Ten Years of Southern Natural Parenting Network

It was February 24th 2014 when I made the impulsive decision to create a Facebook Group and invite all my gentle parenting friends to meet each other. I was fed up with what I was seeing in general parenting groups, where parents seeking support around the choices they had made were being judged on a daily basis.

*Yvette already had more than 20 years experience supporting new mothers*

Five core practices were important to the parents in my personal and family circle: breastfeeding, babywearing, cosleeping, modern cloth nappies and baby-led weaning. My daughter was currently doing all of these with her first baby and I had been supporting and educating parents around these for many years - decades in some cases.

I sent out 100 or so invites before I went to bed and the next day, most had accepted! Before we knew it, a tight network of families in Melbourne’s south-east had formed. Members invited friends, who invited friends and over time we grew into hundreds and thousands. Gradually, parents from interstate and even overseas came into our community. Our sister group, South Eastern Babywearing Group was holding meetings every week and attracting large numbers. We started running Fresh Air And Friendship meets every week in local playgrounds, with dozens of families coming together every week.

A big turning point occurred when we began creating memes and info graphics, with members sharing families photos to be used for promotion and education purposes. Shared with the group, member were downloading them to share outside the group. So a member suggested we have a public Facebook Page where these could be easily shared.

It was when one post on bed-sharing received 50 000 Likes that things began to change. Suddenly, we were reaching a global audience and our group membership steadily grew. We reached 11 000 members around the world. Sub groups were created for off-topic discussions. Additional moderators were needed to manage the multiple threads running hot at the same time!

Ten years later, many life-long friendships have been established. That original batch of babies are reaching puberty and transitioning into secondary school. Our Facebook Group still has 11 000 members, our Facebook Page has 15 000 Followers and our website has over 22 000 views. Nobody expected a global pandemic, which shifted how people interact and changed aspects of our group. We no longer offer weekly meets. Some of the face-to-face supports have fallen away. But we continue to grow as an online community.

And the grandchild who was my motivation to support parents like my daughter is turning eleven, with younger siblings of seven and three growing up just as quickly.

Our group will continue to evolve and change as our lives do. But our core practices are still important to us and supporting other parents on their gentle journey will always be our priority.

Safe Space for Mums