MATERNITY leave can be a lonely time for new mums.
Sleepless nights, endless breastfeeding and cartoons on repeat can mean daily adult conversation becomes a distant memory.
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That is why having a “maternity buddy” can be a lifeline for many women — a close friend who is pregnant at the same time so they can share parenting highs and lows.
So when Beth Croft announced her pregnancy — and five of her friends followed suit — it was a baby bonanza that none of them could have expected.
Now the super six from Teesside, who have been best pals for decades, are readying themselves for maternity leave and joke that there must have been something in the drinking water locally.
Primary school teacher Beth, 34, is married to Jonny, also 34, and was the first to announce she was expecting.
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The couple already have daughter Ivy, who is six, and Beth gave birth to son Parker on May 23.
Next to reveal she had a bun in the oven was social care worker Lucy Mallam, 34.
Beth says: “After I announced my pregnancy and then Lucy announced hers, I couldn’t believe it. And as the others did, too, I was gobsmacked.
“When I had Ivy it was a little bit different. It was just me, really, and I had a traumatic birth with her.
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“She was six weeks premature and I had four blood transfusions after haemorrhaging. She was 4lb 7oz and was in the neonatal unit for a few days.
“She was breathing on her own and, thankfully, soon thrived. But it was quite a difficult time.
“Parker was born by C section at full term, weighing 6lb 4oz. He’s such a placid baby and really relaxed and easy.
“Now I’m just waiting for the others to start their maternity leave. I’m planning to take full advantage of having the girls round and meeting up lots. I can’t wait.”
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Lucy, who is now 35 weeks pregnant, is always on hand to offer advice to the others, as this is her fourth child with husband Aaron, 35, a prison maintenance worker.
She says: “When I had my first child, it was years before any of my friends began starting families. Maternity leave was lonely and I felt so clueless, being just 21.”
This time, she has the support of her pals who will also be able to muck in with parenting duties with her other children, Harrison, 12, Frankie, eight and Jude, four.
Lucy, who is expecting a girl on July 24, continues: “It was like another person was announcing they were also pregnant almost every month.
“It became a running joke about who would be next.”
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Sure enough, the next announcement arrived around three weeks after Lucy’s, when pal Naomi Lee revealed she was expecting her first child, on August 11.
Naomi, 36, who works for a construction company, says: “It’s been such a relief and, at times, a godsend to be able to ask the girls questions and not feel embarrassed about my lack of baby knowledge.
“Luckily pregnancy has been a breeze. I haven’t had sickness, although I do get swollen cankles at the end of the day.
“It’s nice to know you’re not alone in whatever you’re feeling. We’ve swapped thoughts and chatted about everything from nursery ideas, personal experiences and even shared maternity clothes.”
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Naomi is even more thankful for her pregnant buddies as her partner Matthew Allison, 37, is an oil company worker.
She says: “I’ll be doing a lot of it on my own as Matthew works away a lot, which can be lonely. So I’m lucky to have our group’s support.”
Fortunately, all the ladies have experienced healthy pregnancies, although one, Emma Harding, was a little more apprehensive at the beginning. The finance team leader, married to salesman Phil, 34, waited until her 12-week scan before revealing her news.
She says: “I’d had some issues at the start with bleeding and didn’t want to take the sunshine and excitement away from the others if anything went wrong.
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“Luckily everything is OK and apart from being extra tired, the pregnancy’s been great.”
Already mum to four-year-old William, Emma, 33, is expecting another boy on September 12.
She says: “We already had a big group chat for our wider circle of close friends, but with so many of us falling pregnant, we decided not to bore them with baby talk so we set up another group.
“We bombard each other every hour. Even if it’s the middle of the night, someone will probably be awake, too.
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“Our conversations can vary from moaning about no sleep to how our sex lives are going — or not, ideas about decorating our nurseries and comparing symptoms. It can get quite graphic, but if you can’t share with your girls, who can you share with?”
And Laura Hatfield, 24 weeks pregnant, couldn’t agree more.
Already mum to Oliver, ten, from a previous relationship, she reckons her maternity leave this time around is certain to be much more fun.
Bank worker Laura, 34, says: “The first maternity leave I had was lonely as most of the girls were out partying and not thinking of starting families. I spent most of it alone or with Mum.
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“I’ve known most of the girls since secondary school and we went through college together. So to be pregnant at the same time, too, has meant a ready-made support network.
“We tend to ask each other about the more grim side of pregnancy, like constipation, wondering whether our bumps are too big or small, or how to get shoes on fat, swollen feet.
“We share monthly photos of our bumps to compare size.”
Laura, who is expecting with partner John Patino, 32, also a bank worker, says: “Every month we’re either having a baby shower or welcoming a new arrival, so it’s pretty busy.
“We talked about having joint baby showers, but decided to still have individual ones to keep it special for each person. It’ll be great seeing the babies grow up together and be friends, too.”
The final announcement came from Lyndsey Thompson, who works for a housing association.
Now 18 weeks pregnant, she is expecting her first baby on November 30 with partner Marc Price, 32, a maintenance worker.
She says: “I was the last one to announce I was pregnant, but we’re still looking at our wider group and wondering who will be next. It’s a really exciting time — I just think it’s crazy I’ve got this little person inside me.” Lyndsey, 34, adds: “Having friends all in the same boat is great.
I’m clueless about babies so it means I don’t have to bombard my other friends who aren’t pregnant with questions that would be boring for them.
“And from a practical point of view, I’m already being offered hand-me-down baby clothes.”
The ladies’ partners all get on well when the group hang out together, but admit they have been suspicious about these conveniently well-timed pregnancies.
Lucy says: “All of our husbands and partners have joked about us girls planning this together so we can all have some time off with each other.
“You’d think we had, but we definitely didn’t.”
