Mama Chatters

Hey loves, four months now since I gave birth to our third child, Sonny. His birth was a little different to what I expected and it has taken some time to make sense of it - but a birth debrief with B has helped me to understand my feelings around it. In this totally raw and unedited chat we go through my birth experience and dive into the feelings beneath the events. Surprisingly my unprocessed feelings were about far more than the birth itself. If you would like to explore a birth debrief for your experience see B at www.coreandfloor.com.au Hey Mama, I have a Sleep Guide for you! For birth to 18 months, this guide is steeped in evidence and laced with compassion. And you can download the first chapter absolutely free HERE. Are we Insta pals? If not, why not? Come and hang out at @mamamatters.au! As always, thanks for being here- if you enjoy this poddy I would LOVE if you could give a rating and a review. It means the world to me. xx

Today I have a chat with my friend Liv Davis who is a nurse, a podcaster and mum of two boys. Liv is chatting with us today about being in a same sex family - of social infertility, conceiving her boys through sperm donor, how she navigates tricky conversations with new people and what she wishes all parents understood and could teach their own children about the uniqueness of families. You can find Liv over on her own podcast The After Birth Podcast. Hey Mama, I have a Sleep Guide for you! For birth to 18 months, this guide is steeped in evidence and laced with compassion. And you can download the first chapter absolutely free HERE. Are we Insta pals? If not, why not? Come and hang out at @mamamatters.au! As always, thanks for being here- if you enjoy this poddy I would LOVE if you could give a rating and a review. It means the world to me. xx Hey Mama, I have a Sleep Guide for you! For birth to 18 months, this guide is steeped in evidence and laced with compassion. And you can download the first chapter absolutely free HERE. Are we Insta pals? If not, why not? Come and hang out at @mamamatters.au! As always, thanks for being here- if you enjoy this poddy I would LOVE if you could give a rating and a review. It means the world to me. xx

Dr Kyla Smith is a Paediatric Dietitian who supports parents to help them feed their families with confidence. Her range of online memberships simplify the challenges you face in feeding your kids, from actually enjoying the process introducing solid foods, navigating fussy eating with confidence, and taking the steps out of packing school lunches and feeding the whole family. She’s also currently working on changing the way we talk about food in schools. Kyla has been a dietitian for 16 years and has a PhD in childhood weight management. She passionate about changing the way this generation of children feel about food and their bodies. Hey Mama, I have a Sleep Guide for you! For birth to 18 months, this guide is steeped in evidence and laced with compassion. And you can download the first chapter absolutely free HERE. Are we Insta pals? If not, why not? Come and hang out at @mamamatters.au! As always, thanks for being here- if you enjoy this poddy I would LOVE if you could give a rating and a review. It means the world to me. xx

This chat with Dr Heather is so juicy and full of wisdom! We chat about: - What is reflux and does it need to be medicated? - Is there such a thing as a 'happy chucker?' - How much crying is normal in babies? - What is colic? - How seriously do we need to consider food allergies? Elimination diets? CMPI? - What's the deal with breastfeeding and drinking alcohol? What about in pregnancy? - Should we continue to avoid sushi and soft cheeses in pregnancy? Dr Heather Johnston is a medical doctor with a background in obstetrics, gynaecology, and general practice. She is now working entirely in the perinatal space through her business, Cradled, supporting families with infant feeding and breastfeeding, responsive and holistic approaches to sleep, as well as perinatal and infant mental health. Alongside medicine, she is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, an accredited Holistic Sleep Coach through Lyndsey Hookway's program, accredited in Neuroprotective Developmental Care through Possums, and is a Circle of Security Parenting Facilitator. Heather's passion is empowering parents, especially those who go against the mainstream narrative and find themselves adrift, and busting myths and misinformation that do harm or steal the joy out of parenting. She prioritises normalising normal infant behaviours and patterns, and troubleshooting when things fall outside that normal realm, to find workable and family-centred solutions that promote attachment and relational health. She is based in Palmerston North in the lower North Island of New Zealand, and sees families all over New Zealand via virtual consultations. She's also a mum of three little ones aged 1 to 6, a fur-mum of a curly-tailed cat, and a lover of hot pink and hot coffee. Hey Mama, I have a Sleep Guide for you! For birth to 18 months, this guide is steeped in evidence and laced with compassion. And you can download the first chapter absolutely free HERE. Are we Insta pals? If not, why not? Come and hang out at @mamamatters.au! As always, thanks for being here- if you enjoy this poddy I would LOVE if you could give a rating and a review. It means the world to me. xx

Melanie is a mother of three daughters, a naturopath, and the founder of The Natal Naturopath women's health clinic who care for women in their health concerns. She has a special passion for iron-deficiency in women and went on to launch her own iron supplement IronBiotic. Through her work she aims to bridge the gap between baby-care and mother-care, and has also created her own pre and postnatal supplement, EverNatal. We chat about: - Her experience with raising twins - the unique challenges and blessings - Unhelpful advice and stigma she experienced around twins - Logistically managing bedtime with breastfeeding twins and an older sibling - Her advice for others expecting twins You can find Melanie here: www.thenatalnaturopath.com.au Instagram: thenatalnaturopath Hey Mama, I have a Sleep Guide for you! For birth to 18 months, this guide is steeped in evidence and laced with compassion. And you can download the first chapter absolutely free HERE. Are we Insta pals? If not, why not? Come and hang out at @mamamatters.au! As always, thanks for being here- if you enjoy this poddy I would LOVE if you could give a rating and a review. It means the world to me. xx

Laura Rafferty lives in upstate New York with her husband, Justin, and her two sons, Jack and Ben. It’s a perfect place to live for her, as she loves all four seasons and all of the corresponding outdoor activities. Her favorite things to do are running, traveling, cooking and reading. Laura has worked in corporate America for her entire career, but writing a book has been one of her lifelong dreams. Becoming a mother gave her the content and the motivation to make that dream a reality. As an avid reader, research for the book was more of a hobby than a chore. And she shared her journey in the book to give other mamas the support and sanity check that she was looking for! Getting pregnant and having a baby was nothing like type-A Laura had planned. Tossed completely off balance, and in the midst of a global pandemic, she went from rule follower and spreadsheet organizer to rebel mama by the time her son, Jack, celebrated his first birthday. Join Laura in redefining motherhood norms through the milestones of getting pregnant, giving birth, circumcision, breastfeeding, sleeping, introducing solids, and all the phases in between. Her story shares what worked for her, and unlike many parenting books, is not meant to be a how to guide. Rather, it is meant to invite every fellow mama to awaken her rebellious side and storm the gates of any modern parenting practice that goes against her instinct! You can find Laura here: Instagram : @ rebelmamawrites https://www.rebelmamawrites.com/ Get the book: https://www.amazon.com/Rebel-Mama-Breaking-Motherhood-Parenting-ebook/dp/B09BZQKW3H Hey Mama, I have a Sleep Guide for you! For birth to 18 months, this guide is steeped in evidence and laced with compassion. And you can download the first chapter absolutely free HERE. Are we Insta pals? If not, why not? Come and hang out at @mamamatters.au! As always, thanks for being here- if you enjoy this poddy I would LOVE if you could give a rating and a review. It means the world to me. xx

Today we chat with Monique, Postpartum Doula and co-founder of Maia Mothers Collective in Brisbane, QLD. Monique walks us through a postpartum planning exercise including a bunch of practical, helpful tricks to help us to feel nurtured, empowered and solid in our postpartum experience. We chat about: - Our own postpartum experiences and the impact of lack of boundaries - How to navigate tricky situations like guests staying too long - How to have hard conversations and hold boundaries - Confinement periods in postpartum and what this can look like - Helping your partner and your village to help you - Utilising your village - meal trains, housework etc There's so much gold in this episode - feel free to share with anyone in your life expecting a baby! Monique has today launched her incredible new online course (in which I feature as the sleep expert!) Postpartum Embodied. You can check it out here: https://www.maiamothers.com.au/postpartumembodiedcourse Use code MAMAMATTERS for 5% off! Hey Mama, I have a Sleep Guide for you! For birth to 18 months, this guide is steeped in evidence and laced with compassion. And you can download the first chapter absolutely free HERE. Are we Insta pals? If not, why not? Come and hang out at @mamamatters.au! As always, thanks for being here- if you enjoy this poddy I would LOVE if you could give a rating and a review. It means the world to me. xx

Dr Carrie Rigoni is a chiropracter, applied kinesiologist and vagus nerve educator with a special interest in treating the vagus nerve in children. She is a wealth of knowledge and I really enjoyed learning about the vagus nerve with her - I know you will too! We chat about: - What is the vagus nerve and how it supports our nervous systems - Signs that our vagal tone or our children's needs some support - Ways that we can help to strengthen our vagal tone - through body work and daily habits - When to get more support You can find Carrie here: https://www.drcarrierigoni.com.au/vagus-nerve-checklist-babiesandkids She has some amazing freebies on her website including checklists and masterclasses. Or you can connect with her on instagram: @drcarrierigoni As always, if you have enjoyed this episode please share with your pals - and if you really love me, please leave a rating and review. It all helps immensely! Fiona x

This was SUCH a great chat with Cath - we touched on all of this and more: You can find Cath here: Insta: @psychotherapy_mum Podcast: Grow Yourself Up https://catherinecounihan.co.uk/ My membership community Coming Home is coming SOON! Make sure you're subscribed to my mailing list to be in the know when the doors open. www.mamamatters.com.au Please if you loved this ep, be a dear and leave a rating and review - it means so much to me.

I am so grateful to Siobhan for sharing her raw postpartum experience with us. This episode mentions postpartum depression & anxiety, traumatic birth and suicidal ideation. Please be mindful of your own mental health as you listen, and if you need to reach out for support you can contact PANDA National Helpline on 1300 726 326. We also have our Perinatal Mental Health Social Worker at Mama Matters, Samantha - and you can learn more about her and bookonline HERE. Dr Siobhan Kennedy-Costantini is a Child Development researcher with over a decade of experience studying children's social & cognitive development and the parent-child relationship. She's passionate about educating and empowering parents and Early Learning educators with knowledge of children's social and cognitive development by providing tips and resources to help them better understand the magic that is a child's mind. You can find her on Instagram @science_minded and her website https://www.scienceminded.org/ And don't forget you can download our first Chapter of Sleep Matters sleep guide absolutely bloody free here: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/63e75b640f93ed601fa2a460 And if you love me - pleeeease be a dear and leave a rating and review! I'm forever grateful that you are here. Fiona x

Today's episode is allll about bloody 'sleep regressions'. We chat about the following: - The fear mongering around sleep regressions in the mainstream sleep industry - Sleep regressions as a tool to sell - introducing problems that you need to fix - The trap of the 4 month sleep regression and fear of failure - Wonder weeks and whether they help or hinder your parenting - Common tricky times for sleep - Helpful reframes for sleep 'regressions' - Coping strategies and perspective shifts that we can help to spread to mothers everywhere Join my email list here and nab yourself the first chapter of my sleep guide totally FREE: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/63e75b640f93ed601fa2a460 Today's episode is sponsored by my beautiful friend Emma Norris, Perinatal Clinicial Nutritionist at Maia Mothers Collective. Are you thinking about conceiving again in the next 6 months, but concerned your body isn't quite ready to go again? Do you feel exhausted, foggy and overwhelmed? Are you anxious to have a better pregnancy, birthing and postpartum experience that your previous one? My friend Emma is a Clinical Perinatal Nutritionist and she wants to change the way women approach their pregnancies by empowering them to take control of their health in the few months prior to conception. Emma has just launched an online course called Your Trimester Zero. The live 6-week course explores all of the important stuff you need to know to get your body and mind ready for a thriving pregnancy and postpartum. She walks you through preconception nutrition, supplements, the menstrual cycle, sperm health and lifestyle practices that are helpful before you get pregnant again. The course has tonnes of value like weekly handouts, preconception meal plan, interactive food planning template, blood pathology cheat sheet, weekly journalling prompts, meditation and even breath work guides. As a mum herself, Emma knows how easy it can be to put your own needs last. But she wants you to feel in control, empowered and confident you're doing everything you can to optimise your own health, future pregnancy and postpartum period by teaching you the tools she knows can make a difference in your experience. Emma has generously given poddy listeners an exclusive 20% discount to the course. Just use code MAMAMATTERS at checkout. https://www.maiamothers.com.au/your-trimester-zero

Lately I have shared how my nervous system has been a little fragile, so I have needed to check in with myself and think about what I can handle - changing plans where necessary, asking for support when I need it. And I invite you to do the same! In this quick sesh I will be giving you a practical tool to assess where your own resilience level is, and how you can honour your own needs during seasons of overwhelm. You and your kids will be grateful for it! You can download the first chapter of Sleep Matters absolutely free HERE. Make sure you're my Insta friend @mamamatters.au Thanks for being here. x

Kate is an IBCLC and midwife and is incredibly passionate about supporting mothers in their pregnancy, birth and feeding journeys. You can find her on her digital home land @milkybusinesslactation on Instagram, or reach out to her via her website www.milkybusiness.com. Never met a midwife so passionate about physiological birth and breastfeeding. We chat about: - Kate's personal experience with breastfeeding challenges, tongue tie - When home birth turns hospital birth - the stigma and navigating as a hospital midwife - What is tongue tie and do we need to release every tongue tie we find? How we weigh up risk vs benefit - Who do we see when we suspect a tongue tie? - What's the one thing you'd like to see change in the way we support breastfeeding? Download the first chapter FREE of my Sleep Matters sleep guide HERE. And make sure you are in my Insta fam, @mamamatters.au (slide into my DMs while you're there - I love a chat!).

Today I am speaking to our personal experience in deciding to go for a third child. It definitely wasn't a clear decision, and honestly? It probably won't help you to decide either. Life isn't black and white, and neither is this. I let you in on my personal adjustment to finding out I was pregnant and share with you our worries and our excitement. Hop on over and follow me on Insta @mamamatters.au, and if you like it here, I will love you forever if you leave a rating and review. Fi x

Have you heard of mental labour? It's all of the thinking, organising, planning, management, emotional work that underpins all of the aspects of family life, household life, everything related to our children. And for women especially - it's a lot. Dr Elyse McNeil has been a clinical psychologist for nearly a decade and has recently completed a PhD on the topic of mental labour. Through her work at Share to Thrive she is creating education and information for couples to significantly improve the way they manage mental labour and improve their relationship. She lives on the beautiful Gold Coast with her husband and little boy. Today we chat about: - What is mental labour and why does it fall moreso on the shoulders of women? - How can we help our partners to understand the mental load? - How can we have productive and respectful conversations around mental labour without inviting defensiveness or conflict? - What are some practical ways that we can better share the mental labour? - What are some systems we can put in place to make things feel a little more fair? Note that this research was conducted on heterosexual couples and more research is required to apply to all families. Dr Elyse's brand new course Share to Thrive is available now and she has kindly gifted our Mama Chatters listeners with a 25% discount using code MMLISTENERS. https://mentallabour.sharetothrive.com/ TRANSCRIPT

I haven't been feeling myself lately - in this episode I chat about the steps I have taken to seek the mental health support I need. I also speak about small practices and rituals that I have been focusing on to help myself in this season. - How to identify depressive, anxious or stressed symptoms in pregnancy (or postpartum) - Accessing the GP Better outcomes Mental Health plan - Daily practices to help my mental health This episode is brought to you by my Sleep Matters Sleep Guide: The Guide your baby wants you to read. Steeped in evidence, and laced with compassion. You can learn more here: https://www.mamamatters.com.au/sleep-guide

Amy is a mama from my Mama Matters Academy who has a helluva story to share with us. Please reach out if her story resonates with you. Follow on Insta @mamamatters.au I'll love you forever if you leave a review and subscribe to the poddy!

This chat was so fun! Dr Kristyn Sommer has a PhD in developmental psychology where she explored how young children learn from social robots and screen media. She is now a Griffith University Postdoctoral Research Fellow exploring social robots and children again alongside her new research stream investigating the impacts of social media on parenting. This second research stream was inspired by her TikTok platform which skyrocketed to nearly half a million follows since 2021 where she translates the science of children and parenting into bite sized videos with humans, entertainment and toys. You can find Kristyn on all of your favourite social media platforms under the handle @drkristynsommer. We chatted about: - Being a robot scientist and the role of social robots and screen media in kids' learning - Her journey into motherhood laced with unsettled baby, CMPI, postpartum anxiety and panic attacks and a surprise later diagnosis of autism - The science of babies and their inability to regulate their emotions or practice impulse control- appreciating children as tiny scientists

Alissa Boyer is a Mentor for Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) with a passion for helping fellow HSPs learn how to unapologetically embrace their sensitivity and use it as a strength in their lives. She’s the creator of several online programs including The Highly Sensitive & Soulful Membership and Sensitive & Soulful Self-Worth. Alissa also offers business mentorship to HSPs, hosts a podcast called The Sensitive & Soulful Show, and writes for the award-winning HSP blog, Highly Sensitive Refuge. You can learn more about Alissa on her website https://www.sensitiveandsoulful.com and on Instagram @lifebyalissa. We chat about: - What is high sensitivity and Alissa's own journey discovering - What makes a highly sensitive person amazing - Strengths of high sensitivy in motherhood - Navigating sensory overwhelm in motherhood

Tracy Gillett is the founder, writer and advocate behind the award-winning blog, Raised Good - a guide to natural parenting in the modern world. Written from Vancouver with millions of readers worldwide, she educates and inspires women to reclaim the wonder of motherhood and the joy of childhood by parenting without the shoulds, expectations, and white noise of society. She is the host of the Raised Good Online Summit, and she offers courses, eBooks and guides on her website raisedgood.com. Tracy and her family enjoy traveling, being active and spending as much time exploring the outdoors as possible. We chat about: - Tracy's own motherhood journey including moving across the world and experiencing infertility - How we can find joy in motherhood and be in flow with our children - How we can have confidence in our parenting choices and advocate for our children You can connect with Tracy here: www.raisedgood.com Insta @raisedgood