BRIGHT FUTURES: Babes team with some of our inspiring program graduates, and their thriving little ones. Photograph by Miranda Mayle Photography.

Did you do it tough during pregnancy and early parenthood, and wished there'd been support for you?

Do you know the difference real support and connection can make when women are at their most vulnerable?

Or do you just want a world where new mothers get the best support possible?

The Babes Project is on a mission to help families thrive, by ensuring all women can access vital perinatal support. 

And across all our centres - in Croydon, Frankston and Cairns - we're looking for passionate volunteers who can commit to helping us achieve that vision. 

WOW. 

There's not enough words to tell you how grateful we are. 

Our dream of The Babes Project Cairns has become a reality - and it's because of our incredible, generous and faithful Babes tribe. 

Together, we raised a huge $68,573 to ensure that our new Cairns centre not only opened, but it will thrive. 

We can say thank you a million times, but really, it's the work that will speak the most. 

New Babes mama Hollie and bub Roxie know the journey is worth every step. Photo by Miranda Mayle Photography. 

Ever had that feeling that there's still so far to go?

It's 3000 km from Croydon to Cairns, and here at Babes right now, we're feeling every step of the journey!

No, of course we're not actually walking it - but establishing a new centre feels like a marathon (one of those ultra ones, through the deserts and for days!) 

And right now we're at that hardest last stretch, where a helping hand can make all the difference.

Our crowdfund goal for opening The Babes Project Cairns is getting closer - and we can make it, with your incredible support. 

Mothers. They’re incredible.

That was our absolute core belief when we first started The Babes Project - and ten years working with pregnant and new mums doing it tough has only made us more certain.

Mums have so much power and potential to build a better world around them, even when that world has dealt them a pretty rough start.

As we support and empower hundreds of mamas every year through our holistic perinatal program, we see them transform their lives, nurture their families, and thrive in motherhood.

Babes is also dedicated to celebrating how much each of those women has achieved – and that’s why we’re so excited to be finalists in the 2019 AusMumpreneur Awards, another national initiative celebrating everything mums can do!

Helen Parker OAM (left) and volunteers and mamas, ready to celebrate a decade of The Babes Project. Photography by Miranda Mayle. 

Since 2009, The Babes Project has stood with pregnant and new mothers as they have faced and overcome the challenges of their early motherhood journey.

And today sees our biggest milestone so far – a decade of Babes' commitment to supporting and empowering mothers holistically through the perinatal period, even as they struggle with teen pregnancy and single parenting, domestic violence, drug and alcohol issues, family breakdown and isolation. 

From our earliest days, The Babes Project has been building a powerful solution to a nationwide issue.

Across Australia, women are allowed to remain isolated and vulnerable as they raise their children.  No one who believes in our next generation should be okay with that – and our perinatal program is a proven and transformative intervention.  

So yes, we are celebrating a milestone - but don't for a second think we're resting on our laurels. Or resting at all!

Our tenth birthday is also a chance to yet again think bigger - and you don't get much bigger than Far North Queensland!

STORIES TO INSPIRE: Cristina, with little ones Eden and Peter, is a Babes graduate and the cover mama of our Rewriting Motherhood e-zine. Photography by Miranda Mayle. 

When The Babes Project set out on our Rewriting Motherhood mission three years ago, we wanted to challenge the narrow mainstream stereotype of motherhood. 

Day in, day out, we were working with incredible new mothers who were facing every type of challenge in their pregnancy and parenting, and bravely striving for the best for their little families. 

Their decisions and dedication were rarely celebrated, however - and too often, they were denigrated as "not enough". 

Babes mamas might not fit the "good mother" stereotype that society idolises, but Babes has seen just how they can transform lives for themselves and those around them, with the right support.

In 2017, our first Rewriting Motherhood book told the stories of ten of these transformative women, and their achievements still resonate with and inspire hundreds of mothers we work with every year. 

In 2018, we invited our communities to be part of the conversation, hosting the first Rewriting Motherhood Forum, and giving a platform to Babes participants, supporters, and diverse mothers who wanted a voice.  

Now this year we're launching a Rewriting Motherhood ezine - a free online magazine that grows the storytelling and celebration of Rewriting Motherhood. 

HELP FOR REAL: Babes team member Emma prepares a new baby and mama basket. Photos by Miranda Mayle Photography.

It's something new mothers get sick of hearing: "There's plenty of help available."

Because while it might technically be true, it's not helpful - not when the onus is on the overwhelmed new mum to jump through hoops to access it, not when it's one-size-fits-all, and not when it never actually appears, anyway. 

It's knowing that feeling, of being helpless in the face of "available" help, that made Babes so determined to be on the front foot of providing support to new mamas. 

Our proven perinatal program includes real and tangible ways of helping women feel equipped and empowered.

But better than that, they also feel supported by the community around them, knowing the thoughtful care that's seen hundreds of people contribute to Equip a Babes Mama. 

STRONG AND BRAVE: We're all about making women more powerful at Babes - to make motherhood the best it can be! Images by Miranda Mayle Photography. 

The importance of motherhood often gets lost in the talk of boardrooms and brunches and ballyhoo of International Women's Day.

But the national theme for this year's one-day celebration of half the population really hit home at The Babes Project - it's "More Powerful Together", and it's a truth that we're living every day. 

Babes is founded on the ideal of women working together, and just how strong our society could be if all women were supported and empowered in their motherhood. 

That's why we're so proud of how far we've come in the past decade of Babes - and of every woman who put her hand up to say that she wanted to own motherhood, and she wanted our support to do it.

WAIT HERE: There's always new mamas at Babes - and your support could mean no more waiting to get into our life-changing perinatal program!

Like any pregnant mama, here at Babes we wrapped up 2018 with hope in our hearts, and more than a few fingers crossed, as we looked to the year ahead. 

We'd put it out there - we needed your help. Our campaign The Biggest Difference was aiming high, hoping to bring in enough donations to fully fund our program for every woman currently on her Babes journey and in our perinatal program. (And with day-to-day costs taken care of, we would be ready to focus new funds on fresh growth!)

And plenty of you wonderful folks answered the call. To date, we've raised more than $22,000 through our campaign - not the total amount we'd aimed for, but a healthy boost that was generous and heart-lifting, especially as the dollars rolled in over busy (and bank-breaking!) Christmas and New Year. Supporters, you never disappoint us - and your generosity always renews our faith in the impact of our work with mamas! 

But as February rolled around, so too did a new boost to our faith - with even more zeroes attached!  

On top of the world, baby? We know how you feel! (Image by Miranda Mayle Photography.)

WOW. 

It's hard to find the words to sum up the start of our 2019 here at Babes, but we're gonna try - BECAUSE THERE IS SO MUCH TO TELL YOU!

Let's start with some headlines - but stick with us to hear the amazing details, and how you can be part of the impact we're making for so many women, every day. 

First up, OUR FOUNDER IS AN OAM! OMG, right?! Nearly a decade after she first founded Babes, this month Helen Parker was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her service to pregnant women in need. And of course as CEO of The Babes Project, her service continues - let's all hope Helen's inclusion in the Australia Day 2019 Honours List means the nation is ready to get involved, too!   

Secondly, YOU'RE HEARING OUR CALL! The Biggest Difference campaign we launched at the end of 2018 is rolling on, and generous supporters have already committed $22,000 to grow our work, and reach even more women who need support. Of course, there's still a long way to go - we want to ensure as many vulnerable mamas as possible can access our 21-month perinatal program, and you can still commit to helping us make The Biggest Difference (just by clicking the link!)