IMAGE The Motherload

This week on IMAGE The Motherload, Dominique is joined by Laura O’Connell, a familiar face to many as the creator behind the viral Irish midwife sketches on Instagram, and co-host of the podcast Oh Right, Yeah.

In this episode, Laura shares the story behind the humour. She opens up about growing up in a religious group, the loss of her mother at a young age, and how those early experiences shaped her sense of self.

She also speaks candidly about an unplanned pregnancy, postpartum depression, and her experience of anxiety, including a period in psychiatric care last year.

Together, Dominique and Laura explore the pressure many mothers feel to keep going, even when they are struggling, and the difficulty of slowing down in a world that rewards constant doing.

This is an honest, layered conversation about mental health, motherhood, identity and what it means to ask for help.

Listen now to IMAGE The Motherload, powered by Peugeot and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare.

Jen Healy’s story is not an easy one to hear, but it is an important one.

In this episode of IMAGE The Motherload, Jen shares her journey from a childhood shaped by violence, through addiction, abusive relationships and homelessness, to the life she has built today as a mother, business owner and advocate for women’s mental health.

This is a conversation about survival, but more importantly, it’s about what comes after survival. About healing, about the nervous system, about learning what safety feels like in your own body.

Jen speaks with honesty and clarity about the realities of addiction, the complexity of abusive relationships, and the long road back to self-worth. She also shares the tools she now uses to support other women who feel overwhelmed, dysregulated or disconnected.

It’s a story of resilience, yes. But it’s also a story of hope, of change, and of the quiet, powerful work it takes to rebuild a life.

***Trigger warning: this episode includes discussion of domestic abuse and addiction.

Listen now to IMAGE The Motherload, powered by Peugeot and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare.

This week on IMAGE The Motherload, Dominique  is joined by psychotherapist, bestselling author and parenting expert Dr Joanna Fortune for a powerful conversation about the realities of raising children today.

Together, they discuss the pressures modern parents are facing, from information overload and parental guilt to anxiety in children, screen time, emotional resilience and raising emotionally intelligent boys. Joanna also shares her “15 Minute Parenting” philosophy, explains the importance of “good enough parenting” and offers practical advice for parents trying to navigate family life while balancing work, stress and self-expectation.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advance and Tigers Childcare

This week on IMAGE The Motherload, Dominique is joined by Una Healy for a deeply honest conversation about the realities of modern motherhood.

Together, they explore what it means to raise teenagers, the evolving relationship between mother and child, and the importance of “the village”. 

Una opens up about her experience with anxiety, her Hashimoto’s diagnosis, and the turning point that came from truly understanding her body. They also discuss hormones, HRT, and the importance of paying attention when something doesn’t feel quite right.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advance and Tigers Childcare

This is not about telling you who to vote for. It is a conversation about motherhood in a place we rarely hear it spoken about.

This week on The Motherload, Dominique sits down with Holly Cairns, leader of the Social Democrats and TD for Cork South West.Holly gave birth to her daughter on polling day in November 2024 and has since returned to one of the most demanding roles in the country, leading her party while navigating early motherhood.In this episode, she shares the reality behind that experience, from birth and postnatal recovery to returning to work and trying to secure childcare in a system under so much pressure.

The conversation also explores the broader challenges facing families in Ireland, including the childcare crisis, women’s healthcare, education, disability supports, SNA’s and what it takes to keep mothers in the workforce.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot, and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare

Caroline Foran joins Dominique this week for an honest conversation about anxiety, motherhood and learning to let go.

A bestselling author, journalist and podcaster, Caroline has spent years helping people better understand anxiety through practical, grounded advice. In this episode, she opens up about her own experience, from debilitating panic attacks in her twenties to being anxiety free today. 

Caroline also shares her journey of raising her son Caelan, who has a PDA profile, and the emotional complexity that comes with parenting a child with individual needs. From school struggles to trusting your instincts as a mother, this is a chat filled with vulnerability, hard-won perspective and practical tools that actually help. 

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot, and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare

Standing in front of a jam-packed wardrobe… and still feeling like you have nothing to wear?

In this special live episode of IMAGE The Motherload, Dominique is joined by stylist Courtney Smith, beauty columnist Triona McCarthy and artist Audrey Hamilton to unpack something so many of us have a tough time with… how to get dressed and feel bloody brilliant. 

From the “nothing feels right” phase to defaulting to the same safe outfits (see: leggings), this conversation explores how motherhood can shift your sense of identity at any stage, and why style is so much more than fluff.  

Listen now and don’t forget to follow us to ensure you get each new episode first. 

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot, and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare

Author, maternal mental health advocate and mum of three Tracy Holmes joins Dominique this week for a conversation about motherhood, diagnosis and real resilience.

Tracy is mum to three boys, including twins Harry and Freddie. Shortly after they were born, Freddie was diagnosed with Down syndrome. What followed was one of the most difficult periods of Tracy’s life. With one newborn at home and another still in hospital, she found herself pulled between two worlds, all while she was navigating the shock of diagnosis. The pressure resulted in the quiet collapse of her mental health. 

In this episode, Tracy speaks with the most extraordinary honesty about that year. The grief for the life she had imagined, the stigma around admitting struggle as a mother and the moment she realised she needed help. But she also speaks about the love that has grown since. About the bond between her boys, the joy Freddie brings to their lives and the way he has changed how their whole family sees the world.

She speaks about the power of language (Freddie has Down syndrome, he is not a Down syndrome child), and also about the gaps that still exist in Ireland for families raising children with individual needs. Something we both hope conversations like this might help change.

Tracy is extraordinarily strong. But what moved us most was her willingness to show the moments where she wasn’t. We are so grateful to her for sharing her story with us.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot, and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare.

Psychologist, author and mum of three Dr. Clodagh Campbell joins Dominique this week, for one of the most personal conversations of the season.

Dominique and Clodagh share powerful parallels in their lives. Both are adopted. Both lost their beloved fathers too early.

Together they explore how adoption can shape identity across a lifetime and why questions around belonging often become louder once we become parents ourselves.

Clodagh also opens up about her experience with postnatal depression. As a psychologist, she didn’t initially recognise the signs in herself. It arrived slowly and quietly, and by the time she realised what was happening she was already struggling.

The conversation also explores the nervous system, maternal exhaustion, the invisible cognitive load many parents carry and why small moments of awareness can make such a difference in our busy lives.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot, and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare

This week on IMAGE The Motherload, Dominique sits down with Coleen Rooney for a real conversation about family life. 

Coleen opens up about her childhood, the loss of her sister Rosie, her and Wayne’s experience of miscarriage, and occasionally shouting at the boys in McDonalds. She shares the brilliant chaos of raising four boys, the realities of parenting in the public eye, and why family is ultimately so important to her. 

This is Coleen Rooney in her own words.

IMAGE The Motherload is powered by Peugeot, and sponsored by Liffey Valley, Avoca, Revive Active, Aptamil Advanced and Tigers Childcare