Kim – From isolation in London to building Australia’s largest mum walking movement after two very different births

Kim’s journey to motherhood began in London during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, where she experienced the stark realities of birthing within an overwhelmed healthcare system. Her first pregnancy was straightforward, but the birth experience would prove to be anything but simple.

First Birth Experience in London

“I was definitely one of the first in my friend group to have a baby,” Kim reflects. “I sometimes joke that I was like one of the most unprepared people to become a mum. I really followed quite blindly the path of, you get married, you feel a twitch that maybe you should have a baby.”

Despite thorough preparation and hiring a pre-labour doula, Kim found herself facing the cascade of interventions that many first-time mothers encounter. After going into spontaneous labour, she spent time at home before heading to hospital due to early bleeding.

“It’s really hard when six doctors are standing in front of you in a medical environment to say no,” Kim explains about the moment she was advised to accept Pitocin to speed up her labour. “You trust doctors and you should trust doctors.”

The intervention led to an epidural that worked “a bit too well,” leaving Kim completely numb and unable to move her upper body. “For the first time I felt like the closest I felt to like my mortality. I was feeling a lot of just being this sort of flesh and bones on a hospital bed.”

One of the most challenging aspects was the COVID restrictions that separated her from her partner immediately after birth. “When they said my partner had to leave, I just went into full shock at that point. I just felt like I cannot do this. I cannot care for her on my own.”

Postpartum Struggles and Mental Health

Kim’s honesty about her postpartum experience is both raw and important: “I really did not experience joy as a mother in that first year. It just wasn’t my experience. Maybe small snippets, but even then, I feel like I say that to make other people more comfortable about my experience.”

Her daughter Matilda was extremely colicky, and Kim herself later discovered she had undiagnosed sleep apnea and nocturia, making the sleep deprivation even more challenging. “I’m already like really low quality sleep just in myself. And then my baby was so colicky, didn’t sleep, also had something called grunting baby syndrome.”

The isolation of COVID lockdowns compounded her struggles: “I was just fantasising as soon as the world opens back up, I’m gonna get on that Eurostar and start a new life. I’m not meant to be a mum.”

Moving to Australia and Preparing Differently

When Kim and her family moved to Melbourne, she was determined to have a different experience with her second pregnancy. “I realised I am as the mother, like the top of the pyramid, and I need to prioritise myself. I stopped short of saying I made selfish decisions because it’s not selfish.”

She invested in private care for continuity and prepared her environment thoughtfully: “Instead of spending that money on cute things for the nursery, I’m gonna spend, on what’s gonna make me feel good and what will make my space feel safe and fresh.”

Second Birth – A Dramatic but Empowering Experience

Kim’s second labour began similarly to her first, with contractions 20 minutes apart for a day and a half. “I was contracting over like a big breakfast with my toddler, and it was all happening in a way that I’d really hoped it would happen. We then went to the beach and went for a swim and I was labouring like in the water.”

The birth took a dramatic turn when Kim felt “something fall out of my vagina” as they were leaving for hospital. It was her intact amniotic sac with the baby’s head. “The ambulance people come and their main priority is keeping me as straight as possible so that I don’t break my waters.”

Despite the drama, Kim felt empowered throughout: “I honestly am almost one of those mums who had a pleasurable birth. I definitely was, I felt empowered even as these sort of more dramatic things were happening.”

Baby Maxie was born just seven minutes after arriving at hospital. “I remember the midwife offered me a lemonade and I almost cried. There’s just such a difference between as a mum feeling like you matter and that like you’ll be cared for, versus just invisible and just get on with it.”

Creating Mum Walk – From Personal Struggle to National Movement

Kim’s challenging first experience motivated her to create something different for her second maternity leave. “I really wanted to enjoy maternity leave, and I knew that for me that would look like spending time with other mums and connecting with other local mums.”

When she couldn’t find suitable support services, she posted on a local Facebook group asking if other mums wanted to walk and talk. “Dozens of mums responded. And my first local mum walk was born from that.”

Using her background in movement building and community tech, Kim developed Mum Walk into a national charity. “We’ve gone from zero to over 50 walks across the country in just over a year. So that really proves that it’s really needed.”

The Philosophy Behind Mum Walk

Kim’s approach addresses the fundamental need for community in motherhood: “Meeting up with other mums in the flesh and swapping stories and sitting in a circle is actually one of the most like tribal, natural things that we can do. We’re supposed to be doing motherhood together.”

The walks are designed to guarantee connection: “Everyone’s there for a chat. It happens very naturally. And it was just a very casual accessible thing for me to do that guaranteed like once a week I’m out of the house, I’m having local connections.”

Supporting Maternal Mental Health

Mum Walk directly addresses the statistics around maternal mental health: “We know that 90% of women feel lonely after birth. We also know that one in five mums will experience postpartum depression and anxiety. And one of the key risk factors of that is isolation and loneliness.”

Kim’s vision extends beyond individual walks: “We are really hoping that long term mum walk becomes an integrated part of our maternal healthcare system.”

Kim’s story demonstrates how our most challenging experiences can become the foundation for helping others. Through Mum Walk, she’s created a sustainable solution to maternal isolation that’s now supporting thousands of mothers across Australia.

To find a Mum Walk near you or to start one in your community, visit mumwalk.org.