Returning to paid work after having a baby is a big moment of transition. And it's not just about the work: it's about daycare, the mental load, the identity shift, the division of household labour, illnesses and heaps more. It's BIG. In this episode, I'm joined by career counsellor and coach Lily Eid to talk about the common issues she sees, what she went through herself, and her top tips for returning to work after parental leave.

I have an info-packed class on returning to work for just $22 if you'd like further support and ideas (lots on settling into daycare and dealing with relationship shifts)

Find Lily:

• Launch Mama on Instagram
• Book a 60-minute Career Consultation with Lily here  
• Launch Mama Podcast – Apple Podcast & Spotify
• Contact Lily directly to learn more about her service offering via [email protected]
• Follow The Professional Edit on Instagram & LinkedIn

Buy Life After Birth, Jess & Vaughne's new book here
Find Jess on Instagram here @jessica_prescott_

This is an episode I was busting to record, because I do not want a repeat of winter 2022 when we all got sick constantly - I was very keen to learn what I could do to help support my kids' immune systems. Listen in as Claire and I discuss
the importance of gut health to immunity, key nutrients to use for immune boosting and ones you can use when kids get sick; tips for ear aches, bronchitis, etc, herbs for kids and how to get supps into kiddos!

Find Claire:
claireluckman.com.au/
Insta – claireluckman_naturopath
FB – Claire Luckman Naturopath
Kid’s Health Consults – online via video call or face to face in either my Leichhardt or
Coledale clinic.

Claire is a degree-qualified Naturopath and Nutritonist and a mum of 2 little people.
She has been in private practice for 6 years and working in the industry for over 10
years. She has a special interest in women & children’s health and loves supporting women in the pregnancy & postpartum season. She has been mentored for over 10 years with one of Sydney’s best fertility & women’s health Naturopaths, and is busy working one-on-one with clients in both her Leichhardt & Coledale clinics. She moved to the Illawarra from the inner west over 3 years ago now and loves life on the coast!

Becoming a postpartum doula is exciting, daunting, wonderful and overwhelming, and in this conversation with preconception, pregnancy and postpartum doula Sami Stewart (https://www.theholddoulaco.com/) we talk about the highs, lows and lessons. 

Tune in to hear us talking about finding a new calling, the ins and outs of getting a business up and running, imposter syndrome and finding confidence, building relationships with other doulas (and being mentored by me), finding clients and the parallels between birthing a baby and birthing a business. 

This episode is sponsored by Newborn Mothers, the postpartum professional training that both Sami and I did.

If you're interested in doing the course, I offer a free 30 minute mentoring call if you use my affiliate link to do so! Here's my link, and please get in touch if you have any questions. 

In this episode, it's just me! I had a lot of questions from people about how I weaned my two year old, and this episode hopefully answers those. I also share what I wish I'd done before I started the weaning process, because I really should have prepared more! 

Madeline MacKinnon is a passionate nutritionist with ten years of experience helping women to recover from debilitating hormone imbalances.  She is known for her popular hormone-balancing cooking classes she teaches live across Canada and has a new cookbook out: The Hormone Type Cookbook- Nourishing Recipes To Balance The7 Different Hormone Types

In this episode, we talk about how your hormones shift in postpartum, key nutrients to include in the diet postpartum that most women do not get enough of, how to look out for postpartum thyroiditis, and how to eat to support postpartum hormone health. 

Find Madeline:
www.naturalhormonehealing.com
@naturalhormonehealing

Have you found it hard to finish sentences since falling pregnant? Left keys in the door? Phone on the car roof? I know I have! There's so much negative press around the brain changes that happen in women and birthing people (deeply rooted in sexism and misogynism!), but the work that Dr. Bridget Callaghan and her colleagues are doing is showing that we're not getting stupider - we're actually seriously up-levelling. If you're worried about the fuzzy  brain, this one's for you. 

Dr. Bridget Callaghan is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she directs The Brain & Body Lab. Together with her students, she studies interactions between mental and physical health across development, and how early life experiences of adversity influence development. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, her Masters in Clinical Psychology, and her Ph.D. at the University of New South Wales, in Australia. She has worked clinically in the field of developmental psychology, and completed her postdoctoral training at Columbia University in New York in 2019. Dr. Callaghan’s research has been generously funded through the National Institutes of Mental Health, Brain Behavior Research Foundation, and National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.

Lab webpage: https://brainandbodylab.psych.ucla.edu/

Twitter: @Dr_BCallaghan

Lab Instagram: @bablab_UCLA

Online study for first time pregnant mums going on now: https://research.sc/participant/login/dynamic/63060D73-0478-4EB1-AAE7-BEC43C066940

Welcome back! I'm kicking off season five of the podcast with a conversation with Nathalie, who shares the details of her two very different postpartum experiences.

NOTES:
Lily Nichols episode
Kinesiologist Erin Dubé

HOOO boy, there is too much about baby sleep I wish I'd known, but in this episode I share two key principles that would have made a massive difference to the failure, angst and frustration I felt around by first baby's sleep.

My Cocoon Cookie Mix is available to pre-order for a limited time - grab your bag here

Join Cook + Cocoon - my new postpartum prep and fourth trimester cooking course - and get $50 off  if you sign on by Sunday Nov 6 with the code EARLYBIRD!

I feel a bit vulnerable putting this episode out there but here goes! The highs and the lows, the nasty and pleasant surprises... and a few things I wish I'd done differently.