Dam Parenting

We close Maternal Mental Health Month with something the research says matters just as much as therapy: community. Rachael Forester — therapist and new lead of MamaSocial — joins Dam Parenting to talk about why mum friends aren't optional. The science of co-regulation. Why female friendship in early motherhood is neurologically unique. And what MamaSocial — the community space for international mothers across the Netherlands — actually looks like to walk into for the first time.
If you've moved to the Netherlands, newly pregnant or just looking to fine more mom frirneds and you're doing this without your village yet — this one is for you.
MamaSocial runs events in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Haarlem and more.
MamaSocial instagram page

Maternal mental health doesn't always look like crisis. Sometimes it looks like not having a single person to call when your baby spikes a temperature at midnight. This week, as part of our Maternal Mental Health Month, Eva speaks to Robyn from Delft Mama — a volunteer-run charity that has been quietly building community for international families in and around Delft since 2007.
They talk about what belonging actually does for a mother's mental health, why showing up to that first event is the hardest and most important step, and how a group of volunteers has built something that feels like the sisters and mothers so many of us left behind.
If you're in the Delft area or the surrounding areas feeling like you still haven't found your people — this one's for you.
Find Delft Mama on Instagram and Facebook, or at delfmama.nl.

For international parents in the Netherlands. Every Wednesday.

When was the last time you danced? Not in the kitchen with a toddler on your hip — actually danced, to music you love, in a space that felt like yours?
On this special episode on Dam Parenting closing up the Maternal Mental Health Month series, Eva is joined by Morgan and Sam from Tiny Grooves — two Australians, nine years in Amsterdam, five kids between them, and the creators of something genuinely wonderful: rave-style daytime events for parents and babies in real Amsterdam club venues.
We talk about why joy is one of the most underrated tools in the maternal mental health toolkit, what happens on a dance floor when a parent finally feels like themselves again, and why your baby actually loves techno.
Their next event is June 21st — Father's Day. See you there!
Find them at @tinygrooves on Instagram.

Dam Parenting — for international families in the Netherlands.

Outro Music is called 'Dream a Dream' by Moby.

For those in the Eindhoven region, we have reached out to a community down there, ready and waiting to welcome you.
On this episode I'm joined by Sylvia, founder of Expat Kids Eindhoven — a community she built from scratch after having her baby during COVID, far from her family in Colombia, and realising other international mamas were probably feeling exactly the same.
We talk about what actually happens when women walk into a space where they finally feel understood, why belonging isn't a luxury for expat moms, and what Sylvia would say to any mama who hasn't found her people yet.
If you're in or around Eindhoven, find Sylvia at expatkidsineindhoven.nl or on Instagram at expatkidsineindhoven_
This episode is part of our May Maternal Mental Health Month series.

What if one of the most powerful things you could do for your mental health as a mother didn't involve a therapist, a screen, or a to-do list — but your own voice?
This week on Dam Parenting, we're closing out our Maternal Mental Health Month series with something that surprised even us. Host Eva went along to a Singing Mamas session in Amsterdam — and felt it from the very first song.
Singing Mamas is a group singing movement for mothers that started in the UK and is now building community across the world. Babies are welcome from the earliest weeks. No musical experience needed. What happens in the room is something science is only beginning to catch up with: group singing regulates the nervous system, lowers cortisol, reduces anxiety, and creates a felt sense of safety and belonging that so many mothers quietly need and rarely find.
Eva sits down with Danielle, the woman who brought Singing Mamas to Amsterdam, to talk about what actually happens when mothers sing together — the emotional releases, the unexpected connections, the women who walked in disconnected and left feeling like themselves again.
This episode is for the mother who feels anxious, isolated, overstimulated, or not quite herself. The one who thinks "that's not for me" — and needs to hear why it might be exactly for her. This isn't wellness as performance. It's somatic, communal, and real.
In this episode we cover:
— Why singing together works differently to singing alone
— The psychology and neuroscience behind group vocalisation and stress relief
— What mothers experience emotionally when they allow themselves to let go and sing
— How community singing builds connection in the postpartum period and beyond
— What to expect if you walk into a session for the first time
If you've been looking for something that goes beyond talking about your feelings — something somatic, accessible, and rooted in community — this one is for you.
You can find Danielle on Instagram at danielle.singingmamas.ams
Dam Parenting is our international parents in the Netherlnads podcast for the honest, unfiltered side of parenthood.