On the Couch with Carly

I don't really believe in the whole "new year new me" concept but in this episode I do share how I have gained insights in two specific areas since being on maternity leave.

I discuss the enormous benefits of slowing down and resting and provide an update on my social media hiatus and how it has affected my mental health.

Support is the golden thread that runs through much of what we discuss in Oh Baby, WTF! If you missed our in-person workshop on the 10th you will soon be able to download the course online through my website, along with the couples coaching course Ready, Steady, Baby!

Support is something we need to think about and include in our birth plan but most importantly in our postpartum plan.

In this episode I talk about why support matters so much and what you can do to get the help and support you need.

In this episode I share my knowledge on doulas and doula support. I wrote my masters thesis on doula support so I have read countless studies that provide strong evidence for the use of doulas during birth. If you are thinking of getting a doula or not sure what that even is, this episode will hopefully help you understand why these women are so beneficial and should be part of every birth story!

I am about to go on maternity leave and have decided to challenge myself to go off social media to try and manage my addiction to my smartphone.

In this episode I speak about how social media has been a lifeline at times, especially since becoming a parent.

I acknowledge the benefits of finding community and connection online but am realising that I use these tools in ways that aren't so helpful as well.

Addictions are tools for "numbing" and this time around I want to find ways of being WITH my emotional distress: loneliness, isolation, boredom, anxiety rather than escaping these parts of myself.

I am curious to find out what I will be available to me when I am no longer spending hours on my phone. What will I discover? What will I learn? What can I access?

Let me know if you want to join me on this challenge!

I also need your help. I need you to keep sharing your love for this podcast. Please subscribe, rate and review this podcast or sign up to my newsletter on my website to stay up to date with these weekly podcasts.

*Upcoming event*

In this episode I discuss the reasons I'm offering this once-off antenatal workshop at Atlantic Children's Practice in the V&A Waterfront on 10 December 2022.

Oh baby, WTF! is a workshop that all expecting first time parents should attend. Unlike traditional antenatal courses, it REALLY prepares you for what it's like to bring home a new baby.

The focus is on the experience of becoming a parent so that you are prepared for the many ways that having a baby impacts on every sphere of your life including your identity, your relationship with your partner and your community, as well as your work/career.

You will also be provided with a toolkit for how to navigate those WTF moments with your mental health intact.

Our first guest this season is the incredible Dr Jess Standbridge. A specialist psychiatrist and advocate for mental health, Jess has recently become a mother. This experience informs the many insights she shares around maternal mental health and the transformative experience of becoming a mother. In this episode we hear about her own pregnancy and how she learned the most important lesson of all...how to surrender.

In this episode I start to unpack the various options available to us when we start to think about what kind of birth we want. We need to reckon with the medicalization of birth. There are choices available to us but sometimes we don't get the birth we want. Empowered is always best so I always encourage a sense of agency as well as trust in care providers.

Pregnancy is a time of adjustment. Like all adjustments, it's a process that involves resistance and surrender. In this episode I talk about how I surrendered to a part of the process this week that taught me again how to take care of my needs via communication of a boundary. I hope it inspires you to do the same.

Around 15% of pregnancies result in miscarriage. Loss is unfortunately a part of many people's fertility journey. In this episode I discuss the loss that occurs via abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death. What can we expect from the grieving process and what can we do to process these kinds of losses?

People get way too up in your business when you're pregnant. Here are a few things you should NEVER ask a pregnant person. I offer suggestions of things to ask / ways to ask that are not invasive and offer support and compassion instead. Also if you're pregnant, I offer some advice around how to navigate boundaries with perfect strangers asking invasive questions.