The Science of Motherhood

You've sat through an antenatal appointment focused on blood pressure and bump measurements, wishing there'd been room to talk about how you were actually feeling. Midwives want that room too, working inside appointments measured in minutes. There's real momentum building to bring emotional wellbeing further into that time together. Two researchers went looking at exactly what that momentum looks...

Your parents or your in-laws are going to tell you they did things differently and you turned out fine, right in the middle of a conversation about sleep safety or feeding choices, and you can feel the eye roll building before they've even finished the sentence. Their love is real, and you don't have to brace for it each time they visit. In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White...

The mental and emotional weight of trying to conceive doesn't disappear once you're pregnant, or once the baby arrives. For many women, it quietly shapes everything that comes after. Sometimes the hardest part isn't the fertility treatment itself. It's carrying the aftermath of it into motherhood without anyone acknowledging that you went through something significant to get there. In this episode...

The emotional side of a fertility journey is real, and it's the part that often goes unspoken. You can walk into treatment prepared with every medical question imaginable and still feel blindsided by the weight of the waiting, the uncertainty, and the grief that can come when things don't go to plan. That gap deserves more airtime than it gets. In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Rene...

If you've been trying to conceive for a while, you've probably found yourself down a research rabbit hole at some point, reading forum threads at midnight and trying to decode acronyms you barely know. IVF, IUI, FSH, ICSI. The information is out there, but it doesn't always feel like it was written for you. Understanding the difference between your options, and knowing the right questions to ask,...

You've probably been told to "just relax" at some point on your fertility journey. Maybe by a friend, a family member, or even a health professional. And if you're anything like most people trying to conceive, you probably wanted to throw something at them. That advice isn't just unhelpful. It's both slightly right and completely missing the point. In this episode, Dr Renee White unpacks the real...

Most of us weren't taught that what happens before conception matters. You were told to take a folate supplement, book in when you got a positive test, and go from there. But there's a window of time before you even start trying that can shape not just your pregnancy, but your child's long-term health. The science on preconception care has moved significantly, and most people still aren't hearing...

Fertility preparation begins months, sometimes years, before you start trying to conceive. Knowing what to look for, and when, could change the entire shape of your conception journey. If you've ever wondered whether your body is actually ready for pregnancy, or whether there's something your results aren't telling you, this conversation will change how you think about your health. In this episode...

Have you ever been so sick in pregnancy that you couldn't keep water down, lost weight, or ended up in hospital wondering how your body was supposed to sustain a baby when it couldn't sustain itself? If that's your story, or the story of someone you love, you've probably also been told at some point that it was stress, anxiety, or something you just needed to push through. It wasn't. And the scien...

⚠️ Content note: This episode contains discussions of sexual assault, suicide, and depression. If you've been through fertility treatment, you already know it's more than a medical process. It's months, sometimes years, of appointments and numbers and waiting, with very little space given to how you're actually doing. There's research showing that nearly 50% of people in fertility treatment develo...

Does it feel like your body hasn't quite come back together yet after you've had your baby? That clicking, that instability, that sense that your hips or knees might give way. It's not in your head, and it's not a sign that something is wrong. So many mums are told that by six weeks, things should be settling. But if you're still breastfeeding and still feeling like your body doesn't quite belong...

If you're neurodivergent, the maternity system wasn't built with your brain in mind. The appointments, the environments, the cognitive load of it all. Nobody tells you that's why it feels harder than it should. They just hand you the same pamphlet and send you on your way. That gap matters even more when you're navigating pregnancy, birth and early parenting. It's not just your body being stretche...

Nobody tells you that the struggles so many neurodivergent women experience during pregnancy, birth, and early motherhood might be connected to how their brain is wired. Because so often, nobody knows. Not the healthcare providers, and not the mothers themselves. That missing language doesn't just delay a diagnosis. It delays understanding, support, and the ability to make sense of your own experi...

Most women who are autistic don't find out until they're sitting in a room watching their child get diagnosed. And then everything clicks. And yet most of them navigated pregnancy and early parenthood without any evidence-based support specific to their experience, often without even knowing why things felt so much harder. In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White sits down with...

You survived birth, the sleepless nights and the newborn haze. And then somewhere around three or four months in, you reach up to wash your hair and pull your hand away covered in it. It's alarming, and for most of us, nobody warned us it was coming. This episode is for every mum who has stood over the shower drain wondering if something is seriously wrong. It isn't. But understanding the biology...

We've known for decades that breastfeeding is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer. What we've never fully understood is why. That question is what makes this research so significant. In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White sits down with Professor Sherene Loi, Medical Oncologist and Group Leader at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, to discuss a landma...

If you've ever been nap trapped and spent the whole time quietly worrying that you're creating a dependency your baby will never grow out of, this one's for you. What's actually happening in your baby's brain while they sleep on your chest is one of the most compelling pieces of science in early infancy, and you deserve to know it. This episode is for every mum who has sat there convinced she shou...

Most conversations about maternal mental health start in the same place: the one in five women who experience postnatal depression or anxiety. But what about the other four in five? What are we doing to help them thrive? It is a question that stops you in your tracks, because most of us have never thought to ask it. In this episode Dr Renee White sits down with Lesley Pascuzzi, an Applied Psycholo...

If you've just had your baby and your milk hasn't arrived yet, the first thing to know is that your body is not failing you. It's actually doing something remarkably complex behind the scenes, and most people, including most healthcare providers, never take the time to explain what that actually looks like. This episode is for every mum who has found herself Googling this question at 2am, wonderin...

Have you been to your six-week checkup and walked out with only a script for the pill? Or found yourself wondering what your actual options are now that you've had a baby? This week, Dr Renee White sits down with Dr Natasha Vavrek, women's health GP and clinical director at The Bubble, to break down all the contraceptive options available after birth. Not just the pill. Everything. This conversati...

Have you ever wondered why some Australian families travel overseas for surrogacy? Or been confused by headlines about proposed payments for surrogates and whether that crosses a line? Australia's surrogacy laws have been called "confusing, restrictive, and not fit for purpose." Now there's talk of reform, including monthly payments to surrogates. But it raises questions about whether we're finall...

You've heard breastfeeding protects against allergies and asthma. But have you ever wondered what's actually happening inside your baby's body to make that possible? It's one of those things people say all the time, but rarely explain. And when you're in the thick of feeding, you deserve more than soundbites. In this episode, Dr Renee White sits down with Dr Toby Mansell, a researcher from the Mur...

If you’re staring at a breast pump late at night and wondering how this is meant to work once you’re back at work, you’re not alone. Returning to work while breastfeeding is one of the most common and least supported transitions in early motherhood. It’s practical, emotional and deeply personal. Many mums feel caught between feeding their baby, returning to their role at work and trying to hold on...

Breastfeeding is often spoken about as something that should feel natural, intuitive, and just click. But for many mums, the reality looks very different. Pain that doesn’t settle. A baby who feels tense, sleepy, or unsettled at the breast. And a quiet question running in the background, why is this so hard for us? In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White sits down with Emily J...

Have you ever wondered why you’re still so hungry after having a baby, or why postpartum recovery feels heavier than you expected? For many mums, the early months after birth are a mix of healing, feeding, broken sleep and trying to make sense of advice that often feels confusing or contradictory. Especially when food and blood sugar have already felt closely monitored during pregnancy. This episo...