Why You Should Join Online Pregnancy Support Groups

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Your experiences while pregnant, affect you as well as they do affect your baby and their development. Everything that happens to you will affect how your baby will function when they get here whether it is psychologically or physically.

Having a support system is crucial to the health of both mom and baby. Some women simply don’t have the support of friends and family that truly understand what they are going through at the moment. It is really any different for a new mom now than it was two, five or ten years ago? Support groups give women the opportunity to reach out to and confide in and get advice and help from women who are facing the same kinds of issues that they are facing.

A support group is a place where you can gather information, ask questions and learn from other pregnant mothers. An online support group gives you the ability to do all of this from the comfort of your own home. With a support group, you don’t have to worry about feeling overwhelmed, isolated and alone. It allows you to share your concerns, stories and more with people who can relate.

Why Would I Want to Join an Online Pregnancy Support Group

Pregnancy is a time of great change and great challenges. Women who have support during these times tend to have better mental and emotional health and fewer stress levels. They also tend to be less at risk for depression and anxiety associated with pregnancy and its many changes. For many, asking for help is the biggest and most terrifying thing.

Online support groups take some of the edge off since you won’t have to meet anybody in person. You won’t have to worry about how you look, what to wear and all that. You can dress in your most comfortable clothes and sign-on from your laptop, tablet or phone.

You can find all kinds of groups online, so much more than you could find locally. You can find groups that cater to specific concerns or identities, For example, you could find groups geared towards;

Depressed members
Over Forty
Lesbian
Birth Networks – provides information about current research in informed consent, informed refusal, best birth practices and providers.
Teen mothers
Single Mothers
Married Mothers
And so much more…

Still not convinced you to need one or will benefit from one? Truth is these support groups are very popular. A recent survey shows that 37% of moms at BabyCenter are participants in some kind of mother’s group. We also see that the groups tend to be large with 53% of survey participants indicating that their groups had at least 10 moms. Here are some more statistics on support groups for pregnant women.

Statistics on Online Support Options for Pregnant Women

According to a Facebook IQ Survey most new parents in the United States are members of at least one online parenting community. The results indicate that online pregnancy groups tend to grow as the pregnancy progresses. The survey was administered to a total of 1,620 parents who were either new or expecting. The results show that 28% of participants were parents who were expecting and 38% of parents in online pregnancy groups were between 5 and 7 months. The survey showed that moms are 1.7 times more likely to join a support group than dads but that’s not too bad and we commend the dads that are taking the steps to take care of themselves as well as they go through the challenges of their significant others being pregnant.

As modern moms and dads go through pregnancy and parenthood there are some very interesting shifts in behavior. There are lots of interesting data collected from the Facebook IQ survey that indicates not just how pregnant women use support groups but how they use these groups after their babies are born. The survey shows that expecting parents to use these online groups to find parenting-related products and information.

Benefits of Online Pregnancy Support Groups

Making friends on the internet is commonplace nowadays but around 10 years ago it wasn’t so common. You may think that support groups die out after participants leave but we have found that many people keep the lines of friendship open long after they give birth. Here’s a story of a group of 10 women who became friends in an online forum and have managed to stay friends after 10 years. Not only have they remained friends but they have really been there for each other in times of crisis with their families. Read the full story here.

If You can't Find the Perfect Group, Start Your Own

If you have been searching for the perfect online support group and haven’t been able to find it, maybe its time to start your own. Just the same way you are searching there may be others like you searching. When you start a group then there will be something there for likeminded women to find. Starting a mother’s support group is super easy with many platforms out there to choose from.

How Do I Start a Mother’s, Support Group?

If you are on maternity leave or are a stay at home mom you may be more flexible with your schedule. As such you may be able to join a support group that meets physically. For other mom’s physical meetups can be difficult for multiple reasons. When you opt to start a support group online, you immediately make the group attractive just by it being online.

Find an online platform that allows for starting online support groups. You can find a number of these. If you have searched for online support groups you already know which websites these are.

Top 5 Websites for Online Support Groups for Moms

Mocha Moms – the premier support group for women of color offering both communities based and online options.
Support Groups – this website offers a platform for pregnant women to talk in a safe space. You can find a myriad of groups on different topics to address however you are feeling or whatever your concerns may be.
What to Expect – this website offers you comprehensive online support. You can chat in groups or you can simply find and read through the information to set your mind at ease.
Pregnancy and Children – this website offers women a list of support options sorted by the state as well as for the different stages of conception from pre-pregnancy to postpartum.
Meetup – this website offers a multitude of categories for different types of groups. It offers the largest first-time mom group and has women joining from all over the globe.

You can create your group based on your baby’s due date to ensure you get a host of support from people n the same situation as yourself. You can also organize groups by state or region and even y your city if you have the hopes of meeting up with anybody from the group.

Conclusion

When you are pregnant, especially if it is your first time you will undergo a lot of changes. These can take a toll on you and your baby if you don’t have all the right tools. The right tools will include support from persons who can understand what you are going through. Try an online support group, you will find many of these communities at major Pregnancy and Baby websites. Find a group that meets your needs and that will provide you with the support you need to get through your pregnancy and maintain your cool.