Pollák is far from the only mother with such an experience. Narratives surrounding childbirth often present the period afterwards as purely joyful, but many mothers also face exhaustion, loneliness, and emotional strain.
A 2024 survey of nearly 10,000 mothers across 12 European countries found that a third reported anxiety and one in five reported depression. Globally, up to 50% of those affected will never be diagnosed or treated. In Europe, official support varies widely: about half of the countries have specific mental health policies for the time surrounding birth, and only 11 offer support services.
Now 42 and a mother of three, Pollák had her first child at 26. Her experience of isolation led her to volunteer with Otthon Segítünk Alapítvány, the Hungarian branch of Home-Start Worldwide, a programme that aims to fill gaps in early parenting support. “I’m sure it would have made a difference if someone had supported me then,” she told us. “That’s why I now help other mothers.”
The Home-Start network helps support families with young children in 22 countries, including 13 in Europe. Families can apply and are paired with trained volunteers who are parents themselves. Most applicants are mothers, but fathers are also welcome.
Hungary also has a nationwide system designed to support mothers. Public health nurses, known as “health visitors”, monitor pregnancies and early childhood development through home visits and consultations. In practice, however, administrative tasks often dominate their work, leaving little time for emotional support.
“We spend three to four hours a week with a family,” Gyöngyi Erős, an Otthon Segítünk coordinator in Esztergom, a town about 50 km northwest of Budapest, told TEC. “Sometimes what mothers need most is simply someone who listens.”
Volunteers visit families at home weekly, offering practical and emotional support. Rather than giving advice, they listen, help with everyday tasks such as housework or caring for the baby while the mother gets some rest, and encourage parents to recognise their own strengths.
“We don’t distinguish between families based on their background,” Erős added: “We also visit very well-off families, because financial stability doesn’t necessarily mean a mother is doing well mentally.”
Loneliness is a recurring theme. Many mothers report spending most of their day alone with young children while their partners work long hours. “That is a new shift in recent years – they often don’t ask for help with the household,” Erős said. “They want conversation.”
Research on the Home-Start programme suggests it can reduce parental stress and improve maternal mental health.
But there are also limits to the volunteer-based model. In Hungary, even coordinators work voluntarily, raising concerns about long-term sustainability. Public awareness remains low, and some mothers hesitate to ask for help, fearing it signals failure. State involvement in this type of support remains limited.
Still, some local examples suggest more sustainable approaches. In Esztergom, the organisation runs a municipally owned playground in exchange for funding for supervision and family programmes. This supports a small paid team, including a full-time coordinator, while family visits remain volunteer-based and independent from the municipality-funded work.
Beyond improving families’ wellbeing, there are other reasons for countries to support initiatives like Otthon Segítünk. According to an internal 2019 survey, around 30% of supported families reported that receiving support influenced their decision to have another child.
This matters in a region facing population decline: Eurostat projects the EU population will fall by nearly 12% by 2100, with Hungary among the countries expected to see the steepest drop. The country gained international attention for its family-centred policies under the Orbán government, which included tax cuts for mothers and substantial state subsidies. Yet despite these measures, birth rates fell to a record low in 2025.
Programmes like Home-Start point to what financial policy alone cannot fix: the real barriers may be as much social as economic, including whether parents feel supported – not just by the state.
Photo: Eszter Pollák. Home-Start volunteers take part in a training session.