Avoiding mastitis, fed is best and a breastfeeding Q&A with Orla Dorgan

I absolutely LOVED this week's episode. Not only was Louise Galvin extremely sound to chat to and I left wanting to be her pal, she was so open and honest and candid about how she and her husband manage parenting. Louise, for those unfamiliar, is one of Ireland's most successful sports stars – playing at senior level with the Kerry football team, playing in the Rugby 7s World Cup AND as the captain of a National Cup winning basketball team. She probably made GAA history when, following one of her particularly important semi-final matches, Louise ran off the pitch to breastfeed her baby just as the final whistle blew, making her the first player to breastfeed in the dressing rooms at Croke Park. Louise has a three year old son and twin babies who are not even five months yet, and she's making sure she makes time to be match fit to catch the end of the football season. I for one was in awe listening to her tell me all this, while she was just taking it totally in her stride, making it clear that she doesn't get mam guilt because she knows her sport is an important part of who she is and an important example to set for her three children. I think you will love this episode as much as I did – and I'll be back next week with more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week is award-winning lactation consultant Orla Dorgan, who is the founder of mylactationconsultant.ie. Orla is a nurse by profession, but when she breastfed her children and had a good experience, she wanted to bring the tools and advice she had to as many parents as possible. This episode covers a lot – both general chats about feeding, holds, using nipple shields and whether cabbage leaves actually do anything, and also answers to specific breastfeeding questions too, such as how can a partner help the breastfeeding journey, and the transition back to work while still feeding. Orla also give her three-step approach to stopping mastitis from taking hold, and how to tell it might be beginning in the first place. A really fascinating episode, this will help anyone at the start of a breastfeeding journey. I'll be back next week with more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This weeks episode was just such a pleasure to record from start to finish – Ailbhe Garrihy is my guest this week and she is just the most engaging and warm person to chat to, and I know it's such a podcast cliche but I really could have talked to her for hours. Ailbhe is not only the general manager of her thriving family business Dublin Bay Cruises but she's also a mam of two little boys, Sean and Fionn, who at ages 4 and 2 keep her very busy. We chat about raising boys having known only sisters and girls in her family for most of her life, about taking her two on an 11 hour flight to San Francisco and living to tell the tale, and her disciplining hacks for getting her two lads to comply (I call them threats in my house, but maybe that's too strong a word?) Ailbhe has the most grateful and positive approach to parenting, and this episode will give anyone expecting a boy, or a second boy, a real insight into all the loveliness to come. I'll be back next week with another episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest for our first episode of season 16 is the lovely Grace Mongey Gernon. Grace has been working full time as an influencer for the past nine years – there was somewhat of an urgency with getting Grace's episode recorded, because when we spoke she was 39 weeks pregnant and eagerly awaiting the arrival of her third child, a little boy who's name she's already got embroidered on a little jumper for when he's born. We talk about the transition she's about to face from two children to three, and the age gap between her other two being big enough that going back into nappies and night feeds will be a huge change to their life all over again. We chat about her life online, how her family feel about her work as an influencer, and how trolling almost made her give it all up to be a midwife, but how now she's in a good place mentally and feels good about it again. Grace is so loved online for her no nonsense approach and for being upfront and honest about her reality. this was a lovely episode to record and while nobody went into labour during it, it's still worth a listen. Back next week with more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I was delighted to welcome the lovely Millie Mackintosh to the podcast. She’s a reality TV star turned entrepreneur, she's a mother to two girls and many of you will recognize her from her breakout role on Made in Chelsea. Since then, she’s carved out an incredible career as a wellness advocate, businesswoman, and with her new book, Bad Drunk, an author now too. During the episode, we discuss the contents of the book, which as the title suggests is about Millie's complicated journey with alcohol, through a parenting lens. She is so wonderfully open about how alcohol negatively impacted her world, including her ability to parent. She also talks me through how she attempts to navigate disciplining her girls, which believe me I was taking notes on. It's a deeply personal and empowering episode, and whether she’s sharing her journey through motherhood, her love of fashion, or her passion for mental well-being, Millie’s authenticity, and insight shine through. Enjoy this last episode, thank you so much for your support, comments, DMs, and listens, and I'll be back to you next season with lots more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week is Katie Healy Nolan, whose life is chaotic but filled with gratitude, as she parents her five young children, ages 8 down to just six weeks. Her eldest child, her daughter Penelope, is living with a life-limiting illness and requires 24-hour care, with Katie provides, as she says herself "with a heart and a half". Katie and her husband Dave also parent their four boys, while advocating for the care their eldest needs. Penelope's illness is extremely rare and therefore isn't straightforward when it comes to accessing the supports she needs. Katie, through all of this, remains astoundingly positive, and is an absolute hero as far as I'm concerned, as she talks about how lucky and grateful she is to be able to have her family, and how a big family was always on the cards for both herself and her husband. Having survived the terrorist attack in the Bataclan in Paris back in 2015 which killed 130 people, Katie says her perspective on life is a little bit different and is grateful to have the choice to keep going, where so many others didn't and don't. A truly uplifting episode. Enjoy it, and I'll be back with the season finale next week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joining me for this week's episode is Lisa McHugh, an award-winning singer-songwriter and one of the brightest stars in Irish country music. Beyond her music, she’s also an entrepreneur, a proud mam of two, and a voice of positivity and empowerment for women. Her two children, Milo who is two and Hallie who is just five months, are the centre of her world, but her parenting path has thrown up some real challenges for Lisa. After Hallie was born, Lisa spent ten days in hospital with her brand new daughter in the NICU, where she couldn't see Milo and couldn't cuddle her newborn as she was hooked up to a CPAP machine. Hallie's health had another challenge just recently too, and another stint in hospital was required. But through it all, Lisa remains positive, while also being honest about how hard is has been for her and her family. With her own parents in Glasgow, where Lisa was born, she says that having a break or some downtime isn't something she can remember having in recent memory. All of this, and a full-on career as a musician means that Lisa is my new inspiration! I hope you enjoy listening this week, and I'll be back with more next week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week is the incredible Anna Geary, broadcaster, author and former All Ireland medal-winning camogie player. Anna is a national treasure, a wellness advocate and an inspiration to to others, and she's also a mum of one – her little boy Ronan is 16 months old and as Anna says, changed her life for the better. This episode was the definition of sitting with a cup of tea with your mam friend and just having the chats. We talked about the pressure to 'perform' for want of a better term, when it comes to parenting, we talk about comparison online and how detrimental it can be, while also being a valuable resource, and how those few minutes a day you can take for yourself are critical when it comes to being a better parent. Anna and I have a lot in common, we discovered, when it comes to our love of lists, our love of structure and our sanity hingeing on whether our child is sleeping well – and we have both found, to our dismay, that children don't come with a rulebook, and the certainly don't give two hoots about your best laid plans. It was so great to hear someone as successful and lovely as Anna say that actually, we're all just winging it. Enjoy this episode, and I'll be back soon with more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week is Rachel Ivie, someone I'm certain lots of you will follow online for her style and outfit ideas. Rachel is a fashion influencer, almost by accident, having started her outfit posts during Covid when she wasn't working at her other job as a primary school teacher. She's also a mother of two, as if there wasn't enough going on. We talk about parental leave helping to ease the pressure on parents, we talk about whether or not your child is ready for school, and about how she chose not to go down the 'parenting content' route when she had her two children, now 4 and 2. I also tried to plug her for discipline advice, given that she's a teacher and the mother of a little girl around the same age as mine – but it turns out, 3 and 4 year old little girls are beyond discipline. Which is just great news altogether for parents listening! It was a great chat, Rachel straight away acknowledged that support is the only way to cope with the 'balance' in parenting and working, and I know so many of you will get something from listening. Back next week with more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, I chatted to the incredible Deirdre McDonagh, a social worker who founded Five Rivers Fostering over 22 years ago. I knew very little about fostering at the start of our conversation, so I was coming to this topic with mostly questions, and Deirdre was certainly the right person to ask. We talked about the basic types of fostering, from emergency care to longer term fostering that might result in adoption, we talked about what circumstances might arise that would cause a child to be in need of all the various types of foster care, and we talk about the amazing families who selflessly take children who are in need into their homes and give them the two things they need most: Love and safety. I personally wanted to ask Deirdre how her heart isn't endlessly broken seeing the children leave their families, for whatever number of reasons, often not really wanting to leave but having no choice for their own safety – it really is a heroic thing to do to foster a child and I hope that after listening to this episode, anyone considering it might feel empowered to start the process. Thanks for listening, I'll be back with more next week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.