When Ana Manero was pregnant with her first child, she had just moved to Western Australia and didn’t have much of a network around her, with most of her family living in Europe.
When she had her daughter, she didn’t connect with the official mother’s groups she was brought into and found it difficult to make new connections with people who understood what she was going through.
As a new mum living in a new city, she had never felt lonelier.
That started to change for Manero when she came across Surfing Mums Australia, an organisation based on a simple, yet extraordinarily powerful idea—to support new mums to continue to surf and connect socially with other mums in the process.
Manero describes joining Surfing Mums when her first child was just eight weeks old as “life-changing”.
“I’m not superstitious, but I think that something happened there, because I had never heard about Surfing Mums, and then I heard about Surfing Mums three times in one week,” she says.
“It was just so refreshing to join a group of mums who were physically active, who love the ocean and lead healthy lifestyles.”
Surfing Mums was founded in 2006 by two women in Byron Bay who would regularly meet up and take turns watching each other’s young children while the other went out for a few waves. One surf at a time, the organisation has grown exponentially and has now been around for nearly two decades. It’s run by a handful of volunteer coordinators with close to 40 groups across the country.
Manero says what really struck her when she first got involved is the multi-generational component of the Surfing Mums community. Connecting with women of all ages helped her to shake the isolation she had been feeling as a new mum, she explains.
“Yes, Surfing Mums caters for women with young children…but because of the nature of the community, people stay there for a really long time. Now, my children are eight and 11, and I’m still volunteering as a president.”
Becoming a parent is one of the most fulfilling yet challenging things you can do. But loneliness – which affects more than half of Australians, according to the latest Medibank Loneliness Population Index – is an all-too-common experience for new parents.
Medibank’s recent research found that a major life event – like having a baby – can spur on feelings of loneliness. In fact, those who currently or recently experienced a significant life event are significantly more likely to score highly on the UCLA loneliness scale (70 per cent) than those who haven’t (30 per cent).
During such an uncertain time in early parenthood—when you’re often just trying to figure out how to get through each day—the consistency of knowing Surfing Mums will be meeting at your local beach each week has been a lifeline for hundreds of women across the country.
With groups across Australia, and now a branch in the United States, the social impact of Surfing Mums cannot be understated. Manero, who volunteers as the president of Surfing Mums, says that many women who join the group come for the waves, but then connect with a community of women who share the same values and lifestyle.
“Our motto is ‘the waves are just the beginning’. And it’s so true. It’s an excuse to get together, get your adrenaline going, get all those feel good hormones going. And once you come out of the water, that’s when the real difference starts,” Manero says.
“You can bounce ideas, ask questions, and you have that reassurance that someone has your back. Having that group of women that inspire you. The baby years are very hard, but with Surfing Mums, you know that these women are there for you.”
Manero says it’s really powerful to join a group of mums each week, some of whom may be years ahead of you in their motherhood journey, and see how they have navigated the challenges of parenthood.
“For young mums, it’s not only about connecting with other mums who are in the same life stage, but also having that reference point of a mum who is 10 years ahead of you in the motherhood journey. For me, that was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the light at the end of the tunnel’.”
To learn more about Medibank’s commitment to reducing loneliness head to We Are Lonely | Medibank.
About the research
Research commissioned by FiftyFive5 on behalf of Medibank. Research was conducted in July 2024, among a sample of (n=4,131) Australians.
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