Don’t be fooled by the cute, smiley photos you see on social media. The Mumma journey can be a lonely road sometimes, especially with lockdowns in many countries, which affect the availability of confinement nannies and domestic helpers in the home.
For every smiley pic of a dressed-up family or couple outing with baby, there may be many dreary days unseen, of Mumma alone at home, unshowered, with bed hair and a bub that won’t stop crying.
So, if you find yourself relating to the latter, don’t worry – you’re not alone. Sometimes it can be hard to get yourself out of a postpartum rut, especially with a busy spouse or lack of friends in the same boat of having just given birth.
What’s important is to find a community in which you can get support and companionship. Here are some ideas of where you can find that.
Facebook groups and Doula group babies
While it would be nice to already have friends with similar-aged kids, this may not always happen; especially if you become pregnant at a younger or older age than your peers. So you just have to put yourself out there and form new relationships.
For a while now, expectant Mums have set up or joined Facebook groups of fellow women with due dates within the same month so that they can connect and share their journey, learnings and resources. Specifying the due date by month or year ensures that the group members would be able to relate to each other better in terms of pre and postpartum milestones and needs.
It’s also nice for the babies to have an instant set of same-aged friends when they are born! Who knows, they might even grow up together to form firm friendships later on? Be sure to look for a group in your city or country so that it’s easier to communicate and share info.
If you had joined a birthing class or had a Doula, you can also look towards these as a way to find community. Often, there would be events or even support groups being run to check in with clients and their babies, postpartum.
Meetups in the time of COVID
In these pandemic times where there are multiple safety measures being enforced, it can be hard to get to know or connect with fellow Mums and their babies face to face. The younger the babies, the more undeveloped their immune systems are and so it may not be wise from a health and safety standpoint to engage and interact with people outside your bubble.
As with almost every other area of life we know of, virtual options have replaced face to face quite effectively. Although not the same, Zoom and online meetings have provided ways for people to connect, get help and interact for almost any need. Postpartum resources are no different and better than remaining isolated or lonely.
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