An old African proverb says "it takes a village to raise a child", but for many women across Australia, that "village" just isn't there.

"I wanted my village of sisters and aunties to support and nourish me through my fourth trimester."

Georgie says most of her Tongan family live 500 kilometres away in Sydney, and her partner Duncan's mum lives a 10-hour drive away.

She felt overwhelmed once her mother and mother-in-law left after their short visits post-birth.

"I remember crying so much the day Duncan's mum left, I didn't know what I was going to do! News flash: I was fine!"

She scrolled through an Instagram page called The Village: a network of birth services such as pregnancy yoga, birth and post-natal doulas and midwives.

It was there that she stumbled across a Facebook group called The Village Aunties, a community group that cooks meals for new mums and families in need of support.

"I felt an immense sense of gratitude to the women who so graciously dropped fresh, cooked meals to my front door," Georgie says.

Out of all the well-intentioned gifts she received postpartum, such as baby clothes and rattles, Georgie maintains the best gift was to receive a nourishing meal from The Village Aunties.

"Receiving hot food when you are depleted and tired and rundown and giving everything to this new little life is the best," she says.

The Village Aunties formed in 2022.

Founder Chaitanya Morly-Southall realised many new families were moving to her regional area and finding themselves without their usual support networks.

Her personal motivation came from working in a healing capacity with new mothers and seeing that there was "a lot of room for improvement in how nourished they could feel".

"We don't aim to support everyone — we want to be there as a backup in case people are caught short, and we've supported 10 or more families in the last year," she says.

Chaitanya says the goal is to create a community of support for new mums, which also includes hosting social activities, like a seasonal market.

"The idea with the free gifting market is everything is free and everybody’s welcome," she says.

"We wanted to encourage people to come out of their homes and meet each other, share a meal, let their kids rummage around in the toys and find some baby clothes."

Since creating the group on Facebook a year ago, The Village Aunties has grown to more than 300 members.

Post-natal care movement:

In her experience, Chaitanya says The Village Aunties creates a comfortable and safe space for new mothers who find it hard to ask for help.

"Everybody is so independent in this modern age … without realising the emotional intensity, sleep deprivation, the high stress levels and postpartum depression," she says.

"Community is so important for new mums and that isolation can be avoided if you have a few friends with similar-age babies and feel like you're not alone."

Coffs Coast resident Steph Burrows is among those who've offered to cook a meal for a mum in need.

Steph says she's grateful to be able to provide support now that her own kids are older.

"Having food that can just come to you, and you don't have to think about it, alleviates that mental load as well as the physical load when you're usually fairly tired," she says.

The group has helped Georgie navigate motherhood.

"I'm more involved in this village thing now and I can say it's been the best thing for my mental health, to have someone or multiple people in your realm and living the life that you're living," she says.

Original Story By | Wiriya Sati