'I literally can't feed my baby': Elysia's shopping mall low point led to 'genius' invention

Elysia Krstevski wasn't planning on taking time out after the birth of her first child Armani, but COVID forced her hand."I probably would have worked through, to be honest," the Melbourne mum tells 9honey.Krstevski, 35, was working as CEO of a performing arts company at the time."[Lockdown] kind of gave me this time with her that I probably would have never gotten."READ MORE: William, George and Charlotte snap adorable selfie with Taylor SwiftShe describes her daughter as having been a "little screamer.""And so when we had the stage four restrictions, we were in a shopping mall and she was screaming," Krstevski recalls of her then four-month-old.At the time, the mum of two was suffering from mastitis, an inflammation of breast tissue that sometimes involves an infection and makes breastfeeding excruciating and difficult.As a new mum, she didn't understand what was happening to her until she told a girlfriend she had "golf balls in my boobs and I feel like I'm gonna faint."A Google search informed Krstevski it was mastitis, which made even expressing milk for her daughter "painful."READ MORE: Justin Timberlake addresses shock arrest during concertThat day at the shops, she realised she "couldn't feed" her hungry, screaming daughter."I couldn't take her to a feeding room, I couldn't find a microwave. There was just no options," she says."And I was like, 'I literally can't feed my baby right now. I can't heat up my milk and I can't put her on my boob'. So, what do you do?"READ MORE: Influencer slapped with $3000 fine after stepping onto beachAt that stage, Krstevski was mix-feeding her daughter a combination of breast milk and formula, but had no way to heat the milk up for her.Parents' rooms, where the microwaves were situated, were closed due to the pandemic and shoppers "weren't even allowed to sit on a chair at the time."Cafes were also closed, although many won't agree to heat up baby bottles anymore due to the safety risk."It was pouring rain outside, so I said to my husband, 'I literally need to run back to the car to try and get milk out'."But Krstevski felt faint, too.The couple abandoned their grocery shopping plans and returned home."I managed to get home and I sorted my boobs out, so got all the milk out, did the hot press, cold press as you do," she says."Then I just remember thinking that night, once everything settled, 'I cannot be in this position again'."That's when she turned once more to Google to try and find a device that would heat up her breast milk or formula while she was on the go.She found one that needed to be plugged into the wall and didn't have the best reviews.In that moment, Krstevski decided she'd make something herself."I did crazy, crazy research," she says. This included trying to find a business that could help manufacture the device once she had decided exactly what it would be.Krstevski knew she wanted a device that would store and heat baby milk that was leak-proof, fully portable, stylish and easy to use.She contacted a manufacturing plant in China and worked with their engineers on a prototype."Then we just went through the whole patent process here in Australia and a few other countries," she says.The end result was the Meke Baby Milk Warmer."It's has a slow heat up mechanism and the temperature starts at 37 [degrees], and can only go up to 50 degrees, so it's never going to reach a temperature that will overheat your milk," she explains.It includes a circular stainless steel element at the bottom that is able to heat the milk up evenly.Krstevski's husband Chris was paying "absolutely no attention" during the process, until they boarded a flight to visit her parents in Queensland and she used it for the first time in front of him."He's like, 'This is actually so good!'"Krstevski says that was the moment they realised her invention was going to "change a lot of people's lives.""It's USB charged, so you plug it in to car, wall, hotel and it's portable. So the battery lasts up to nine hours, depending on how often you use it," she says.It also comes with a solution that will safely clean it."I just basically sent out to anybody and everyone, and then I had friends, family saying, 'This is genius'," Krstevski says."I remember this one lady, her husband actually messaged me and was like, 'My wife has been using this and you've saved my life, because I can help her during the night when she's breastfeeding and she can sleep'."The product officially went to market a little over a year ago in April 2023."It's been explosive. We had about 14 stockists at one point emailing us trying to get us on," Krstevski says.She knew she wanted to try and keep the bulk of the business online.So far they've sold over 4,000 milk warmers and the product recently won the CommBank Young Hero Award for "Most Innovative Product.""For me, the biggest achievement has been how many parents have been able to return back to work with ease and they've been able to travel and leave the house with that sense of freedom," she says."It's just been amazing to hear how much something so simple has had a positive impact."Daughter Armani is now four, and Krstevski and husband Chris have welcomed a second child, daughter Giselle, three.They would love to expand their family even further."I can't wait to have a third baby because I'll be ready to go. My girls are beautiful and they're so bright, but it's hectic. My life's hectic," she admits."I've been trying to juggle everything. It's really difficult and I have my moments... but I love being a mum. It's my number one priority in everything that I do."FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.