In this episode of Bits of Me, I talk to mammy and feminist Rebecca Flynn about her experience of losing a baby to a missed miscarriage a few years ago. She shares her experience of the maternity care system, the frustration of realising that a miscarriage does not always present the way she had thought it would, the jealousy when people around her started announcing their pregnancies, and the anxiety of a subsequent pregnancy. 

If you like Bits of Me, please subscribe on your choice of podcast platform and give it a quick review. You can follow the podcast on @bitsofme_podcast on Instagram or @bitsofme_pod on Twitter.    

Music: Ice and Snow by Icreage, licensed by Soundstripe.

In this episode of Bits of Me, I talk to Elisha Clarke, a professional photographer and new mother, whose birth didn't go quite as she had expected. When we talk, Elisha's son Will is just over six months old, and Elisha is still dealing with the implications of an episiotomy and forceps birth and subsequent 3C tear, sphincter rupture and post-natal depression. 

On Elisha's Instagram page, you'll find not just photographs of cute babies and gorgeous couples, but also some really honest and informative stories in her highlights, detailing her own experience of pregnancy, birth and recovery. If you know anyone who's struggling after giving birth, do tell them about this episode, and about Elisha's account.

You can help to spread the word about Bits of Me by rating, reviewing and subscribing on your choice of podcast platform, and of course by sharing it and telling other people about it. Follow the podcast on @bitsofme_podcast on Instagram or @bitsofme_pod on Twitter.  

Music: Ice and Snow by Icreage, licensed by Soundstripe.

In her book, Vagina: A Re-Education, Irish-born author and journalist Lynn Enright busts a range of myths surrounding the vagina and vulva in an aim to educate and empower readers and shed light on the sometimes shocking, enraging reality of living with a womb and navigating the healthcare system while doing so. In this episode of Bits of Me, I talk to Lynn about facing periods as a young woman raised in Ireland, where she was told in school not to use tampons; about having her experience of pain minimised by healthcare practitioners when she went in for a hysteroscopy in London; about awkward hymens and the myths surrounding this piece of tissue, and much more. 

The book Lynn mentions in this episode is Alyson J. McGregor's Sex Matters: How Male-Centric Medicine Endangers Women's Health — and What We Can Do About It. You can follow Lynn on @lynnenright on Instagram or the same on Twitter, and read more about her work on www.lynnenright.com. 

You can help to spread the word about Bits of Me by rating, reviewing and subscribing on your choice of podcast platform, and of course by sharing it and telling other people about it. Follow the podcast on @bitsofme_podcast on Instagram or @bitsofme_pod on Twitter.

Music: Ice and Snow by Icreage, licensed by Soundstripe.

This episode of Bits of Me comes with a trigger warning for sexual coercion and abuse, as Kate Brayden shares her journey of living with pelvic pain, struggling to find health care practitioners who would take her seriously, and saving up huge amounts of money for trips to London, Washington and Zürich to see specialists in the hope that they might be able to help her. In addition to the reality of living with polycystic ovary syndrome, fibromyalgia, endometriosis and congenital neuroproliferative vestibulodynia, Kate shares her experiences of painful sex and an abusive, traumatising relationship.

The book Kate mentions in this episode is Andrew Goldstein's When Sex Hurts: A Woman's Guide to Banishing Sexual Pain. You can follow Kate on @katebrayden on Instagram, and there are plenty of articles on women's health written by her for publications such as Hotpress, Shemazing and GCN available online.

You can help spread the word about Bits of Me by rating, reviewing and subscribing on your choice of podcast platform. Follow the podcast on @bitsofme_podcast on Instagram or @bitsofme_pod on Twitter.

Music: Ice and Snow by Icreage, licensed by Soundstripe.

In this episode of Bits of Me, I’m talking to sex educator and mother of three, Sarah Sproule. Sarah experienced urinary incontinence and recurring UTIs after her second birth, a VBAC (vaginal birth after Caesarean section) with epidural and subsequent catheter. We talk about what it’s like to feel alone in your experience, the shame many of us feel around the choices we make during labour, and the effects of living with urinary incontinence on intimacy, sex, and body image.

If you want to read about Sarah’s work of helping parents to have difficult conversations with their children, you can find her website here. She’s also on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

You can help spread the word about Bits of Me by rating, reviewing and subscribing on your choice of podcast platform. Follow the podcast on @bitsofme_podcast on Instagram or @bitsofme_pod on Twitter. 

Music: Ice and Snow by Icreage, licensed by Soundstripe.

#bitsofmepod #incontinence #childbirth #urinaryincontinence #postbirthsex #sexafterchildbirth #womenshealth #womensbodies

Trailer for Bits of Me - the podcast about women's bodies, all the things we should know about them, and all the stories behind them. 

Host: Linnea Dunne. First episode coming soon.

Music: Ice and Snow by Icreage, licensed by Soundstripe.