Motherness
Skye Ross
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Top 10 Motherness Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Motherness episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Motherness for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Motherness episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
07/28/20 • 66 min
This week's episode of Motherness is proudly sponsored by Noopii, a New Zealand and women-owned Social Enterprise company making premium eco-luxe nappies and pants that are non-toxic, chemical-free and made with Manuka Hydrosol - a world first. Use the code MOTHERNESS10 to receive 10% off Noopii storewide.
Today's guest is Amy Fraser, a mum who suddenly became a single mother at five months pregnant and uprooted from New York City to move home to New Zealand to have her son.
Today, we talk through that experience in detail and the beginning of her journey as a mother to her son. An initiation that she herself says was traumatic on many accounts but also a time of letting go, moving forward and becoming an even better version of herself than before. While Amy is pretty frank in discussing the emotional turbulence of this time for her, she’s somehow also gracious in acknowledging that the hardships of motherhood are real for all of us.
You’ll hear in this episode that Amy truly is resilience personified and ultimately, that she is a shining example that a mother's love can and will transcend anything.
She is a true heroine. She is wahine toa. This is her story of The Fourth Trimester.
Thank you again to Noopii for sponsoring this week's episode. Visit the Motherness Instagram account to enter our giveaway for a carton of Noopii nappies.
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In this episode, I speak with Kelsey Tatton-Brown, a beautiful listener who has recently moved through her first Fourth Trimester experience and offered to share her unique story with us all.
Kelsey speaks of her HELLP Syndrome diagnosis following her code red emergency c-section where her son Boston was delivered while she was under a general anaesthetic. We talk about their first moments, her breastfeeding and pumping experience, her approach to sleep, how having a newborn and such a traumatic birth has affected her relationship, and a recent trip to the hospital for a UTI where Boston was falsely diagnosed with COVID-19. Much of our conversation, however, is dedicated to discussing Kelsey’s slow bonding experience with her son and her heightened emotions during her entry to motherhood. In this, she talks through the various experiences she attributes these feelings to, such as her birth and a previous miscarriage. I don’t know Kelsey personally, but I love and appreciate the rawness of our conversation today and how kind she seems to be to both herself and her family who she loves so dearly. So, thank you, Kelsey, for joining me.
Just a warning before we begin: today’s episode mentions pregnancy loss and depression so if any of these things are triggering for you, please take care while you’re listening. If you’re worried about your own mental health or that of someone you love, visit mentalhealth.org.nz or call 0800 LIFELINE to seek support.
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In this episode, I speak with Nic Winslade, who is known on Instagram as Virgin Mum. Nic is a mother-of-two to son Marlo and daughter Blair, and today we chat through both of her Fourth Trimester experiences, including her birth stories, postpartum, all the lessons she learned along the way, and the wisdom that comes with being a second-time mum.
We cover her reflux experience with son Marlo, her thoughts about society’s sleep expectations for newborns, the transition from one-to-two, her contrasting breastfeeding journeys, and her trying physical recovery with a rectal prolapse which she recounts with the honesty and hilarity she’s loved for.
Nic also talks of the miscarriage she had between her two children and how leaving the emotions of this experience undealt with affected her bonding with daughter Blair later on. It's also what she attributes to her postnatal depletion.
Like Nic says throughout, when it comes to being a mum, especially with a baby, we just want to know that what we’re going through is normal and temporary, so I hope you find comfort in our conversation today if that’s what you’re seeking. Amongst the honesty, there's a lot of laughs about the realities of motherhood which many of us will be familiar with!
Just a warning before we begin: today’s episode contains strong language and mentions postnatal depression and pregnancy loss so if any of these things are triggering for you, please take care while you’re listening. If you’re worried about your own mental health or that of someone you love, visit mentalhealth.org.nz or call 0800 LIFELIFE to seek support.
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04/14/20 • 80 min
In this episode, I speak with my beautiful friend and mother of two, Sarah Murray. Sarah recalls her fast, natural birth with her son Rafferty and the love bubble she was in when he first arrived. She then goes on to share how she navigated the coming weeks with her father unwell from a long battle with cancer, and his eventual passing when her son was just under four weeks old. Sarah reflects on what it was like juggling all of the trials that come with having a newborn baby, alongside her grief and sadness from the loss of her dad.
We then talk about her daughter, Sloane's birth and her arrival into the world via emergency c-section as a premature baby at just 33 weeks gestation. Sarah opens up about what life was like when Sloane was in SCBU at North Shore Hospital and later when she was brought home. We talk in-depth throughout the episode about each of her breastfeeding experiences, and the importance Sarah puts on sleep and sleep training from the outset. Sarah also shares her experience with feeling mum guilt as she navigated grief and having a newborn, and later, her feelings about her daughter’s early entrance and trying first months in the world.
This episode is incredibly emotional. I asked a lot of Sarah for this, so thank you, Sarah. You are one of the strongest, bravest and most gracious woman I know. I hope that we can all have a little more compassion and understanding of life, love and loss after listening to your story.
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05/29/21 • 54 min
In today's episode I'm joined by my Vedic Meditation teacher, Georgia Vavasour. We discuss how the practice works, the science behind this technique, and exactly why it’s so restorative, healing and calming for mums especially. Adaptation energy up, reactivity down. If you’re craving more calm, listening to this episode may be exactly what you need. You’re exactly where you’re meant to be.
For a list of upcoming intro talks and Vedic Meditation courses, visit Georgia's website.
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In today’s episode, I speak with the incredibly knowledgeable Caitlin Day, mum of one and a qualified women's, men's and pelvic health physio. She goes by The Vagina Physio on Instagram so that says it all really - we talk about vaginas.. a lot. But we also go over c-section recovery, sex after birth, returning to exercise and above all else, what ideal postnatal recovery looks like. Therefore, we also cover what lies outside of that as pelvic floor issues, such as prolapse, vaginal tightness, abdominal separation, and discomfort during sex. We go into detail about pessaries too.
You’ll quickly discover from our chat that despite it often being regarded as such, leakage or pain 'down there' doesn’t have to be your new normal, but it is really common. My hope for anyone listening to this conversation is that if you feel like something’s not right ‘down there’ that my chat with Caitlin makes you feel at ease and empowered to take your pelvic health into your own hands and consult a physio. I’m 12 months postpartum and I’ve booked in to see Caitlin myself, so even if you, like me, don’t think you have any issues, consider this permission (not that you really need it but sometimes it’s nice to be reminded) to put yourself first and get your pelvic floor checked by a professional.
This episode is not sponsored, I reached out to Caitlin myself. If you'd like to book in for a postpartum pelvic health consultation with her, visit www.innercorephysio.co.nz and keep an eye out on Instagram to hear when Cailtin's new physio and pilates studio, Unity Studios will be open.
Thanks so much, Caitlin!
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Meg Raynor / premature twins, NICU, c-section recovery, breastfeeding holiday, bonding, matrescence
Motherness
03/03/20 • 55 min
In this episode, I speak with Meg Raynor, mum to twin boys Cooper and Theo. Meg openly details her experience with having an emergency c-section when her waters unexpectedly broke at her chiropractor appointment at 31 weeks pregnant. Due to her gestation, she was sent by ambulance to Waikato hospital as she couldn't birth at Tauranga Hospital for the boys were too early.
She shares what it was like having her babies spend two weeks in NICU at Waikato hospital and another six weeks at SCBU in Tauranga Hospital, including what it was like day-in and day-out of having babies in care, being discharged from hospital for the first time without her babies going with her, hand expressing and pumping for her babies for weeks on end, the nerves she felt around breastfeeding for the first time and the milestones the boys needed to reach to go home.
We cover what life was like when they got home in terms of sleep and feeding, and how Meg had a 'breastfeeding holiday' to mimic cluster feeding in order to get the boys breastfeeding from her exclusively and eliminating bottles for top-up feeds of her pumped milk. She speaks candidly about her gradual bonding experience with the boys and how having twins has been for her relationship. Meg also touches on how she feels about her postpartum body, especially in light of her difficulties with restrictive eating and over-exercising in the past, and how she recovered physically from her c-section after consulting a postpartum physio.
When listening to Meg, you’ll hear that despite her considerate, gentle demeanor, when it comes to her babies she’s always been fiercely protective, but in the same sense, I really appreciate her honesty about how she feels when reflecting on her Fourth Trimester. I won’t spoil it for you but I think many of us will echo Meg’s sentiments even if your journey looks different to hers.
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06/29/21 • 37 min
This mini-series is proudly brought to you in partnership with Haven A2 Protein Toddler Milk Drink.
In this episode, I speak with clinical nutritionist and mother of four, Gina Urlich about her own feeding journeys with her babies, as well as how she thinks about formula and breast milk from an expert standpoint. We discuss the differences between the two types of milk, how you can best support your baby’s gut health in their first year of life, and how we can continue to make headway on breaking down the toxicity of formula feeding culture while still promoting breastmilk as the ‘gold standard’.
To work with Gina or her team, visit her website. You can dowload her e-book on introducing solids here too.
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Māmā & Milk: Haley Hall / cleft lip & palate baby, exclusive pumping, formula feeding, surgery
Motherness
06/22/21 • 52 min
This mini-series is proudly brought to you in partnership with Haven A2 Protein Toddler Milk Drink.
Content Warning: This episode discusses anxiety. If this theme is triggering for you, please take care while you’re listening.
In this episode, I speak with mother of one, Haley Hall about her motherhood journey with her daughter, Cerys. During her pregnancy, Haley was told that Cerys had a cleft lip and palate so today we discuss what it was like receiving that diagnosis, how their first year has been in terms of breastfeeding, pumping, formula feeding, and their surgery experience. This is a beautiful episode that Haley and I both hope will bring more awareness to cleft cuties like Cerys.
For mental health support:
- Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Aotearoa
- depression.org.nz or 0800 111 757
- Mental Health Foundation
- Parent Help - 0800 568 856
- Anxiety Phone Line - 0800 269 4389
- PlunketLine - 0800 933 922
- For a referral to Maternal Mental Health please contact your midwife or GP
- Mental Health Crisis services (for emergencies only)
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08/04/20 • 53 min
This episode of Motherness is proudly sponsored by Advanced Health Chiropractic.
Today’s guest, Katie Pritchard is a practicing chiropractor and owner of Advanced Health Chiropractic, nestled in the beautiful West Auckland.
Together with husband Ash, and their team including 6 chiropractors, Advanced Health is a wellness-based, family practice which has the pleasure of nurturing whole families from birth onwards. Their sole purpose is to set strong foundations for connected, thriving families so that their community can experience the ripple effects of living an amazing, healthy life.
With this in mind, the team is trained to support pregnant mothers throughout their journey as they best prepare their bodies for new life and birth. Like you would nurture the environment of a beautiful garden in order for it to flourish, a child is best prepared for growth, development, and connection from the moment they receive their first adjustment.
In this episode, Katie and I talk in-depth about how seeing a chiropractor throughout pregnancy and postpartum can support not only you and your little one but the holistic health of your entire family. We go back to basics, discussing exactly what a chiropractor does, what an adjustment looks and feels like for each of you, the science behind the practice, and the myriad of benefits for both mum and baby in terms of feeding, sleep, colic, reflux, mental health and so much more.
Thank you so much again to Advanced Health Chiropractic for sponsoring this week’s episode of Motherness.
Advanced Health are kindly welcoming anyone from the Motherness community to have an initial consult at a reduced rate of $95 for an adult, and $55 for a child – which are usually $185 and $75 respectively. Simply mention this episode of Motherness when making your booking enquiry.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Motherness have?
Motherness currently has 48 episodes available.
What topics does Motherness cover?
The podcast is about Breastfeeding, Health & Fitness, Parenting, Sleep, Kids & Family, Baby, Motherhood, Mental Health, Pregnancy, Podcasts, Newborn and Birth.
What is the most popular episode on Motherness?
The episode title 'Māmā & Milk: Haley Hall / cleft lip & palate baby, exclusive pumping, formula feeding, surgery' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Motherness?
The average episode length on Motherness is 59 minutes.
How often are episodes of Motherness released?
Episodes of Motherness are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Motherness?
The first episode of Motherness was released on Feb 4, 2020.
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