Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond

Our guest Vanessa Wood is mother to two beautiful boys, she is a practicing Naturopath of 10 years, and a shamanic craftswoman who oversees and participates in several Women’s circles and has been a magnificent flash-mob 80’s dancer with the famed Cassettes. There has been a resurgence of women’s agency and the value of women individually and as part of society. We have been watching as this unfol...

Through his own experiences as a father, Dr John (Jack) Travis came to see how the normalised disconnection and separation of babies from their parents (eg through forced sleep schedules, isolation in cots) rather than recognising a baby's needs for closeness has created generations of families that struggle to keep together. Jack calls a father's negative reactions after the arrival of a baby "Ma...

The power imbalances in today's masculinity overwhelmingly impact women, but they also fail boys and men in so many ways, leading to intractable loneliness and 'wordless rage', as described by author Tim Winton. Tim's latest book The Shepherd's Hut traces the change the main character young Jaxie makes as he breaks away from toxicity to something different by being exposed to different ways to bei...

De-stigmatising mental health and supporting stronger families The celebrations and challenges of raising children can be a rich, diverse journey for all of us. Even when we are feeling mentally strong, there are moments when life, relationships and parenting is a bumpy road. For 1 in 10 people, living with a personality disorder and parenting can add a tremendous strain to our family experiences...

This episode we feature life on the front lines of midwifery. My guest Ti Harrison has been a midwife for the past 27 years and has worked across all models of care and around the world. Ti recently performed at the Vagina Conversations 2018, Byron Bay. Ti shares her monologue and we discuss further different aspects of this well crafted written piece. Warning some aspects of this episodes contain...

Many parents or carers of teens and tweens are painfully aware how quickly their young child who bounded with energy, confidence and enthusiasm can flip. Like a switch has been clicked their child suddenly is unrecognisable. Dr Arne Rubinstein is an expert on adolescent development and passionate advocate for supporting young people to transition to young men, with a toolbox of skills. Interviewee...

Author Isobelle Carmody shares her experiences of imbuing her journey as a mother with creativity, bringing her daughter Adelaide every step of the way. Isobelle relished the time she had during Adelaide's childhood to re-explore the world through a child’s eyes, allowing her to access ever more characters and worlds to write about. Presenter and Producer: Sally Cusack Copyright 2018 PBB Media, Sa...

A pregnant person or couple have many expectations about their birth, their baby, and parenthood. They dream into what it will be like to give birth, what they’re baby will be like, and what parenthood will turn into for them. In this episode Kimberley Lipschus chats with new parents Sophie Eadie and Chris Magick, and with baby Harlow. What was the reality of life with a baby, versus their expecta...

In this episode we meet Kate Speedy, who embarked on a massive journey of transformation when she discovered her father was to transition to being female. This was 20 years ago when Kate was just 19, and living in a world that held very different views to the one now where we are all transitioning to greater understanding of the diversity of gender identity. More information, go to: http://www.pbb...

Grace Lee shares her three very different birth stories in three different countries, from caesarean section to VBAC to water birth in home-like setting. Grace's husband Ritchie is a student midwife, having made a huge career change a couple of years ago out of the US Navy. You can hear my first interview with Ritchie here: https://www.spreaker.com/user/pregnancybirthandbeyond/ritchie-student-midw...

“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.”― Jack Kerouac This episode of Pregnancy Birth and Beyond we climb that mountain with our guest Taneal Cadou-blake who has recently returned to her home town of Byron Bay in Australia, after three and a half years of travel and living abroad with her family. Taneal, he...

Sally speaks with Chris Teale, Craniosacral therapist (and physiotherapist) about the osteopathic therapy known as craniosacral therapy (CST), how it works physically, and how it also takes into account a person's emotional state. CST does not involve hard manipulations of bone structures, it focuses on the fluid structures in the spinal column and surrounding the brain, as well as the positioning...

From birth, many boys are taught that to be a man you have to be competitive and emotionally tough and that vulnerability is a women's domain. How we socialise our children around privilege and entitlement impacts our society tremendously. Even in the most emotionally resourced families, boys and girls often see gender inequality constantly feeding into their subconscious through media, movies and...

Many women do not receive appropriate care when in labour, making birth more difficult and painful. They then rarely get the opportunity afterwards to debrief with their carer about the events. This can lead to misunderstandings that they can pass onto pregnant women, in turn making them frightened and more likely to experience a difficult birth. Prof. Hannah Dahlen interprets some birth stories t...

“we are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to” Terri Swearingen If we all make small changes, big things can happen. This episode our guest Jannine shares with us ways families can make small yet meaningful change for both greater quality of life and for the betterment of our planet. Raising kids is, lets face it, a huge ecological footprint on the planet, but it doesn't have to...

“The future will belong to the nature-smart—those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of the transformative power of the natural world and who balance the virtual with the real. The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.” - Richard Louv, author "The Last Child in the Woods". Sally's interview with Rohan Stewart from Brunswick Bush...

Tune in to hear about Bumi Sehat and Robin Lim's book 'Placenta the Forgotten Chakra'. Aired live on bayfm 99.9 Byron Bay Community radio station in 2013. Produced and Presented by Taneal Blake Copyright PBB Media and Taneal Blake 2013 www,pbbmedia.org Reproduced by Lara Martin for BayFM and CRN broadcast in January 2018

Sally's interview with Dr Lawrence Cohen, parent, child psychologist and author of titles including "Playful Parenting" and "The Opposite of Worry" on: * how the playful parenting approach helps children work through their anxieties and fears, * the main challenges for kids and parents today and more. First broadcast on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay on 26 September 2016 and the Community Radio Network (Aus...

In honour of Christmas day 2013 on the Pregnancy Birth & Beyond show we featured the visionary story of Mary birthing Jesus. An untold story of Christmas spoken and written by Taneal Blake. BayFM presenter introducing and closing the episode is Ros Elliot. First aired on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay Christmas Day 2013. Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Final part of Sally's interview with Dr Lawrence Cohen on the foundation of playful parenting - the need for parents' to be supported and heard as well through co-operative listening partnerships with other parents. Full interview available here with Dr L Cohen on how play helps heal kids' anxieties and build connections with their parents and builds their confidence. https://www.spreaker.com/user...

While it’s important for parents to plan a safe birth of their baby, they also set themselves up for the best possible start in their new life.  They can do this by also planning for a period of cosy cocooning with their new baby.  This means a few weeks of very private time at home with minimal visitors or trips out of the home.  Babies are easily overwhelmed by different people and busy environm...

Pregnancy and birth is a period of huge change for the other child or children too, so they need special preparation too.  There are some simple tips for helping them feel like a part of the process.  We’ll also be covering tips for having your other children at the birth, if you would like that, or how to manage a smooth transition if your child will be going elsewhere during the labour and birth...

A new baby is completely helpless and will need lots of holding and loving attention to acclimatise to the world around them.  This means that their parents need a lot of support to give all this reassurance, and the parents need this time too so the mother can recover physically and both parents can get to know their unique little baby.  This process is called attunement and best done with lots o...

In the early days and weeks, a mother and baby’s recovery from birth and transitioning to their new life together is assured by plenty of time to rest.  This will also give them both the best chance of establishing breastfeeding successfully, or a calm transition to bottle feeding if a mother decides that. Produced and presented by Sally Cusack Copyright 2017 PBB Media and Sally Cusack All rights...

​Eessential information for safe sleep for baby and how you can get the most sleep possible in the early months.  They key to peaceful sleep for your whole family is understanding that a baby’s sleep patterns are very different to the 8 hour block of sleep we’re used to.  We hear from Dr Howard Chilton, neonatal paediatrician, what a baby needs to sleep peacefully.  The main rule is that there are...