More and more new mothers are turning to the internet for answers to their questions and qualms about parenting.

Almost 50% of women who took part in a survey said they would rather talk to someone online than talk to someone they knew in real life when it came to a parenting-problem. One in five women said they relied on forums and chat rooms for support as opposed to phoning a friend, with eight out of ten women saying they visited pregnancy or parenting websites during the course of their pregnancy.

Almost 20% of women cited the reason for turning to the web for advice as relatives or friends being non-contactable at times. New mothers also found that the other women on the sites or forums made them feel less alone in dealing with the problem.

Eileen Hayes from Your Family Magazine says that these websites and chat rooms are a definite advantage for new mothers.

“The advantage of online forums is that they allow them access to in-house weaning experts, something that would have been impossible a generation ago.”