Parenting has changed, but the love, experience and wisdom grandparents bring remain invaluable. Discover how Ma Wisdom is helping modern grandparents feel informed, included and confident as they support the next generation.
There is something rather wonderful about watching a new generation arrive. The people who once held their own babies are now watching those babies become parents themselves. New relationships begin, family roles shift, and grandparents step into a chapter filled with love, possibility and a whole new kind of connection.
And while babies haven’t changed all that much, our understanding of how best to care for them, and the parents raising them, certainly has.
From safe sleep recommendations and feeding practices to birth support, postpartum recovery and the emotional transition into motherhood, there is so much more we understand today.
But where does that leave grandparents, who bring decades of experience, instinct and hard-earned wisdom to the table?
This is exactly the space that Ma Wisdom is passionate about.
Through thoughtfully designed courses for grandparents and extended family, Ma Wisdom is helping bridge the gap between generations, celebrating everything grandparents already know while sharing current knowledge, practical tools and fresh perspectives.
Because building a village isn’t about everyone doing things the same way. It’s about understanding one another, respecting different roles and working together to give a new family the support they need.
The inspiration for Ma Wisdom came from something its founders had witnessed repeatedly in their work as birth and postpartum doulas.
For almost a decade, Gaby had heard new mothers talk about the challenges of navigating relationships with their own mothers or mothers-in-law after having a baby.
It wasn’t necessarily a lack of love or good intentions. Often, everyone wanted the same thing: a happy, healthy baby and a supported family. But differing expectations, advice and approaches could create friction at an already vulnerable time.
Ma Wisdom was created to help families navigate these differences before they become sources of tension.
The idea is beautifully simple: when grandparents understand how and why parenting practices have evolved, and new parents feel their decisions are respected, everyone has a better opportunity to enjoy this new chapter together.
It’s not about teaching grandparents how to grandparent. It’s about giving them the knowledge and confidence to step into a different role, while making the most of the wisdom they already have.
We’ve become increasingly familiar with the term matrescence, which describes the profound physical, psychological and emotional transition into motherhood.
But have you heard of grandescence?
Grandescence describes the transition into grandparenthood, a significant life stage that can bring its own changes in identity, relationships, emotions and expectations.
For some women, this transition may coincide with perimenopause or menopause, adding another layer of personal change.
Ma Wisdom believes grandescence deserves far more recognition.
Becoming a grandparent isn’t simply another version of being a parent. It’s a new and distinct role. One that draws on years of parenting experience but also involves learning when to step forward, when to step back and how to support adult children as they become parents themselves.
The relationship changes, too. Your child is now somebody’s mother or father, making decisions for their own family.
As Ma Wisdom explains, the goal is to help grandparents share their experience in ways that are welcomed, while allowing new parents the space to find their own feet.
And just as we are learning to better acknowledge and support matrescence, perhaps it’s time we started celebrating and preparing for grandescence, too.
Modern baby care, safe sleep, feeding and parenting advice
One of the most valuable things grandparents can bring to a new family is experience. They’ve navigated sleepless nights, unsettled babies, feeding challenges and the enormous responsibility of raising children.
But some of the advice they were given 20 or 30 years ago looks quite different today.
Safe sleep recommendations are a particularly important example. Current Australian guidance recommends placing babies on their backs to sleep, using a firm, flat, clear sleep surface and keeping the baby’s sleep space in the parents’ room for at least the first six months. Cot bumpers, pillows, soft toys and loose bedding are not recommended.
Feeding practices have evolved, too. Families now have access to different approaches to introducing solids, including baby-led weaning, alongside updated guidance on breastfeeding and formula feeding.
There’s also greater discussion around responsive infant care, understanding crying, supporting infant development and recognising the emotional and physical needs of new mothers.
And then there’s technology: baby monitors, feeding apps, sleep trackers and a seemingly endless range of products that simply didn’t exist a generation ago.
Ma Wisdom’s approach isn’t to tell grandparents that everything they did was wrong. Far from it.
Instead, the courses explore what has changed, why recommendations have changed and how grandparents can combine their experience with today’s evidence-based guidance.
It’s a way of building confidence rather than creating confusion, and making room for conversations that bring generations closer instead of pushing them apart.
We’ve all heard the saying it takes a village to raise a child. But what does being that village actually look like?
According to Ma Wisdom, it starts with understanding what the new parents genuinely need.
Sometimes it’s holding the baby so a mother can shower. Other times it’s preparing dinner, putting on a load of washing, collecting groceries or simply sitting beside a new parent and listening.
It can also mean offering encouragement without judgement, respecting decisions that differ from your own and being curious rather than critical.
One of the most important lessons Ma Wisdom shares is that the relationship with a grandchild is closely connected to the relationship with their parents.
When grandparents and parents communicate openly, respect boundaries and understand one another’s expectations, they can create a more harmonious family environment.
The courses spend time exploring these very human dynamics: communication, boundaries, expectations and how to offer advice in ways that feel supportive rather than overwhelming.
After all, a grandparent’s wisdom is a gift. And sometimes the way it’s shared matters just as much as the wisdom itself.
Being invited into someone’s birth space is an enormous privilege.
For grandparents or other family members who will be present during labour and birth, Ma Wisdom offers birth support education designed to help them understand what the birthing person may need and how they can contribute positively.
Birth support today goes well beyond encouragement and holding someone’s hand.
Understanding the stages of labour, the role of hormones, comfort measures, positions, hydration and communication can all help a support person feel more prepared.
Ma Wisdom’s birth support courses also explore working alongside partners and medical professionals, understanding birth preferences, managing unexpected events and recognising how a support person’s own fears and experiences may influence their responses.
It’s about helping family members become calm, confident and responsive supporters during an incredibly important experience.
For a mother who wants her own mum, mother-in-law or another loved one by her side, this preparation can help everyone feel more comfortable in their roles.
The weeks and months after a baby arrives can be a time of enormous adjustment.
Yet, as Ma Wisdom has observed through years of doula work, families often devote far more attention to preparing for birth than preparing for life afterwards.
New mothers may be navigating physical recovery, hormonal changes, sleep deprivation, feeding challenges and the emotional transition of matrescence, all while learning to care for a new baby.
This is where thoughtful, practical support from grandparents and extended family can be invaluable.
Ma Wisdom’s postpartum support course helps grandparents better understand what is happening for new parents during the fourth trimester, including the emotional, physical and practical challenges they may face.
It also provides an opportunity to refresh practical baby care knowledge, including settling, feeding support, tummy time and current infant care recommendations.
Importantly, it encourages grandparents to ask rather than assume.
Because what feels helpful to one family may not be what another family needs.
For some, having someone cuddle the baby while they rest is wonderful. For others, the greatest gift might be arriving with dinner, quietly doing the washing and leaving the new parents to enjoy time with their baby.
There is no universal formula for being a wonderful grandparent. But there is enormous value in understanding, listening and being willing to adapt.
Not every journey into grandparenthood unfolds as hoped.
For grandparents experiencing pregnancy or baby loss within their family, there can be a particularly complex layer of grief.
They may be grieving the loss of their grandchild while simultaneously witnessing their own child experience unimaginable pain.
Ma Wisdom recognises this as a form of double grief and offers a dedicated course to help grandparents and chosen supporters navigate this deeply sensitive experience.
The Grandparenting Through Baby Loss course explores compassionate communication, acknowledging a baby’s life, understanding the choices families may face and finding appropriate ways to offer support.
It also recognises that grandparents need care themselves, and that having their own circle of support can help them remain present for their grieving family.
This free resource is a thoughtful acknowledgement that being someone’s village matters through the most difficult chapters, too.
At the heart of Ma Wisdom is a belief that stronger relationships between generations can create more connected, supported families.
And while grandparents are central to its work, the idea of a village extends beyond blood relationships.
Aunts, uncles, close friends, chosen family and other trusted supporters can all play meaningful roles in the lives of new parents and their children.
What matters isn’t the title someone holds. It’s their willingness to show up, listen, learn and offer the kind of support that is genuinely needed.
Ma Wisdom’s courses create space for these conversations before a baby arrives, when families have time to explore expectations, understand one another’s perspectives and prepare together.
Because the goal isn’t to replace the wisdom of previous generations with new information.
It’s to bring the two together.
To honour what grandparents know, embrace what we’ve learned and create a family environment where everyone feels valued, included and connected.
And perhaps that’s what the modern village looks like: different generations bringing different strengths, all working together to nurture the next.
Whether you’re preparing to become a grandparent for the first time, hoping to play a more active role in supporting a new family, or looking for a thoughtful way to include your own parents in the journey, Ma Wisdom offers education designed to build confidence and connection.
Their courses cover modern grandparenting, birth support, postpartum care and supporting families through pregnancy and baby loss.
Gift vouchers are also available, making a course a meaningful way to invite grandparents or chosen supporters to prepare for the arrival of a new baby.
Explore the courses and resources at Ma Wisdom.
At Not Another Onesie, we believe that support comes in many forms, and that building a village means making room for all the people who can help a family feel held. Ma Wisdom’s approach celebrates that belief, recognising that when we support the people surrounding new parents, we help support the whole family.
Ma Wisdom offers practical and evidence-based courses where we share our knowledge and expertise to help you understand modern birth and early parenting, refresh practical skills and support new mothers and growing families while caring for your own wellbeing. Our courses are ideal for anyone wishing to support soon-to-be and new mothers through birth, postpartum and even loss.
We have created a free Not Another Onesie eBook to help you gather the support you need to thrive once your baby comes along…
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