A “village” for new mums is coming to Ōamaru.

Postpartmum, started by Broghan Van Aalst in Dunedin in October 2023, is opening a branch here this week.

Broghan says when she became a mother to her now four-year-old son, she was grateful for her “village”, but still struggled with some mental and physical aspects. 

She wondered how mothers without any support coped.

Postpartmum is Broghan’s way of offering that village to as many new mums as possible.

A self–described “hospo queen”, Broghan was manager of popular Dunedin eatery Buster Greens before Covid hit and she discovered she was pregnant.

She took the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mum for a few years, but as her baby grew, so did her business idea, and once her son was old enough to start kindergarten, she put her idea out into the world.

“I put something up on the Mums of Dunedin Facebook group, and then next day just bit the bullet and made an Instagram page and contacted someone from a website.

“Two weeks later I was booked out for three months every day, so I hired three more people.”

Times are tough for a lot of families at the moment, Broghan says.

“Especially since Covid. A lot of people had to move away for work, or stuff with the cost of living going up and, it's just that ripple effect from everything, from your home and your life.”

She wants to provide a bit of peace of mind, and take the mental and physical load off people when they have nobody else around.

“I had my sister-in-law in my back pocket, and my mother-in-law, and many friends, and I still struggled, and people still do. So like, people without even friends around, no wonder there's mental health issues and a lot of post-traumatic stress and anxieties.

“So, I just really want to try and make a little dent in that and try and slow that at least.”

Once things took off in Dunedin, Broghan put the feelers out to see how Postpartmum would go in other Otago towns.

From posting on a number of community Facebook pages in the region, she ended up with 30 job applications, but most were from Ōamaru and Alexandra.

She also had people messaging her saying “I hope you get someone here, ’cause I need you”.

She has hired Alyssa Jones in Ōamaru, a “natural helper and giver” and has a second person ready to step up if business demands it, she says.

Services will be offered in a 15km radius of town at this stage to keep travel time to a minimum.

Alyssa Jones will be working for Postpartmum in Ōamaru. Photo: Supplied

The services Postpartmum offers vary from doing dishes and/or cleaning, to walking the dog or occupying the toddler, while mum has a shower or feeds the baby.

A day in the life of Broghan looks different from one day to the next.

Sometimes she’s a nanny, sometimes she’s a cleaner, sometimes it’s just noticing what needs to be done without having to be told. 

“To everyone, I'm like, ‘do not walk in there and say, what do you want me to do?’. 

“I do say if there's nothing obvious or clear . . . I'd say what's bothering you the most, not what needs done . . because then they’d be like, everything.”

Broghan says, although mothers might not realise it, sometimes the biggest role they have is being available to “hold a conversation space” for clients, to allow them to talk with another person.

“A like-minded person that gets it, which is massive. It's feeling heard and seen.” 

The Postpartmum workers are also mothers, so business hours tend to work in with school or kindergarten. Broghan deals with emails and admin after her son is in bed at night.

The business is registered with Work and Income New Zealand (Winz) for in-home support, and sometimes mothers who are struggling can get a referral through their doctor.

The business is also registered with Givenwell - a website well-being providers can register with, so people can be gifted tokens to spend on their health and well-being through the site, Broghan says.

“So it's all about preventative measures rather than trying to fix something that's broken.”

Her goal for the year is to also be ACC registered to provide home support for birth and other injuries.