I recently hosted an exclusive in conversation High Tea in support of Perinatal Anxiety and Depression (PANDA) - Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Australia – supports the mental health of parents and families during pregnancy and in their first year of parenthood.

Over 30 Women joined together for an afternoon of inspiration, connection and meaningful discussions to raise awareness while celebrating the journey and joy of Womanhood.

I believe that all mothers and women deserve to flourish and thrive in all areas of their lives.

Data shows, hundreds of thousands of families in Australia face perinatal mental illness each year. 1 in 6 Australian women experience depression and greater than 1 in 5 expecting or new mums will experience postnatal depression.

During the high-tea, I shared part of my journey and struggles with anxiety during pregnancy and after giving birth to Vienna and other mental health challenges I have faced. I shined a light on the power of connection and how being a part of a Mothers group helped me find my way through.

Surrounding myself with other Mums in this community was my first step to embracing myself as a mother.

After opening up to other women within our Mums group, I realised that postnatal depression and anxiety issues were a lot more common than I thought.

Not having a mother to confide in and learn from has been difficult at times, I have leant on my friends and sister a lot throughout the sometimes complicated journey of motherhood. But even with the support of friends and family, postnatal depression and anxiety is something I still find difficult to open up about or discuss easily.

I have listened to others share their stories and found great comfort from one friend in particular who has shared her experiences and helped me through some of my hardest times.

We have both become so passionate about reducing the stigma and shame and to help other women to seek support and to have real conversations these common issues.

With support and connection, women become empowered.

Normalising the challenges of motherhood, postnatal depression and anxiety as real and common is so important to help create change.

As women, we need to connect with others, encourage others, stay inspired and seek out a life that we truly desire.

The Mothers Day High-Tea event was the beginning of an initiative our Mums Group is discussing to assist women and mothers seeking support, connection and empowerment.

We are passionate about connecting mothers to the support they need and helping them grow through motherhood. So they can benefit from the creation of close connections and shared experiences, similar to our own.

Unfortunately not all new mums have mums groups to join and the journey of motherhood can be lonely leaving some feel isolated, especially in regional areas. This is something we are hoping to help many others with.

Our Mums group is very unique, how we started and the journey we took comes with a story and we look forward to sharing that story more.

As a group of Mums, we share many of our early parenthood stories with each other. Our affectionate and sometimes hilarious accounts of early parenthood experiences have sparked joy and tears but the best part is we have made each other laugh and some of us really need that at times. We are all so different and come from all walks of life, but we have become so close and we are there for each other.

We have nursed each others new born babies and been there for the birth stories, we have watched each others babies grow into toddlers. We aren’t perfect but we embrace the messiness and chaos of Motherhood.

I couldn’t have bought this meaningful event to life without the support of our beautiful local businesses.

Bianca Hill from Honey Bee Photography, I know how much this cause means to you and I’m so thankful for your generosity to capture this event so we can continue to support women on their motherhood journey. The photos are stunning.

Cool Climate Garden Centre, Thank you for allowing us to use your incredible Garden. Lynn, your support and and kindness helped this event come to life

Treen from La Bella Botanical, you go above abs beyond. Thank you so much for the most gorgeous florals and styling, your flowers brought so much colour and warmth and created the perfect mood.

Holly from The Coffee Incident and Luxury Pinics Glen Innes, You are amazing! the high-tea, catering and your wonderful table styling was stunning. Your passion and enthusiasm towards empowering other women is so admirable.

Carly from Chazzi Co, Thank you for your support and generosity with setting up and the beautiful Signage, your touch added so much and created the perfect welcome.

Thank you to all the businesses who supported this event and helped create such a beautiful experience for those who attended. The vouchers, gifts and support truly helped make this event even more special.

The Lash Lab, The New England Motor Lodge, The Sage & Clover, Raindrops & Lollipos, Esther beauty Co, Sherbet Beauty Co.

A special thank you to the Reachout Toy Library Glen Innes for the kids play equipment, many of the Mums had their babies and toddlers with them and it was so nice seeing the kids play happily on the equipment so generously donated.