'Mummy Meet Ups' is a big hit with mammies across Derry and Donegal

Sinead Feeney, from Killea, became a first-time mother to her little girl, Abbie-Leigh 10 months ago.

Following her daughter’s birth, Sinead experienced post-natal anxiety and found that getting out and about helped her feel better.

Sinead wanted to join a ‘laid-back,’ group, where she could meet other mammies and their children to share support and chat. She decided to reach out to others to see if they’d be interested in such a group and ‘Mummy Meet Ups’ was born.

It has been a huge success, with up 20 mammies meeting up at various locations, including Brooke Park, Inch Levels, Swan Park and Glenveagh. There’s also a Facebook group, which boasts over 500 members.

Sinead told the Journal how she was in ‘a rut’ for the first three months after Abbie-Leigh was born.

"My mental health was deteriorating and I knew I had to get out of the house. I wouldn’t have left the house, because of intrusive thoughts. I was worried something was going to happen to me or to Abbie-Leigh and I’d wait until the evening, until my partner came home, to go out and do what I had to do.

"I knew that other people had to be feeling the same way. Five out of ten people suffer from Post-natal Depression and that’s just the people you hear about. There are many more who are sitting in the house and not saying.

"I wanted to join something laid back and to get me out of the house. I decided I’d put it out there to see if other mammies would like to join a group just walking and talking and it has gone so well.”

A location, somewhere in and around Derry, Inishowen and Letterkenny, is chosen each week and the mammies ‘have a wee walk and a wee chat’.

"It’s fresh air and it’s amazing. It’s about getting the mammy out and about and everything else is a bonus.

"All the mammies are lovely and it’s great to be able to chat to another mammy, share your worries or concerns or just have a wee chat about everything.”

The group isn’t just for mammies with babies – mammies of older children are also taking part. The location and times change each week so that working mammies can also be accommodated.

The group has also been ‘great’ for the children’s interaction and Sinead said it has been ‘lovely’ to make new friends.

Sinead is delighted with the response to the group and told how she has had a lot of offers from community hubs to use them as a base for the meet-ups when the weather is bad.

"This is brilliant and will be really important in the winter. Winter can be an even more isolating time when you’re in the house with a baby or children. I’m very grateful to everyone who has offered.”

Sinead isn’t just the co-ordinator of the ‘Mummy Meet-Ups,’ she also has a popular Tik Tok page, where she talks about postnatal anxiety an mammy life.

You can follow her on TikTok ://www.tiktok.com/@sineadfeeney.22 on Facebook at Mummy Meet Ups and Instagram www.instagram.com/mummy_meetups