Not Another Mummy Podcast

After an extended break, we're back for a new season!

Katie Kirby is my guest on this episode. Katie started off blogging at Hurrah For Gin, shining a light on the realities of motherhood at a time when the online world was filled with rose-tinted picture perfect versions of mum life. Since then, she's moved to writing books and her latest series is the Lottie Brooks books, aimed at the tween audience.

We recorded this episode last summer and we talk about Katie being one of the first people online to start talking honestly about being a mum and how we still get sucked into comparing ourselves with other mums online.

Katie tells me about life parenting her tween boys and we chat about the Lottie Brooks books.

Find Katie online here and buy her books here.

If you enjoyed this episode then please leave a rating or review - and you can subscribe to ensure you don’t miss future episodes.  Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Producer: Imogen Hart

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether you’ve got a baby right now or your kids are a bit older, my chat with Libby Page on this episode will probably resonate with you. Libby is the author of three bestseller books - The Lido, The 24-Hour Café and The Island Home – and she became a mum last year to her son Robin.

Libby is refreshingly honest about the ups and downs of her experiences so far as a mum, talking openly on social media when things go well, and when they all feel a bit overwhelming.

We talk about her expectations of motherhood and how they compare to the reality, how honest we should be with pregnant women about birth and motherhood, and more.

You can follow Libby on Twitter and Instagram and buy her books here.

If you enjoyed this episode then please leave a rating or review - and you can subscribe to ensure you don’t miss future episodes.  Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Producer: Imogen Hart

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How well does your baby or child sleep? Chances are, you’ve had or are having some issues with sleep (I know we are!) and if that’s the case, my guests today have got lots of helpful advice for you.

Eve Squires and Gem Fryer run Calm & Bright Sleep Support which is a lifeline for so many parents facing sleep challenges with their children.

We discuss some of the biggest sleep problems you guys are facing, answering your questions and we also look at the extreme versions of sleep coaching and whether there’s a middle ground (answer: yes!)

Order their book Love To Sleep here and follow them on Instagram.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Natalie Lee – once a midwife, she started a fashion blog and now uses her online platform to discuss body image, confidence, shame and lots more.

Now, Natalie has written her first book, Feeling Myself, which is a memoir about her experiences around sex and shame. In the book, Nat takes us along for the ride on her journey of self-discovery, searching out and then smashing some of the most powerful taboos around shame, sex and socialised sexism which have held her back and which she thinks have probably held you back too.

Follow Nat on Instagram and buy her book here.

If you enjoyed this episode then please leave a rating or review - and you can subscribe to ensure you don’t miss future episodes.  Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Producer: Imogen Hart

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a special replay of an interview I did with Deborah James back in January 2018. It was just over a year after she’d been diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer and we sat in her living room, drinking tea and talking about her experience over the previous 12 months.

Now, four and a half years on, Deborah, who is mum to two children, has raised an incredible amount of awareness of bowel cancer, through writing for The Sun, publishing a book, appearing on national TV, all the while sharing her highs and lows with us all.

A week ago, Deborah announced that – following a particularly tough six months where she has mostly been in hospital – she is now receiving hospice at home care. She set up The Bowel Babe Fund which, incredibly, raised over £6million in under a week (and counting…) All of this was recognised when she was awarded a Damehood by Prince William.

You can donate to The Bowel Babe Fund, which is raising vital money for Cancer Research UK, The Royal Marsden Hospital and The Institute of Cancer Research here. We don’t know how much time is left for Deborah but in her words, the fund will help other Deborahs who have cancer.

If you enjoyed this episode then please leave a rating or review - and you can subscribe to ensure you don’t miss future episodes.  Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode was one of the nation’s saviours during the first lockdown in 2020. Reacting to a clear need for parents to keep their kids busy and happy while schools were closed, Rob Biddulph started a regular online drawing lesson for kids – Draw With Rob – and the response was huge.

A dad of three, himself, Rob is the author and illustrator of brilliant picture books for younger kids, like Blown Away and Odd Dog Out, and of his new chapter book for older readers, Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City.

Rob talks to me about parenting teens and why he still reads to his kids even though they’re older, we talk about father daughter bonding and we talk about what it’s like to have Tom Hardy read one of your books on CBeebies Bedtime Stories…

Watch Draw With Rob here, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Find out more about his books here.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CNN anchor and mum of two Zain Asher is my guest on this episode - her book Where The Children Take Us is an incredible memoir with the strong theme of taking the knocks that life gives you and using them to fuel you to succeed.

The book details her parents’ journey from war-torn Nigeria to South London where they raised their four children. When Zain was five-years-old, tragedy struck and her father was killed in a road accident – an accident that nearly killed her older brother and left her mother to raise four children single-handed.

Zain tells me how through sacrifices, strength and determination, her mother raised four hugely successful kids, including Zain’s Oscar-nominated actor brother Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Buy Zain’s book here and follow her on Instagram.

If you enjoyed this episode then please leave a rating or review - and you can subscribe to ensure you don’t miss future episodes.  Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Producer: Imogen Hart

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Sarah Turner – aka The Unmumsy Mum – who has returned to the podcast to update me on her hectic whirl of a life parenting three boys and a cat, and to tell me all about her first novel, Stepping Up.

The book tells the story of what happens when tragedy hits a family, turns it upside down and catapults protagonist Beth into a world of parenting her teenage niece and toddler nephew. It’s a brilliant read – funny, uplifting and sad – so it’s no surprise it became an instant Sunday Times bestseller.

Sarah and I cover how she’s feeling about her youngest starting primary school soon, her husband having the snip and how they juggle parenting and work.

We also talk about Sarah’s experiences of losing her mum when she was 15 and how this inspired the themes of Stepping Up.

Follow Sarah on Instagram and Facebook and buy Stepping Up here.

If you enjoyed this episode then please leave a rating or review - and you can subscribe to ensure you don’t miss future episodes.  Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Producer: Imogen Hart

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Experiencing miscarriage is, without a doubt, devastating. And my guest on this episode is campaigning for a change in the law around the paid leave that parents are entitled to, when this happens.

Angela Crawley is MP for Lanark and Hamilton East and wants the government to introduce a statutory requirement for employers to provide three days of paid miscarriage leave for parents who experience a miscarriage before 24 weeks of pregnancy. Currently, bereavement legislation entitles parents who lose a baby after 24 weeks to two weeks of paid bereavement leave. But there’s nothing in place before that.

Angela recently became a parent when her partner gave birth to their first baby in January, so as well as her campaign, we discuss sleepless nights and how as a same sex couple, they juggle the parenting.

You can follow Angela and the progress of the campaign on Twitter. Please do sign the petition at www.paidmiscarriageleave.co.uk

If you enjoyed this episode then please leave a rating or review - and you can subscribe to ensure you don’t miss future episodes.  Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Producer: Imogen Hart

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Becoming a mother is both massive and profound… and at the same time mediocre and humdrum,” according to my guest on this episode, Ellie Taylor. And isn’t she bang on the money?

I chat to comedian and actor Ellie about her journey from perfectly happy child free woman to mum of a toddler – including highlights along the way, like being celeb spotted while she was in the middle of her c-section and the joys of that first post-birth poo.

Ellie’s book My Child And Other Mistakes is a warm and funny look at motherhood and a must-read whether you’ve just discovered you’re having a baby or you’re a few years into being a parent.

Buy Ellie’s book and follow her on Instagram.

If you enjoyed this episode then please leave a rating or review - and you can subscribe to ensure you don’t miss future episodes.  Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Producer: Imogen Hart

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.