It’s great fun trying out a new class, whether you and your little one does it with friends or do it alone. However, for some the thought of joining a new group, trying something new for the first time, walking into an unknown place with a group of unknown people with unknown routines can be very daunting indeed.

When I had my little girl, I suffered with postnatal anxiety; I lived approximate 40 minutes away from my home town, I knew no one in my area, let alone someone else with a baby to hang out with and I didn’t know what events were going on and where they would be held. It was very lonely indeed.

I was also quite unwell when I first had my little girl (c section, sepsis and a whole list of other complaints) so I was unable to leave the house by myself for the first few months which didn’t help my situation and my husband was at work during the day. Therefore, for the first 6 months I didn’t take my little girl to any baby groups and when I finally did I drove the 40 minutes plus, through rush hour traffic to my home town.

Even with the comfort of recognising the venue and maybe a few familiar faces, walking into your first baby class or play group can be very intimidating and scary. However, I wish I had done it sooner. We’ve tried a few different classes since then (in the town I now live) and honestly not all of them were for us but we’ve found some really lovely groups with other friendly and supportive Mummies. We might not be ‘best friends’ but we have something in common which allows us to help, understand and support each other, which our other friends might not be able to do.