‘I’m not just my kid’s mum’ - How Coventry’s mothers are finding themselves.

Article Written By Will Roberts

Roisin Brandish took over The Mum Club wanting to establish a “safe space for like-minded women” to deal with the issues and struggles that come with being a new mother. Roisin describes the first stages of parenthood as a sometimes lonely experience and reflects regularly on her journey when supporting others.

IMG - Roisin via phtographer Hannah Carter-Orton

“I remember crying saying, I went through IVF, this is what I wanted, so I don’t feel like I can say I find it hard”

Roisin’s experiences with IVF took a toll on her mentally and she explained the initial struggles after birth for her were trying to find other mums with similar-age kids. Roisin said she initially visited a lot of baby groups, and they were “Great. But YOU don’t get to speak to anyone” explaining how these groups can sometimes be “all about the baby”.

The Mum Club offers an alternative structure to early-year help for mothers. With the mums being placed in the foreground and “putting (themselves) first”. The group offers a range of activities for mums to get involved with, including brunches, walks, picnics and wreath making. Some of the activities are child-friendly but mainly they’re created with mothers in mind because Roisin says being a mum can be “all about the baby, and nobody really asks how the mum is, it’s always how’s the baby”.

IMG - Mums at a TMC event via photographer Hannah Carter-Orton

Roisin says one of the main struggles for mothers is that society has an “assumption that women know what they’re doing”. Roisin also explained how in the early months you’re away from human contact “A lot of people have said the same thing as me, in which my husband would come home, and I’d chat his ear off because I hadn’t seen anyone all day”.

“Especially going from no kids to your first, it’s who am I now? Because I’m not the same person as I was before having Orlagh”

A lot of mothers have all spoken about this with their initial conflict after the birth of their first child. Celebrities such as Emma Barnett, Jennifer Connelly and Connie Britton all speak on this. Connie Britton said in an interview that the lack of support in this stage of her life was “isolating and challenging”.

IMG - Via Connie Britton/Instagram

Alongside isolation, a lot of new mothers suffer from mental health illnesses. NHS data suggests 10-20% of women are impacted by postnatal depression, in Coventry that equates to around 900 women per year. The Mum Club is designed to help support women through these issues and provide a safe environment for women “to find themselves again”.

To find out more about the services provided by Roisin and the team at TMC visit their website – https://themumclub.com/tmc-host-details/?hostID=63