The Mum to Mum project

TODAY Johnson's baby Australia and the Murdock Childrens Research Institute released it's

The project is inspired by the shared bond of motherhood that all us mums have in common.  The idea behind it is that from time to time EVERY mum needs a little reassurance that we're 'doing ok'.  It really doesn't matter if you're a brand new mum with your first precious bundle or an experienced mum with a growing family.  NO two children are the same and every child brings it's own set of surprises that can send even the most experienced mum into a bit of a panic!!  Being a mum is not just the most rewarding job in the world but it can also be the toughest, and sometimes a simple 'reassuring' word from a fellow mum can do us the world of good.

Johnson's Baby Australia conducted a survey which showed that 79% of mums turn to other mums or their own mums when things get a little tough and they need some advice, support or encouragement.  The Mum to Mum project has been set up so that we can all share our little pearls of motherhood wisdom and encouragement with each other.

It can be anything from 'it's ok to cry' or 'bribery works' to 'You won't give your baby third degree burns by putting a bottle in the microwave - all you need to do is give it a little shake to disperse the hot spots!!' (can you tell this one comes from experience???)  I remember when Master J was still a baby and having several bottles a day.  He would literally scream the house down whilst the bottle either sat in a cup of water in the fridge to cool down or in a cup of boiling water to heat up!  I would be glaring at it, literally willing it to get to the right temperature IMMEDIATELY, whilst trying to soothe a baby who quite clearly was not at all interested in my (trying to be) calming voice, telling him 'any minute now bubs, any minute!" I'm sure if he could talk he would have said "For god's sake - you know I have my bottle at 10:30 EVERY morning and not a second later!  Why do we have to go through the same process at every feed?????"  It wasn't until a few months later, whilst visiting my sister-in-law (who is a mum of three), that I discovered that I could just pop the bottle into the microwave for 30 seconds, give it a good shake and voile!  Just like that, it was ready!!  She said to me (over the top of Master J's desperate screams) "Why are you heating it like that, just use the microwave???" I was sooo sure (as a first time mum) that using a microwave to heat a bottle was the WORST thing to do and that I could burn his mouth causing permanent damage!

I'm sure I'm not the only mum out there who just WISHES someone had given them some honest and practical advice whilst they were struggling with something - be it birth, post birth, sheer exhaustion,  breast feeding, swaddling, teething, fussy eaters, first day of school.........the list is endless.

This is Sarah Murdoch's (Ambassador for the Murdoch Children's Research Institue's) patch of advice.

If you would like to join in the MUM TO MUM PROJECT, then all you have to do is:

1. Like the Johnson's Baby Australia Facebook Page (using your personal account and not a Facebook page)
2. Click on the "mum to mum' App at the top of the page and follow the instructions.

Screen grab from the Johnson's Baby Australia Facebook page

Each piece of motherly wisdom entered will be stitched together to form a giant and beautiful 'virtual patchwork of collected wisdom' for all mums to log into and just have a read.  Hopefully it will put a smile on someones face, give someone a well needed giggle, ease someones anxiety, put someones mind at ease and touch hundreds and thousands of mums with messages of positivity and inspiration.

You can also vote on what you believe to be some of the 'best' pieces of advice and these patches will be printed onto 2,000 baby wraps and donated to the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute to give to some real mums who are involved in research being carried out to improve children's health in Australia and around the world.

With 99% of Australian and New Zealand mums on Facebook, we really have the power to make a difference - so log in and add your piece of motherly wisdom.  I really wish this was around when I was a first time mum.

The beautiful Ada Nicodemou, a new mum, and the gorgeous Sarah Murdoch, a mum of three.  Both Ambassadors for Johnson's baby Australia and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute 

A Little bit about the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute:

I was so lucky to be invited to the launch of the Mum to Mum project yesterday at the Muma Club in Bondi Junction, Sydney.  

Johnson's Baby Australia has joined up with the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute to help them with all the fantastic research they are doing to improve the health of children and their mums.  We heard some really inspiring personal stories of motherhood from both Ada Nicodemou (who you may recognise form the Aussie soap Home & Away) and Sarah Murdoch (who you may again recognise as Australia's Next Top Model presenter), who is a mum of three.  It is so refreshing to hear that no matter who you are, as mums, we are all in the same boat.

We also heard from Associate Professor Stephanie Brown who has done some amazing research on maternal health during post pregnancy.  She was such a warm and inspiring woman and started off by telling us a little about her own family and how she has recently become a grandmother to a beautiful little girl who was born blind. 

She also went on to tell us about some of the research she has done and I was really interested to hear about her findings.  One that really surprised me was that the there is a higher number of mums struggling with some form of post natal depression or anxiety when their first born is around 4 years old, than there is when they are 3 months old!!  Post natal depression is something that really strikes a cord with me after my own personal struggle with it, so I would LOVE for all mums to know that it's OK TO ASK FOR HELP!!!

Something that was not so surprising to find out was that almost ALL mums suffer from some kind of extreme exhaustion!!

Click here if you'd like to find out more about Professor Stephanie's research, and if you'd like to help too - then do head over to 'add your patch of motherly wisdom'.

Miss L had the best time at the launch and was a very lucky little lady to have such wonderful babysitters (provided very generously by Platinum Media & Communications) whilst mummy was busy listening to those inspiring women.

Happy Mothers Day (on Sunday) to all you wonderful mummies out there xxxx

*Disclaimer:  I was not paid or gifted to write this post and it was 100% written by me, with no external influences.  Unless otherwise stated all the images were provided to me by Platinum Media & communications.