Mother and baby group

[WottyMcWottFace]

I have been asked to lead a new mother and baby group in my village. There’s no other groups locally so we feel it is much needed and should prove to be very popular. I have three children but sadly with my own I didn’t have the opportunity to join any groups as there weren’t any. I’ve started a plan to include activities, outings and the play equipment we will need for the sessions but I would really like to know what mums actually want and/or expect from the sessions. When I had my children I would have just been grateful for a brew and adult conversation, but, I’m sure there’s more we could add to make this a success. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!!

Hey OP, good on you for taking this on! From my experience, a lot of mums prefer drop in sessions to start off with as it’s difficult to get out the house so committing to something is hard. I have seen some faces again at groups, but a lot of people I see once and that’s it. Tea and snacks are always welcomed. Activities for the babies too - toys, music, nursery rhymes. Baby massage and baby yoga are popular so long as they aren’t too expensive.

Decent teabags/instant coffee & real milk, not UHT
No-judging attitude
Be inclusive of formula & BF mums

Not much really other than providing a friendly 'safe space' for people to feel comfortable talking about how they're finding motherhood. If conversation is slow, maybe have a 'topic of the week', to help the conversation get going

• sleeping
• weaning
• bath time
• siblings
• labour experience

Invite local sling library, baby masseuse, antenatal fitness instructor?

Great ideas Thankyou very much! Really like the topic of the week, I’m worried about awkward silence but that’s a great idea to kick start discussions. We have a few weeks before we start the sessions so I’ve got lots of time to plan ahead.