Ep 25: The unseen mental labour of motherhood: Inviting your partner to share the load with Dr Elyse McNeill, PhD

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

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

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.

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.

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