A Perth-based team of local mums is offering a unique housekeeping service and proving that motherhood really does take a village.
Another Mother: A Support Service for Mums
Another Mother is a non-judgemental support service organised by mums for mums, offering a range of emotional support and domestic labour for mothers who need some extra help. Launched by single mum Hannah Purvey-Tyrer about two years ago, Another Mother provides cleaning, decluttering, organising and laundry services, as well as running errands such as grocery shopping.
Founder's Story
Now a Fremantle local, Ms Purvey-Tyrer moved over from the UK before COVID, leaving her family and support systems behind. “My son was born in 2019, and I had post-natal depression and anxiety - it was not easy. I didn’t have any family close, and a couple of years in, my husband came out as gay and we split,” she said. “It was a very difficult time ... but as I healed from that and started reflecting on everything, I realised that actually, it wouldn’t have taken that much to feel a lot more supported.”
She quickly realised that simple things, such as another mum coming in to put the kettle on and scrub the toilet, made a world of difference when she was struggling. “It’s the kind of thing my mum might have done for me if she had been in Australia, and the more I talked to other mums, the more they were saying the same thing,” she said. “I could get a cleaner in, who I’m sure would’ve helped, but it wasn’t that kind of soft-lived experience approach that I really needed.”
Employment for Mums
Ms Purvey-Tyrer decided to take matters into her own hands by starting Another Mother, specifically employing other mums with a genuine understanding of the challenges of motherhood. “We are going out and helping mums and families in our community who need that physical support at home, and the flip side is that I’m creating job opportunities for women who need flexible work with school hours, and work that feels meaningful,” she said. “An employer can look at your CV and see you’ve had five years out of work because you’ve had children, which I look at as something really positive because you’ve got so much experience of what other women need.”
Five women are currently employed, servicing about 25 families a week across the South Metro area.
Beyond a Basic Clean
Ms Purvey-Tyrer said it goes beyond a “basic clean”, including things like building IKEA furniture and washing windows. “We’re doing detailed cleans, and then we’re also able to chuck on a load of laundry while we’re there, we’ll make the beds as we go through - just naturally adding those bits as a mum would in their own home,” she said. Another Mother also includes specialist packages, including a postpartum and pregnancy package for mums in their third trimester, who might be struggling to keep on top of basic household chores.
“We have this great ability to be a very gentle, soft presence in people’s homes, and also an absolute wizard with a mop and sponge. There’s this magical formula a lot of mums have of that soft and loving nature, and also ‘give me that broom’,” she said.
Expanding Services
The business also has plans in motion to move north of the river over the upcoming months as demand continues increasing. “The demand is so high. When I launched the business, I was fully booked within a week,” Ms Purvey-Tyrer said. “It’s always a waitlist to get in with us, which I don’t love because I want to be able to help everybody. It’s about expanding sustainably, to help as many mums as possible.”
The Need for Community
Motherhood is an often underappreciated job, as mums are expected to constantly work without the opportunity to clock off. Ms Purvey-Tyrer said mothers deserve a community of support, especially with so many families in Perth living away from their extended support networks and navigating partners who work FIFO. “There’s a huge need for the ‘contemporary village’ - it takes a village to raise a child, but we don’t necessarily all want to live in multi-generational households anymore,” she said. “The unpaid labour that mums do in the household is massively undervalued by our community and society. It’s huge work, and mums need mums. Let’s be there for each other and build whatever it takes to support each other, because we’re amazing and we need each other.”
