TRANSITIONING from the city to life on the land was a "baptism of fire" for Tasmanian Stephanie Trethewey, who was named AgriFutures' Rural Woman of the Year for her work to eliminate the crippling isolation that can accompany rural motherhood.
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The former broadcast journalist started the Motherland Australia podcast as a way to share her story, and the stories of other rural mothers, to let them know they weren't alone in the struggles they were going through.
"What I didn't realise is that when I married a farmer, what I really married was the land, and the land has given me some of the best times of my life, but also some of the worst," Ms Trethewey said.
"Rural women face everything from mental health and fertility struggles to access to medical care. Childcare is a huge one, there are so many mothers who would love to be in the workforce or would love to - God forbid - have an hour or two off, but they can't because they don't have that support.
"Those struggles have ignited a fire in my belly to advocate for rural mums, who are some of the most undervalued and under-supported women."
But the podcast grew into so much more. After surveying her listeners, Ms Trethewey found out more than half her listeners didn't have access to a mothers' group. It was a light-bulb moment. She saw a gaping hole in the nation's healthcare system and decided to do something about it.
"When I had my first child in Melbourne, I was automatically allocated to a mother's group, which is very common in the city throughout hospitals," she said.
"Living on a farm, you're not going to catch up for a latte up the road with a group, it's impossible - think of the women on station's in the Northern Territory."
She created Motherland Village, an online mothers group program for rural women, where they share in video calls, a private Facebook chat room and weekly activities that encourage deeper connection.
Ms Trethewey, who took part in her own pilot program, said it was amazing to see the friendships blossom as rural mothers shared their struggles.
"We take them through a six-week program, every week there's a different theme, and they do weekly activities," she said.
"We really encourage them to go deep as quickly as possible, it's kind of blind speed dating on steroids. We don't have time to muck around with six weeks.
"The goal is that by the end of the six weeks, these women have forged connections that means their group is strong enough to carry on as a mothers group without Motherland."
As part of the award, Ms Trethewey received a $20,000 grant from Westpac, which will be used to create a new online platform with additional content, employ another rural mother to assist with the roll out of the program and create a Motherland Village hospital toolkit.
Ms Trethewey's goal is to give every rural woman who needs it access to Motherland. Katherine Hospital has already signed up, providing all new mothers with information about the program, while large rural corporations, such as Lawson Grains, are offering places in the programs to their employees and their partners.
* ACM Ag is a proud media sponsor of the Rural Womens Award
Jamieson Murphy
Newcastle Herald news director and business reporter. Interested in any and all yarns. Whisper g'day mate to me at jamieson.murphy@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Newcastle Herald news director and business reporter. Interested in any and all yarns. Whisper g'day mate to me at jamieson.murphy@austcommunitymedia.com.au
