Fertility Life Raft

Chloe Brotheridge is the Anxiety Expert. We talk about lots of different ways we can approach the kind of anxiety that might show up when we're in the middle of waiting for a result; in between cycles of treatment...or just in general. Chloe has been featured in Women’s Health, Glamour, Stylist; she has two books out and coaches people to help them become calmer versions of themselves. We reference (among other stuff!): thefeelingswheel.com TRE (trauma release exercises) Using 'Shaking' as a way to release tension The 5 Minute Journal Transcendental Meditation Books: Eckhart Tolle's 'A New Earth' Byron Katie 'Your Inner Awakening' And I also give a shout out to Nicola Salmon from Fat Positive Fertility. Enjoy this value-packed Life Raft episode!! Please do rate, review and share if you can, EVERY single piece of feedback is so valued and appreciated. Thank you for listening! Alice x FIND CHLOE: https://www.calmer-you.com/ Instagram @chloebrotheridge Podcast: The Calmer You Plus Chloe's books: The Anxiety Solution and Brave New Girl I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hi guys! We're just a few days away from Fertility Week and I share a bit about the BBC work I've been creating and working on behind the scenes in this episode; I also share a wonderful, open and honest conversation with Kate Meakin. Kate and her husband Phil are trying to have their second child while going through unimaginably trying circumstances after Phil was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour. We cover the difficult assumptions made for anyone experiencing infertility after already having a child; why Kate hosts her brilliant weekly fashion and style hashtag with Keeley (#wednesdaywewear and @_tryingtobeamum_) and how she gets through the really, really hard days. We also talk about this problem: 'we measure the ability to be compassionate to people with how much they’ve been through; we just need to recognise, it’s relative." I couldn't agree more with this, but would love to hear your thoughts too? Have a listen and get in touch to let me know; share with your friends and do leave a review or a rating. Each and every one means the world. I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here. Thank you! Alice x

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trigger warning: we talk in quite a lot of detail about miscarriage and the reality of it. Please don't listen if you don't feel able to at this point. Emily is also mum to Arthur and pregnant at the time of recording, so we talk a little bit about her pregnancy too as well as mental health. My old school friend and I, Emily Merry, sat down and talked all about her journey - we cover a lot. Pre-natal depression, miscarriage, anxiety and a mental health breakdown. We cry, we laugh and we both hope that by doing sharing this conversation between two old pals, we can help to take part in baby loss awareness week, world mental health day and of course, my 'forever mission'...to help connect and normalise fertility issues. My grateful thanks to my incredibly strong friend for allowing me to share her story. If you need support, please seek it out: Emily found it through the Samaritans; you can also contact Tommy's, Fertility Network and always reach out online. I also talk about a new mental health and fertility campaign from the fabulous @laurenifen and @bee_dreams launching on World Mental Health Day 10.10.19. I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I had an amazing time chatting to Sara from IVF Babble; an online magazine which also runs a charity, Babble Giving. They do incredible work linking up with fertility clinics to organise free rounds of IVF; have an established, thriving online community as well as their IVF Stronger Together campaign (backed by the likes of Fearne Cotton and Holly Willoughby) this powerhouse team are making huge impact in the fertility world. Sara and I chat about everything from what it was like to meet Donald Trump (!), her own fertility journey, guardian angels and more. I also share one of the exercises from my mindset course and read out an email from a listener with a positive tale (not a BFP) which I hope will offer encouragement to you when it feels like nothing is going your way...there just might be something you can do to swing the pendulum back in your favour. If you want to get in touch with this listener, her Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/tryingtomakeusthree/ We also reference Fertility Fest which you can find more out about here: https://www.fertilityfest.com/ IVF Babble can be found here https://www.ivfbabble.com/ I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Zoe Williams and I had such a great chat about all things fertility; her own personal story; the problem with getting GPs to take fertility issues seriously and how we can be brave enough to take opportunities when they come knocking. Such an inspirational woman! I also share more about the new Tommy's campaign, #tellmewhy which is pushing for further pregnancy research. 82% of women worry it was something they might have done wrong after a miscarriage, stillbirth or going through premature labour. 71% are not told why their baby died. Funding is crucial for further pregnancy research, to find out why loss happens, start preventing it, and save more babies. Giovanna Fletcher and Dr. Brooke Vandemolen told me why they're supporting it. Please see www.tommys.org for more (and contact them if you have been through this yourself and need support). I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here. x

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Honoured to share three women, Nicole Val, Jocelyn Bell and Mel Johnson at different stages of their journey into becoming mothers with the help of science, by themselves. I wanted to respond to news that an NHS body has banned single women from accessing IVF stating research which included phrases like 'single mothers are a burden on society' and a " sole woman is unable to bring out the best outcomes for the child.” I hope by sharing a snapshot from a different perspective...i.e one from those actually doing it; we can start to appreciate how incredibly strong, capable and absolutely fantastic these sorts of women are. As always I would love to hear from you so please do get in touch on Instagram @thisisalicerose, email me [email protected] and share, rate, review subscribe allllll the good stuff!! Thank you so much! With grateful thanks to my guests and if you'd like to find them, here are their Instagram handles: Nicole @nicole_val Jocelyn @motheringsolo Mel @the_stork_and_i I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hannah and Lewis Vaughan Jones are both broadcast journalists with the most beautiful speaking voices! They've been through 15 rounds of IVF and after mentally moving onto double donor conception, their last FET with their own embryo worked and they are currently pregnant. We had such a juicy, honest, funny but frank conversation about relationships, the problems with the ‘staying positive’ and ‘never give up’ mentality; how they feel about the ‘just adopt’ comment; their vastly different approaches to everything (and how they handled this and kept their relationship on track throughout it all)...and, as seems to be mandatory for series 2 of this pod, their dog Barry John also makes a guest appearance! I also share an extract from a lovely Guardian article (www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/20…fted-my-spirits); give a shout out to one of my lovely listeners and let you know what's coming up next time too. THANK YOU so much for listening. Every message, share and particularly rating or review means the world. Take care, Ax thisisalicerose.com @thisisalicerose I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elle Wright, author ('Ask Me His Name'), instagram queen and general excellent person speaks to me about her story so far from finding her way through the aftermath of losing her 3 day old baby, Teddy; a miscarriage after that, and the trials of trying to conceive via IVF since then. We cover all sorts and I've deliberately kept in most of our chat rather than edit it too much as...well, there's just too much to say! You can find Elle @feathering_the_empty_nest on Instagram and her book is available in all good bookshops. We also talk about the great support Tommy's the baby charity offer. I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I'm so excited to be finally bringing back my podcast! I've got a brand new name.. Fertility Life Raft (previously The TTC Life Raft) but the aim is the same: to make this experience just a tiny bit brighter. I've been lucky enough to speak to some amazing guests so far with more lined up and in this trailer you will hear from:

Elle Wright

Sara Marshall Page

Dr. Zoe Williams

Jocelyn Bell

Hannah and Lewis Vaughan Jones

Emily Merry

I hope these 5 minutes give you a little taster of what's to come...real stories; a laugh here and there; the odd expert - but crucially, deep understanding for what you're going through (or what you're supporting someone through). Come and find me on Instagram @thisisalicerose, subscribe so you don't miss an episode and join this pioneering community, for a new kind of fertility support. I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here. Take care x

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For this final episode in the series, I'm delighted to welcome back Cat Strawbridge (Instagram: @tryingyears) and Keeley Dwight (Instagram: @_tryingtobeamum_) who you will remember from Episode 1. We cover loads of issues here. All three of us are very honest and it does get a little emotional at times. I think these conversations are so important to have and I hope that by having them, we can make even stronger connections with each other; building each other up and supporting each other as much as we can. Cat "Trying to conceive is the hardest thing I have been through in my entire life…this pregnancy is the second hardest!" "I feel a bit awkward almost…I’m wary about what to say or do. I kind of feel like an outsider and it’s a strange transition" Keeley "You don’t have to biologically conceive a child to mother…I’m much more involved with my nephew and friends' kids – maybe because I’m aware that it might be the way that I mother…" "It’s really important to talk about mothers and being a mother…it’s about connections" I also share a personal story which really affected a close friendship in the middle of our first fertility struggle and how we got through it as well as a free and brilliant Life Raft Tool. Thank you for being with me throughout this series. Your messages, ratings and reviews mean the world. If you'd like to give me a Christmas present (!) please do let me know what you think of this episode, by rating it (if you liked it!) and subscribe to www.thisisalicerose.com . I’m running a free live event, Reclaiming You, on 21 April and 22 April for anyone trying to bring home a baby and finding themselves feeling lost; stuck in a ‘left behind’ mentality; exhausted and in comparison mode. Read more about it, to see if it’s suitable for you and join me by saving your space here. Take very good care, Alice xxx

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices