Not Another Mummy Podcast

Picking yourself up after a separation or divorce and starting to date people again can be a hard thing to do, but throw kids into the mix and it can feel like a logistical nightmare. My guest on this episode – Laura Friedman Williams – is the author of Available: A memoir of sex and dating after a marriage ends. In her book, she details how she had to learn to navigate the dating world once again...

My guest on this episode is Kreena Dhiman who has had four children using two surrogates. At the age of 33, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and told that the chemotherapy treatment she needed would affect her chances of having a baby. So Kreena started on a journey of IVF and surrogacy in order to become a mum. With many bumps along the road – including nearly dying of heart failure and covid...

Becoming a mum is something that shifts our identity and we can often find ourselves trying to mother in a way that our culture and the media tells us we should. But my guest today says we should all try to do motherhood our own way, trusting our instincts and leaning into what we think we should do, not what we are being told to do by others. Hollie de Cruz is a mum of two and a hugely successful...

Happy new year everyone! If you’re in the mood to start 2022 with an organised, fresh approach then this episode is for you. I feel so inspired after my chat with Nicola Lewis – aka This Girl Can Organise. I’m going to declutter and get organised after hearing all of her brilliant tips. If you’re not already familiar with Nicola, she can be found offering hints/tips and practical real life solutio...

There’s no denying that the conversation around race and activism is starting to slowly change – world events and movements like Black Lives Matter are hitting the headlines and entering into everyday discussion between friends in a way they weren’t before. My guest on this episode is a huge contributor to that conversation as one half of the anti-racism Instagram account Everyday Racism , Naomi E...

My guest on this episode is Cat Sims, blogger, content creator, podcaster and huge mental health advocate. I chat to Cat about the importance of talking about mental health. She tells me about her own mental health journey, starting back in her teenage years when nobody really spoke about this stuff. Right through to having post natal depression when she had her daughters. We talk about the stigma...

My guest on this episode had always dreamed of being a mum but at age 37 and very much single with no partner on the horizon, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Liv Thorne started researching sperm banks and fertility clinics, setting out on a journey that has resulted in her being a solo mum to three year old Herb, today. Her book, Liv’s Alone is a warm and hopeful memoir that disman...

This brand new series of Not Another Mummy Podcast kicks off with a brilliant chat, brought to you by Barbie who are kindly sponsoring this episode.  My guest is Claire Russell, early years specialist and author of the book The Play Hooray Handbook. Claire is an expert in all things play and can be found sharing easy and low-cost ways to play with your kids – indoors and outside – on social m...

Postnatal health issues are still being ignored, overlooked, and dismissed by new mums and health professionals who are sadly pushed for time and resources. My guest on this episode - Emma Brockwell aka Physio Mum UK - is on a mission to empower women and birthing people to seek the help they need and care for themselves postnatally. Emma is a Specialist Pelvic Health Physiotherapist and the autho...

On this episode I chat to Molly Forbes, the author of Body Happy Kids and a mum of two. Molly was a guest on the podcast a few years ago, when she was a host on the Channel 4 show Naked Beach, which shone a light on the body insecurities that many of us have and helped people to overcome them. Since then, Molly has set up social enterprise Body Happy Org, has been campaigning to ban diet club adve...

Are you dreading your children hitting the teenage years and hormones turning them into sulky, shouty, door slamming young adults? I know I am! But my guest on this episode, journalist and podcaster Lorraine Candy, says we shouldn’t worry, she is here to hold our hand through the process. Lorraine is the mum to three teens and a nine year old and she is the author of Mum What’s Wrong With You – 10...

My guest on this episode took an earth-shattering life event and turned it into a novel - Josie Lloyd is a best-selling author and mum of three. She has written 15 bestselling novels including the number one hit Come Together, which she co-authored with her husband, Emlyn Rees. In 2017, Josie was diagnosed with breast cancer and, urged by a friend to keep fit, she went down to the seafront in Brig...

It was an utter joy to welcome Dr Ranj onto the podcast as a guest – as well as working for the NHS through the pandemic as a paediatric doctor, Ranj published a book - How To Grow Up And Feel Amazing: The No Worries Guide For Boys. It’s a must-read book for all tween boys, covering physical and emotional changes they’ll go through as puberty hits. I talked to Ranj about what his own teenage years...

This episode is essential listening if you’re in your 20s, 30s or 40s. Which sounds like I’m really bigging myself up, but it’s my guest, not me, who is delivering all of the wisdom. Maisie Hill is a women’s health practitioner, author and podcaster who is doing everything she can to spread the word about perimenopause and getting us in tune with our menstrual cycles. Her latest book Perimenopause...

Do you talk to your children about race – and racism – and if so, how often? My guest on this episode Uju Asika encourages all parents to start this conversation as early as possible and not to feel awkward about it. Uju is a mum of two and the author of Bringing Up Race: How to Raise a Kind Child in a Prejudiced World. We talk about how the conversation will be different, depending on your childr...

My guest on this episode is mum of three Hayley McLean. All three of Hayley’s children were assumed male at birth but her second-born, Noa, identifies as female. Hayley tells me what it’s like to be the mum of a transgender child, from the early signs through to Noa telling her parents, in no uncertain terms, that she is a girl. Hayley talks about how they’ve fully supported Noa and about the reac...

Separating from your partner would be one of the worst things that could happen to you, right? Well, no, according to my guest on this episode, it doesn’t have to be. Amy Ransom is a mum of three and the author of The Soul-Soaring Virtues of Separation: 111 Learnings to Heal Your Heart and Help You Fly – a guide to reframing separation, looking at it as the start of something new rather than the e...

Imagine a world where women don’t lose their jobs, or miss out on promotions, because they’re pregnant or have just had a baby. I can’t even picture it, because so many women experience maternity discrimination, today, in 2021. My guest on this episode, Joeli Brearley, lost her job the day after she told her employer she was pregnant and went onto launch the charity and campaigning group Pregnant...

Over the past year or so, most of us have become increasingly reliant on the communities around us – our neighbours, WhatsApp groups of friends, even people we’ve never met but follow on social media. Community has become so important and my guest on this episode knows just how vital they are. Robert Douglas is a dad of two and has built up a community of dads online with his Instagram account @th...

The seventh series of Not Another Mummy Podcast kicks off with the brilliant Hollie McNish as my guest. Hollie is an award-winning poet and writer, with books like Nobody Told Me and Plum and loads of sell-out live shows under her belt. Hollie is a mum of one and lots of her poetry is about motherhood – warts and all. Her new book, though, Slug… And Other Things I’ve Been Told To Hate is about bir...

There’s little that will prepare you for the moment you hear the words: “You’re having twins!” You might feel shocked, delighted, scared, horrified, amused – or a mixture of all of the above. As a twin mum myself, I’ve got first-hand experience with the emotional rollercoaster of having two babies at once and I wanted to write a book which will guide parents from the moment they find out, thr...

It’s the end of the series – and a Christmas special – with the brilliant Anna Williamson as my guest, talking about how to look after our mental health at the busiest time of the year. Anna is a TV presenter (catch her on the new series of Celebs Go Dating on Channel 4), podcaster and author. She’s also a qualified life coach and she’s done lots of work around smashing the stigma surrounding ment...

It’s the penultimate episode of the series (next episode is a Christmas special *jingles some bells*) and my guest this week is former social worker and child development trainer Becky Goddard-Hill. Becky is the author of brilliant book Create Your Own Calm which is an activity book for pre-teens and teens to work through and learn about being emotionally resilient. And we all need a bit of resili...

Sinéad Burke is an advocate, teacher, and a British Vogue Contributing Editor. She also happens to be a little person at three and a half feet tall. Born with the genetic disorder achondroplasia, Sinéad was in primary school when she first advocated for change and requested a different style of desk which she could access easily. Since then, Sinéad has gone on to become a leading disability advoca...

What’s your skincare routine like? As I confess to my guest on this episode, mine used to be shamefully bad but I’ve seen the error of my ways and I’ve recently started looking after my skin properly. Thankfully, Caroline Hirons isn’t here to judge us – but she is here to help. Her book Skincare is a number one bestseller and only the second ever   Fashion/Beauty title to get to num...