After baby comes, there are a lot of new ways of life to get used to. New parents often find it very helpful to connect with other parents to talk about daily trials and celebrations, and even just have a reason to get out of the house. These groups can build lifelong friendships, for the parents and for the babies! They are a great way to find others with children the same age as yours. Here are some of the groups we are aware of, please comment with more!

Amma Parenting Center in Edina offers a wide variety classes from new parents to second time parents, etc. Check out their list here.

Blooma offers a FREE New Mama Group a one hour drop-in group for mothers + babies birth to 12 months. This is an opportunity to connect with each other, ask questions, share advice, laugh, cry, and talk about life with a new baby. Groups are lead to accommodate all parenting styles. Start anytime, and come as many times as you would like! Help ease the transition into life with your new baby in a supportive, open environment.  Preregistration is not required and do not worry about coming late!

Blooma also offers an open house-style Lactation Lounge every Friday at 12:30pm. It is free and open to all lactating people. Come by, grab some tea, and chat with lactation counselor, Mari Melby (CLEC). She can help answer questions at every stage including latch difficulties, positions for feeding, pumping at work, transitioning to solids, and more.

Slumber Party – Baby Sleep Support is a virtual sleep support is open to all families that meets online on Tuesdays. Baby & Toddler Sleep Coach, Sarah Branion can help answer questions for parents preparing for newborn sleep or those navigating sleep for newborns, babies, toddlers and preschoolers.

Motherhood Series: A Group for New Moms at Blooma is a group that meets for 6 weeks fostering good, real conversation and support for all parenting styles. We will cover topics such as physical healing, mental health and wellbeing, relationships, sleep, work/family balance, identity, self-image and breast and bottlefeeding. This class is led by Blooma’s lactation counselors, so each week they are also available for breastfeeding and bottlefeeding questions. Register for a series that begins approximately one month after your guess date. We welcome all moms, whether you have recently given birth or adopted a baby. This doesn’t have to be your first baby, either! Babies should be between  2 weeks and 2 months old at the start of the series.

Mother-Baby Connections Group – The 10-week Mother-Baby Connections Group meets once a week for two hours. The group provides an opportunity for mothers to connect for support while building skills for emotional health and connection with baby. Babies under 12 months are welcome to attend. Contact the Mother-Baby Program at 612-873-MAMA (6262) to schedule an intake.

The Chocolate Milk Club offers monthly breastfeeding support group meetings in Minneapolis and St. Paul. These groups are intended for Black nursing families and a great opportunity to connect with other parents along with breastfeeding support. Meetings are monthly in St. Paul (1619 Dayton Ave., St. Paul, 55104) and Farvew Park (621 229th Ave. N., Minneapolis, 55411).

Psychotherapy & Healing Associates offers weekly Moms Emotional Coping Skills Group teaching skills to better manage your emotions and those of your children, tolerate day-to-day stressors and life events, and better navigate relationships.  To register call PHA at 612-296-3800.

The Queer Birth Project offers an LGBTQIAS2+ New and Prospective Parent Group on the 2nd Saturday of each month at 10:00 am. This is a donation-based community event for LGBTQIA families with little ones ages 0-3, as well as expectant and trying families looking to build community! Each month there will be a local speaker or topic for discussion, but the purpose of the event is to socialize, build community, and find support from other queer and trans families.

Babywearing Twin Cities is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to build the bond between babies and caregivers through baby carrier education and support; to provide a community education service and distribute baby carriers to individuals and other organizations for their use; and to celebrate babywearing among caregivers through online and in-person gatherings. Meetings are free and held throughout the cities.

Various days and times – La Leche League meetings can be a great way to meet other nursing parents. LLL’s Mission is to help mothers worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education, and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother. Groups meet monthly, and they are located all over the cities. Check out the website to find a group near you.

Various days and time – ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) offer semester long classes for children, birth to age 5, and their parents, that meet weekly. Classes are led by early childhood development teachers, and are meant to be educational both for parents and children. Classes have a different topic each week, and include parent-child interaction time, parent discussion time, and child activity time. Check with your school district for more information.

Various days and times – MOMS (Moms Offering Moms Support) clubs are groups of moms that meet, based on geographical location. Their goals are: To provide a support group for mothers who choose to stay at home to raise their children, To provide a forum for topics of interest to mothers, To help children in the community, and To perform at least one service project yearly helping needy children. Check out their website for more information, and to find a group in your town!

Various days and times – MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Groups are held at various churches throughout the Twin Cities. MOPS groups are communities that strive to meet the needs of every mom with children from birth through kindergarten. MOPS recognizes that urban, suburban, and rural moms, stay-at-home and working moms, teen, single, and married moms all share a similar desire to be the very best moms they can be. View their website for more details and to find a group near you.

Wild Tree Psychotherapy offers a Mindful Skills for Postpartum group offering practical skills to help you live more in the moment and less in survival mode.  Series is offered virtually and at Naturally Well.

Women of Traditional Birthing (American Indian Prenatal group) is a program providing prenatal education and classes on Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) for expecting mothers.

Indigenous Perinatal and Lactation Support Circle-Nitamising Gimashkikinaan offers Indigenous Breastfeeding Circle group the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month from 4pm-6pm.  Contact Sashana Craft at 651-325-9267 for more information.

Many of the groups above area also open to dads and partners. However, if you are looking for a group more focused, check our our post: Groups for Dads and Partners.

Once you check these out, comment to share your review!