Mum hires new babysitter but can’t deal with her ‘overpowering’ smell

This is a tricky one.

It can be hard to find someone who is trusting and capable of minding your children. They are the most precious things in the world so you want someone reliable to look after them. This mum found someone brilliant to look after her kids, however she's come across one small problem: her personal hygiene. The mother-of-three took to Mumsnet to ask for advice. She wrote:

"I have a regular babysitter who comes round once a week for about 3 hours to look after my 8mo baby while I do some work. I met her once and she seemed very nice, very keen, qualified and exactly what I was looking for so I hired her. However, we are about 6 weeks in now and it is becoming very apparent that she has very poor personal hygiene. "When she arrives in my home the smell is quite overpowering and it doesn’t take long before my lounge, where she generally looks after my baby, smells too. While she is here, she sorts out dinner for my 2 older children as well as feeds my baby, which now makes me feel quite nauseous. When she leaves I have to spray the room and rather than putting my baby straight to bed as I would like, I have to bath her as she smells by then too. "I’ve tried to be quite forgiving of it as that aside from this she is doing a good job, but it has got to the point where I don’t want her smelling out my home. How should I handle this or do I just need to be honest?!"

Many mums replied to the post and gave suggestions on how to handle it. One wrote:

"This is not easy whatever you do but I think its going to be doubly embarrassing if you text her, first she’s going to be embarrassed by the text and then she’ll be dreading seeing you and being embarrassed all over again when she does come face to face with you. I’d do it face to face off the bat and get it over with."

While another said:

"Direct and to the point is the way to go though. 'xxx, the way you smell is becoming a problem. Can you please make sure you're fresh and clean before starting work. If needed you can use my shower before you start' Do it when she's finished so she can leave (because she's going to be upset or embarrassed) and then don't bring it up again unless it becomes a problem again (or doesn't change)."

How would you handle this situation?