The mum behind the community

Hi, I’m Hannah.

I’m an Australian mum to one human baby and one fur baby, and over the past nine years, my husband and I have called four different countries home.

But it was becoming a mum while living as an expat in London that changed everything.

For the first time in my life, I experienced real loneliness. I loved being a mum more than anything in this world, but without the support network I would have had back home, motherhood felt incredibly isolating. I would go days and sometimes weeks without speaking to another adult (apart from my husband). And when we decided to move our family to Dubai in September 2025, I knew I didn’t want that loneliness to follow me.

I started documenting our move on Instagram and something unexpected happened. Mums started reaching out. Some were planning the same move, some were already living in Dubai, and so many were simply looking for the same thing I was: just a fellow mum to grab a coffee with (and possibly have a little vent).

What began as a small Instagram group quickly grew into a WhatsApp community of more than 1,700 mums in less than four weeks, and soon those online conversations started turning into real-life meet-ups and friendships.

As an introvert, I wanted Expat Mums events to feel nothing like networking. Just somewhere you could turn up, grab a coffee, have a proper conversation and hopefully leave feeling a little less alone.

Within six months, Expat Mums Dubai had grown to more than 2,000 members, with sell-out events and a community far bigger than I ever imagined.

And it became clear that the need for connection wasn't unique to Dubai.

Expat Mums Abu Dhabi was next in September 2026— and now we're building towards bringing Expat Mums to more cities across the GCC.

Because wherever you live, you shouldn’t have to navigate motherhood alone.