Moving when pregnant

[NovDoe]

Hello

Has anyone moved to a new area when pregnant, and how did you find it?

We may be moving to an area where we don't really know anyone and I'm wondering how sensible this is when pregnant with our first child.

Would love to hear any stories from other people who've done this and how you got on / any hints and tips

If you want to move, definitely do it now. Moving with a baby or toddler is 10x more stressful so I’d get yourself settled now.

We moved to a new area when I was 5 months pregnant with DC2 (and had toddler DC1). It was fine. It's really easy to meet people when you have a baby (at toddler groups etc) and in the new area we could afford a bigger place with a garden which is nice for the DC. Also, when they started primary school they already knew lots of kids from playgroup and nursery, so it was an easy transition for them.

Move and join MCT. Establish a good circle of new Mum friends.
That said, i did something similar. I live near my NCT friends but not my older friends and not near any of my family. It’s hard and it’s lonely.
It becomes especially hard when your child is a bit older and you’re back at work, if you don’t have anyone near by to help now and again like when your child is poorly or need picking up early from pre school then it’s difficult

Yes, we moved from abroad back to the UK (an area of the UK where we’d never lived before and didn’t know anyone) when I was 6 months pregnant. It was fine. We did NCT classes and that was a lifesaver to be honest, we’re all still friends 5 years on, even though I’ve now moved again.

I'm 37 weeks pregnant and I'm moving house in two days time. Honestly, it's been stressful and I'd be lying if I said that it hasn't tainted the latter portion of my pregnancy..

I am, however, moving to an area where I'll be surrounded by family and friends, so it's worth it for the support elements. Plus, it'll be easier than moving with a newborn. :)

Only you know what's best for you! Good luck.

Currently 33 weeks and just moved due to other house needing work on it... it’s been a nightmare! However it’s mostly because I’m so massive and can’t move much so it’s slowed down the whole process. How far pregnant are you? I wish so much I’d have moved earlier when I was more mobile (but didn’t know that I had to have my house knocked back to brick to fix an issue we thought was small)... so I left it and left it, and now I’m Big and slow it’s just been so difficult.

It depends how much support you have around you and how far along you are... but moving with a newborn would be worse in my opinion. I would definitely rather move before rather than after, but it’s not easy if you’re in third trimester

We booked an NCT course and I met up with the other mums from that a lot during mat leave. You could also book a local baby course - I enjoyed Baby Sensory and a baby massage class - that also helped me with meeting new people. Finding a local baby-wearing group on Facebook also meant that I was aware of a lot of other opportunities/events in the area to meet new people and visit places that weren’t on my radar as a newcomer. Also, I didn’t go to any, but lots of churches have parent and baby coffee mornings.

100% agree with the others, better to go before baby arrives then you can make friends through NCT / Coffee mornings & playgroups. Good luck OP