Three years ago we announced that The Babes Project would be looking to expand it's pregnancy support service to the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula region. We didn't anticipate the challenges that we would need to overcome to make this a reality, but three years on we are excited to share our new Frankston Pregnancy Support Centre with you! 

We have learnt much about our service, our team and the Frankston area in this time, which means we are opening this service with a consolidated understanding of the demographic we are reaching and the service we offer. 

One of the most rewarding parts of our work in Pregnancy Support is when we are present for the moment a woman becomes a mother; the moment when she sees her baby take their first breath and a new relationship is begun. For every birth we are a part of at The Babes Project, we count ourselves blessed that we have the opportunity to observe these first moments of life and motherhood. 

Our Labour Support Team is a special bunch of women. They are women who volunteer their time to ensure no woman is unsupported during childbirth. They put themselves through training, put lives on hold when on call and do all it takes to be available for massive lengeths of time. Often under the influence of bad hospital coffee! Holly is one of our Labour Support team and she wrote these words about her most recent labour experience with one of the women of The Babes Project.

Mother's Day is such a favourite time for us here at The Babes Project. What a beautiful opportunity to honour the women who mother little ones, sometimes in the face of challenging circumstances. This week our Croydon team hosted a brunch to celebrate the women we meet and it was beautiful. 
These week old little ones came along and because they were born only hours apart we couldn't resist having them hang out together.

We were welcomed with the ring of a bell. Pip opened the door with her daughter Lulu on her hip - ringing her toy bell loudly. Lulu is eight months old and she is happy. 

She has been an unexpected joy for Pip who found out she was pregnant when she was 22.

The Babes Project works with women during the Perinatal period. 
Rewriting Motherhood is our project which tells the stories of women we have met.

There is so much in our everyday lives telling us what motherhood should look like, feel like and be like, shaping an expectation of motherhood that isn't always realistic or even achievable. When our experience doesn't reflect that expectation we can find ourselves feeling unworthy and incompetent. 

It has been four years since we took the boldest risk. Really. We had no idea how we would fund our centre or our program. But that was four fabulous years ago, and ever since we opened the doors of our first Pregnancy Support Centre in Croydon, The Babes Project has just grown from strength to strength. 

It was a sweet and humble beginning, and swinging those doors open for the first time is a great memory for us. We had a dream and a vision and we were passionate about ensuring it became a reality. But there was definitely a sense of naiveté about us... and maybe that's why it has worked. We just wanted the best for women; no ulterior motives.

The past four years have been such a great learning curve and have shaped The Babes Project into what it is today: an organisation working hard to ensure all women in this nation are empowered and supported in the Perinatal period.