A "Maternal and Child Health" Nurse in Melbourne and the "Motherhood Cloak"

When my first little munchkin arrived, I'd just moved to Melbourne. Being in a new city, where you have no immediate family or friends, is extremely hard on a new mum! Thankfully, Victoria has an excellent maternal and child health system. I would have been lost without it! Aside from organising mothers groups and playgroups, and providing fantastic venues full of resources, there are wonderful maternal and child health nurses that oversee each little neighbourhood centre.

I had the opportunity one day to have an appointment with a nurse that stood out from all the rest. She could tell that I was struggling and suggested that I may be wearing my 'motherhood cloak' too tightly. She mentioned that every mother wears their cloak differently and that you have to find a way to wear it without letting it completely envelope or engulf you. "I, for example, wear mine off the shoulder and dragging in the mud", she laughed.

In the early days of my motherhood, I wore my motherhood cloak that tightly that I was almost completely suffocated by it! And I have learnt over the last 5 years, that it's ok to loosen it, to even take it off sometimes; that it's good for me and for my little family that the essence of who I am as a person sees the sunlight and also gets to shine.

Photo: Fête des Rois, January 6th, 2009