COVID 19 UPDATES

"I feel that during pregnancy, the woman is thoroughly checked however post pregnancy the attention is directed mainly towards baby and not the mother also. A mother’s health and well-being is important too, as well as having a healthy baby." - New Mother, Auckland

"I would love to see more support around maternal mental health, especially postnatal depression. Unfortunately our current health system is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff and you need to be in a state of psychosis before receiving help. Social support around this would be amazingly!! What a wonderful initiative!" - New Mother, Auckland

"There is very little support for parents who come home after a stay in NICU or SCBU. I had my child at 24 weeks and he came home with oxygen and tube fed. It would have been nice if there were an organisation that reached out and helped that transition. Coming home more a nurse than a mum was hard."  - Auckland Mother 

"Infant loss - I had twins last year and one passed away. Twin A was in NICU which is hard to go to hospital with two babies and leave with one. 6 months on and all the care is still around Twin A. I've had to go to my GP multiple times for help for myself. There definitely needs to be something to support mums more in these times not just a Coffee/Facebook group." - Mother - Auckland

"Support for multiple birth mums/parents! Lots of us get thrown in the deep end and sometimes aren’t eligible for home-help but in reality this should be a thing as multiple newborns at one time is pretty tricky to navigate in the first few months" - Mother of Twins, Auckland

"We have no family here, and we felt so lonely as new parents. I used to cry a lot and told my husband I would give anything to have someone to talk to while I was at home with the baby. I missed that adult interaction and definitely I missed my mum so badly. It takes a village to raise a baby and many of us here in NZ don't have that village." - Mother, Auckland

"During my pregnancy I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I was completely overwhelmed and when I seeked help, was told that my symptoms aren't bad enough for me to qualify for support. After my baby was born I found out about an organisation by chance. Their support group meetings are amazing. Through them I have been able to find Doctors and Psychologists. If there was a volunteer who could come round for an hour a week, who could hold my baby while I shower or get some laundry done, that would be amazing." - Mother, Auckland 

"Wonderful! Mums helping mums to give each other a bit of a break for those of us with no family support." - New Mother, Auckland