Her Herd

This is the chat to listen to if you’re a rural woman in health. It’s amazing how one experience can change the trajectory of the rest of your career. This is what happened for Jess. A rural physio her whole career took a sharp turn left when she herself needed support and didn’t know where to find it. Fueled by this it is Jess passion to support rural women in pregnancy and birth. I love the way Jess talks about problem solving and supporting rural communities, she doesn’t talk about quick fixes or rescuing people, she talks about slow consider approaches, with both face to face and telehealth options. 

So how did this all come about? See as Jess explains, she fell pregnant as a complete surprise, and she hadn’t given a lot of thought to pregnancy or birth, let alone postpartum or what even a postpartum injury could look like. Jess takes us through her first birth and what happened after. She explains so accurately what she experienced and the signs and symptoms that something wasn’t right. 

Unexpectedly Jess and I talk about how it is to be a rural clinician and patient in the same community, how to advocate for yourself, and what you can do in subsequent pregnancies if you feel something didn’t go right in the first. I laughed so much with Jess and could have spoken to her for hours. 

Thank you so much Jess for highlights birth injuries and trauma, and for continuing to support rural women in their pregnancy and birth journeys. If you have listened to Jess and feel like you too need support, you can find her on her socials @ruralwomensphysio or via her website: https://www.theruralwomensphysio.com

For anyone in the herd who have loved this chat, we promise with many exciting things on the horizon that this is not the last you will see or hear from her!

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Lighting the way is a charity born out of necessity. Like most amazing creative solutions, it was the lived experience of founder Claire Brett (you can listen to Claire’s remarkable story in S1E3) that launch the incredible charity that is lighting the way.

Lighting the way offers bereaved women free counseling, lactation, and chiropractic support. From humble begins Claire understands deeply the lack of support out there for rural women who have suffered a loss, and it is this that has driven her to bring together some the region’s best clinicians and fundraiser to be able to provide allied health services. 

Thank you, Claire, for continuing to be the creative solution for rural women. 

If you would like to support lighting the way and the work they do, please follow the link below. https://www.instagram.com/_lightingtheway_/

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We were so incredibly lucky recently to be able to catch-up with one half of the Paeds First Aid Sarah, who generously talked us through what drives her and her Co-Director Grace to deliver expert, no fuss direct evidence driven skills, training and knowledge to rural families.  See Sarah and Grace are both PICU nurses, and when they moved from the city to the country, they saw an incredible gap in support for rural families. So, they did what any/every rural woman does with the skills and knowledge to help her community, they became the creative solution.

Paeds First Aid not only offers infant and child first aid for families, but they also offer it for schools, and childcare settings. They have first aid kits which are labelled (thank gosh, because I would easily get this wrong) and are about the add a medication chart and guide. In addition to all of this, these incredible women are now supporting families with complex medical needs on the discharge home. As Sarah explains “families often are bombarded with medical procedures they must perform to support their children’s health, then they are also required to up-skill any support staff and school in this knowledge, that’s when we step in”. Holding space for families with ongoing complex needs is clearly a passion for Sarah, you can hear it when she talks about the work.

Overall, what we really love about Paed first aid is that they offer fear/anxiety free content for families to engage, in to educate themselves, to learn. As Sarah herself states, “We are driven by every crumpled parent at the bedside of their very unwell child”. They have held space for these families, cared for them, they know their journey, but instead they want to try and prevent them ever making it into that space. Sarah and Grace really understand the difficulties faced by rural families and their needs, because they are rural mums in the trenches. Just like you and me, they are putting Band-Aids on, making late night runs to emergency for gastro and trying to remember how much medications they gave throughout the night. 

Thank you, Paeds First Aid you are truly, a creative solution for rural families. You can find Sarah and Grace via their socials tagged or via their website. https://www.paedseducation.com.au

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What can I say about beautiful Sal from the Suite Set. It’s difficult to describe such a woman into words, but I am going to give it one heck of a shot.  

Sal is the smart, sassy, keep it real girlfriend that every woman needs on speed dial. Sal is seriously whip smart. Her ability to be across so many topics, is completely beyond me, but it is the work that she does outside of her day job that we have truly bonded over. 

See when Sal was faced with having to pack for her first baby, she was overwhelmed, it was this that fueled her to start the Suite Set. The Suite Set is the simple, creative solution you need to pack your hospital bag. What makes it so great? Its simplicity and its quality. It takes the overwhelm out of the never-ending question; what do I really need? It also makes navigating your bag for your midwives and partner so much easier. There will be no “my nappies are next to my …” because those postpartum panties are in a beautifully labelled bag. When you purchase a Suite Set you get that best friend sitting on the end of your bed, helping you navigate the limited space in your suitcase for the next phase of your life.

While the Suite Set is amazing, Sal also has the Marigold project. This is truly a purpose driven business. The Marigold project provides hospital packing bags for parents who will not bring home their babies. Holding space and supporting families in one of the most difficult and traumatic times of their lives. No one wants to google “what do I pack to deliver my baby when they have passed” because let’s be honest who on earth would have brain space to think what you could possibly need. Sal has taken expert advice from those who have lived experience, midwives, Obstetricians and doulas to develop the Marigold packs. It truly is an inspired idea to support those in the most difficult of times.

As a clinician I would love nothing more to have a stash of Marigolds to provide to clients who have been delivered this unbearable news. To give them calm in chaos is what we all aspire to deliver. You can support the Marigold project by purchasing a set for a family in need via the Suite Set website. Sal honours all the families that have navigated this difficult path before, by including the names of those special babies in the water mark of the Marigold project. – what a woman!

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Where do I even start with the incredible platform that is the Fertility Collective and Ceci. When you think about people who champion the infertility experience and space no one does it better than Ceci. 

Ceci Fertility is a mother, friend, and has survived her own battle with infertility. She is also the founder of the Fertility Collective, the warm hug, belly laugh, and evidence driven platform that is a must during any fertility journey. 

I recently was so lucky to sit down with Ceci and discuss her own personal journey with infertility, which inspired her coaching and subsequent advocacy and platform. It really is incredible. Ceci has that girl next door vibe; someone you could easily sit with for hours with a cocktail. When you chat with her (even casually) you feel heard, held, and listened too. I imagine this directly relates to the huge popularity and success she is.

If you still had any doubts, Ceci was recently recognized for her advocacy work internationally with the award for Best fertility advocate GLOBALLY at the Fertility Care Awards 2023!

Ceci thank you for your time and continued hard work in this space. You work to shine a light on and create community for people in deep need of it is incredible.

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Marney paints faces like artist paints canvas. Seriously check her out she is amazing. A talented makeup artist, Marney lives in Wagga with her husband Matt and her babies, Harper and Archie. Marn also suffers from Crohns disease. Marney was diagnosis with crohns when she was just 17 years old. This was a complete shock to her system. Marn is violently repulsed by the fact that often I don’t wash my makeup off, and have been known to wash my face with soap. She always forgives me though, and tries her hardest to in still some skin wisdom in me.

Marney generously shares her pregnancy and birthing experience, and what’s it like to have a baby when you have chronic health. How do you manage the complexities that pregnancy throws up when your specialist is hundreds of kilometers away. Marney highlights that sometimes you just don’t know what you don’t know and that can be a blessing in disguise.

Marney takes us through a medication change, not being able to connect with your specialist, diabetes in pregnancy and managing a NICU stay. She speaks so simply that having trust in your team is integral when managing pregnancy with chronic health.

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Katja is the voice and face behind the The Rural Mum. She moved to the farm with her Husband Ned, which fuelled a passion for sharing, educating and creating resources for other women and men entering family farm business and rural life. 

Outside of running her family farming operations Katja and her husband Ned have three blessings, Eddie, Mac, and Caroline. 

Katja takes us through her pregnancy and births during one of the toughest droughts in recent history. She talks about the pressures and stress associated with on farm living, when you are far away from resources and town. Due to her own health needs Katja had limited options when it comes to pain management and she talks us through the importance of getting the right team, advocating for yourself strongly and having good health literacy.  

As you will hear Katja harnessed the technique of hypnobirthing, something which can be difficult to find resources around in rural communities. Luckily the town of Dubbo has some amazing resources, which Katja kindly hunted down and we have included here.

https://www.nvmidwifery.com/midwifery-services

Katja thank you so much for generously sharing your journey and for all you continue to do for rural men and women entering farming life. If you have enjoyed listening to Katja you can catch much more of her over at her podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-rural-mum/id1688912011

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Sometimes you meet someone without ever having met and just know that you have clicked. The zing (I have watched way too much hotel Transylvania with my son). But this is Ella. Even though I have only seen her socials and spoken to her over the phone I can feel her warmth. She is sunshine, so to watch her historical stories when she was in the fertility trenches and see how raw, honest, and broken, she was, was all that much harder. 

Ella has generously shared her fertility journey with her social media audience. She did this to raise awareness of the struggles of fertility patients in regional and rural settings.  A nurse and training to be a midwife Ella has strong health literacy. But once commencing IVF even she was shocked with the gaps. Why can’t we have the same if not similar services to the big smoke? Why can’t there be more options? Why are the rural patients lumped with all the travel, and exhaustive wait lists? Ella asks these questions because she has lived it, she has needed and wanted more for herself, for her community, and for others rural Australians.

We have included a link to Ella advocacy work. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-05/challenges-for-regional-couples-accessing-fertility-treatments/103057126

Ella thank you so much for chatting with us. We are overwhelmed with happiness, gratitude, and love that you are part of our herd.

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HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS - THIS ONE IS A BIG ONE!!

Associate Professor Sarah Verdon is a powerhouse.

I can say this because; 1. It’s true and 2. Full disclosure she is my cousin. 

I personally lived small parts of Sez story, I have cried and laughed with her. She is my text in the middle of the night to winge about pregnancy – she always has my back on a hard pregnancy winge.

Sarah has 3 beautiful blessings. From four challenging pregnancies. A fierce defender of the public health space, and an allied health clinician in a rural setting herself, Sarah not only has lived experience but is passionate about health literacy but also access. 

Sarah articulates so well the difficulties advocating for yourself with medical professionals even if you speak/understand their language. 

Taking us through her pregnancy, birth and miscarriage journey. Sarah particularly focuses in on her postpartum journey and miscarriage. 

As an allied health professional, I myself understand sometimes it is difficult to humanise ourselves, so I personally want to thank Sarah for telling her story, with honesty and vulnerability.

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Dimity is a champion for rural communities and women! The powerhouse behind GRO events, Dimity is always bubbling along planning and organising some of the best parties, information nights, and just all-round fun for rural people.

Dimity shared her story in 2022 around the journey to freeze her eggs with the wonderful Steph from Motherland Australia (you can check out her episode via the link below). At that time, she had only just finished her first round of egg collection, and as she says herself, was left disappointed with the outcome.  

So, when I saw Dimity recently at one of her events, I almost begged her to come and update us on her story. I myself had been left wondering what happened next. Did she do another round? How did it go? I also wanted to ask Dimity about that impending deadline she had set herself. So come and listen along as we find out what happens next!

Dimity, thank you so much for updating us on your journey.

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