking out parenting and baby-related content. “This sponsorship is part of a wider consumer-facing campaign that will see us use video to introduce our brand to new parents-to-be and really communicate the midwife expertise that is at the very heart of our business.” UKTV’s Adam Collings, channel director for W said: “My Expert Midwife and W have many shared values, including our admiration for every parent and expectant parent, and an outlook which celebrates all areas of life unfiltered. This partnership feels like a totally natural fit with W’s ever-popular family-related programming and I’m delighted that we are partnering for My Expert Midwife’s first TV campaign.” Louisa Humpage, Account Director at Alchemy added: “It’s so exciting to be involved with a brand launching on TV for the first time. We’re confident that the Parenting sponsorship on W will work extra hard for My Expert Midwife given the subject matter of the programming and the target audience viewing habits. We were really thrilled to secure this flagship opportunity for them at this stage in their growth”.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Philippa Morrall .