On this, the last day of our Save Babes Frankston campaign, one of our woman tells her story. Hear from Cassie how vital The Babes Project was to her journey into motherhood.

For Cassie, pregnancy meant feelings of guilt, and a lack of support from those closest to her. 

“Her dad didn’t want me to have her. I was feeling a lot of guilt and I knew I wouldn’t have any support, and I don’t have any family around me. And I’d suffered a lot of depression and other things throughout my life so I was just freaking out.”

But, with The Babes Project, parenting brought her the greatest joys. 

With only 2 days until the end of our Save Babes Frankston campaign, one of our woman tells her story. Hear from Danielle how vital The Babes Project was to her journey into motherhood.

When Danielle came to The Babes Project two weeks before her due date, feeling guarded and broken, she felt she’d found her safe place.

“I was just really in a vulnerable position. I was dealing with a bit of depression and anxiety, and lots of feelings surrounding the pregnancy with Parkah."

With 3 days until the end of our Save Babes Frankston campaign, one of our woman tells her story. Hear from Casey how vital The Babes Project was to her journey into motherhood.

Casey tells of how the confidence she developed with the support of The Babes Project changed the way she sees her future with her daughter Isla.

“Babes was a safe place to talk to someone with no judgement about things that were going on in my life.” 

“They did go through a few things with me here before I had Isla, like safe sleeping and things like that, which I wasn’t told about from anyone at the hospital. So, getting all that stuff was really helpful and just made me feel more confident in what I was doing.”

“I think it’s pretty obvious that women do need the extra support... It’s very daunting, being a mother. Just having someone to talk to, and reassure you; ‘your baby’s fine’, or ‘you’re doing fine’.”

With 4 days until the end of our Save Babes Frankston campaign, one of our woman tells her story. Hear from Vallencia how vital The Babes Project was to her journey into motherhood.

Frankston mama Vallencia’s story is one of incredible resilience and determination. 

Having grown up in South Africa, and the first in her generation of her family to have a baby, Vallencia was overwhelmed by all the ‘dos and don’ts’ of motherhood. 

“My family just forgot how it is to have a baby, and even the Australian rules, and you know… the sleeping, the wrapping the baby, the bassinets, that was all new to me.” 

The greatest supports she found in Babes were “learning all the small bits and pieces… but also coming in talking to Emma… she would just listen, very-non judgemental, friendly”. 

With 5 days until the end of our Save Babes Frankston campaign, one of our woman tells her story. Hear from Tahlia how vital The Babes Project was to her journey into motherhood.

Tahlia was referred to The Babes Project during her pregnancy with baby Tilly by Frankston Hospital because she didn’t have the support and community needed to confidently raise her baby. 

“Being a younger mum, and not having family either, I think having extra support and other people to look to and having another insight from a different point of view, is always good.”

Tahlia laughs that for her, motherhood is a “big mess”. But she also points out that it is not designed to be done alone; “It’s always putting someone before yourself and having the support behind you.”

With 6 days until the end of our Save Babes Frankston campaign, one of our woman tells her story. Hear from Emma how vital The Babes Project was to her journey into motherhood.

When Emma came to Babes at the end of 2019, heavily pregnant with her daughter Savannah, she simply felt like she ‘couldn’t do it’.

“I’d just come out of a rocky relationship… I was really really not in the right mental space.”

Living with an aunty but far from friends, Emma felt very alone. The greatest thing she needed was “support… someone to listen, and just a friendly space.” 

Savannah was born only a few days after Christmas in 2019, and not long after, Emma was a new mother, already vulnerable, in the midst of a pandemic. But The Babes Project remained present.

With 7 days until the end of our Save Babes Frankston campaign, one of our woman tells her story. Hear from Brittany how vital The Babes Project was to her journey into motherhood.

For eighteen-year old Brittany, pregnant with her daughter Ivy, it felt like no one supported her and her journey into motherhood. 

Told to refer herself to The Babes Project by her social worker at Frankston hospital, Brittany says, “there were just so many people that were against me being a young mum that it was a bit hard to come somewhere”. 

“They kept trying to get me to contact you guys but I was so shy, so I’m pretty sure it was you guys who contacted me! I’m definitely glad I got over my shyness to come in.”

Brittany felt a lack of acceptance and support, not only from her family, but even from doctors; “it wasn’t very accepted that I was so young. So it was good to come to Babes and be able to have people I could relate to, who knows what’s going on, and be able to talk to someone about it.”

“It’s sort of like you’re just coming to a friend's house. You’re willing to talk about things that you probably wouldn’t share with a lot of people, but here you feel like it’s just another day hanging out with your best friends talking... It's very relaxed but also the support is amazing.”

With 8 days until the end of our Save Babes Frankston campaign, one of our woman tells her story. Hear from Christina how vital The Babes Project was to her journey into motherhood.

Her unplanned pregnancy ended her relationship, but just weeks before her baby was due, Christina had nowhere to go but back to her ex.

“When I first found out I was pregnant, I’d planned to have the baby in Melbourne then move back to the United States and back with my family,” she explains.

“Instead the pandemic had hit, I’d been made redundant from my job, then eventually the aunty I was living with had issues with me.”

“I was still on the lease at the Mentone apartment I’d shared with my partner, and he definitely didn’t want me there, but it was my only option.”

It was at that point that Christina connected with The Babes Project in Frankston. 

“I was at my wit’s end, but (Pregnancy Support Centre Manager) Emma at Frankston just gave me so much fresh air in those final weeks, chatting with her every week really helped me through the unknown.”

“Talking to Emma was one of the first positive conversation I’d had about the baby – and having been so isolated, I was going to a lot of worst-case scenarios in my head.”

“When you don’t know something and start looking online, Google is just like a black hole. Having a real person you can turn to who you trust, and who knows from experience, that makes a big difference.” 

Babes Frankston is here for Christina, and for so many women doing it tough in pregnancy and early parenting.

Now, we need you to be here for her too. 

Can you help us Save Babes Frankston?

With 9 days until the end of our Save Babes Frankston campaign, one of our woman tells her story. Hear from Shayal how vital The Babes Project was to her journey into motherhood.

Shayal was five months pregnant when she separated from her husband, as a victim of ongoing family violence in her marriage.

Police put an intervention order in place for the safety of her and her child.

“It was just my four-year-old and me, and I did it because there was no other choice, there was a lot of family violence,” she explains.

“That was in February but then in May the house we lived in collapsed and it was no longer liveable. It really felt like my world had fallen apart.”

It was at that time a friend recommended The Babes Project in Frankston, and Shayal finally started to feel prepared for her birth and her baby.

Supporting her with practical things like a car seat and links to emergency housing, and big things like a connection to a Birth for Humanity doula to be her birth partner, Shayal says Babes “helped me in a time when there was no one with me.”

Now, The Babes Project needs help to keep our doors open in Frankston - so we're here for mums like Shayal, when there's no other options. 

Will you help us Save Babes Frankston?

With only 10 days until the end of our Save Babes Frankston campaign, one of our woman tells her story. Hear from Jade how vital The Babes Project was to her journey into motherhood.

One of our first ever Frankston mamas, Jade thought she could do it alone when she found herself pregnant with her third baby, but quickly realised she couldn’t. 

“I thought I could do it alone and I couldn't. I really thought I'd be fine… But no, I fell into a big heap.”

And that is okay. She isn't supposed to be able to do it alone. 

That’s why The Babes Project is here.