APAC Businesswoman Awards 2017

, Having previously worked as an executive in the travel industry (in her BC ‘before children’ days) and later as a self-employed midwife (in her AD ‘after delivery’ days), Kathy today has a wealth of experience to draw on for her books on child- bearing and child-rearing. She discusses her books and why she believes they are so very unique in the market. “In 2005 my first book OH BABY…Birth, Babies & Motherhood Uncensored was published in New Zealand. It was written by-a-mother for- mothers, because having had my own babies in 1997, 1999 and 2001, I was irked by the rampant amount of pious-and- perfect parenting ideologies out there. The unrealistic extremist babble written by so many ‘motherhood gurus’, and their frequent lack of attention paid to the actual Mother, were incredibly frustrating (they were all baby, baby, baby) … but what about the transcendent passage into Motherhood that is so heavenly and hellish, so natural and unnatural, so sacred and profane?” Almost immediately after its publication OH BABY quickly became NZ’s No1 best-selling new-motherhood guidebook, and has maintained that status ever since. It has now gained the nickname of being the New Zealand ‘Bible’ to childbirth and newborns – which Kathy says is so exciting and so humbling all in the same breath. It was written to make the reader feel like the guidance is a cross between their big sister, best ABW17009 Maternity Care Author of the Year 2017 - New Zealand Kathy Fray is a nationally best-selling parenting author based in Auckland, NewZealand. We invited Kathy to talk us through her work and how she offers the very best advice and support. friend and loved aunty, giving them a non-judgemental helping hand. [In 2016 Penguin Random House published my updated Second Edition, so OH BABY is still wonderfully current.] “Later, in 2010, after completing my Midwifery Degree, my sequel book OH GROW UP … Toddlers to PreTeens Decoded was released, which is now distributed internationally through a North American publisher who approached me. It also took a long time to research and write and perfect to my own satisfaction. And now I can say, for sure, it is without doubt a very unique ‘triadic’ approach to parenting (personally, I have never seen another book anything even vaguely like it).” With an almost encyclopaedic quality, OH GROW UP teaches parenting children’s Bodies using ‘Physiological IQ’, parenting their Minds using ‘Intellectual IQ’, and parenting their Spirits using ‘Soulful IQ’. It’s an extraordinary middle-road blend of non- judgemental old-age new-age philosophies. Alongside her books, Kathy is deeply passionate about her concept of Integrative Maternity HealthCare, which she is keen to showcase. “Integrative Maternity HealthCare is simply: When the medical and the holistic, the contemporary and the traditional, the mainstream and the alternative, all respect how they complement each other, to create the ultimate in best maternity care. It’s about revolution and evolution. “In 2015 I hosted a global inaugural conference on Integrative Maternity Healthcare called SOMCANZ. It was a cross-discipline exchange of progressive research, innovative knowledge, enlightened experience and radical ideas; in a medically professional and universally holistic environment of visionary open-mindedness. That inaugural conference was a tremendous success, and attracted some top international speakers. It was also a tremendous amount of work! Since then we have combined SOMCANZ with the AIMA conferences (Australasian Integrative Medicine Assoc). And SOMCANZ is the inspiration for the next book I am planning to write: OH MAMA: Midwife’s Guide to Integrative Maternity HealthCare. ” Looking ahead, Kathy is currently seeking just the ‘right’ publisher: “Last year my third manuscript OH GOD – WHAT THE HELL DO I TELL THEM?! Guide for vaguely spiritual Parents was 1st runner-up in NZ’s prestigious body-mind-spirit book awards. It is a guide for parents who are not especially devoutly religious, nor devotedly new-age, not apathetically irreligious, nor lethargically agnostic, they just inherently know their precious child to be a Triadic person (more than just a Body and a Mind). They know their child has a unique ‘Spiritual’ Essence. And this book is – to the best of my knowledge – the first manuscript ever dedicated to these (exponentially growing amount) of modern humanistic parents.” Email: [email protected] Address: Orewa House, 498 Hibiscus Coast Highway, North Auckland, New Zealand, 0931 Website: www.kathyfray.com