Not Another Mummy Podcast

My guest on this episode, Kate Dyson, is the founder of the biggest online community for women – The Motherload. Started with just a few friends, when Kate received an unhelpful response on an online forum for mums, it has grown to be the place that 84,000 women head to for non-judgemental chat about motherhood.

As a mum of three, Kate has a lot to say about communities for mums and tells me about the huge support and kindness she sees on The Motherload. We talk about the importance of ‘finding your tribe’ online, when you have a baby, because we don’t always have people on our street or down the road, to rely on for help.

Kate and I also discuss mum mantras – are they a welcome source of support or are they a device to shut down conversation and dismiss valid concerns?

You can find The Motherload on Facebook and follow Kate on Instagram.

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and blogger Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people on parenthood on the podcast. Go check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry

Recorded at: Acast Studios

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

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

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

I’m thrilled to welcome Binky Felstead onto the podcast this week! Binky shot to fame when she appeared on TV show Made In Chelsea and two years ago, she became a mum to her daughter India.

It was so lovely to chat to Binky and we covered a lot of ground - her parenting style, how she’s keen to have a relaxed approach but with fairly strict boundaries and what she thinks she’s learned from her own mum – the good and the bad!

We talk about her new relationship with her partner Max, and how she’s navigated that, as a mum. Binky also tells me about her experiences of being mum shamed  - something so many of us have experienced, whether it’s a social media comment from someone being a bit snooty about you giving your kid fish fingers, or how much screen time they’re having.

You can follow Binky on Instagram, check out her Mummy Tribe retreats and take a look at the Bubble babysitting app she mentions.

Here’s a link to the blog post I mention, on kids using tech and parental controls.

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and blogger Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people on parenthood on the podcast. Go check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry

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 episode of Not Another Mummy Podcast, recorded live in front of an audience at Redemption – a fantastic alcohol-free bar and vegan restaurant in London’s Covent Garden. My guests are Rosamund Dean, Deputy Editor of Grazia and author of the book Mindful Drinking: How Cutting Down Can Change Your Life, and Clemmie Telford, Creative Director, blogger & podcaster who gave up drinking earlier this year.

We discuss the link between parenthood and alcohol - why do so many of us use drinking to relax when the kids go to bed?

Rosamund talks about what mindful drinking means to her – how she plans in alcohol-free days every week and the benefits she feels. Clemmie talks about the moment she decided to go sober, how she’s navigating nights out and weddings alcohol-free and how she’s never slept better.

We discuss the connection between alcohol and mental health, the peer pressure involved with drinking and how both Clemmie and Rosamund have reframed it – they’ve given up hangovers rather than depriving themselves of alcohol.

Buy Rosamund’s book Mindful Drinking: How Cutting Down Can Change Your Life, and follow her on Instagram here. Check out Clemmie’s blog Mother Of All Lists, listen to her podcast Honestly and follow her on Instagram here.

Check out Redemption here and buy their book Alcohol-Free Cocktails With Benefits here!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and blogger Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people on parenthood on the podcast. Go check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry

Producer: Imogen Hart, Create Productions

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

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

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

COME SEE NOT ANOTHER MUMMY PODCAST LIVE! On Friday 18th October, I’ll be recording an episode about parenthood and alcohol with guests Rosamund Dean, author of the book Mindful Drinking and deputy editor of Grazia magazine, and Clemmie Telford, mum of three who recently decided to stop drinking alcohol. It’s all happening at Redemption, a really cool alcohol free bar in London’s Covent Garden and it kicks off at 9am, but you can get there after the school run because the actual recording won’t start until 9.45am. Buy tickets here!

Now onto this episode….

What do you think about, when you hear the term ‘single mum’? My guest on this episode thinks we’ve got a long way to go, when it comes to how single mums are represented and talked about.

Remi Sade is a writer and podcaster who, age 22 and during her first year of university, became pregnant. Fast forward three years and she is a single mum, raising her daughter. She talks to me about her experiences, from putting herself through A Levels age 21 and while working, getting into uni, and about having ante-natal depression and post-natal depression following a traumatic birth. This lady has been through a lot.

You can follow Remi on Instagram, listen to the podcast she co-hosts Alright For A Mum and check out her writing here. You can also listen to the BBC Woman’s Hour episode she appears on, and mentions, here.

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and blogger Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people on parenthood on the podcast. Go check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

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

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

Deciding whether to try for a baby is SUCH a big thing. Are we ready? How will our lives change? Do we really want this or are we just doing it because our friends are? Many people know, from an early age, that they don’t want to be a parent, and my guest on this episode felt this way for all of her adult life, until she met her fiancé Boj and now she is really unsure about it all.

Kate Lawler is the drivetime presenter on Virgin Radio, famous for winning Big Brother 3 all those years ago, and the happy ‘mum’ of two dogs. Along with Boj, she’s hosting a podcast series called Maybe Baby which follows the couple’s journey to discover more about becoming parents. Boj is keen – Kate, not so much!

I chat to Kate about what her fears are, what made her change her mind when she met Boj, and how she changes her mind daily about whether she wants to do it or not. We also talk about why it’s still considered ‘odd’ that a woman might not want to have a baby.

You can listen to Maybe Baby here and you can follow Kate on Instagram. I know I’ll be following her journey with interest!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and blogger Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people on parenthood on the podcast. Go check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry

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 long is ‘normal’ to breastfeed your baby? Of course, there is no such thing as ‘normal’. We all have totally different experiences and choices open to us, and many mums choose not to breastfeed at all or move onto bottles very quickly.

 I breastfed my eldest for six months and my twins for ten months, and when I say that, no one bats an eye, but when my guest on the podcast this week, Gill Crawshaw, tells people that she’s still feeding her four-year-old daughter, they often think that’s strange.

Gill, who’s a mum of two, and a blogger at A Baby On Board, chats to me about why it’s not that strange and how it’s absolutely the right thing for her daughter. We talk about people’s reactions, how her four-year-old reacts when people ask her about it, and why Gill decided that stopping breastfeeding before her daughter started school recently would be the worst idea ever.

You can check out Gill’s brilliant blog and follow her on Instagram. You can also find details of the NCT breastfeeding helpline that Gill mentions here.

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and blogger Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people on parenthood on the podcast. Go check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry

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 week’s guest is the fantastic Konnie Huq! A mum of two, TV presenter and now author, Konnie is a huge champion for getting kids into STEM – science, technology, engineering and maths. She’s rather cleverly written a book series for kids, which is funny and brilliant but with a bit of STEM learning sneaked in. Cookie and The Most Annoying Boy In The World is the first book in the series, and is based on Konnie’s own upbringing in west London.

Konnie and I chat about the book, why she feels so passionately about encouraging children to explore the STEM subjects and think about those career paths, and we also talk about a very cool competition which Konnie is judging – Equinor Young Imagineers, in partnership with the Science Museum - a competition that celebrates the UK’s most creative young minds in STEM and asks children aged 7-14 years old to come up with an invention idea that would make tomorrow’s world a better place. Find out more about how to enter here and check out Konnie’s book here.

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and blogger Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people on parenthood on the podcast. Go check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

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

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

Welcome back to a new season of Not Another Mummy Podcast and I've got a brilliant episode to kick things off. Along with his husband Daniel, my guest, Tom Cox, adopted his son Kai. Tom chats to me about everything from that moment he knew he wanted to be a dad, what made them choose adoption over surrogacy and how he felt when he first saw their son Kai's adoption profile and knew he was the one. He talks about the long process and how emotionally tough it was, being approved by different panels and hoping and praying that everything would go smoothly.

It's clear, listening to Tom speak, how much him and Daniel love Kai and what brilliant dads they are. It was such a pleasure - and honour - to have Tom on as a guest, sharing his journey to fatherhood.

This episode is also rather special because it was recorded live, in front of an audience, at an event held by F&F at Tesco, to launch Fred & Flo, their brand new baby clothing range. As the mum of ten month old baby twins, I know how important it is to be able to pick up good value clothing for them without spending lots, so I regularly pick up outfits for them while I'm doing my grocery shop. Big thank you to F&F at Tesco for asking me to host this episode at their event - and there are some great questions at the end of the episode, from audience members!

Fred & Flo clothing is available in Tesco stores now! Find your nearest store here.

Check out Tom's blog The Unlikely Dad and follow him on Instagram.

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and blogger Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people on parenthood on the podcast. Go check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry

Producer: Imogen Hart, Create Productions

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

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

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

Are you a scummy mummy? My guests on the podcast, this week, are! Helen Thorn and Ellie Gibson are the comedy double act The Scummy Mummies. Their sell out live show, top-rated podcast and book celebrate being less than perfect parents. They’re known for talking about how it’s OK to feed your kids fish fingers, rather than organic quinoa, how taking your little ones to swimming lessons can sometimes push you over the edge, and they won’t judge you if you’re drinking wine at 5pm, out of a mug.

On the podcast, we chat about the scummiest things they’ve ever done, swearing in front of our parents, how to keep kids happy during school holidays, and Helen admits to her secret yummy mummy past.

The Scummy Mummies are at the Edinburgh Fringe – buy tickets here – and they’re always doing live dates elsewhere so check those out too. You can buy their book, listen to their podcast and follow them on Instagram. I recommend you do all of those things!

The podcast is taking a short summer break now but it'll be back soon. Thanks for listening!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and blogger Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people on parenthood on the podcast. Go check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

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

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

Jen and Al Ferguson have suffered seven miscarriages – six of them subsequently since having their son Teddy, now age four. They talk very openly to me about their experiences, from the first miscarriage, which happened on their wedding day, to the most recent. Both explain how the heartbreak has affected them and the things they’ve done to cope emotionally with such a run of bad luck. Currently struggling to conceive, Jen is receiving fertility treatment and talks about how lots of people ask why they’re trying so hard to have another baby when – between them – Al and Jen have three children already.

We also chat about how they flexi school their youngest son and how their first miscarriage let Al to set up hugely successful website, The Dadsnet, because he went online for some emotional support aimed at dads and found none.

You can check out The Dadsnet and follow Jen & Al on Instagram. For more information on miscarriage and support, head to Tommy’s.

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and blogger Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people on parenthood on the podcast. Go check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry

Producer: Imogen Hart, Create Productions

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

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

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