NT mums can access scholarship for online mother’s group program

Territory mums living in remote areas are receiving the feedback and support they need through a revolutionary online mothers group program, which has just opened up scholarships.

Motherland participant and NT mum Stephanie Lewis with her husband and first child. Picture: Supplied

Territory mums living in remote areas are receiving the feedback and support they need through a revolutionary online mothers group program, which has just opened up scholarships.

Motherland is a charity founded by Stephanie Trethewey that aims to empower and connect rural mothers across Australia.

A key part of this effort is Motherland Village, a six-week online mothers group program, where women are put together in groups of up to ten, and guided through a series of activities by a trained facilitator.

Stephanie Lewis was one of the participants in the second program in 2021.

Ms Lewis lives on a station in the Roper Gulf with her husband and three children, and found Motherland while scrolling on Facebook one night, admitting she was feeling “a bit lost” after having her first child.

Motherland founder Stephanie Trethewey. Picture: Ness Vanderburgh / Supplied

“I’d spoken to friends in my normal friend group who’d had kids and whatever about different things I was struggling with and how to make working with her work, but no one lived on a station and was in the same situation,” she said.

“I was scrolling through Facebook one night, as you do, and Motherland popped up on Facebook so I joined.”

“They had other mums who, not everyone lived on a station, but there were a couple of other families in there that lived on the station and understood you know the struggles of adjusting to I guess motherhood on the land, because you sort of lose a bit of your independence.”

Ms Lewis said the program gave her a chance to connect with mums with similar experiences to share their thoughts and parenting advice.

Despite the Motherland program lasting only six weeks, groups are encouraged to continue to stay in contact.

“The idea is we invest in those six weeks with a facilitator, it’s basically blind dating and speed dating for rural mums, and by the end of the six weeks, that group continues on as its own independent mothers group,” founder Stephanie Trethewey told the NT News.

The 36-year-old said she founded the Village program after the success of her Motherland podcast, which she started in 2019 as a mum in rural Tasmania.

The podcast now has more than 1.1 million downloads, while Motherland is now a national charity, with Ms Trethewey being awarded Tasmanian of the Year in 2024 for her work.

“I had my second baby in the pandemic, I had two under two, and was struggling again and realised I really needed that social connection and that’s where the idea for Motherland Village was born, which is Australia’s first online rural mum’s group program,” Ms Trethewey told the NT News.

Ms Trethewey said the program had seen more than 350 rural mums and 30 virtual villages across Australia since its inception in 2021.

Mums in the NT can access the Motherland Village for free through a national scholarship fund, while the charity also has the support of the Territory’s Humpty Dumpty Foundation through Katherine Hospital, allowing women who give birth there access to the program.

Originally published as NT mums can access scholarship for online mother’s group program