Not for profit organisation, Motherless Daughters Australia (MDA) is working with Deakin University to conduct world first research, into the impact of mother loss on adult women with researchers overwhelmed by the rapid response of more than 2,700 women wanting to share their experience.
More than four million Australian women are motherless daughters, around 1.2 million of them before they reached the age of 44. Limited research to date has revealed the significant impression on the development, growth and self-esteem on girls whose mother’s died before they were 18 but little has been done to measure the profound effect of a mother’s absence in a woman’s adult years and significant experiences including graduation, marriage and child rearing.
Motherless Daughters Australia has partnered with Deakin University to conduct the first study of its kind to include quantitative data (numerical statistic based data) as well as qualitative data (written responses of experiences relating to the loss ).
Motherless Daughters Australia (MDA) Co- Founder, Danielle Snelling believes the incredible response to the survey reflects a desperate need for motherless daughters to be seen and heard. “Mother loss is not something you get over but for most women it doesn’t need to be pathologized under the banner of anxiety or depression either and certainly not in the immediate months following their loss. We are concerned that lack of understanding about the process and impact of normal grief is dismissive and or heavy handed.”
It is hoped the outcomes of the study which are expected early next year will create greater more informed pathways for meaningful change to millions of women who Ms Snelling says are often isolated by their grief.
” Grief isn’t something that can be fixed but those navigating life without their mum should be better supported and we need proper structures to facilitate that.”
Women who have experienced mother loss and wish to participate can access the research survey at: : www.motherlessdaughters.com.au
Submissions close at midnight on Tuesday 31, October 2023.
