This week on Raising Healthy Mothers, I'm speaking to Bec Milligan, a fellow nutritional therapist with a special interest in supporting women with stress resilience and self-care. Bec has additional training in restorative yoga, emotional freedom technique and breathwork to offer a holistic approach to building resilience for women juggling it all through life's transitions.

In this episode we discuss:

• Bec's journey from a fast-paced TV executive to a nutritional therapist and EFT practitioner specialising in stress resilience

• Motherhood as a transition from one person to another

• Our body's natural stress response - and why we often get sick on holiday after a stressful period at work

• Stress patterns of neural wiring learned throughout our life and how to cut ties of old emotional stressors

• How to build resilience through diet, lifestyle and with a toolkit to re-programme how we respond to stress

This was a brilliant conversation, where we also discussed guilt around how we end up giving birth and breastfeeding contributes to the stress of motherhood. I love Bec's story through her experience of fight/fight/flop and how it informed her trajectory through work and motherhood.

In the episode Bec talks through how emotional freedom technique works and walks us through a short session, which you can find to watch in the shownotes on my website:

www.tashadcruz.com/podcast/building-stress-resilience

Find Bec:

Website | Instagram | Facebook

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Busy Mum? Download my free 5-day Family Friendly Meal Plan and Prep Guide

Soon to give birth? Download my Guide to Eating During Labour and Postnatal Healing Recipes e-Book

Want more energy? Get my 7-day Mini Course straight to your inbox - for all mums whether you’re pregnant, recently given birth or running around after a toddler.

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Today on Raising Healthy Mothers I'm introducing the concept of the Wheel of Motherhood as a means to prioritise yourself as a mother. This is a tool I often use for my clients and for myself too, to work out the areas of life that need to be prioritised to bring some balance in life.   Often mums find themselves at the bottom of the list of priorities, a shift that often happens as soon as baby is born - and doesn't shift back. As a result you might find yourself becoming resentful, notice your ability to cope is reduced, your resilience to face challenges is worse and you have difficulty making decisions. This can have a knock on effect on sleep, maintaining a healthy weight or hormonal balance. And over time this can lead to more serious concerns such as depression, anxiety and other serious chronic diseases.   In this episode I'm going to talk about:

• The 8 sections of the Wheel of Motherhood
• Why each is important
• How and when to use this tool

To download the Wheel of Motherhood and a worksheet to guide you, click here. I encourage you to use this tool periodically and regularly to assess your priorities and work out what you need to work on next. Busy Mum? Download my free 5-day Family Friendly Meal Plan and Prep Guide   Soon to give birth? Download my Guide to Eating During Labour and Postnatal Healing Recipes e-Book   Want more energy? Get my 7-day Mini Course straight to your inbox - for all mums whether you’re pregnant, recently given birth or running around after a toddler.   Sign up for my newsletter and free downloads Follow me on Instagram #raisinghealthymothers   Did you love this episode? Please leave a rating and review to help reach more people, and share it with a friend who needs it. The more mums we can reach the better!

On this week's episode I'm talking to Sophie Messager, a doula and perinatal educator and healer, best known recently for her fantastic book 'Why Postnatal Recovery Matters'.   In this episode we cover Sophie's 4 pillars of postnatal recovery and talk at great length about each one and why they're so important. We covered:

• Postnatal recovery traditions around the world
• Why mums often blame themselves for feeling exhausted (when it's not their fault!)
• What's missing from our Western culture
• How visitors can be actually helpful in the early days
• The importance of bodywork in the first few days and weeks after giving birth - and why we don't need to wait for the 6 week check to have it done

This ended up being a wide-ranging discussion and I particularly loved Sophie's tireless work to promote the importance of full, holistic postnatal recovery. I truly believe this is one of the key missing pieces in a joyful, happy motherhood and hope this episode can help plug the gap just a little bit. ---

Busy Mum? Download my free 5-day Family Friendly Meal Plan and Prep Guide

Soon to give birth? Download my Guide to Eating During Labour and Postnatal Healing Recipes e-Book

Want more energy? Get my 7-day Mini Course straight to your inbox - for all mums whether you’re pregnant, recently given birth or running around after a toddler.

Sign up for my newsletter and free downloads

Follow me on Instagram

#raisinghealthymothers

Did you love this episode? Please leave a rating and review to help reach more people, and share it with a friend who needs it. The more mums we can reach the better! 

Today on Raising Healthy Mothers I'm busting 8 common breastfeeding myths. These are the sort of things I hear so often and it breaks my heart how many mums are stopped in their track just because of old wives tales and outdated advise circulating from friends and family, and even sometimes from healthcare professionals!   So in this episode I've picked out the 8 most common ones and busted them. I hope that by the end of the episode you'll feel more confident in knowing that:

• Breastfeeding doesn't have to (and shouldn't!) hurt
• Breastfeeding may not come naturally - you need to be proactive in learning about it!
• A fussy baby doesn't necessarily mean you're not feeding enough
• You probably will produce enough milk, as long as your baby effectively removes it
• Your partner can bond with baby in many ways other than feeding them with a bottle
• Fed is minimum rather than best...

  The best leg up you can give yourself if you're planning to breastfeed is to educate yourself as much as possible and find out what support is available to you - BEFORE you give birth. Hoping to breastfeed but winging it is not going to give you the best chance; finding out how breastfeeding actually works during pregnancy is best way to start preparing for breastfeeding.   There are many more myths about breastfeeding that I haven't mentioned here. I'm on a mission to give as many women as much support as I can during pregnancy and the early days. As a mindful breastfeeding supporter I offer antenatal education around breastfeeding and postnatal assessment of latch and position and troubleshooting issues. I also help mums through guided relaxations, breathwork and affirmations so they have the tools to remain calm and confident, despite the challenges. ---

Busy Mum? Download my free 5-day Family Friendly Meal Plan and Prep Guide

Soon to give birth? Download my Guide to Eating During Labour and Postnatal Healing Recipes e-Book

Want more energy? Get my 7-day Mini Course straight to your inbox - for all mums whether you’re pregnant, recently given birth or running around after a toddler.

Sign up for my newsletter and free downloads

Follow me on Instagram

#raisinghealthymothers

Did you love this episode? Please leave a rating and review to help reach more people, and share it with a friend who needs it. The more mums we can reach the better! 

Today on Raising Healthy Mothers I'm joined by Amy Fergus-Fuller to talk about her emergency C-section and journey to recovery, which ignited a passion to develop a C-section recovery programme, filling a gap she felt was being ignored by many working in the birth and postnatal world.

This a passionate discussion where she shared how women are being failed in being supported to fully recover after a C-section. In the conversation we talked cover:

• How little education there is around C-sections and what they involve
• The physical and emotional turmoil after having a C-section
• What happens physically after a C-section
• How to heal after a C-section, starting from the very beginning
• What you can do if you've had a C-section years ago
• Amy's 3-phase Ab Rehab Course

There was so much we discussed in this episode, and so much more we didn't manage to cover. What I found really shocking is the extent to which the scar tissue can affect the reproductive organs, with major knock-on effects throughout life if it's not addressed. This feels like very important information for the 30% of women who have C-sections, planned or not.

Amy provides hope - she believes it's never too late to heal and recover after a C-section, even years later. She runs a thorough 3-phase programme which takes the healing step-by-step, covering physical, mental and emotional aspects. You can purchase the pre-recorded Phase 1 of the 4-Week Ab Rehab Course from her website: https://atozyoga.co.uk/events/ab-rehab-course/

To learn more about her programmes, find Amy online:

Instagram | Website | Facebook

New season new episode! Today on Raising Healthy Mothers I'm talking about exactly why we feel so exhausted as mums. It's a bit of a cliche that mums are tired and while for the most part we are simply expected to do way too much in a way that we never would for most of our history, there are lifestyle and diet factors that further affect our overall feeling of exhaustion and fatigue, factors that are modifiable.   In the episode I'll cover:

• Why you feel so exhausted as a mum
• How what you eat (and what you don't eat!) is contributing to how you're feeling
• The signs to look out for that show you need to have a re-think of how you're eating
• My three top tips to boost your energy with your diet - starting immediately.

  Mothering is really hard, and staying on top of what you eat is one more thing on your list of Things To Do. But it doesn't have to be complicated, and sometimes just some small tweaks can make all the difference.   To help you on the way, I've designed a 5-day meal plan that covers a lot of the bases I talk about in the episode. And in the interest of keeping things easy, I've included recipes, a shopping list  and even a meal prep guide, so you just have to set aside two hours at the weekend, get everything prepped and you've got all you  need for the week ahead. Download the meal plan here.   Mentioned in the podcast:

• How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids by Jancee Dunn
• Podcast episode: 5 Steps to Better Sleep {S2E3}
• Podcast episode: The 6 Micronutrients Every New Mum Needs to Know About {S3E10}

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Busy Mum? Download my free 5-day Family Friendly Meal Plan and Prep Guide

Soon to give birth? Download my Guide to Eating During Labour and Postnatal Healing Recipes e-Book

Want more energy? Get my 7-day Mini Course straight to your inbox - for all mums whether you’re pregnant, recently given birth or running around after a toddler.

Sign up for my newsletter and free downloads

Follow me on Instagram

#raisinghealthymothers

Did you love this episode? Please leave a rating and review to help reach more people, and share it with a friend who needs it. The more mums we can reach the better! 

Have you written a birth plan? What about a breastfeeding plan? So often new parents spend a lot of time planning the nursery, researching prams and buying a bigger car but very few consider the nuts and bolts of the postnatal period and how they can make breastfeeding work.   Today is the final episode in this season of Raising Healthy Mothers and I'm going to explain why you should write a breastfeeding plan and what to include in it. In the episode I discuss:

• Why writing a breastfeeding plan is as important as a writing a birth plan
• How writing a breastfeeding plan can improve your chances of breastfeeding success
• The 5 sections to include in your breastfeeding plan
• The secret ingredient to my breastfeeding plan

By the end of the episode, you'll know exactly why you should write a breastfeeding plan, and crucially, what to include in it.   To download my breastfeeding plan template, go to www.tashadcruz.com/breastfeeding-plan

Busy Mum? Download my free 5-day Family Friendly Meal Plan and Prep Guide

Soon to give birth? Download my Guide to Eating During Labour and Postnatal Healing Recipes e-Book

Want more energy? Get my 7-day Mini Course straight to your inbox - for all mums whether you’re pregnant, recently given birth or running around after a toddler.

Sign up for my newsletter and free downloads

Follow me on Instagram

#raisinghealthymothers

Did you love this episode? Please leave a rating and review to help reach more people, and share it with a friend who needs it. The more mums we can reach the better! 

Today on the podcast I'm joined by Cheryl Ndione, a coach supporting mums to gain clarity and build confidence. I was first drawn to Cheryl on Instagram by her bold statement 'Say No to Mum Guilt!' and I knew I had to get her on the show to talk about it, because I know so many mums struggle with guilt around the decisions they make throughout motherhood.   In the episode we discuss

• What mum guilt means
• Whether dads experience mum guilt
• How to find a bit more time in your day as a mum
• Cheryl's unique method to navigate your way through mum guilt and feel confidence in yourself as a mother

  This was such a great conversation as it made me realise how hard we can be on ourselves as mothers - needlessly! I highly recommend downloading Cheryl's free download How to End Mum Guilt Fast so you can start putting yourself first and start saying no to mum guilt.   Find Cheryl on Instagram. ---

Busy Mum? Download my free 5-day Family Friendly Meal Plan and Prep Guide

Soon to give birth? Download my Guide to Eating During Labour and Postnatal Healing Recipes e-Book

Want more energy? Get my 7-day Mini Course straight to your inbox - for all mums whether you’re pregnant, recently given birth or running around after a toddler.

Sign up for my newsletter and free downloads

Follow me on Instagram

#raisinghealthymothers

Did you love this episode? Please leave a rating and review to help reach more people, and share it with a friend who needs it. The more mums we can reach the better! 

In this week's episode on Raising Healthy Mothers, I'm discussing six key micronutrients I think are often problematic for mums in growing, birthing and feeding their children. When clients come to me with symptoms of fatigue, low motivation, poor sleep, low energy and difficulty losing weight, these are the topmost nutrients I have in mind.   In the episode I discuss:

• What micronutrients are
• Why you should care about them as a new mum
• The six most important micronutrients you need to know about
• What to do about it if you recognise yourself in the list of symptoms

If you recognise yourself in any of the symptoms I mention, please consider getting help, starting with your GP for some blood tests to see if there's anything to concern about. Please note that none of the information in this podcast is intended to be medical advice, so consult your GP if you're concerned about anything discussed. ---

Busy Mum? Download my free 5-day Family Friendly Meal Plan and Prep Guide

Soon to give birth? Download my Guide to Eating During Labour and Postnatal Healing Recipes e-Book

Want more energy? Get my 7-day Mini Course straight to your inbox - for all mums whether you’re pregnant, recently given birth or running around after a toddler.

Sign up for my newsletter and free downloads

Follow me on Instagram

#raisinghealthymothers

Did you love this episode? Please leave a rating and review to help reach more people, and share it with a friend who needs it. The more mums we can reach the better! 

In today's episode I'm talking to Chloe Manlay, a fellow nutritional therapist who specialises in acne and skin health, helping women transform their skin from the inside out. This was such a great episode as we talked about how our everyday lives have such a profound effect on our skin - not just nutrition but sleep, stress and our environment. I know skin is often a problematic area for mums after giving birth so I know this is going to be one of those really eye-opening episodes.

In our discussion we talked about:

• The link between the skin microbiome, gut health and the skin

• Skincare products and how they affect the skin microbiome

• How postpartum hormones and becoming a mother can change skin health

• Chloe's 3 pillar approach to addressing the root cause of acne and resolving problematic skin

• How becoming a mother can be seen as a crossroads to make a decision about your health and wellbeing

• 3 simple things you can do at home to start addressing your skin issues

We also had a long chat about stress, self-care and sleep - how important they are for health, yet how difficult it can be to prioritise both as a new mother, and Chloe had some great tips on how to manage everyday life as a mother a little bit better to try and fit them in.

To learn more about Chloe and how she works, find her here:

Instagram: @chloemanlay_skin_nutrition | Facebook Group: Healthy Skin From Within | The 360 Mama Online Postnatal Recovery Programme

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Busy Mum? Download my free 5-day Family Friendly Meal Plan and Prep Guide

Soon to give birth? Download my Guide to Eating During Labour and Postnatal Healing Recipes e-Book

Want more energy? Get my 7-day Mini Course straight to your inbox - for all mums whether you’re pregnant, recently given birth or running around after a toddler.

Sign up for my newsletter and free downloads

Follow me on Instagram

#raisinghealthymothers

Did you love this episode? Please leave a rating and review to help reach more people, and share it with a friend who needs it. The more mums we can reach the better!