Community Guidelines
Last updated: 21 July 2026
The Gentle Space forum exists to make parenthood feel less isolating. To keep it that way, we ask every member to follow a few principles. Breaking them can mean a post is edited, removed, or an account suspended or banned.
Principles
This space is about you
There are plenty of places online for naps, routines and feeding schedules. Gentle Space is for how you are doing. Your baby will come into the conversation, of course, but we are here for your side of it.
Be kind
Assume the person posting is doing their best on very little sleep. Disagreement is fine; contempt is not. If you would not say it face-to-face to someone you cared about, rephrase or scroll on.
Share experience, not prescriptions
Talking about what worked for you is welcome. Telling someone what they "must" do is not. If it sounds like medical, legal, or financial advice, point them to a professional or resource and share your experience alongside it.
Respect privacy
Do not post photos or recordings of other people (including partners, babies, or clinicians) without their clear permission. Do not quote private messages. Do not out other members.
No promotion
No affiliate links, no services-for-hire, no product pushes, even helpful ones. If a resource is genuinely useful, a plain link without a call-to-action is fine. We will remove anything that reads as marketing.
Talking about how hard things feel
You are always welcome to say that you are struggling, exhausted, low, or not yourself — that is exactly what this space is for. Intrusive thoughts about your baby are welcome here too: they are a recognised, common part of perinatal mental health, and naming them takes courage, not judgement.
There is one exception, to keep the community safe for everyone who reads it. Posts that describe wanting to end your life, to harm yourself, or to harm someone else are not published — they can be very distressing for other members who are themselves vulnerable. If you write something like this, you will straight away see free, confidential helplines. Gentle Space is peer support, not a crisis service, so those lines — not us — are the people trained to help right now, 24/7. If you think your post was held by mistake, email clare@gentlespace.net and we will take a look.
What will get removed
- Hate speech, slurs, or targeted harassment
- Sexual, explicit, or derogatory content
- Content describing harm to yourself or others (not published; you are pointed to helplines)
- Misinformation about health, especially relating to babies
- Unsolicited medical advice presented as professional
- Promotion, spam, or link-farming
- Sharing of private or personal information about others
- Illegal content of any kind
How moderation works
Every post is screened automatically. Anything that looks like harassment, hate, sexual or derogatory content, or a threat to others is hidden straight away and held for a human to review — usually within 4 days. Content describing self-harm or harming others is never published in the first place. You can also flag a post yourself using the flag icon; we take every flag seriously.
When we remove or edit a post, we keep a record of the original content in an internal moderation log. This is never public; it is our audit trail.
If you think a moderation decision was wrong, email clare@gentlespace.net. We will review it.
Bans
Most rule breaks are met with a conversation and an edit or removal. Serious breaches (hate speech, harassment, illegal content, repeated promotion) can lead to a temporary suspension or a permanent ban. Ban decisions are made by a human, not the AI assistant.
If you are not sure
Err on the side of kindness and privacy. If you are still unsure, message us at clare@gentlespace.net.