Gabby Le Brun sits down with Deb Hunt, founder of Support for New Mums, a volunteer-led service providing free at-home support for new mums.
I meet Deb at the Modern Grocer in Murwillumbah, where she’s a regular. When I offer to buy her a coffee, she smiles and says, “They know my order.” It is here that Deb recounts a story that perfectly captures what Support for New Mums means to so many mothers. “One of the brilliant mums we looked after came up to me while I was sitting right here with a table of friends, including some men, and said, ‘Guess what, Deb? I shaved my legs!’” The men at the table were indifferent. But Deb was thrilled and immediately understood what a milestone this was.
For a new mum, there are so many things that can seem impossible. Opening a tin of dog food with a can opener while supporting the floppy neck of a screaming newborn is one of them. I know, I’ve tried. Common advice like “just put the baby down” sounds simple but ignores the biological hardwiring between a mother and her baby – the escalating cries of a newborn who needs to be held act as an alarm designed for an immediate response. That’s where Support for New Mums comes in. Another pair of hands for two hours a week during the first year of motherhood can make all the difference, and it’s free.
One mum describes the support simply as: “From taking the baby to the library or park while I attend appointments, to offering guidance and reassurance when parenting feels overwhelming.”
The organisation’s values are connection, empowerment and empathy. “We don’t judge. We don’t care if you’re in your pyjamas at 12 o’clock. We don’t look at the mess.”
That understanding came from Deb’s own experience. “I hadn’t had this support when I had my kids,” she says. Deb and her husband raised three children while living in three different regional towns during his career as a police officer. With him working shifts, no daycare available and no family nearby to lean on, the early years were particularly challenging. As a primary-trained teacher, Deb couldn’t even accept relief teaching work when opportunities arose. “I was done!” she recalls.
Determined to improve things for other families, she helped establish a childcare centre in one of those communities. “I found a block of land and we, the community, built a childcare centre for babies all the way up to school.”
Twenty-six years ago, Deb and her family moved to Murwillumbah, where she returned to university to complete her early childhood qualifications, including a master’s degree. She later taught in the tertiary sector in Brisbane before spending time at TAFE closer to home. The idea for Support for New Mums had been percolating for some time. “I was very passionate about the early childhood years,” Deb says. But it was supporting a family member through postnatal depression that became the catalyst. Watching someone close to her struggle without their usual coping strategies finally convinced her that she had to do something.
Eight years ago, Support for New Mums was born in Murwillumbah, with six volunteers responding to a call-out in the local paper. During the COVID lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, the service grew exponentially. “We had mums from all over the world who found us through social media.” Volunteers continued visiting wherever possible under strict health protocols, switching to regular phone calls whenever face-to-face visits weren’t an option.
Today the organisation has expanded across the Tweed and Ballina shires and into the Gold Coast, with 100 volunteers, seven area coordinators and around 80 families receiving support. A recent information session has also been held in Lismore.
The mums who use the service come from many different backgrounds: single mums by choice or circumstance, mums with FIFO partners, mums whose partners work shifts, as Deb’s husband did, and many women who have stepped away from successful professional careers to have children in their mid-to-late 30s, only to find the transition unexpectedly difficult.
“One of our mums travelled the world by herself. She had her own home. Wonderful job. And then thought: ‘Now I’ve got this baby, and I don’t know what to do,’” says Deb.
Mums are referred by GPs, friends and family, or they can self-refer. They are matched with a volunteer for two hours each week throughout their baby’s first year, with support extended for subsequent babies if volunteers are available.
Support for New Mums fills a gap that is not currently addressed by government programs. Although the organisation recently received funding through the Women’s Giving Circle via the Northern Rivers Community Foundation, it receives no ongoing government funding. Deb still coordinates the entire organisation from a desk in her bedroom.
Deb believes one reason the service is in such high demand is the nature of the Northern Rivers itself. “People move here because it is beautiful, but in doing so can become isolated from their networks and family support.”
Even if their background is in a caring profession, volunteer support is intentionally non-clinical. One volunteer reflects: “Sometimes the biggest difference was simply being there consistently and reminding a mum that she wasn’t alone.”
Support for New Mums is not a treatment service for postnatal depression but training may help volunteers recognise when a mum may not be coping. Another volunteer says: “It’s wonderful to see a mum who was initially anxious begin to enjoy parenting and feel more confident in herself.”
For the mothers, the impact can be profound: “This organisation saved my life,” says one new mum. “I was sleep deprived and overwhelmed when I reached out to Support for New Mums. I didn’t expect that one call would lead me to one of the most positive parts of my journey into new motherhood,” says another.
Support for New Mums is currently seeking more volunteers. The volunteers themselves often gain just as much from the experience. “Volunteering has given me a renewed sense of purpose while allowing me to contribute to my local community.”
Deb tells me some of the first volunteers are still in contact with the first mums and babies they supported eight years ago. Some now celebrate Christmas together.
One mother sums it up beautifully: “She is more than just a volunteer; she’s become a treasured friend.”