I joined an online due date group when I found out I was pregnant. Four years later, we still chat every day.

The author joined a due date group when she was pregnant.

Courtesy of Jessica Lawlor

They say it takes a village to raise a child; I found my village in the form of 46 strangers in an online due date group.A due date group — or a DDG for the acronym-loving mom community online — is a group chat of women who are pregnant whose due dates are in the same month. Sometimes the group forms in large Facebook communities with thousands of members, or in private subreddits where you're required to upload a dated ultrasound as proof of pregnancy to gain entry.The due date group I joined shortly after receiving a positive pregnancy test in September 2022 originated in a Facebook group, then moved to an app called BFF.At one point, there were more than 60 women in our group chat, but by the time we gave birth, it was me and 46 others, and we officially "closed" the group to maintain connection and privacy.Nearly four years later, we still chat every single day — and many of us have met IRL, too.I found a mom community of 46 strangers from around the countryAfter navigating the fertility side of social media while trying to conceive (TTC, if we're continuing with the acronyms), finally joining a due date group felt like a rite of passage.I watched as women in the TTC Facebook group I participated in graduated to mom Facebook groups. They'd rave about their due date group chats, often announcing the babies' births with a photo of their newborns wearing the same cute outfit or sharing details of a group trip they'd taken together.