SCREENING AND APPROVING JOIN REQUESTS

As a moderator, you'll be able to approve requests from people wanting to join the group. It's important that every effort is made to ensure that anyone who joins the group is who they say they are, though guaranteeing people's identity is impossible.

Everyone who applies is asked to provide their due date and must state that they have read and understood the group rules. Please only approve people who have done both of these things.  Some people provide a due date but don't scroll down and accept the group rules. Facebook will automatically remind them periodically that they need to do so, so you may find their application to join is updated in time. If only one or neither entrance checks are answered, we recommend rejecting the request after around 7 days, which will give people the opportunity to try again if they wish.

It's helpful to view the applicant's profile, if possible, and look for signs of pregnancy such as shared scan photos. Of course, it's not always possible to view profiles due to people's privacy settings, plus many people don't share their pregnancies on their profiles.

Dads to be: Due to the sensitive conversations that take place within the groups, they are strictly for mums-to-be only - please reject any profiles that appear to be male. This goes for shared profiles too. For example, a profile named "Robert and Linda Bloggs" wouldn't be able to be accepted.

Beware of the troll: Be cautious of newly created profiles and those that look impersonal. We've found that your gut feeling is usually correct! If you are unsure, feel free to post in the Moderators Group for advice.

MODERATING POSTS AND COMMENTS

Ensuring that posts and comments are within the group rules is perhaps the largest part of being a Moderator. Why is it important? You keep women and babies safe! Historically, there has been a huge amount of misinformation spread within online groups and forums. It's well known among medical professionals that women often turn to these groups to ask for advice before consulting a midwife. There are lots of reasons for this - perhaps they don't want to be a nuisance or the bond they form with others within their group is so strong that they would never doubt advice their given.

You'll find out more about the group rules and how to handle different situations as you continue through this module.

KEEPING THE PEACE/DIFFERING VIEWS

Kicks Count groups are incredibly popular and can exceed 1000 members. That's a huge amount of people - all with differing views, experiences and many of whom will make different choices. As a charity, we respect people's right to make an informed choice about their options during pregnancy and beyond. This includes topics such as inductions, how they labour, how they choose to feed their newborn and even if they choose to use pain relief or not.

It's important that moderators who represent Kicks Count are respectful of people's choices and are happy to encourage positive conversations around these. Information and support is much more productive than criticism. Pointing people in the right direction of the most trustworthy advice is usually what's needed, even if others (and you!) don't personally agree with the choice they're making.

However, it goes without saying that some choices are potentially dangerous towards mums or their baby. For example, someone wanting to use caster oil to induce their labour. In these instances, action on the post should be taken, and you can find out more about those actions as you move through this module.

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