In today's episode, we chat with the beautiful Elle and Daisy from The Whole Bowl Co in Sydney, Australia.

The Whole Bowl Co. is a meal delivery service for postpartum mums and their families that provides nutrient dense food that is practical and delicious.

Co-founded by two close friends, this small business has come a long way since it came to fruition and is supporting families in NSW, QLD, VIC and ACT.

Their philosophy is that the postpartum period is a time for mum and bub to bond with as little stress as possible. It is also a crucial time for nutritional replenishment and physical healing. Their postpartum meals are created with this in mind and their recipes and ingredients are nutritionist-approved, made using wholefoods, and cooked to perfection in small batches.

Elle is a mother of two and chats to us about her two postpartum experiences, telling us the story of her first postpartum in a way that sounded all too familiar and relatable. She went into motherhood believing she knew all the things but eventually discovered just how challenging it can be. After her first experience, and cooking for her friends and family members having babies, Elle and Daisy came up with the idea of The Whole Bowl Co.

Daisy is a qualified and accredited nutritionist who is 34 weeks pregnant with her first baby and is extremely passionate about cooking nutritious foods that nourish new mums. She talks to us about navigating pregnancy and running a business and what it's like to plan postpartum when you are immersed in a community that specialises in this field.

Together, Elle and Daisy have created something so beautiful and in demand. High quality, nutritious, heart-cantered food for the people who need it most - new mamas.

You can check out their amazing menu via their website and IG

Our listeners can subscribe to their newsletter to receive a discount code that will provide you with 10% off your first order.

Daisy's IG: @daisybethmansonchong

As always, if you would like to share your postpartum experience or you are a professional in space please reach out

Email: [email protected]

IG: theafterbirth_pod

In today's episode we chat with Jane, a Perinatal Mental Health Occupational Therapist working alongside Bec Black at The Mindful Birth Movement in Melbourne, Victoria.

Jane has two beautiful children that are 15 months apart, and she talks about how her postpartum experiences with both of them were challenging for different reasons.

When Jane gave birth to her first child Jemima it was in the thick of covid times and restrictions. After birth, Jane's partner could only stay for 2 hours before leaving Jane alone in the hospital. At this time, Jane struggled to care for her baby due to birth injuries caused by forceps, an episiotomy, and a 2nd-degree tear, and she was bed bound for 12 hours.

Jane felt helpless whilst lying in her hospital bed, unable to pick up her baby because she was in so much pain and felt unsupported at the beginning of her breastfeeding journey due to only receiving basic care from the midwives. This resulted in Jane not having adequate education about how to breastfeed, and she ended up having bouts of mastitis, experiencing a lot of pain both in her breast and her shoulder blade due to incorrect positioning while feeding.

Due to her previous experience during her first pregnancy and birth, Jane experienced anxiety around her second postpartum journey with her son Romy, fearing more lockdowns and a lack of partner support due to restrictions. Eventually, she was able to connect with other mums online, which led to in-person catch ups.

Jane's second postpartum was challenging and overstimulating. She noticed serious psychological changes within herself and realised how much a woman's brain changes after a baby. She began to experience brain fog, rage, and intrusive thoughts, all coming to a head one afternoon.

Jane's postpartum experiences inspired her to lean into the industry she is now in. With a background in child and youth psychology and health care, Jane has always been passionate about helping people in the mental health space, and now she gets to do it for mums who are experiencing all kinds sof challenges.

We hope you enjoy this beautiful episode.

Please reach out if you would like to share your story or advice in the postpartum space.

IG: theafterbirth_pod

Email: [email protected]

Resources/Practitioners Mentioned:

The Mindful Birth Movement Owned by Rebecca Black

IG: @theminfdulbirthmovement

IG: @drpameladouglas

Matrescence Matters by Sarah Aston

IG: matrescencematters

Baby Brain: The surprising neuroscience of how pregnancy and motherhood sculpt our brains and change our minds (for the better) by Dr Sarah McKay

IG: @drsarahmckay

In today's episode, we chat with Bec, a first-time mum of two beautiful identical twin girls.

Bec's journey to motherhood was challenging; she had to navigate multiple rounds of IVF, eventually falling pregnant with her twins and due to the journey leading up to her pregnancy, Bec struggled with anxieties throughout her pregnancy and into her postpartum.

2 months before her due date, Bec went into labour while she had COVID and gave birth to her daughters prematurely. This resulted in a week long stay in NICU and then three weeks in special care before going home under the NEDS Service (Neonatal Early Discharge Service.) NEDS gave Bec and her partner the opportunity to take the twins home where they would tube feed them and integrate them into their home environment.

When in NICU and Special Care, Bec struggled to find support within the hospital because due to being unvaccinated, she wasn't allowed to interact without parents or access the Ronald McDonald House. This was very isolating for her and really affected her first month as a mum,

Bec's feeding journey took time and commitment due to her milk taking a week to come in. She was pumping around the clock and grew an aversion towards it that resulted in intrusive thoughts and actions towards herself. Eventually, Bec's milk supply dropped and she didn't have enough to sustain both of the girls, so she accessed donated milk through the Facebook group 'Human Milk 4 Human Babies.'

Being a first time mum in the thick of motherhood with twins, Bec has learned a lot, believing that education is power and everything she has learned from this experience will help her in the future. She has so much knowledge about paediatric care due to NEDS and also did much research prior to postpartum so that she was prepared for the "what if's."

We hope you enjoy this episode

As always, if you would like to share your story or you are a professional with some helpful advice in this space, please reach out to us.

IG: theafterbirth_pod

Email: [email protected]

In today's episode, we chat with U-Fhern, owner and founder of Elan House of Wellness, a Melbourne based business dedicated to helping women navigate the early stages of motherhood with confidence and clarity, moving back to a community-based model of care through a contemporary interpretation of the ancient Chinese tradition of ‘sitting the month’ (坐月子 – zuò yuè zi).  

U-Fhern is a mother of 4 beautiful children; Juliette aged 6, Keira aged 4, Layton aged 2 and Maxwell, who is 7 months old.

U-Fhern followed the traditional Chinese confinement period in varying ways with all four children and had support from her mother, aunt, a doula, and a live-in nanny.

We talk about the disconnect amongst women in the Western world and how the mother should always be at the centre of care and nourishment during the first 30-60 days after birth because this is our most vulnerable state.

U-Fhern also talks about the different aspects of confinement that she had to navigate such as boundaries, connection to her support people and how lockdown was a blessing in disguise for her.

Elan House of Wellness offers the ultimate pregnancy and postpartum selection of snacks and food supplies, combining nutrient dense ingredients into delicious and satisfying snacks that offer restorative nutrition, as well as mother and baby oils, mists, and moisturisers. They also supply an incredibly supportive postpartum planning workbook, all delivered Australia wide.

You can find U-Fhern's amazing offerings over at:

IG: @elan.houseofwellness

Website: https://elan.house/

We hope you love this episode as much as we do and that you walk away from it with the mindset that the mother is truly at the centre of everything. May this find you and remind you to implement a period of rest and restoration in your 4th Trimester.

As always, if you would like to come on and tell your story, or you are a professional with advice you can contact us via:

IG: theafterbirth.po

Email: [email protected]

In today's episode, we speak with Jordan, a first-time mum of a beautiful baby girl named Remi.

Jordan and her family live in rural NSW and as a result, didn't receive any in-home midwife visits after the birth of Remi.

As a first-time mum, Jordan's first week consisted of the general challenges we face however, by day five she was experiencing flu-like symptoms that turned out to be mastitis - an inflammation of breast tissue due to bacteria, resulting in a blocked milk duct.

Jordan was unaware of what mastitis was or how to resolve it, so she began to google and watch videos online, unaware that the advice she was taking in, no longer was accredited, resulting in her exacerbating the mastitis.

She then ended up leaning on a family friend who was a midwife to help her and educate her on better ways to get through this.

Eventually, after dealing with reoccurring mastitis, seeing a GP multiple times, and then an OB, Jordan was sent to a hospital in town to receive ultrasounds due to a large and painful lump that had formed in her breast.

The beginning of Jordan's stay at the hospital was not pleasant as she was put in a used and uncleaned room, fearful of herself or her baby getting sick. She was shuffled around to different rooms until there was one vacant for her to stay in and as this was all happening her lump was getting bigger.

When an ultrasound identified that the lump was two abscesses that had formed as one, they also confirmed it was 11cm in size.

Jordan had it drained and thought she was through the worst of it when a few days later while feeding Remi, her abscess burst all over Remi, leaving a hole the size of a 50c coin.

It was here that Jordan felt the medical staff at the hospital she was at had let her down. Unfortunately, none of the nurses had offered to look at the wound, and it was left to Jordan and her mum to clean it up until the next nurse came on shift.

Jordan spent 5 days in the hospital before she was allowed to go home. When she left, she wasn't provided with any advice, referrals, check-up dates, or information on what to do next, and once home had to figure it out on her own.

The story that Jordan tells today really shines a light on some gaps in the medical system, especially for rural mums, and after everything she went through, she maintains such a positive outlook and is passionate about teaching other mums to advocate for themselves and to know the signs of mastitis before its too late.

To coincide with this episode, we have a special offering from the beautiful Harriet (Qualified Midwife) at The Breast Help

Head over to her IG: @the.breast.help and use the code AFTERBIRTHPOD to receive a discount on her Mastitis Management E-Guide.

Direct link: https://www.thebreasthelp.com.au/store/p/e-guide-mastitis-management

As always, If you are a postpartum mama or a professional in this space that would like to come onto our podcast, you can reach us at:

IG: @theafterbirth_pod

Email: [email protected]

In today's episode we speak to Bec Black, perinatal psychologist and director of @themindfulbirthmovement. This chat is so raw and no holds barred as we discuss everything from Bec's own 3 postpartum experiences which have shaped her practice as a psychologist in the perinatal space to postpartum during COVID-19, parenting styles, imposter syndrome in parenting and so much more.

Because Bec works in the area of perinatal mental health, this episode is full of great practical advice for postpartum planning and we know that so many of you will relate to Bec's experience of postpartum during COVID-19 lockdowns in Melbourne and the trauma that resulted from that.

About Rebecca Black 

Psychologist BAppsSc (Psych) (Hons), MCounsPsych

Rebecca Black is a Psychologist, HypnoBirthing Practitioner & director of The Mindful Birth Movement. Most importantly, she is a mother to three children, aged 5, 3 and 5 months.

As a dedicated psychologist, Rebecca has a wide range of experience working with clients at an individual, group and organisational level. Rebecca provides individual counselling to clients of varying backgrounds and presenting issues, including concerns related to anxiety, depression, grief and loss, trauma, stress, relationship and family issues, and more. Through utilising evidence-based approaches and developing a strong therapeutic relationship with her clients, Rebecca is able to support clients to move through any difficulties they are facing, improve their quality of life and attain a sense of fulfilment.

Rebecca describes her early motherhood experience as extremely challenging, and possibly one of the hardest times of her life. It was exhausting, isolating, and confusing. She threw herself into being a mother and she completely forgot to meet her own needs. Rebecca often felt like she was failing and struggled to trust her instincts. When she learnt about matrescence – the intense transformation a woman experiences as she moves through motherhood – her struggles started to make sense.

Rebecca is now passionate about supporting women to move from struggling to thriving in their motherhood transformation. When we look after the mother, her family and her community thrive.

LINKS

Book an appointment: https://themindfulbirthmovement.com.au/psychological-support/
Learn about Mindful Motherhood and add your name to the waiting list: https://themindfulbirthmovement.com.au/mindful-motherhood/
Free Postpartum Wellness Plan: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/e7u9n7

We also discuss the work of Dr Sophie Brock, Motherhood Studies Sociologist in this episode and you can find her on instagram @drsophiebrock