The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL


Tribune Staff Reporter


jrussell@tribunemedia.net

A YOUNG mother who built a following on TikTok by documenting her first pregnancy has launched a non-profit to support women who lack a reliable support system.

Danille Hanna, 26, said the idea for Her Village Foundation grew out of her own transition into motherhood last month and the messages she received from other women online.

She said her platform expanded after a Christmas series and later her pregnancy journey, drawing about 15,000 followers and prompting mothers to reach out with their experiences and questions.

She said some asked about her doctor and recommended products.

“I realised, hey, this is a really big community with women that are pregnant, like, this is something that I can talk about,” she said.

Ms Hanna shared videos of her exercising, attending medical appointments, travelling and preparing for delivery. Women responded by sharing their own experiences, including difficulties recovering after childbirth and relationship challenges with their child’s father.

She said many also spoke about the absence of a strong support system and the need for a “village” to help them manage the physical, mental and financial demands of motherhood.

The need became clearer, she said, after she offered unused postpartum items on Facebook. After donating those items, more mothers reached out for baby clothes and supplies, highlighting gaps in support and prompting her to establish the foundation.

“Sometimes our family members, our partners, they're busy,” she said. “Everybody else is still carrying on with their normal life, while we still have to heal and still take care of a baby. And so that kind of helps me come up with the idea of creating a non-profit, just having a safe community for mothers.”

Her Village Foundation launched on April 2 and is largely self-funded, with additional support from donations. Since then, Ms Hanna said she has assisted 35 mothers.

She recently organised a food drive that distributed bags of fresh fish to 30 mothers and provided groceries, including baby items, to five others. Some recipients were moved to tears after receiving the assistance.

A TikTok video about the foundation drew more than 18,000 views up to press time, with dozens of women expressing interest in donating and others sharing their own challenges as new mothers.

Asked about common misconceptions, Ms Hanna said: “Even women with help, it's hard. When everybody goes to work and you're up all night making bottles, and then you're doing it all day and all night.

“I think they think that help is just financial, and it's not. I feel like it's more so hands on. Yes, finance plays a big part in it, don't get me wrong, but I feel like it's very time consuming.”

Ms Hanna said she hopes to expand the initiative across The Bahamas, particularly to the Family Islands, noting that women from Andros and Eleuthera have already reached out.