Inspired by the lack of support networks for new mums, Tara McTeigue created Mumaco, an app for on-demand babysitters.
In founding Mumaco, Tara says the struggles new mums face are not new and not exclusive to her. “I became acutely aware after having my first child, of the lack of support for mums without their go-to network. My husband and I had relocated from Sydney up to Queensland. We had no family around us and being new to the area, no real friend network outside of acquaintances,” she said.
“This was my first child, and it was beyond difficult. He was definitely not one of those ‘easy babies’. I am beyond grateful that I had a happy and healthy baby boy, I’m simply highlighting the emotional challenges that thousands of mother’s across Australia face every day without their village of support around them to help. I look back and think, what I would have given for a community that I could turn to, to go out by myself, have a date with my husband, or just catch up on some sleep. But options like Mumaco didn’t exist back then,” said Tara.
After struggling with Post Natal Depression and the strains of motherhood on her marriage, Tara came up with the idea of Mumaco on a night in with her husband. “The more mum’s I spoke to, the more I realised that this type of situation is far from unique to me. I remember turning to Shaun (husband) one day and just saying – this can’t be the only option! We were sitting there eating ‘Uber Eats’ and downloading a Netflix show and had a bit of a lightbulb moment – let’s make getting a babysitter as easy as ordering an Uber.”
This was in 2017, today Mumaco is an app that allows parents to find trusted babysitters in their community, call them, keep an eye with live tracking and more. “Parents need to get over the guilt in getting a sitter. You have to be ok with being a little selfish. You’re not going to be able to be the mum, the partner, the person that you want to be, if you don’t give yourself the space to be.”
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