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Alice is a mum of two, a content creator behind Tinkering with Two, and someone who's been beautifully open about her journey through perinatal anxiety and, more recently, an adult ADHD diagnosis.

In this episode, Alice takes us back to the start, falling pregnant in a small Central Queensland town with severe hyperemesis, being diagnosed with perinatal anxiety after bursting into tears at an obstetrician appointment, moving to the Hunter Valley five months pregnant just as COVID hit, and later navigating an ectopic pregnancy before welcoming her daughter Tilly. We talk about how she processed all of it, how her Instagram page began almost by accident during lockdown, and the night she Googled "ADHD symptoms in women" and hit every single point on the list. Alice is honest about how much of her life she spent masking without realising it, what it took to get a diagnosis as an adult, and why her work with The Nappy Collective has become such a meaningful part of her story.

In this episode we cover:

• Alice's journey into motherhood — hyperemesis, perinatal anxiety and an ectopic pregnancy
• How Tinkering with Two started almost by accident during COVID lockdown
• The messages from followers that led her to question if it was ADHD, not just anxiety
• The night she Googled "ADHD symptoms in women" and recognised herself in every point
• What masking looked like for her, and why her psychologist missed it for years
• Getting an adult ADHD diagnosis — the paperwork, the process, and proving childhood evidence
• How diagnosis and medication have changed her capacity and her mothering
• Her work with The Nappy Collective in Brisbane and the reality of "nappy stress"

Connect with Alice & The Nappy Collective:
 Instagram: Tinkering with Two
The Nappy Collective: https://www.thenappycollective.com/
https://www.instagram.com/thenappycollective/

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a mum who needs to hear it — you never know who's sitting in silence, thinking she's the only one.

Motherhood was never meant to be done alone.

Connect with Mummas Circle:
🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com
📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle
Instagram: @mummascircle_
📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

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At 16, Mel was told her life was over. Today, she's a former midwife of 19 years and the founder of A Brave Life — a Brisbane-based charity that has gifted hundreds of baby bundles a month to vulnerable mothers across Queensland and the Northern Territory, and built EMALO (Empowering Mothers and Little Ones), a judgement-free mothers' group designed specifically for young mums who don't feel they belong anywhere else.

In this episode, Mel shares her own journey into motherhood as a teenager navigating a dysfunctional home, being placed in a home for pregnant teens, and rebuilding her life from her dining room table into a registered charity. We talk about the stigma young mums still face in healthcare settings today, why preventative support matters more than crisis intervention, and what it really means to be someone's cheerleader rather than their saviour.

In this episode we cover:

• Mel's personal story of becoming a teen mum and the judgement she faced
• Why she chose nursing and midwifery — and how it changed the trajectory of her life
• The unconscious bias young and teen mums still face in healthcare today
• How A Brave Life started with baby bundles gifted from her dining room table
• What EMALO offers young mums who don't fit into traditional mothers groups
• Why preventative support (not just crisis support) is key to breaking cycles
• Mel's message to any mum feeling isolated right now

Connect with Mel & A Brave Life:
Website: abravelife.com.au
Instagram: instagram.com/abravelife
Facebook: facebook.com/abravelife
Donate: abravelife.com.au/donation

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a mum who needs to hear it — you never know who's sitting in silence, thinking she's the only one.

Motherhood was never meant to be done alone.

Connect with Mummas Circle:
🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com
📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle
Instagram: @mummascircle_
📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

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Screen time is one of the most loaded topics in modern motherhood, and today's guest brings both the science and the lived experience to the conversation.

Mariska Kerkhoff is a veterinary surgeon, children's book author and illustrator, and the founder of Tiny Tots Adventures. After her daughter was born three months premature and spent nearly four months in hospital, Mariska threw herself into research on child development, and screen time became a personal focus long before it became a professional one.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What the World Health Organization actually recommends for screen time by age
• The difference between passive and interactive screen use — and why it matters
• How excessive screen time affects stress hormones, dopamine, sleep and physical development
• The "six cups" framework for understanding your child's behaviour (connection, autonomy, play, movement, sensory, rest)
• Simple, low-cost activities you can set up at home with things you already own
• Why modelling your own screen habits matters more than any rule you set
• Practical, guilt-free ways to build screen-free routines — without a total overhaul

This conversation isn't about guilt or panic. It's about understanding what's happening for our kids so we can make informed, sustainable choices as families.

Connect with Mariska:
 Tiny Tots Adventures
Tiny Tots Adventures at Home - Buy the book
Instagram
Facebook

Motherhood was never meant to be done alone.

Connect with Mummas Circle:
🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com
📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle
Instagram: @mummascircle_
📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

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This week we're joined by Daisy, one of our first mums from our North Lakes group — for a raw and honest conversation about her journey through motherhood.

Daisy takes us through her birth story with her son Sonny, an unexpected cascade of interventions, and the brutal reality of newborn sleep deprivation. But this episode goes so much deeper than birth. Daisy opens up about the hardest year of her life, navigating Sonny's transition to daycare, her ADHD diagnosis and what it's meant to parent while unmedicated, and caring for her father through a sudden terminal cancer diagnosis, all while re-entering the workforce and planning her wedding.

We talk about masking, late ADHD diagnosis in women, the mental load of being a working mum, finding your village, and how communication with her partner Brody carried them through grief and chaos. This is a conversation about resilience, community, and learning that "enough" can look like two minutes of stillness in a hard season.

In this episode:

• Daisy's birth story and the reality of a cascade intervention
• The emotional weight of starting daycare and letting go of control
• Late ADHD diagnosis, masking, and parenting unmedicated
• Supporting a terminally ill parent while raising a toddler
• Grief, communication, and love languages with her partner
• Daisy's advice for new mums

If you're a mum juggling more than anyone can see, this one is for you.

Motherhood was never meant to be done alone. If this episode resonated with you, please leave a review and share it with a mum who needs to hear it today.

Connect with Mummas Circle:
🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com
📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle
Instagram: @mummascircle_
📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

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This week we're joined by Naomi from Baby Love Massage and Spa, a mum, baby massage instructor, and colic specialist who turned her own struggle with a colicky newborn into a mission to support other families.

Naomi opens up about the early, exhausting weeks with her son Theo — unsettled, in pain, and dismissed by health professionals who simply told her "it's colic, off you go." Determined to find answers, she turned to baby massage, and everything changed.

In this episode we cover:

• Naomi's personal story of navigating an unsettled, colicky baby and feeling unsupported by the healthcare system
• How baby massage helped ease Theo's symptoms, better sleep, regular bowel movements, and a calmer baby
• The science of touch and bonding, including the role of oxytocin for both mum and baby
• Why bonding doesn't always come instantly — and why that's completely normal
• Naomi's simple "hold their feet" technique for calming an unsettled baby anywhere, the car, the shops, 2am pacing
• Her exciting next chapter: opening her own baby spa facility with hydrotherapy sessions

Whether you're dealing with a colicky baby, struggling to bond, or just want practical tools to feel more confident as a parent, this episode is full of warmth, honesty, and hard-won wisdom.

Connect with Naomi:
📷 Instagram: instagram.com/babylovemassagespa
🎓 Online course: babylovemassage.com.au/online-course

Connect with Mummas Circle:
🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com
📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle
Instagram: @mummascircle_
📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

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Many mums assume there's only one path through pregnancy and birth, but few realise just how much choice they actually have.

In this episode of Inside Mummas Circle, Rashelle sits down with Alita Pashley, director and practicing midwife at My Midwives, to unpack what midwifery-led continuity of care really looks like, from pregnancy through birth and into those first vulnerable weeks at home.

From VBAC support and delayed cord clamping to daily home visits and why so much of birth trauma comes down to feeling a loss of control, Alita explains why continuity of care isn't the "alternative" option, it's how maternity care has always been done.

In this episode:
 ✨ What it means to be an "endorsed" midwife, and how Medicare rebates make private care more accessible
 ✨ How to access private midwifery care (and why so few people know they can)
 ✨ Navigating VBAC and hospital systems with continuity of care
 ✨ Why delayed cord clamping matters, and the psychology behind it
 ✨ What daily postpartum home visits actually look like
 ✨ Why birth trauma is so often about agency, not outcome
 ✨ The importance of finding your own "village" of support through pregnancy and birth

Whether you're planning your first pregnancy, navigating a VBAC, or reflecting on a past birth experience, this episode will leave you with a better understanding of the choices available to you and the power of continuity of care.

Because every mum deserves a village. 🤍

Connect with My Midwives
https://www.mymidwives.com.au/

Follow Alita
https://www.instagram.com/pash_the_midwife/

Connect with Mummas Circle:
🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com
📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle
Instagram: @mummascircle_
📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

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Naturopath Mikaela explains why C-section scars (and any abdominal scarring) are far more than skin-deep — describing scars as "an iceberg," with a web of collagen underneath strong enough to pull on the pelvis, hips, and even your breathing. She walks through how abdominal massage works to release this tension, improve circulation and hormone regulation, and why the belly holds so much unspoken emotional story. 

Final part of our 3-part mini-series with Mikaela.

Connect with Mikaela Duffy
https://mikaeladuffy.com.au/

Connect with Mummas Circle:
🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com
📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle
Instagram: @mummascircle_
📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

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A quick but powerful one, naturopath Mikaela shares her go-to herbal remedy for tension, headaches, and eye strain: a strong pot of chamomile tea, a soaked flannel, and 10 minutes to yourself. Simple, cheap, and genuinely effective. 

Part 2 of our 3-part mini-series.

Connect with Mikaela
https://mikaeladuffy.com.au/

Connect with Mummas Circle:
🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com
📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle
Instagram: @mummascircle_
📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

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Naturopath and doula Mikaela joins us to unpack something most new mums never hear: your postpartum recovery isn't a 6-week window, it's a foundation that shapes your health for decades. She shares a confronting story about a woman who never fully recovered after an unsupported postpartum, explains why thyroid and iron issues so easily get missed after birth, and reminds us that our fertile years are our healthiest years, so what gets depleted now needs addressing now, not later. 

This is part 1 of a 3-part mini-series pulled from our full conversation with Mikaela.

Connect with Mikaela Duffy
https://mikaeladuffy.com.au/

Connect with Mummas Circle:
🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com
📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle
Instagram: @mummascircle_
📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

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Many parents have questions about chiropractic care for babies, but few understand what it actually involves.

In this episode of Inside Mummas Circle, Rashelle sits down with Dr Jolene Cooney from Ohana Chiropractic & Wellbeing to unpack the science behind chiropractic care for mums and babies, common misconceptions, and why nervous system regulation plays such an important role in a child's development.

From colic and feeding difficulties to flat head syndrome, sleep and developmental milestones, Dr Jolene explains how chiropractic care focuses on supporting the nervous system rather than simply "cracking backs."

In this episode:

✨ What chiropractic care for babies actually looks like
 ✨ Why babies are never "cracked"
 ✨ Common reasons parents seek chiropractic care
 ✨ Colic, feeding challenges and flat head syndrome
 ✨ The importance of nervous system regulation
 ✨ Why caring for mum is just as important as caring for baby
 ✨ How early intervention can support long-term development
 ✨ The power of connection and building your village

Whether you're expecting your first baby or already navigating the early years, this episode will leave you with a better understanding of your baby's development and why supporting your own wellbeing matters too.

Because every mum deserves a village. 🤍

Connect with Dr Jolene
www.ohanachiropractic.com.au
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Connect with Mummas Circle:
🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com
📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle
Instagram: @mummascircle_
📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle