Meeting the founder of Life With a Baby, Claire Kerr-Zlobin, at an event last fall reminded me why I started YMC almost a decade ago. Claire's passion to support new moms was born from her own difficult transition to motherhood. Like so many women, Claire experienced debilitating post-partum mood disorder after the birth of her baby. She couldn't find the help she needed in her local community, so she started Life With A Baby to fill that void. Today, LWAB has over 43,000 users - new moms who would otherwise have felt isolated and stressed.
My experience was very similar to Claire's. I remember being a new exhausted mother, sobbing non-stop, wondering why I was the worst mom on the planet. Sleep deprived, struggling with a nasty case of mastitis, and a jaundiced baby sent me plummeting into what I now refer to as "the darkness." I wondered why everyone was concerned about the health of my child (who was thriving and adorable), while I, the child's caregiver, was clearly having an emotional breakdown. Motherhood is hard on so many levels, but few of us are truly prepared for the huge physical and emotional toll it puts on us.
Feeling isolated, I conceived the television series Yummy Mummy with hopes it would resonate with other like-minded moms. Eventually the show morphed into YMC, an online magazine written by moms for moms. Empowerment and connection are what YMC was built on. This is exactly what Claire is doing with Life with a Baby, only her superpower is to help moms connect in real life while YMC is virtual. We're the same, but different!
LWAB is awesome. Like YMC, Claire is building a large community of moms who support each other. According to research, lack of social support is a key risk factor of postpartum depression. By helping new moms find social support network, LWAB is contributing to the health of mothers, children and families in a growing number of communities. She has assembled a dedicated team of mostly volunteers who organize a variety of low-cost, sustainable ongoing programs and activities to get moms out of the house and connected to other women in the community. If you visit the Life With a Baby website, you'll see a bunch of seminars, workshops, playdates, social gatherings, and other local community based events perfect for new moms and families.
I was so impressed with Life with a Baby when Claire and I first met that I donated my fee for appearing in this Roots campaign to Healthy Start, Healthy Future, LWAB's registered charitable organization.
So what does this new partnership look like? Simple. YMC will help spread all the great opportunities Life With a Baby is cooking up for moms on a regular basis. Our social feeds will be full of low-cost LWAB events you can sign up for, as well as resources to help exhausted moms cope with the ongoing realities of modern motherhood. At the same time, LWAB will be sharing the stories and insights we post daily on YMC within their community to entertain and educate moms who participate in their programs.
It's always exciting to meet a kindred soul like I did with Claire. It's a bonus when that connection can have a positive ripple effect. It all boils down to moms supporting moms, because together we are better.
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