On Episode 7 we have mental health activist Caroline McMenamin, also known as The Red Dutchess on social media. Caroline has a degree in counselling and drama, a post grad in CBT and over 15 years of voluntary work and training. Caroline is also the founder of Replenish, a non-clinical mental health organisation aimed at educating, empowering and equipping individuals with the resources and support needed to manage their mental health. Caroline takes us on a journey from her OCD diagnosis to CBT training, and we cover mental health topics including anxiety, trauma, PTSD, relationship abuse and removing the stigma around seeking help or getting therapy. Caroline has a wonderful way with words, an incredibly insightful approach to dealing with clients and is truly passionate about helping people get better. Visit https://theothersideofperfect.com/
Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org
Replenish https://www.replenish.online/
Caroline McMenamin https://www.instagram.com/red_dutchess/

Caroline McMenamin talks OCD, and working with anxiety, trauma, PTSD and narcissism

The Other Side Of Perfect podcast takes a ‘filter free’ look at life outside the lens of social media. The show includes a variety of inspirational and well known guests covering a myriad of topics, including the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, relationships, body image and overall wellbeing. Joanne Larby has spent the past 7 years in the media industry, moving from make up artistry and teaching, to blogging and plus size modelling, she’s written a book, released her own beauty line and creates content on a daily basis, both for her own audience and other brands. The Other Side Of Perfect was listed by Apple as their 'Best Listens of 2019', and has reached No.1 in various categories on the iTunes and Spotify charts.

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Hello and welcome back to The Other Side Of Perfect. On today’s show I speak to the extremely creative and talented Emma Flynn, also known in the digital space as This Mama Doodles. Emma is a mum of three, artist, illustrator, writer and creator who’s words and imagery have touched the lives of mothers across the globe. Emma is also a maternal mental health advocate ,and to highlight Maternal Mental Health month, she is undoubtedly the person to have this conversation with.

Did you know 1 in 5 women experience mental health concerns during and after childbirth, but these symptoms go undetected and untreated. Common symptoms of mental health concerns can mirror typical postpartum symptoms, and include changes to weight, energy, sleep, libido, and emotions - which is why I feel it’s so hard for mothers to open up, reach out and ask for help.

During this episode, we cover candid subjects including mother-baby bonding, postpartum emotions, loss of identity, and relationship changes. Emma is wonderful at highlighting these struggles in such an honest and sensitive way on her own platform, and so I hope this discussion helps some of you feel less alone as we unite in the complexity that is motherhood.

This Mama Doodles https://thismamadoodles.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/this_mama_doodles/

Emma Flynn talks mother-baby bonding, postpartum emotions, loss of identity and relationship changes

On today's show I chat to the wonderful Katie Mugan, also known as Nursing Mama. Katie is a mum to 4, and nurse by profession; more specifically a Registered General Nurse, Paediatric Nurse , Public Health Nurse and Lactation Consultant who offers invaluable advice online for all feeding journeys. In this episode we discuss why our breastfeeding rates in Ireland are so low, the judgment and benefits surrounding extended feeding, weaning from feeding to sleep, breastfeeding for bonding, comfort, pain relief and beyond. We also cover the differences in baby sleep depending on whether you breast or bottle feed, supply and demand, cluster feeding, harvesting colostrum, expressing, combination, and of course formula feeding. This is a jam-packed episode that I hope offers the information needed to start a successful feeding journey. I always hoped to breastfeed, and after experiencing birth trauma it became even more important to me. As someone with a large following and online platform I think it's integral that we continue to advocate for, normalize and support breastfeeding. If you know anyone who is interested in breastfeeding, experiencing difficulties, or dealing with a feeding journey that didn’t go how they had hoped, perhaps you can share this conversation.  If you have any further questions, or topics we didn't have time to cover today, please send them on to info@theothersideofperfect.com, I'll also leave Katie's contact details below.

Katie Mugan https://nursingmama.ie/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nursingmama.ie

Katie Mugan talks breastfeeding benefits, facing judgment, baby sleep, and support for all feeding journeys

On today’s show I’m honored to have the founder of Solid Starts Jenny Best who is not only a baby-led weaning expert, she’s also a food and farming enthusiast on a mission to make it easier for families to introduce real food to their babies. I really wanted to include an episode covering everything you need to know when it comes to starting solids, which can be both an exciting and nerve-wracking phase of parenthood.  We did baby-led weaning alongside exclusively breastfeeding and I have to say it has been a really fantastic combination that worked for our family, and as a result, I’m eager to share more on the topic. Jenny is also a mother of 3 including a severe picky eater and twin toddlers and has openly shared her own vulnerable journey as a family navigating everything from reversing picky eating to dealing with the frightening world of allergies and the juggle that is being an extremely successful business woman and mother. Prior to launching Solid Starts Jenny led global communications at One Acre Fund and Slow Food USA, and was also a professional ballerina with the NYC ballet.  For those of you who may not be familiar, Solid Starts is a team of pediatric feeding experts and doctors and an incredibly invaluable database that has a loyal community of over 2.5 million. We have found their resources absolutely invaluable, whether it’s searching for certain foods, how and when to introduce them to River or dealing with the likes of allergies and constipation. I hope this conversation will be useful, whether you’re pregnant and intrigued by baby-led weaning, starting out on your own solids journey, or aiming to prevent or reverse picky eating. 

Jenny Best talks mom guilt, trusting your instincts, a solid start to weaning, preventing and reversing picky eating

Welcome back to a brand new series of The Other Side Of Perfect, with me your host Joanne Larby. I feel really passionately about so many of these conversations and admire each and every one of the wonderful guests we have lined up. We'll be covering loss of identity, postpartum depression, grief, fertility journeys, baby bliss, and relationship changes. If you’re an avid listener of the show and have bagel interest in parenthood or children, there are still some amazing stories and inspirational dialogue for you to enjoy. Some of these stories will pull at your heartstrings, bring on a belly laugh or divulge some really invaluable life advice we could all take something from. Our first guest, in celebration of World Down Syndrome Day is Gina Daly of The Daly Dish. Self-proclaimed cook who couldn’t cook, and now the author of 3 best-selling cookbooks, mother of 3 beautiful children, and online advocate for Down Syndrome. As a trigger warning guys, in this episode we cover topics like a missed miscarriage and dealing with a disability, so if you are going through something similar this may be a sensitive topic for you. That being said Gina is extremely sound, it’s a really fun, positive, joyful and glass-half-full kind of chat so I hope you enjoy.  The Daly Dish https://www.instagram.com/thedalydish/

Gina Daly talks loss, overcoming grief, food as a love language, and the wonderful side of having a child with Down Syndrome

Welcome back to a new series of The Other Side Of Perfect. I'm delighted to share a bonus episode with the wonderful Tracy Donegan. Tracy is a registered midwife, author and founder of the Gentle Birth app which so many of you recommended when I first announced my pregnancy. She's also an advocate for having a positive birth experience. On today’s show we discuss Hypnobirthing, each of the trimesters and what to expect, home birth, natural birth in the hospital, emergency and planned c-sections, VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) and breast feeding. 

Gentle Birth https://www.gentlebirth.com/
Sponsor https://www.cleancutmeals.ie/ 

Thank you to the sponsors of this episode and series, Ireland's leading meal prep provider, Clean Cut Meals, who are offering 15% off their meals if you use the code 'JOANNE15'.



Caroline McMenamin talks OCD, and working with anxiety, trauma, PTSD and narcissism

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