About

Hello! I’m Jamie and it’s lovely to find you here.

A bit about ChCh Mums… this site started in 2012 soon after I’d moved to Christchurch with my husband and our daughters (1 and 4 years old at the time). As we began to settle in post earthquakes I began keeping track of different activities and places for us to explore. I wondered if it might be helpful to others and started the website. The Facebook forum soon followed, handed over to me as a wee group that has grown over the years. For the first 4 years I sent out weekly emails of family events happening and also did little in person gatherings for mums to connect and meet.

Over the years, ChCh Mums has adapted and evolved depending on my own stage of life and season of motherhood. The heart behind it has always been to connect and support mums. That is what I hope you find here, wherever you are at in your journey of motherhood and of finding community/connection.

A bit about me… my study over the last 20+ years has been in psychology and my work has always straddled psychology and social work, most recently culminating in becoming a Child & Family Psychologist. I love supporting children and their families in the work I’ve done over the past 20 years where the focus has included child development, parenting support, coming alongside during labour and birth as a doula (DONA), encouraging early attachment through baby massage (IAIM), working with children and families in the care and protection system, and understanding and supporting children within the education system. I have also worked with children and adults in the areas of mental health, trauma, and bereavement. This work over the years has been a real privilege.

For years, this ChCh Mums space has ticked along, but I’ve wanted to offer more and support mums in more intentional ways. That’s why starting term 4, 2023 I’ll be experimenting in what this could look like. Watch this space to find out the focus and how to be part of it each term.

Thanks for being part of this community!

Jamie