• Swindon & Wiltshire Support
• Wednesday May 6 2026

Mumpreneurs bring European-style baby hydrotherapy to the South West

A pair of Bristol sisters have opened a new Dutch-style baby spa in the city after securing support from a Start Up Loan, bringing a business idea inspired by their own experiences of early motherhood to life.

Louise Rickman and Jenny Alexander are behind Leteau, a name combining ‘Leto’, the Greek goddess of motherhood, and ‘eau’, the French word for water. The spa offers warm-water hydrotherapy for babies in specialist baths, alongside massage from trained professionals, in a calm setting designed to support infant wellbeing and parent-child bonding.

The idea took shape while the sisters were visiting Holland, where they grew up. Jenny’s daughter was six months old and Louise was 20 weeks pregnant when a family friend, who was a senior midwife, introduced them to a nearby baby spa.

“We were staying with a family friend who was a senior midwife, and she introduced us to a baby spa close by,” said Louise, a former TV producer whose credits include Gardener’s World, Countryfile, Inside the Factory and CBeebies/CBBC.

“Jenny had struggled with post-partum stress and thought the spa was amazing, helping her to relax and connect with her daughter. She’d worked as a canine hydrotherapist, and wondered if she could transfer her skills to this kind of business – which is popular in Europe, the Middle East, Australia, all over the world, but much rarer in the UK.”

With Jenny on maternity leave and Louise also expecting, the sisters decided it was the right time to take the idea further. Louise said her own experience of becoming a parent had been traumatic after contracting an infection while breastfeeding that led to sepsis and left her with PTSD and postnatal depression.

“As a result, I’m very passionate about supporting mothers during the post-natal period, which can be marked by overwhelm and overstimulation due to the pressure of constantly seeing to another human being. Leteau felt like a chance to turn both our negative experiences into a positive one,” she said.

The spa, which opened in November, has already attracted bookings through social media and word of mouth, with customers travelling from across the South West, as well as Birmingham, Cardiff and London. Louise and Jenny are also trained by the International Association of Infant Massage and run a six-week course so parents can continue massage at home.

Louise said the support from SWIG Finance was crucial to getting the business off the ground.

“Ellie was great – she believed in our idea, and that made us feel more confident. Until then, we’d only talked about the business within the family. For someone else to read about it and rate it was very special. She helped us to readjust the forecast, but said we’d done a good job on the plan.

“This business is rooted in our lived experience and from that we saw an opportunity. The Start Up Loan made it happen. We couldn’t have launched Leteau without it, and I’ve recommended it to other people since.”

Ellie Garbett, Start Up Loans officer for SWIG Finance, said the sisters had the right mix of knowledge, skills and passion to make the venture work.

“I am very happy I got to support this application as both Louise and Jenny had strong industry knowledge, relevant qualifications and skills to drive its success.

“The concept, combined with their passion, made this business venture truly special. They were a pleasure to work with throughout the process, and I was happy the funding would give them a valuable head start in launching Leteau.”