“If we need help, we know where to go”

My name is Hope and I first worked with Intereach when I was expecting.

I hadn’t lived here for long and it was hard. I had a very complicated pregnancy, high risk, I was in pain. We had to travel to go for medical appointments and I almost lost her.

It was Maternity who sent me to Intereach and that’s when I met Trish, the family worker. She understood what it was like to be a new mum and she was someone I could really lean on. She gave me all the support…I never had as good support as what they gave me before.

The first thing she did was sit with me and help me plan what I needed. I needed help with where I was living, with my health, with how safe my house would be for the baby. I wanted to know how to be a good mum and to worry less about money. I don’t really know many people here so I wanted to meet people and make friends.

Where we were living was dangerous for a newborn… we even fell through the veranda. Trish helped me work through the tribunal to leave the lease. Trish helped me fill in forms for housing and find all the papers and documents we needed. Trish visited me regularly and if I was sick, she’d help me get to the doctor. Sometimes that meant helping me get to a specialist in another town and I couldn’t have done that without her.

When Nellie was born, we did the Parents as Teachers program. We talked about Nellie’s development, motor development and all that. We did a home safety checklist, Seven Steps I think it’s called, so that I didn’t have to worry about Nellie getting hurt and Trish sorted out my Centrelink payments.

I go to the Mums group, they’re good there, not judgemental, made my best friend out of it. Deidre (Intereach Family Worker) runs it and she’s awesome too.

Life’s pretty good. Nellie has just turned one and I’m expecting again. If we need help we know where to go. We don’t have money problems like we used to. If you’re a new mum, go to Family Support. They’re great.