Every new mum needs a support network around them. Just as in days gone by, today’s network will often consist of parents, grandparents, friends and family alike. But nowadays there’s a new breed of mummy: the social media mummy!

I’ve been struck over the past 7 weeks – and well before that, if I’m honest – about the extensive and lovely support network created by other mums I’ve been chatting to through social media. Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp have all played their parts, and I’ve ‘met’ and been given help and advice by so many different women who are going through, or have gone through, the same things as me. And so this post is a little thank you to all of those ladies!!

From crowd sourcing of other mums and asking questions and advice of brands on Twitter, through to reconnecting with old friends who are now mothers on Facebook, there’s a whole world of social media support out there.

I am lucky enough to be a member of a hugely supportive group of new mummies on Facebook. When Mr Lighty and I got engaged in 2009, I joined the forum of the popular wedding magazine You and Your Wedding (and that’s where my moniker of MrsLighty originally sprung from!). I got to know the other engaged ladies pretty well over the months through the common bond of wedding planning. From here, we migrated onto Facebook and to this day continue to talk about all sorts of topics, from cleaning products and craft projects through to work, friendships and our (often annoying) husbands, as well as cheekier topics too!

As new wives, many of us are now also new mummies, and I often wonder how I would’ve got through the first few weeks of Baby Lighty’s arrival without them as a sounding board and a constant source of encouragement. Sharing silly anecdotes and photos of our days is often just the pick me up I need! So ladies, in case I haven’t told you, thank you for all of your wonderful support; I hope we’ll be able to continue our online friendships and shared experiences and laughter for many years to come!

Of course, it’s important to have real life support too, but in my opinion the social media mummy is so lucky nowadays in comparison to our own mothers, purely through the ease of which we can keep in touch with our fellow mummy friends! Whatsapp has been a God send, I can instantly get advice from my NCT group and more experienced mummy friends, and during the 3am night feed it’s so lovely to be able to chat to someone else who’s also up feeding Bubs! As one of my NCT friends put it, what did new mums do when texts cost 10p each to send, or even before texts existed?!

So to all of you social media mummies out there, let’s embrace the technology we’re lucky to have around us! Any support a new mum can get, regardless of where it comes from, should always be welcomed, and who knows, maybe our daughters will have their own innovative technological support systems in place when it’s their turn to be a mum!