Tales From The Fourth Trimester

Amber Giles is a journalist and mum of one, and in this episode she shares her experience of discovering pre-eclampsia during labour, successful breastfeeding, postpartum anxiety - and what happened when she didn't feel that in-love buzz she'd expected. Amber chats about how she got through a tricky start with the help of her partner, family, friends and professionals and how she navigat...

Kyra Lee is a social worker who specialises in working with pregnant women and new parents in difficult circumstances - and when she fell pregnant herself, she had to work hard to let go of all the trauma and worst-case-scenarios that she'd seen and heard. In this episode, we talk about hypnobirthing, her labour (induction, postpartum haemorrhage, fourth degree tearing), birth trauma, recover...

Rhiann McGarry describes her fourth trimester as "treacherous". An older first time mum, she endured multiple losses before having an ultimately successful and smooth  IVF pregnancy... only to be faced with a lonely and shocking fourth trimester - shocking, she says, because her expectations were way off, her baby was unsettled and not fond of sleep, and her friends had had kids a decade...

How does a nurse, midwife and Calmbirth educator do birth and beyond? In this week's episode, Jen Troy of Seasons of Mama joins me to share it all - and her top tips. If you're pregnant, this ones a must listen!  Find Jenna (and her beautiful products, including affirmation cards) at @seasons_of_mama She's kindly shared a 15% off code for listeners, too: cocoon15

ICU nurse and mum of one, Elle Blanks, had an "amazing" first three months of motherhood, thanks to investing in her postpartum period, both by nurturing herself and allowing others to nurture her. In this episode, Elle chats to me about her experience with IVF, the birth of her little boy, and how despite breastfeeding issues, sleep deprivation and limited family support she had a wonde...

It's home birth awareness week, so I wanted to share this story - one of the many positive home birth stories i soaked up as I prepared to birth my son. Zoe's two postpartums were quite different, and she attributes a lot of that to the way she birthed. Enjoy! 

Bernadette Lack is a midwife, personal trainer, mum and pelvic floor expert--she has helped hundreds of women sort out their post-baby pelvic floors with her Core and Floor Restore programs. Here, she shares her own experience with incontinence, pregnancy, home birth, and restoring her pelvic floor health... and gives plenty of tips on how you can too. Side note: when we recorded this ep, I was st...

Fellow postpartum doula and mother of one Emmeline Tyler shares her experience of what it's been like for her to go through pregnancy, birth and postpartum as an autistic woman. Tune in to hear about her surprise pregnancy, living and working in Arnhem Land, and her positive birth experience. Emmeline has a background in anthropology and linguistics, with experience working and living in remo...

Robin McLeavy is a doula, hypnobirthing educator and actor who is able to articulate the experience of becoming a mother like no one else. Our conversation spans birth and postpartum, of course, but then we went into home birth, feminism, matrilineage, the mother wound, raising boys, parenting styles, gender politics, relationships and oh so much more. This conversation absolutely lit me up.  For...

So often we think of postpartum as a six week period that ends with a GP check. Why aren't we talking more about the massive shift that occurs for women way beyond those early weeks? Whatever you want to call it: psychological, spiritual, psychic... the identity shake up is real, and so is the change of pace. This week Anne-Marie joins me for a chat about her transition to motherhood and how...

A little six week update from me! I'm chatting about what I've been eating, the amazing meal train organised by friends, the role of my midwife and doulas, my physical recovery, breastfeeding, sleep, how my anxiety and mental health has been and lots more.  

Dietician Renee Jennings joins me on the podcast to chat about all things nutrition - she specialises in maternal health and is a mum herself. When she was pregnant with her first baby, she thought she knew all the right things to eat, but she's since discovered some surprising menu items that she's now incorporating into her second pregnancy, and she's sharing it all with us. As we...

It's taken me a few weeks to get my head around Cormac's birth: after a long, slow wait for his arrival at 42 weeks (on top of the pregnancy that took me through the horror bushfire season and the start of the pandemic) and a measured start to labour, at the end it was all fast and furious. Amazing but also confusing: what just happened? How did I not know he was coming? Wait, was I in t...

Tara Ali is a writer and mother of two, and in this episode she shares her two very different postpartums: her first baby was born after eight years of trying to conceive, and five rounds of IVF. When she fell pregnant with her second child, she found herself facing serious relationship challenges. Listen in to hear how she navigated complex issues as her pregnancy progresses and separated from he...

Arianna Taboada is a Maternal Health Consultant for entrepreneurs: she helps make their maternity leave and transition to motherhood smoother – while keeping their business thriving. Whether you work for yourself or someone else, what we're focusing on in today's episode could totally change the way you think about planning for your postpartum... it did for me! Her eco map is a brilliant...

How do you prepare for postpartum when you know your baby will be born with health challenges? In this episode, I chat to Emma Emmanuel, who's a mum to a one year old little boy and has had a bumpy ride to parenthood. She went through IVF, followed by severe ovarian hyperstimulation... and then found out that her little one was going to be born with a kidney defect. A difficult birth--for bot...

Rachael Hollinger is a postpartum doula and chef who lives and looks after women in Pennsylvania - and she's one of the loudest advocates for the nourishment and nurturing of new mamas.  In this episode, we chat about the state of postpartum care, what we'd love to see happening for women at this sacred time, what new mums can do to look after themselves and what we do as postpartum doul...

Nadine Richardson is Australia's leading birth educator and the founder of She Births, the only scientifically proven antenatal course that demonstrates significantly reduced need for pain medication, ceasarean section and tears.  In this episode, I'm chatting to Nadine about her own birth preparation and postpartum, as why she believes the principles that ground an empowered birth (howe...

Arabella Hampshire is a health coach, Pilates teacher and mum of two--and in this episode, we chat about how she unexpectedly fell pregnant just five months into a new relationship, her two very different births and postpartums and how anxiety and disordered eating have impacted her motherhood experiences. Plus! Don't miss her advice on exercising after having a baby, and how to best protect...

My third trimester has been a ride! In this ep, recorded at 38 weeks pregnant, I'm talking (to myself) about what's been going down over the last three months or so, and how I've been preparing for birth and postpartum on a practical, emotional and psychological level. From what I've bought and what birth education I'm doing to who I've enlisted for support, what I&ap...

I've never met Ashe in person, but I'm quite convinced she's the funniest woman I know. Because I am sure I know her, in a weird way - the way she writes about mothering, and her kids and her partner and her mother and her life is just so uncomfortably familiar that I'm quite sure we're destined to be best friends, if only she'd realise Sydney is better than Melbourne...

Lily Nichols is an influential prenatal/postpartum dietician and nutritionist who has made a name for herself by diving deep into the research and rethinking evidence-based ideas for eating in pregnancy and beyond. What she's discovered is that much of the advice given to pregnant women and new mums is outdated, not tailored for the needs of motherhood and doesn't help women build health...

Career-focused but keen to start a family, Sarah Grant found herself having a whirlwind romance, engagement and pregnancy within a year. She found first-time motherhood a little tricky to adjust to - but it was nothing compared to when she subsequently welcomed her second daughter into the world. In this episode, she shares how she dealt with having a very different baby to her first, what happene...

In this episode, Kate shares just how worried she was about getting pregnant, giving birth and becoming a mother - and how it all turned out better than she could have hoped. While she hadn't put much thought into her postpartum, circumstances put her into a position where she was able to ease into early parenthood with a quiet and peaceful fourth trimester. Thanks Kate!

There are many ways to feed a baby, and while many of us hope to breastfeed, it's not always the easiest thing. Alana Adye had breastfeeding issues from the beginning--nevertheless, she persisted. She sought help, eventually deciding to exclusively pump her milk for her little one... and then, by the time we had our chat, her baby finally learned how to breastfeed. I hope you find Alana'...