My eldest child started high school this month, marking a fresh transition in my parenting journey. Now, once again, I’m connecting with an entirely new circle of people: meeting new parents, learning new names and acquiring fresh phone contacts.
There is “Jonathan’s Mum”, “Stella’s Mum”, and “Mike’s Mum”, and when we pass each other at pickup or on the sidelines of a game of sport, I’ll likely panic at realising I don’t actually know or recall the parent’s name.
But I also know from past experiences that some of these contacts may ultimately become friends. Not just friends, but lifelines: people who offer information, support, and socialising, and can make the experience fun.
Motherhood can be incredibly lonely and isolating. It’s also an experience marked by major, ever-changing shifts in friendships and in how we engage with others.
That’s why Women’s Agenda is continuing our partnership with Medibank in 2026 to deepen our work on women’s experiences of loneliness and connection in the early years of parenting. We want to amplify the voices of those navigating their first six years of parenthood, recognising how vital a sense of connection is during this period.
You can explore these themes further through The Connections Hub, our dedicated space examining women’s experiences of loneliness and connection.
We’ve launched a new survey to get started. If you’ve welcomed a child into the world within the past six years, we want to hear from you. Whether that’s a first, second or 6th child! And regardless of how that child came into your life.
We’re especially interested in the experiences of the past six years because this time period spans the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown era. It examines experiences of new mothers in the 2020s and aims to include the majority of respondents who still have a child who has not yet started school (which brings different experiences for parents).
Twelve years into my own experiences as a mother, I know one of the most surprising aspects is this sense of feeling “lonely” despite having more humans constantly around you and even in a houseful of noisy, energetic kids.
But the networks I have provide an undercurrent of trust and support, and even fun.
My first such network came early, through a parents’ group organised by our local, then inner-city, health service. We met when our babies were around six weeks old. On that first day, I vividly recall feeling exhausted, empty and intimidated by the idea that everyone would somehow have this baby thing sorted out. I found a circle of mothers trying to settle their babies, looking equally tired and stressed, and with anxious questions for the nurse about whether they’d ever sleep through the night again. We continued to meet weekly and, for a period, almost daily. Later, we attended birthdays, went out without the children, and even took family holidays.
The frequency of these catchups decreased after we moved to a new area and experienced some changes in circumstances. But the bond from those early years remains. I learnt about the power of developing such a connection and realising that the process of making “new friends” doesn’t need to stop as we get older.
So what else can help with ending isolation and loneliness for new mothers?
We want to learn as much as possible, so we can start a national conversation and even inspire new initiatives to better support mothers’ social wellbeing, and sense of community and belonging.
Take the survey here.
(If you’re a parent of older children who would like to share your own expectations for making connections, especially in terms of lessons learnt, drop us an email here.
Please note: Some questions in the survey touch on loneliness, pregnancy loss, and mental health.
If you need to speak to someone now, you can reach Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or call Lifeline on 13 11 14. New parents can contact the PANDA support helpline on 1300 726 306.