Mama You’ve Got This classes help mums transition to parenthood

Are you fed up and struggling to do baby bedtime without having had a shower or done the washing? Two mothers are now running classes in Albert Park to help.

Freya Owen and Christy Hopwood from Mama You've Got This with their children.

Two mums are helping people ‘study’ for their full-time career as parents, offering monthly mummy masterclasses.

Between them, Middle Park’s Christy Hopwood and South Melbourne’s Freya Owen have seven children and have seen “just about every specialist or expert” there is — now they want to help others, from pregnancy through to toddler tantrums.

“You can do a course for just about everything out there but there’s no course for most important job you’ll have in your life, so we created one,” Ms Hopwood said.

“We want to arm new mothers with the information they need so they don’t feel like they’re failing — it’s really common, that feeling that you’re failing as a mother (if your child won’t settle), or that it’s your fault.”

Ms Hopwood said the pair, who met at a local kindergarten, had picked the best experts in the business to share tips and tricks at the Mama You’ve Got This classes, covering a range of topics including lactation, psychology, returning to work, diet and feeding, sleep and sleep regression and pelvic floor health.

“It’s a really warm, nurturing environment where nothing is off the table,” Ms Owen said.

“We’ll share the joys of parenthood as well as the frustrations — there’s no sugar coating.”

Ms Hopwood said everything from how to change a nappy through to how to introduce a toddler to a new sibling would be included.

“It’s sounds basic but you’re not really taught that stuff like how to run a bath or change a nappy,” she said.

“You have a bit of help in hospital in the first day or so and then you’re just at home with this little person you’re responsible for, it can be really confronting and isolating.”

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She said the classes were a good way for parents to connect with each other and build a support network “rather than pretend it’s all okay”.

“Sometimes you scroll through Instagram and see these new mums who are so skinny or are breastfeeding on a rock with a waterfall in the background or whatever and you’re sitting on the couch thinking ‘it’s 7pm and I haven’t even managed to shower yet and there’s washing all over the house’,” she said.

“There’s this element as mums where you feel like you need to be able to do it all and don’t feel like you can ask for help, but you totally can.”

Ms Owen said classes will run every month throughout the year, with special events and dads-only classes also scheduled.

“We just want to help as many mums as we can and cuddle as many babies as we can,” she said.

Mama You’ve Got This participants also receive a goodie bag worth over $100, full of must-have baby products.

For more information about mummy masterclasses, visit mamayouvegotthis.com.au