Boston moms are tired — tired of unaffordable child care, tired of short parental leave policies that don’t reflect reality, tired of doing the math on whether having a second kid means quitting a job. Now, some of them are organizing.
Chamber of Mothers is a nonpartisan nonprofit, grassroots movement uniting moms as advocates for maternal health, child care, and paid family and medical leave policies. The premise? Turning parental exhaustion into political action: organizing, lobbying, and supporting one another at regular meetings.
The group launched in 2021. Now, Chamber of Mothers has 48 chapters around the country, and each one is shaped by the needs of its community. Chapters might testify in support of maternal health legislation, organize diaper drives, or offer explainers for voters navigating local elections.
Here in Boston, chapter leaders recently worked in partnership with the Massachusetts Mind the Gap Coalition to support the Moms Matter Act. Members provided testimony to help it pass out of committee and later provided testimony at budget hearings to help get the first funding assigned to enact the law, says communications director Cassie Shortsleeve, who lives in the Boston area.
In January, Boston gained new volunteer leadership, including Roslindale biotech executive assistant Shelley Gatlin and Arlington pediatrician Ariana Witkin.
Gatlin and Witkin estimate that there are 3,500 moms in the Boston network, who meet quarterly. The first gathering under the new leadership is planned for Thursday, April 30, at the Boston Public Library, with evening timing and (this is key) onsite child care.
Gatlin and Witkin emphasize that the agenda will be hyperlocal, driven by member concerns. Boston moms are drowning in housing and child-care costs, and these issues likely will anchor the early focus. Witkin, who works at Boston Medical Center, says she knows physicians leaving medicine because having multiple kids in child care costs more than their salaries can justify.
“And, if you’re a single mother, that’s a huge thing for you,” says Gatlin, whose mom is a retired day-care provider. “Mothers will say: ‘It costs more than my rent for me to take my baby to day care.’”
Membership spans generations: This isn’t a new moms’ group. Witkin has three young children (including a newborn); Gatlin has a teenager and a young adult.
Reflecting on her own early parenting years, Gatlin says the stress of bonding with a newborn while worrying about work and child care without support pushed her to advocate for a new generation of moms.
“I wish there had been something championing maternity leave when I had my kids. I was on leave, and I didn’t get paid. Milk was ridiculously priced,” she says. “I understand the strain that it puts on you mentally and physically. Moms have to rush back to work, and that stress is ridiculous, especially when your body is changing.”
Witkin got involved through the group’s Vote Like a Mother political information campaign, educating moms on policies supporting paid leave and child care.
“I’ve taken my 7-year old-daughter canvassing with me for the last several elections, and this is something that I feel really strongly about,” Witkin says. “I was looking for a community of women and mothers who are interested in similar things.”
But not all moms share the same political beliefs. The organizers say this doesn’t matter.
“No matter what your political view is, everyone deserves to be heard. All of us moms have different mom experiences, and we also discuss that. Being in person helps with that. You can see the humanness of the other person,” Gatlin says.
It’s a refreshing change from snarky online parenting forums, TikTok pileups, and group text threads that fizzle after new-mom class ends.
“It’s very different to be having a conversation with a real person in front of you who might be nursing their 3-month-old baby, talking to you about the very real challenges that they’re facing day-to-day, versus having a conversation with someone behind the safety of your computer screen,” Witkin says.
The group isn’t just about venting — they want action. Meetings typically include a concrete step, whether that’s writing legislators or organizing testimonies shaped by member concerns.
“One of the things that we as facilitators think about is: How can we galvanize the community to put our frustrations into action? I’m looking a lot at New York and what [Mayor Zohran] Mamdani is trying to do, and has already started to do, with [universal] child care. What legislators in our state might be amenable to hearing about what’s happening there? How could we have a version of that in Massachusetts?” Witkin says.
“We need to hear from the community first and craft a solution together, but then help to facilitate bringing those stories to legislators to create some version that will affect child-care costs in our area.”
It’s not all stress, though. Meetings, anchored by an action item, are meant to feel more like a hangout than a hearing. Past gatherings have been held at spots like Lamplighter Brewery in Cambridge, with snacks, music, and conversation — plus that dose of advocacy.
“I think a major selling point is that, in addition to this being a community like other mothers’ groups, this is a community that takes action. There are lots of us who are just frustrated: about lack of child care, lack of paid leave, the mental load, and the burden of having a family,” Witkin says.
“The additional step that the Chamber of Mothers takes is: We harness collective motivation into action. A big reason why people get involved is that it’s easy to take away a concrete skill that will affect their lives in a real way and make real change.”
Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com. Follow her @kcbaskin.