The Australian Mothers Group

Gabrielle is Mum to a 3 year old girl, Nellie and 9 month old girl, Maeve. Gabby fell pregnant unexpectedly when she was 25, which made that first pregnancy a huge life changer for both herself and her partner, Rhett. Isolation and anxiety led to Gabby struggling to find her confidence in her role as Mum. We talk about intrusive thoughts and the importance of having a community of support around you. Luckily she had another new mum, Emily, show up with a coffee and help her get out of the house and meet with her mother’s group! On a side note, Emily has also shared her incredible motherhood journey on a previous episode, which I highly recommend listening to. Gabby shares how she felt so lost and overwhelmed in motherhood that she wishes now she had the perspective of being truely present with her baby. She also shares the different experience getting pregnant and having her second baby - when it was actually planned - but also how lovely it is so share this with experience with Nellie and seeing what a great big sister she is.

On todays episode I speak to Jacqui who is Mum to 6 month old, Collins. With both Jacqui and her husband, Reece being semi-pro athletes, Jacqui shares how they balanced their commitment to sport and returning to the hockey scene post baby. We talk about the dynamics of establishing feeding and the great balance that they achieved with mixed feeding, which also allowed her husband to bond with baby. We discuss the hot topic of sleep! and the information overload when it comes to what to do and how to do it, alon with the unwanted comments and advice that is hard to ignore. Jacqui shares about addressing the unexpected mental load of motherhood and the strain that can put on relationships.  We talk about how sometimes we overthink or prepare for worst case scenario but that gets in the way of living and travelling with a baby. Through our conversation we realise our styles of parenting are really opposite but how awesome it is that parenting and lifestyle choices can be so different and yet still successful and rewarding.

On todays episode I speak to Hannah, who is Mum to 19 month old Tessa. Hannah's pregnancy was cut short when she was air lifted to Melbourne for an emergency c-section at 28 weeks due to severe pre-eclampsia which developed into HELLP syndrome - a rare but life threatening condition in pregnancy. It causes red cells in the blood to break down. It also causes problems with the liver, bleeding, and blood pressure. When Tessa was born at a tiny 829grams, she spent the next 2 months in NICU before moving into Special Care closer to home.  Once Hannah and Ryan could take their little girl home, life settled into a bit of normality with Tessa proving to be a great sleeper and a resilient wee kid. We talk about advocating for ourselves and our children as well as the expectations we either perceive or put onto ourselves as new Mums.  With a history of anxiety and depression, Hannah talks about the importance of prioritising mental health to make sure we are the best version of ourselves. Hannah and a friend were talking about Postpartum Depression and decided to do a fundraiser called Mums Matter - to shine a light on a very real aspect of parenting and create a space for women to feel heard and comfortable talking about their struggles. On September 9th they have organised a family fun day in the town of Quambatook, Victoria to raise awareness and funds for Dr Jean Hailes Foundation.  Mums Matter 2023 Event Info/Tickets Dr Jean Hailes Foundation  

On todays episode I speak to Kirsty, who is Mum to 2 beautiful little girls named Linley who is 15months and Asha who is 3 months old. We talk about Kirsty having pain and difficultly establishing breastfeeding with Linley but also how she is an absolute legend of a sleeper. Kirsty shares how she felt a massive sense of Loss of her identity - which is something I can really relate to. We then go on to talk about Kirsty falling pregnant again when Linley was only 3 months old and the concerning diagnosis of an umbilical cord valve failure resulting in too much blood being pumped to her unborn babies heart. Although Kirsty had an uneventful birth with Asha, it then led to a challenging two weeks with Asha undergoing lifesaving abdominal surgery at two days old and the identification of potential developmental issues in the future. Kirsty shares openly about the challenges of motherhood that people don’t talk about before hand and the critical support that is required during the fourth trimester. We talk about the importance of exercise and how that helped her process the challenging time postpartum. Kirsty’s Instagram- Raising 2 under 1

On todays episode I speak to Cassandra, who is mum to 20 month old, Sire. Cassandra shares her difficult birth experience, which included a lot of interventions across 5 painful days and resulted in significant birth trauma that has taken a long time to process. Her birth experience set Cassandra up for big hurdles for establishing breastfeeding, and with Sire being allergic to Dairy and Goats milk forumla, this put increased pressure on Mum.  Cassandra also mentions she experienced D-MER (Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex) which presented as waves of anxiety when feeding. Cassandra shares about how the sleep deprivation coupled with her birth trauma left her with Postnatal Depression.  Inlisting the help of a sleep consultant was a key step to improving Cassandra's mental health. Cassandra’s Audionce Podcast Management Instagram

On today’s episode, I speak to Emily who is Mum to 3 1/2 year old Daisy, and almost 2 year old, Polly. Emily shares how her relationship broke down shortly after the birth of Daisy so she had to come to terms with being a solo parent. Not long after Daisy was born, Emily felt so passionately about giving Daisy a sibling, she successfully found a sperm donor resulting in her second daughter being brought into the world. We talk about the challenges Emily establishing breastfeeding and the struggle of the two girls not being fantastic sleepers. Emily shares how overwhelming the mental load can be as a solo parent, and her creative approach to introducing the new baby to her toddler. Emily has created a really incredible business - The Love Mum Project - targeted at mums wanting to leave a legacy for their kids. The Love Mum Project

On todays episode I talk with Fiona who is mum to a 16 year old, 11 year old and an almost 9 year old. Fiona shares how her first birth experience left her disconnected from her baby and set her up for a really challenging feeding journey and first year of motherhood.  After multiple pregnancy losses, she went on to have a much more positive birth experience with her second and third. The journey Fiona went on to find healing for herself and her marriage was so significant, she has since become a specialist councillor in perinatal and trauma, and started her own successful practice where multiple councillors are working to support families. She talks about her struggle with mental load and how the age gap with her kids actually worked to her advantage. Fiona’s Counselling Website  Fiona’s Instagram The Birth Trauma Support Space A Seeking Support Checklist  

On todays episode I speak to Maddi who is Mum to Alby (almost 2!) and William (2 months). We talk in depth about losing control of decision making during her first pregancy and birth, as it became micromanaged by the medical system. This ended in an emergency cesarean and birth trauma for both herself and her husband. Maddi then tried to have a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) with her second but that didn't work out, resulting in another c-section. Maddi speaks about having to acknowledge her feelings of gender disappointment when she realised her second baby was a boy, and not the girl they thought they might be having. We talk about her living arrangements not being condusive to establishing good sleep for Alby and the resulting sleep deprevation being the hardest part of navigating motherhood. She also shares about her mental load and the transition from 1 to 2 kids.

On todays episode I speak to Beth, who is Mum to Belle (2.5) and Issac (5 months old). We speak about our positive birth experiences, including Beth's life-changing homebirth with Issac. Beth shares the difficulty she faced with managing her firstborns emotions when it came to introducing her to the new baby. We speak about postpartum rage, intrusive thoughts and the anxiety that occurs with motherhood, along with the different sleeping needs of her children and how she adapted her approach. Beth's Instagram Beth's Birth Rebel's Instagram Toddler Experts - Big Little Feelings Nicole Pates - Kids Physio

On todays episode I speak to Kat, who is a gorgeous first time Mum to 1 year old, Bodhi. Kat shares the story of her home birth which was a beautiful experience and fairly uncomplicated for both her and baby.  Kat is a Naturopath who specialises in sleep and anxiety, so we talk about Bodhi's sleeping journey and the challenges they have faced. Kat shares about her increased levels of anxiety and the importance of self care during postpartum life. Kat’s Naturopathy Website Kat’s Instagram