Where can I find pregnant women like us?

June 24, 2012 9:38 PM

What are the best intelligent, nonjudgmental online communities (like MeFi) for pregnant women and new mothers?
posted by Night_owl to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Offbeat Mama has some good conversations. I just look for interesting blogs - Pregnant Chicken and her links are good too.
posted by viggorlijah at 9:53 PM on June 24, 2012

Previously. I found altdotlife through that thread & have really enjoyed the community there. There are a bunch of Mefites and a general sense of good will, intelligence and thoughtfulness. One especially nice feature is that they have threads by trimester by month (ie. all people who are in their 3rd trimester in June), so you can move along with people who are generally asking the same questions and going through the same issues you are, and this cohort thing follows through to after the kid arrives, so you can compare toddler notes, etc. There are also more general topic threads on everything from car seats to breastfeeding to favorite tv shows, all of it very respectful, drama-free and helpful. Highly recommended.
posted by judith at 10:23 PM on June 24, 2012 [3 favorites]

Offbeat Mama is pretty good, but sometimes it brings the crazy. There really AREN'T mothering forums out there that haven't been overrun by some group of mothers who are insecure but really strident about their choices.

I have had the best luck putting questions or conversation-starters out to my facebook friends who are parents (and grandparents), with a select few excluded from those posts. I have friends who parents in a huge variety of ways, from ultra-granola to super-traditional, but they're all at least polite because they're all my friends and there isn't the facelessness to hide behind.

(I like the articles and weekly developmental updates they send you from babycenter.com, but their forums are as full of crazy people as anywhere else.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:28 AM on June 25, 2012

twinstuff.com had a very decent forum for expecting moms (and/or dads) but as you can probably guess, it was geared toward folks expecting multiples.
posted by orangemacky at 6:13 AM on June 25, 2012

I had really good luck with my birth month board on TheBump.com. Either the crazies never came out or I'm completely oblivious to them (or I'm the crazy, but I doubt it). And as said above, it's nice to have a group of women going through the same things as you at the same time; it's helpful to compare experiences.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:59 AM on June 25, 2012

I also have had good luck on TheBump.com, but I, unfortunately, frequent their TTC after a miscarriage board. I think the culture varies widely from board to board, so you may not find a good fit but it's worth checking out.
posted by apricot at 7:46 AM on June 25, 2012

I think the culture varies widely from board to board = totally true!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:00 AM on June 25, 2012 [1 favorite]

It's not a parenting board, but I've been asking a lot of my pregnancy and parenting questions at the Straight Dope Message Board.
posted by Anne Neville at 12:09 PM on June 25, 2012

Although I would not use those terms to describe reddit in general, I love r/BabyBumps because the ladies are level-headed, scientifically-minded, and highly supportive of others. I've introduced a few of my pregnant friends to it and, although they never visit the rest of reddit, I see them posting on there regularly.
posted by PrimateFan at 5:26 PM on June 25, 2012

Ravelry for my kid's birth month has saved my sanity on more than one occasion. We're still chatting six months later and I'm finding it even more of a help now the kid's here. That could be luck of the draw, I don't know. There's no rule against going to the months around yours if they're more active or if you'd rather have the other babies be the front runners.
posted by arabelladragon at 7:54 AM on June 26, 2012