Kara Spencer is one of those amazing women whose day to day life is a huge challenge, but she just gets on with it, often with a smile on her face. Kara's son Grayson was born with brain damage and he also has a genetic condition that is so rare, it's yet to be diagnosed, nine years later. Kara and her husband Ashley care for Grayson, along with their two younger children, dealing with everything that life throws at them.

I wanted to chat to Kara about her journey as a mum to a disabled son with special needs - how it has affected her, how she dealt with the emotional side of being told her son had brain damage and a genetic condition, how it affects her relationship with Ashley but also the dynamics of raising their two younger children too.

Kara blogs at Innocent Charms Chats and you can follow her on Instagram - plus her second account all about Grayson - Raising A Superhero - is here.

Music: Epidemic Sound

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Whether it’s comparing how much veg your child is eating with that other child he’s friends with, or comparing how calm and patient that other mum is when you feel like a shouty, frazzled mum, or even comparing how well your friend is doing in their career compared to you or how toned their arms are compared to yours, comparison is something that affects us all. My guest on this episode – Lucy Sheridan – is well placed to help because she is the world’s first comparison coach.

Lucy has some great advice on how to identify your comparison triggers, how to react to feelings of comparison when they happen, how to react differently depending on whether it’s some random person online or a dear friend you’re comparing yourself to, and lots more.

Check out Lucy’s website and follow her on Instagram.

Music: Epidemic Sound

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Amber Wilde is, along with her partner Kirsty, mum to two sets of twins and Amber is pregnant with their fifth child. Amber works full time and also blogs and makes YouTube videos, yet she somehow managed to find time to talk to me for this podcast episode!

It was great to chat to Amber about raising two sets of twins in a same sex relationship – she tells me all about how she met and fell in love with Kirsty, how their family grew and how they balance work, life and raising four toddlers.

You can read Amber’s blog at Meet The Wildes, watch her on YouTube and follow her on Instagram.

Music: Epidemic Sound

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If you’re pregnant, this week’s podcast will be invaluable to you – my guest is Rebecca Schiller, a mum of two and doula who is also chief executive of Birthrights, the human rights childbirth charity. Rebecca’s latest book, Your No Guilt Pregnancy Plan, is a fantastic non-nonsense guide through pregnancy, delivering the facts you need and helping you navigate the journey.

I chat to Rebecca about the book but also about her work as a doula, supporting women through the pregnancy and birth process, her views on alcohol during pregnancy, what a birth partner can do during labour and lots more.

You can check out Rebecca’s book here, follow her on Twitter and find out more about Birthrights.

Music: Epidemic Sound

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Alice Judge-Talbot had a plan, which involved living happily ever after with her husband and two children. A few years ago, though, the marriage broke down and Alice found herself raising her two small children on her own. Her debut book, The Back Up Plan, details what it was like for Alice to go through a major life shift, pick herself back up and create a new life for her family. It's an inspiring and helpful read for anyone who might be facing something similar.

I wanted to chat to Alice about the challenges she faces as a single mum but also what she loves about it. We talk about how she coped in the immediate aftermath of her split and the kind of role model she wants to be for her kids.

As well as being a published author, Alice writes about her life on her blog, More Than Toast and is a parenting columnist for The Telegraph. You can follow her on Instagram.

Music: Epidemic Sound

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"Where are all the black mothers on Instagram?" was a question asked by my guest on this episode - mum of two, Candice Brathwaite. The blogger and presenter was fed up of seeing such a narrow, white, middle-class version of motherhood all across the media and along with Nicola Washington and Sarah Gregory, launched the Make Motherhood Diverse campaign.

I could have talked to Candice all day about the lack of diversity when it comes to brands and media representing motherhood - in our chat we cover why Candice thinks the problem exists, who is making an effort to show more diversity, how more change can happen and who we should all be following on Instagram.

You can follow Candice on Instagram, check out the Make Motherhood Diverse site and if you want to read the blog post by Mel Wiggins that I mention in our chat, you can do that here.

Music: Epidemic Sound

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Are your children fussy eaters? My seven-year-old is fairly fussy - with a love of beige food and a limited intake of vegetables - so I really enjoyed chatting to my latest guest on the podcast, Ciara Attwell. Ciara is a mum of two and author of My Fussy Eater, a brilliant recipe book filled with ideas for meals and snacks for the whole family. Everything is easy to make and should hopefully tempt event the fussiest of kids to try new foods.

Thankfully, Ciara isn't one of those judgmental family food experts - she's not interested in making you feel bad about what you feed your kids, and on the podcast we chat about how she finds that balance between stress-free meal times and keeping her children healthy. She shares her tips on encouraging your kids to try new things, and the benefits of hiding veg in pasta sauce vs just popping it on their plate, even if you know they'll refuse to eat it.

So take a listen for some great advice on feeding your kids, and check out her blog My Fussy Eater and app for even more family meal inspiration.

Music: Epidemic Sound

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How often do you have moments where you feel like you’re trying to juggle it all – motherhood, work, friends – and failing? You look around and see other people seemingly doing a great job, totally nailing life! Well, this is the Supermum Myth and author Anya Hayes reckons while we all have Supermum moments in life, no one actually is a supermum.

I’m so pleased to have mum of two and maternal wellness champion, Anya on this episode of the podcast – she’s a real breath of fresh air and has lots of nuggets of wisdom about how to navigate motherhood without beating ourselves up too much.

Anya’s book – The Supermum Myth – is available in all good bookshops and Amazon and you can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.

Music: Epidemic Sound

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If you're pregnant, you've probably thought a fair bit about what kind if birth you'd like, and my guest today on the podcast, Siobhan Miller is a huge advocate for having a positive birth, no matter whether you have a natural birth, a c-section, drug free, water birth or any other eventuality.

Siobhan, who's a mum of three, is the founder of The Positive Birth Company and she runs hypnobirthing classes in London, Devon and Birmingham. We cover a lot of ground on the podcast, from Siobhan's own birth experiences to the important role of the birthing partner, gentle cesareans, being informed to make choices during labour and her brilliant new way of making hypnobirthing accessible to more people.

Music: Epidemic Sound

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This bonus episode of the podcast sees mum of three and award-winning family lifestyle blogger Katie Ellison return as a guest. Katie and her husband Jon were the victims of financial fraud when they received a text message that they thought had come from their bank. On the podcast, Katie explains what followed and how they ended up with thousands of pounds being taken from their bank account.

This episode is brought to you by sponsor Take Five, – a national awareness campaign led by Financial Fraud Action UK (part of UK Finance), backed by the Government. Listen for some great advice from Take Five on how to protect yourself from scams like the one Katie and Jon fell for.

Music: Epidemic Sound 

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

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