In this episode, we sit down with Hannah Hagon, founder and author of Unplugged Tots, to talk about something every parent is navigating — screen time. We explore what screen use is actually displacing in our children's development, why not all screen time is the same, and how the real goal isn't banning screens but building an intentional relationship with them. Hannah shares the stats, the research, and the story of how a Raspberry Pi festival with her two- and four-year-old daughters led to a book that's changing how families think about play, tech and childhood.

In this episode, we sit down with Dr Fareeha Rizvi, an endocrinologist and obesity specialist, alongside obstetrician Dr Fiona, to explore what modern medicine now understands about obesity - and why so much of what we've been told needs revisiting.

We explore why obesity is a chronic disease and not a character flaw, what the latest GLP-1 medications can and can't do, how to think about weight before and after pregnancy, and why sleep, nutrition, and resistance training are just as much part of the picture as any injection.

Gestational diabetes affects around one in four pregnancies globally - yet it's one of the most under-discussed conditions in women's health.

Many women receive a diagnosis with little context for what it actually means, not just for their pregnancy, but for the next decade of their health. In this episode, we're joined by Dr Fareeha Rizvi - consultant diabetologist, endocrinologist, and a widely recognised authority in diabetes care - alongside Dr Fiona, consultant obstetrician leading diabetes and pregnancy care in East London.

Together, we explore what gestational diabetes really signals, why its long-term risks are so routinely underestimated, and what the window around pregnancy makes possible if it's taken seriously. We get into what diet and lifestyle changes can realistically achieve, when medication becomes the right conversation, how clinicians tailor care to the individual woman in front of them, and what postnatal follow-up should - but often doesn't - look like.

In this episode, we sit down with Dale Atkinson - former finance professional, cancer patient, writer, and founder - to talk about resilience and hope in the face of extraordinary adversity. In the space of a few weeks in late 2024, Dale received a terminal stage four cancer diagnosis, lost his mother, and found himself holding his family together while his partner recovered from her own cancer surgery. We talk about what it actually feels like to be in that place, how Dale found the motivation to push through it, and the remarkable journey that followed - from researching thousands of medical papers to building his own complementary protocol alongside standard care. We also talk about family, about how to have honest conversations with very young children about serious illness.

Dale's story is not a motherhood story. But it speaks directly to something we believe at The Motherhood Clinic: that motherhood doesn't happen in isolation. The health and wellbeing of any family member - mothers, fathers, parents, children - all of it lands on the family unit. The themes running through Dale's story - being thrown into something you couldn't prepare for, holding yourself together so you can hold everyone else together, and finding hope when the road ahead is uncertain - will feel deeply familiar to anyone navigating a hard season of family life.

In this episode, we welcome back Alexa Starks for the second part of our conversation about returning to work after maternity leave. Last time we talked about the leap from zero to one - this time we get into the shift from one to two kids, which Alexa describes as the harder transition by far.

We explore what happens to your identity when you go from "me with a baby" to full parenting mode, why the mental load doesn't just double but multiplies, and what it actually looks like to grieve the freedoms you've lost while finding ways to evolve into the version of yourself that fits today. Alexa shares what helped her - from an honest conversation with her husband to protecting just one hour a week for herself - and why rushing to figure it all out at three months postpartum is a trap.

You planned the birth. You researched the pregnancy. But what about the bit after?

We talk with Alexa Starks, founder of Executive Moms, about what it really takes to return to work after your first baby. Alexa shares her own story of going into spontaneous labour with no handoff plan, coming back to a manager who said nothing, and figuring out the hard way that maternity leave is something you can actually plan for.

We get into why most first-time mums don't prepare for the return, how to advocate for what you need at work when you're sleep-deprived and postpartum, and the identity shift that quietly starts when you become a mother.

In this second conversation with Kathryn Lovewell, we get practical. Having explored the inner critic in our first episode, we turn to what it actually looks like to respond to yourself with kindness - not as a concept, but as a daily practice.

We explore why self-compassion isn't self-indulgence but a genuine shift in how your mind and body function, why isolation quietly amplifies the critical voice, and how the pressure to look like you're coping - from social media, from visitors, from the health visitor's form - makes it harder to ask for the help you actually need.

Kathryn also walks us through the Three-Step Booster Break: a simple, repeatable practice you can do in seconds, wherever you are.

In this first of two conversations with Kathryn Lovewell, self-compassion coach and founder of the Kind Mind Academy, we explore the inner critic — that background voice so many of us have learned to tune out, or worse, accept as truth.

This episode is about awareness: understanding what that voice is, where it comes from, and why it tends to get louder in motherhood. We get into why trying to silence it may be the wrong approach entirely, the difference between constructive self-criticism and the kind that quietly erodes us, and what the science actually says about how we motivate ourselves best.

In part two, Kathryn returns with practical tools and everyday techniques for responding to that voice differently - and building a more self-compassionate inner world.

Resources:

Kathryn Lovewell – Kind Mind Academy: www.kindmindacademy.com

The Voices in My Head – Kathryn Lovewell (children's book)

Once you know the risk, what do you actually do with that information? In this episode, we get into the practical side of managing blood pressure after birth — from how often to monitor, which devices to trust, and what the numbers mean, to the limits of wearables and where the science is heading.

We also explore why cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer of women worldwide, how systemic bias in medical research has shaped the care women receive, and what a more connected, personalised postnatal system could look like. We close with something more personal — what a better start to motherhood actually feels like, in the words of two clinicians who've been through it themselves.

Resources mentioned

• Stride BP – Validated blood pressure devices for pregnancy: https://stridebp.org
• Action on Preeclampsia – UK charity for preeclampsia and blood pressure in pregnancy: https://action-on-pre-eclampsia.org.uk
• Preeclampsia Foundation – US-based resources and information: https://www.preeclampsia.org
• MEGI Health – FemTech startup focused on women's cardiovascular health: https://megihealth.com
• FIGO Pregnancy Passport – Tool for tracking pregnancy health information
• NHS 10-Year Plan – Healthcare transformation strategy

One in ten pregnant women develops high blood pressure during pregnancy — but what happens after the baby arrives is where the system too often falls short.

In this episode, we explore why postnatal hypertension is one of the most commonly missed windows in maternal care, how it can present silently with no obvious symptoms, and why the grey zone of responsibility after discharge leaves so many women without the support they need. We also talk about what it actually feels like to navigate this as a new mother, and why knowing the signs and advocating for yourself can make a real difference.

Resources mentioned:

• Stride BP – Validated blood pressure devices for pregnancy: https://stridebp.org

• Action on Preeclampsia – UK charity for preeclampsia and blood pressure in pregnancy: https://action-on-pre-eclampsia.org.uk

• Preeclampsia Foundation – US-based resources and information: https://www.preeclampsia.org
• MEGI Health – FemTech startup focused on women's cardiovascular health: https://megihealth.com
• FIGO Pregnancy Passport – Tool for tracking pregnancy health information
• NHS 10-Year Plan – Healthcare transformation strategy