1st November 2018
A guest blog by Katie Massie-Taylor, the co-founder of the mum meet-up app Mush, about the loneliness women experience when they become mothers.
Katie Massie-Taylor, co-founder of the mum meet-up app Mush
We set up Mush after my co-founder and I met in a rainy playground and struck up a friendship that became a lifesaver. Having previously felt those long days drag on, without any human interaction (aside the checkout girl at the supermarket or our doe-eyed babies!), having each other to call on for a cuppa at any point during those first few months of motherhood truly did keep us out of the throes of anxiety and loneliness (two factors cited to contribute to maternal mental ill health).
After our chance meeting, we were adamant that, in this highly connected technological age, mums shouldn’t ever feel like they’re on their own. So we built a free app that serves as a mum social network, finding mums nearby with kids the same age and similar interests. And, as the thousands of downloads of Mush in the weeks following its launch attested, we knew we were right that mums were desperate to connect locally.
A study in 2017 showed loneliness among new mums to be as high as 92%*. Mush has been endorsed by the Heads Together campaign for its work to help alleviate and improve this statistic, as well as being supported by the Minister for Loneliness, Tracey Crouch.
No one understands the highs and lows of new motherhood more than the health visitors who witness it first hand. This is why, ever since we started Mush, we have kept in close conversation with healthcare professionals to figure out how Mush can best support pregnant women and mums, whether it’s their first child or their fifth. What has become clear is that Mush is the perfect tool to recommend to mums in your care, and hundreds of health visitors are already recommending the app.
To help spread the word about this amazing service for new mums, Mush has created a kit specifically for health visitors that we are currently sending to all corners of the UK. The kit contains information to be passed onto mums during appointments or popped into booking appointments or discharge packs, stickers for the red book, breastfeeding bands (that also double as teething bands!), and pens for the scribbling of notes! We’re hoping that through these packs, more mums will know that they can access a sociable, fun community and that, whatever time of the day or night, they’re never alone.
To help our mission to make mums feel more confident, happy and connected, please do request a health visitor pack here.
* Channelmum.com. “YANA. You are not alone”. 7 March 2017.
Katie Massie-Taylor, co-founder of the mum meet-up app Mush
Mush and Ready Steady Mums
Mush is a way of linking mums together locally with similarly aged babies/children…so they can get together – and Mush is a great way of sharing Ready Steady Mums (RSM) walking groups as the local RSM group can be shared out to local parents via the Mush app. The Institute of Health Visiting runs Ready Steady Mums through their health visitor members. If you would like to lead a local group, find out more here which tells you all you need to know about establishing a group.
