Alicia Segal dreamt up her side hustle while still in hospital just days after her first son was born.
The Sydney mum had not long given birth to baby Kai when a midwife wheeled into her room, a bulky electric breast pump with tangled cords.
She was given a quick and complicated run down of how to use it, then left with a newborn and her milk coming in.
“There I was, four days postpartum, crawling around on the floor to find a power point behind the hospital bed, trying to untangle the cords and decipher the pump settings, only to find out the pump was broken,” she tells Kidspot.
“I knew there had to be a better way for new mums to express breast milk.”
So her business idea to help mothers was born.
Alicia is the founder of Bubka.co, which sells a simple, portable, hands-free breast pump.
During her first pregnancy she spent “hours each night” researching all of the products and equipment her family would need to be baby-ready.
“I knew I wanted to try breastfeeding but in hindsight, I really knew very little about the process or the preparation involved,” she says.
She found the process of finding a pump very “intimidating”.
“Every pump I researched looked too complicated- wires, extra parts, bottles, power cords- it was just too much for me to think about- not to mention the cost… I decided it would be a ‘future me’ problem to deal with.”
It was in hospital when she was learning to feed Kai, that those confused feelings about pumping set in again.
“Becoming a new mum was overwhelming enough, now I had to figure out this breast pump, and find an appropriate place and time with bub to pump,” she says.
She attempted breastfeeding for about six weeks, before they started having latching issues, due to an undiagnosed tongue tie.
“There was more reason for me to start pumping, but expressing using a big bulky pump, kept me away from my life and it just wasn’t possible,” she says.
Looking at the market of breast pumps she found it was filled with devices that were “restrictive”, tethered to a wall or with battery packs, and learning to operate them “wasn’t simple for a tired mum”.
“I believe pumping should be intuitive and shouldn’t get in the way of spending quality time with your family,” she says.
Alicia came up with the idea for a portable pump and with the help of her husband, designers, doctors and a lactation consultant, she created Bubka while on maternity leave.
A year ago the new mum got her big break when Olympian, doctor and mum-of-six Jana Pittman shared their product which she used to help feed her new twins.
“Things just took off, we sold out straight away,” she says.
“The overwhelming support for our small business left us astounded.”
Alicia hopes their products can support breastfeeding mums return to work comfortably, which is the focus of this year’s World Breastfeeding Week which kicks off today, highlighting the importance of breastfeeding-friendly environments for women who are navigating their transition back to work.
To support the World Breast Breastfeeding Week, Bubka and Sydney bakery The Sweet Chick have designed a limited edition lactation cookie which helps boost milk supply.
Twenty per cent of proceeds from the cookies sold this week will go towards charities helping new mums and babies, River’s Gift and the Gidget Foundation Australia.