Come and share stories about positive support you've had from other women :-)

I've enjoyed teading these experiences. It's so important to be reminded how things one says or does that may seem small and insignificant can often be a very big deal for someone else!

I've been fortunate to work primarily in women only settings or those with few men, and I've found the situations really positive and productive.

Lots of personal support experiences but none as inspiring as those already shared here. Thanks for starting such a lovely thread.

Those are lovely stories, Blondie. I remember when my dd was about 3 months old I got very bad bronchitis. I was prescribes very strong anti-biotics and my
dr. told me I couldn't bf. DD was distraught with me and I posted in despair about her refusing a bottle from me (she would have them at nursery but never from me) and cried and cried all night. I posted ini despair the next morning and someone told me that I could bf with the drug I was on and posted various links to government health and medical sites which confirmed it.
I am pretty sure these kinds of tales are two a penny on MN, the evil insisterly bunch we are

Erm, moving on from Cieling's outburst (which I've reported, I object to being lumped in with that dreadful paper!).

I have had fantastic support from the NCT and Mumsnet and from many lovely friends, particularly as I started my journey into parenthood. Poledra I am involved with the Colchester branch and I will send the link to the thread to the lady who I think you mean and I'm sure she'll be very touched. She is a lovely lady!

On MN, another poster managed to diagnose that I might have underactive thyroid as her sister had had identical problems.... she took the time to respond to my post and off the back of that I got a blood test which led me to be put on medication, I got my cycle back and then I got my gorgeous DD .

Late last year I posted in AIBU about my DH's grandma being taken into a home with dementia, I got some very helpful and sensitive advice which really helped me at a difficult time. I know AIBU can be a bit of a vipers nest but that night they really were lovely!

Ceiling: you appear to be hurling random insults at LRD and the rest of MN, in fact, given your uncalled for animosity, I would respectfully suggest that there are other fora you could grace with your presence. I believe CIF is reknown for its robust exchange of insults.

13 yrs ago I arrived arrived completely traumatised at a women's refuge with two teenage boys and the clothes we stood up in.

All the staff were wonderful but one women in particular will always hold a place in my heart.She refused to give up on me or let me give up on myself.

She saved my life - a true angel

Cracked: whatever your agenda is here, take it elsewhere. You are being sarcastic and aggressive for no apparent reason.

R2 beautiful. Tears to my eyes. >takes hanky and wrings it out>

So lovely. Thank you for sharing.

so sorry Chipmonkey, I'm glad you have felt so supported though.

skrumle- what you say about women working for the community rings true here as well, there is a group that goes around repainting road signs, clearing verges, litter picking and they cleared the area around local shops of snow/spread grit as well. Another group got a local landfill site turned into a wonderful park with community events etc.

The closest I've come to that sense of utter support was when I had DS at home. The house was filled with women - mother, her female partner, MIL, two midwives, DD. My mum was holding my hand and MIL and mum's partner were in the kitchen drinking tea. When DS was born I went to have a shower and came back to bf DS for the first time on the sofa in the living room. The room was clean and quiet and my mum, her partner and my MIL all gathered round me and we all drank tea (well DS had my milk) in the half light and talked about DS and their own births. There was such a sense of love and support in the room and also of shared experience. I just wish I had had that with DD. And on a lighter note MIL now thinks I can do no wrong as she got to hold her grandson at seconds old!

so sorry for your loss chipmonkey. i think Sylvie-Rose is a beautiful name and feminists aren't against beauty as far as i know!

on a personal level i have friends i've known since childhood and i know that if i picked up the phone and asked for virtually any kind of help they would give it to me. i've had school mums that i hardly know help out with picking DD up in emergencies, and when i had my DS i was astonished at the number of women who offered help of some sort: company, hand-me-downs, gifts, support.

however, i'm standing for election at the moment and i'm taken aback every time i come across yet another community group where the vast majority of the work is done by women. it's particularly noticeable in the "caring" areas but the other day i was speaking to a woman in her 70s about the beach cleaning group she runs and she was telling me how it was kind of falling apart due to the stalwart members' changing personal lives. every person she described was a woman, most of them 70+ and yet they are the ones out BEACH CLEANING (in Scotland - it's not exactly pleasant...) and they are representative of so many women locally who see it as their duty to give something back to the community.

Oh Chipmonkey, my deep condolences and love. Sylvie-Rose is a beautiful, beautiful name.

Actually, that's true, LRD!

Lovely thread, LRD!

Sorry to hear about your dd chipmonkey. Good to hear about the support you have had though.

Since dd died I have discovered how wonderful other women are.

Peachy who organised donations for a lovely memory box, photo album and other little things from MNers.

The Mumsnet Woolly Hugs crew, all the ladies who crafted and donated for our lovely blanket.

The ladies on my ante-natal thread who sent roses for Sylvie-Rose's garden. ( And yes, Sylvie-Rose was a very un-feministy name for me to give a dd but no-one here has ever pulled me up on it

A lovely lady local to me who has become a good friend and invited me to sit in her kitchen to eat scones and whinge.

Neighbours who brought dinners when we weren't able.

And they were all women.

So many random women on helplines who have listened to my breastfeeding / child doesn't sleep / pnd / separating from dh woes. I know they are trained to do that "Hmm... Yes... That must be so hard for you..." thing but it really does help just to have someone listen and not try and solve your problems, just acknowledge that you do have problems. I have phoned a lot and never got a man on any of them (obviously not the bf ones!).

Also my parent's support group. It is so amazing to get to know people you never would have picked out as friends but just hear about their lives and be completely honest about how hard you are finding things.

And La Leche has made me realise just how supportive, non-judgemental and welcoming other women can be. Without the competativeness that you can get when you meet women through school or uni or work or listen to people bitching about how other women look on nights out etc.