Shining a much-needed light on Mother Loss Awareness Week from 1st to 7th May 2022, Motherless Daughters Australia (MDA) seeks to reach as many women and girls as possible who will be missing their mother this Mother’s Day.

An organisation that represents, informs, supports and connects women and girls whose mothers have passed, MDA helps to navigate the everyday and key milestones in a woman’s life.

Co-founder, Danielle Snelling, knows exactly what it is like to experience the loss of a mother after losing her own at age 23.

“The profound and lifelong impact the loss of a mother can have on women and girls is unrecognised and unacknowledged” says Danielle.

“Navigating the complexities of grief can be a long and lonely road, MDA is here to provide support and connect women and girls from around Australia who are experiencing a similar loss.”

Danielle and the MDA team hope to highlight the importance of this organisation in the lead up to Mother’s Day and thereafter through this year’s MDA initiative ‘Draw Her Wings.’

“The Draw Her Wings initiative is something we want anyone and everyone to get involved in. Even if you still have your mum, we would love to see the wings being drawn in honour of those we’ve lost” says Danielle.

“We want to target our community to act as drivers and bring awareness that MDA exists through sharing a moment of progress or something you think your mum would be proud of.”

MDA is encouraging those who are missing a mum this Mother’s Day to sketch a set of angel wings, using any medium, on any surface and share it to social media with their moment of progress or something their mum would be proud of

“Draw Her Wings can be anywhere, in the air, on your hand, in your notebook” says Danielle, “It’s a symbol of hope, our shared connection and celebrates the special relationship shared between daughters and mothers and mother figures.”

To help spread the word even further, MDA has enlisted the help of Australian TV presenter Allison Langdon and proud Yorta Yorta woman Allira Potter

Building awareness and starting a worthy conversation about mother loss is at the forefront of this association as according to (2016-2018) ABS Data twelve million women in Australia, a staggering 3.7 million have lost their mothers with approximately 1.2 million women having experienced mother loss before the age of 44.

Eloise Baker-Hughes, Motherless Daughters Australia’s other co-founder knows the importance of starting this conversation after she too lost her mum at just 13 years old. After carrying a sense of loss from such an early age, it left Eloise feeling isolated and misunderstood in her grief until a chance online connection with Danielle made for an instant friendship and special connection in 2014.

It was here that the two met in a Melbourne cafe where they discussed all things mother loss, and the idea of Motherless Daughters Australia was born.

“After meeting Danielle for the first time, I felt understood, validated and supported for the first time in a long time” says Eloise.

“We knew right there and then there had to be other women out there that longed to connect with another woman who was in the same shoes as us.”

MDA chooses to acknowledge the hard moments of coping with mother loss and celebrates the small victories during Mother Loss Awareness Wood while providing a safe space for its community to share their moments of happy occasions, sadness and milestones that their mum is missing. .

Progress can be a giant leap or a small step in navigating the grief process, but every step forward is invaluable. Motherless Daughters Australia wants to connect daughters and families to share the emotional burden and find some comfort and joy in the lead up to Mother’s Day by connecting people with like-experiences.