Baby groups have come a long way in the last few years.

No longer the preserve of warm squash-drinking, harassed mothers in church halls, many groups have a strong cyber-identity, include men, meet in coffee shops as often as elsewhere and are a great place for career women to network.

In an isolated society where fewer people live near their families, such groups can also provide a strong sense of community, and an essential meeting place for parents and toddlers to make strong friendships.

Some mums would even go as far as calling them a lifeline.

Tara Fretwell, of Coldnailhurst Avenue, Braintree is one such woman. The first-time mum to Christian, ten months, said the transition from career to having a baby was “a bit of a shock”. She said: “My other friends were still career minded and didn’t have children, so when I had him I didn’t really have anyone to relate to, and became really isolated.

“I think I was a bit nervous about meeting people. My mum dragged me to a National Childbirth Trust (NCT) nearly new sale and Mel Sims (NCT coordinator) came up and asked how I was doing, and I just broke down.”

Mel invited Tara to the Braintree and Dunmow NCT bumps, babes and toddlers group she runs in Stebbing, and the 26-year old has never looked back.

Tara added: “I love being a mum so much, but you don’t get a book telling you how to do it and it’s really easy to be isolated. I was just terrified of meeting new mums, thinking they would know everything, but they have been really friendly. It’s really nice talking to other mums. It’s a lifesaver.”

For Laura Smith, Rhia Clayton and Victoria Cable, who met through ante-natal classes the NCT runs, the weekly babes, bumps and toddlers group is a regular date in their diary.

Victoria, of Duton Hill, who is mother to Gus, six weeks, said: “Most Mondays, we are all here. There’s six of us who know each other and sometimes we meet round each other’s houses with the men as well.

“This is our main meeting point. It’s handy that it’s the same time and same place each week. When your mind is shot to bits, you know that it’s 10am Monday.”

Group co-ordinator Mel, who is mum to Olivia, ten months, credits ecommunication with giving baby groups a fresh lease of life.

She said: “Groups have had to embrace modern communications. They can do Facebook and blogging and have forums. The other things that have changed is they tended to be either baby groups or toddler groups. We didn’t used to have toddlers until six months ago.”

The 38-year-old marketing director, who goes into the marketing agency she runs one day a week, and works the rest of the time on her Blackberry, said it made no sense to split mothers up when their children got older.

The Braintree and Dunmow group has 160 members on Facebook and advertises its weekly activities, as well as competitions and special offers.

The Stebbing group jas just learned it had gained a Pre-School Learning Alliance Best Practice certificate, which gives parents peace of mind about safety checks and children’s welfare.

For more details about the group, look up NCT Dunmow and Braintree – the new parenting site, on Facebook.