Hi LoVeMyBaBiEs,
What a great idea!!!
It's been a while since my girls were babies, and I've never been a mum (on account of me being a boy and all that), but I do remember the multitude of clinics and nurses and appointments we needed to go to in the first years of both our daughters' lives. A big focus was on well-being and mental health.
Is this a subject you could bring up with one of the community nurses or clinic workers? I would be really (REALLY) surprised if it were the first time they've heard such a question, and maybe their is already a handful of other mums/dads asking after the same kind of thing. Community nurses are very approachable, and part of their role is to initiate new projects that help build community, so their is every chance that if you were up for raising the subject with a community nurse, they could hit the ground running with a project plan and a small group setting for parents that have anxiety with young children could be rather easily established.
One of the things I used to do when my girls were young (I still do it, but they're 10 and 13 now) is head down to the local dog park (helps if you have a dog, but funnily enough it's not entirely necessary!). We'd just stroll around the dog park for an hour or two. Our dog would get a great run (off the lead), other dogs would come up and say 'hello' to us, and other dog owners would come up and have a chat to. The great thing about it was their was never a crowd or a lot of people engaging at one time; only one or two other dog owners! It is a great social activity without any of the stress or anxiety associated with being part of a group!
Anyhow, enough about me! 🙂
I hope you reach out to your community nurse/health clinic worker and ask about such groups for new parents with anxiety. If they say their is nothing like that happening, I'd be asking them point blank... 'Why not?'
