ALTHOUGH many things came to an abrupt halt with lockdown, some things are unstoppable like babies being born! It’s even more of a challenge to become a new parent at a time when the invaluable support of family and community can’t be available in the same way but help is still at hand.
New Parent, New Baby is a free weekly group for families with new babies run by Ruth Brooks-Martin of Spurgeons Together for Families. It has proved very popular in Westbury over the last few years with 134 parents attending the six-week group since 2017, giving parents the opportunity to meet with others in their situation to learn and share their experiences in a small, friendly group.”
Ruth explains “Becoming a parent can be an isolating time, even without lockdown or the social restrictions we’re all having to get used to. We wanted to make sure that families could have an opportunity to find local support and friendship, so will be running groups online until we can physically meet up again. It would be great to get the message out that we’re still here to help, so if you know someone who has recently had a baby, please mention this to them.
“Anyone with a baby up to 9 months can join and it doesn’t have to be your first baby, we have second and third time mums joining too. If you can get Wi-Fi on your phone, tablet or laptop, you will be able to join. For anyone who is not too sure about how it all works, I’d be glad to explain and answer any questions.”
Many parents are still in touch with the friends they made at New Parent New Baby and even with the different approach necessitated by the pandemic, their feedback is very positive. One parent said, “I found these sessions really useful and feel I gained a lot from them. Especially with the current situation, it allowed me to connect with other mums without having to attend a group.
“I really enjoyed the sessions and although there was only three in our session, it was nice to meet other people that are local.”
Ruth can be contacted by phone: 07901 332829 or email rbrooks-martin@ spurgeons.org
