LOU KNEW
Kate Middleton chats to new mums about vital parenting supporting – but Prince Louis was too noisy to bring along
MUM'S the word for the Duchess of Cambridge as she lent her support to parents helping each out during the pandemic in a recycled M&S suit.
Kate, 38, spoke to parents and their "lockdown babies" who have been giving and receiving vital support and visits despite lockdown - and joked Louis would have tried to jump in the park fountain at the meet-up.
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Kate, who is mum to Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and two-year-old Prince Louis, looked elegant in a white T-shirt, paired with pink £29.50 M&S trousers that she has worn before.
To pay tribute to her three youngsters, Kate wore a gold necklace with their initials on it.
She joked with users of app Mush, which helps new mums make local friends, that her playful youngest son Louis was too noisy to bring along to the meet up.
Mum Christine Thatai said Kate said: "She didn't bring Louis along as there was a fountain where we met, and he would have been in the fountain, splashing around making a big racket."
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The duchess was told how peer groups struggled to meet up in person during Covid-19 lockdown but kept up their work on zoom and regular phone calls.
Single-mums Irma Martus, 47, and Carol Elliott, 41, told the duchess how they had been helped out with weekly check-up phone calls from volunteer Home-Start Wandsworth during the pandemic.
A survey revealed two-thirds of mums are not confident they can get the right mental health and many unable to speak to GPs or their family during the pandemic.
Kate said: "Does it help emotionally too? You feel less judged?
"Everybody needs to have those friendships.
Adding: "It must be difficult to meet up socially-distancing."
Afterwards Irma, who was referred to Home-Start after her 22-month-old son Emmanuel was diagnosed with Down's syndrome, said: "She said she was passionate about support for single mums through peer support."
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Carol said: "I said my volunteer calls me every week and they feel like a proper friend and she said everyone needs friends."
The duchess also met mums Nalini Sadai and Jessie Brett who provide peer to peer mum support for the National Childbirth Trust.
Both told her they use their own experiences when helping new mums.
Kate said: "It's good being able to listen and being listened while being off guard.
"It is so important for your emotional well-being. With your experiences it’s so important that you've been through it.
"Without what you are providing, that form of relationship, you can feel so isolated. You should be very proud."
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Kate spent lockdown at the family's Norfolk home, Anmer Hall, but is now back at Kensington Palace in London with the kids and Prince William, 38.
Christine spoke to Kate about how she had found the last few months: "She said everyone has had a difficult time but it was nice as well to have family time."
Kate also told Mush user Morgan Alex: "It sounded like she really appreciated lockdown for the extra time she's been able to spend with her family and seeing the positives in that."
The duchess had a busy day, meeting with representatives and volunteers from eight different organisations who run peer-to-peer support.
The meeting took place in the autumnal sunshine in the beautiful Old English Garden in Battersea Park, with participants sat socially distanced on wooden park benches.
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Kate said during the morning chat: “A huge well done to all of you, I know there’s a big team of you out there in communities across the country.
“Both William and I hear about how vital these relationships are to families – they’re a real lifeline. So to you and your army of volunteers out there, a huge well done.
“I, like you, would love to see peer-to-peer support more embedded and celebrated in communities and society as a whole.”
Among the organisations Kate met with today were Home-Start Wandsworth, NCT and MUSH, who provide support for families.
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