The After Birth Podcast

By The After Birth Podcast

A space for parents to share their postpartum stories and experience, in the hopes of connecting with and educating others on their own journey.

We'll be talking bleeding, feeding, late-night google... more

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FAQs about The After Birth Podcast:

How many episodes does The After Birth Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 22 episodes available.

The After Birth Podcast episodes:

June 13, 2023 S2 E2: Cailen Meikle - Group A Strep, Sepsis, Multiple Organ Failure, Bonding Struggles, Overcoming Massive Obstacles
In today's episode we chat with warrior mama Cailen.
She lives in Brisbane with her husband Jacob and two beautiful children, Romy (2.5years) and Rocco (8.5months)
Both of her birth experiences were positive and labour was a fast process for both, being discharged within 6 hours.
After returning home with her second baby Rocco, Cailen noticed a mild fever and pains that she thought to be after birth pains. However as time progressed, the pains became more severe and stayed with Cailen through the night and the following day.
During this time Cailen's Midwife visited and checked over her, determining that all was fine but to keep an eye on her temperature. By the 3rd day Cailen was experiencing a high fever and chills, as well as struggling to breathe so she headed into the hospital as she was concerned she may have a retained placenta because she had one with her first baby.
After being turned away at the first hospital she arrived at despite her critical condition, Cailen and her husband travelled an extra 20 minutes to the hospital where Rocco was born.
She was immediately rushed to have scans and then to surgery within the hour. It was then found that she had a litre of pus on her abdomen and was in septic shock with only 40% of her liver functioning.
The doctors sent away samples for confirmation but they began treatment for Group A Strep and Cailen was eventually diagnosed with
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease caused by Group A Streptococcus Infection - a diagnosis that is quite rare and hadn't been seen at this hospital in 10 years.
Doctors had told Cailen that this could have happened because in postpartum your body is so vulnerable however there was no conclusion as to where she had contracted it.
Cailen had a total of two major surgeries whilst in hospital. She was there for an entire month and went through keyhole surgery and a laparotomy, also having to sign a waiver that she may end up needing a hysterectomy.
Over the 4 weeks spent in the hospital, Cailen navigated respiratory struggles, breastfeeding with the help of midwives, bowel function issues, multiple organ failure, and many other challenges. She fought to have Rocco stay with her and the hospital eventually allowed it under the condition she had a family member there 24/7. Amazingly, whilst all her organs were failing, her breasts/milk ducts were still producing milk for Rocco!
After her second surgery, Cailen took a turn for the better. This was extra special because it meant she was able to see her daughter again. This experience really affected Cailen's ability to bond with both Rocco, however this was easy to overcome once she was discharged home from hospital soon after.
With every day that passed she began to heal and feel better. Slowly integrating a healthy diet after being fed through a nasogastric tube for weeks and moving her body. Cailen’s mother also came home to care for her and assist where needed and this also allowed Cailen time to come to terms with what she had just been through. She is now at a place where she feels that mentally, she has healed from this experience.
This story is one that we will remember forever and we truly believe that Cailen is a walking miracle who survived something so many of us just couldn’t even fathom.
To any family going through something like this, please know you are in our hearts.
A special mention of Cailen's side hustle - @cakinwithcailen
If you're in the Brisbane area and need a stunning cake, she's ya girl!
As always, if you have any questions about anything mentioned in this episode or you would like to come and chat with us our details are:
IG: theafterbirth_pod
Email: [email protected]
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54min
June 06, 2023 S2 E1 - Liv Brown: Special Care Stay, PPA, Career Pivot, Sleep Deprivation, Mental Load, Attachment and Much More
In today’s episode we talk to Liv (IG: @rattle_style). Liv, her partner Charlie and their little boy Gus live in Melbourne and Liv owns her own fashion styling business which we talk a bit about in this episode. Liv went into pregnancy and birth pretty well informed on the whole process with her mother-in-law being a midwife, she had a positive birth experience and was home within hours of giving birth. On their second night at home, Gus had some breathing concerns and Liv’s MIL suggested they take him to hospital where he was admitted for testing and given a provisional diagnosis of sepsis, which was then changed later in his admission and to this day Liv & Charlie are still unaware of what was actually wrong with Gus. Liv talks about how Gus being admitted to hospital so early helped her learn to use her voice as a mother, and although she describes herself as not very knowledgable about the medical world, she was lucky to have people around her to help her advocate for her and her baby. Liv’s feeding journey was fairly straightforward after initially having to syringe feed Gus with colostrum she collected during the later stages of her pregnancy and she says that she believes this process saved their breastfeeding journey. The rest of Liv’s early postpartum story was pretty positive but Liv found that at around 12 months postpartum she really lost herself. Being the first one of her friendship group to have a baby, sleep deprivation and struggling to meet the demands of modern motherhood, Liv was struggling and she couldn’t help but compare herself to other mums who seemed to “have it all together” with babies that slept well and made everything look so easy. We touch on sleep training in this episode and how for some people it just doesn’t feel right, and for Liv this was very much the case but she felt unable to speak about her difficulties with Gus’ sleep because she felt as though she would be judged for not wanting to sleep train.
Liv’s story is interesting because as she describes, at 12 months postpartum there is this collective thought or pressure from society to have your shit together and you get forgotten about a bit, so for her to only start struggling at this point, she felt unable to reach out for help. This episode has some great insights and tips on how to move forward in motherhood when you are in the depths of sleep deprivation and you feel as though you have nowhere to turn.
If you are struggling with your little one’s sleep or are past your 4th trimester and having a hard time, some things that Liv did to help herself were talking to her partner, asking for specific help from friends and family, putting Gus into occasional care, switched who slept with Gus (Charlie and Gus sleep in the same bed now so Liv can get some quality sleep) and trying to stop comparing herself to other mums (much easier said than done, we know).
Rattle Style will be releasing a brand new Mami Mode package on the 18th June. Liv has kindly offered our listeners 20% off at checkout when using the code “afterbirth” and you can find her website at https://www.rattlestyle.com/ or via her instagram @rattle_style
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54min
April 28, 2023 S1 E10 - Jazz & Liv: Season 1 Recap, Plans for Season 2, PP Mental Health
In this episode we recap the season that was and talk about our plans for next season. Liv gets vulnerable talking about her second postpartum experience, and we talk about what we have learned from all of the incredible guests we have talked to so far. We are so grateful to everyone who has listened to the podcast and connected with us via social media and we can't wait to see what Season Two brings!
As always if you would like to share your story or have any suggestions of things you'd like us to talk about in future episodes, please let us know via our socials.
Big love,
xx Jazz & Liv
IG: @theafterbirth_pod
Email: [email protected]
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48min
April 20, 2023 S1 E9: Amanda Astrop: Naturopath, Accidental Home Birth, Pelvic Floor Prolapse, Naturopathy Advice.
*Please note: We experienced some sound difficulties on Amanda's end, so please reach out if you need anything clarified.*

In todays episode we speak with naturopath Amanda Astrop about her experience as a first time mum and how being a naturopath assisted her postpartum journey, also educating us on how we can care for ourselves through nourishing foods, herbs and healthy sleep habits.

Amanda had an interesting start to motherhood with an unexpectedly quick labour in her home with her partner. The safe arrival of their baby was short-lived as they discovered he had low oxygen levels, requiring transfer to hospital and admission into the Special Care Nursery. We chatted about the turbulent feelings involved in a situation like this and also touched on how it affected those first few days as a mum. Amanda eventually found out that she had a Pelvic Floor Organ Prolapse and she openly speaks about the process involved with finding out and treating it. She touches on a drop in milk supply due to stress and also chats about PP Depletion.

After we chat about Amanda's postpartum experience we dive into the world of Naturopathy and how it can assist you with your postpartum journey. Through foods, herbs, warming drinks and supplements, Amanda educates us on all the wonderful things to include in your every day diet and routine. We chat about PMS, PP depletion, energy boosting, gut health and what type of blood tests you should be getting with your GP after birth.

This episode is our final guest episode for the season and we feel so nurtured and held after this one. We hope you do too and again, if you need anything clarified you can contact us.

As always, if you would like to come and chat with us on the podcast as a mum or profession you can reach us via the details below:
IG: theafterbirth_pod
Email: [email protected]

If you would like to discover the wonderful resources and naturopathy services that Amanda offers, you can access them via her instagram:
IG: @amanda_astrop

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1h
April 13, 2023 S1 E8 - Milly: Mum Guilt, Loneliness, Overstimulation, Body Image, Intrusive Thoughts, Oral Ties
*Content warning: As we talk about some pretty graphic intrusive thoughts, this episode could be unsettling for some. Please feel free to return to this episode when you are in a better headspace. If you or someone you know requires help, we have listed some resources at the bottom of our show notes.*
In today's episode, we chat with Milly, 16 months postpartum and living on the Gold Coast with her son George and partner Darcy, balancing work and motherhood.
We start by talking about Milly's birth experience and how it seriously impacted her postpartum journey, triggering PND and the feeling of shock, followed by the loneliness she felt in motherhood due to her partner returning to work the day after George was born.
As we chat with Milly, we all realise how common it is for mums to not ask for help when needed and that "mum guilt" can be so apparent in our lives.
We also discuss intrusive thoughts, phantom cries, body image, overstimulation, partner resentment, and Georges's lip, tongue, and cheek ties.
Milly ended her breastfeeding journey around six months out of respect for her mental health and is proud of the journey she shared with her son.
This episode felt like a mother's club meeting at the coffee shop or chatting with a friend over drinks. We laughed a lot and spoke about some tough topics; a perfectly balanced and raw episode.
We hope you enjoy this one as much as we did.
Thank you so much for listening and as always, if you would like to reach out to us, our contact details are below;
IG: @theafterbirth_pod
Email: [email protected]
RESOURCES:
Gidget Foundation Australia:
https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/
Beyond Blue - Pregnancy and New Parents
https://healthyfamilies.beyondblue.org.au/ PANDA https://panda.org.au/
Raising Children
https://raisingchildren.net.au/pregnancy/health-wellbeing/mental-health/antenatal-postnatal-depression
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1h 3min
April 05, 2023 S1 E7 - Lara & Cass: Premature Birth, NICU, Preeclampsia, C-Section Recovery, Same-Sex Couple, Tube Feeding and Hospital to Home Care.
CONTENT WARNING: NICU and extreme prematurity - if you do not feel you are in a headspace to listen to today's episode, please skip this one and return whenever you are ready.

In this episode, we talk to Lara & Cass, a couple from Sydney who had their little boy Sunny at just 27 weeks gestation and had a lengthy NICU stay.

This episode is a little different as it focuses much more on Sunny's journey than Lara's, reflecting their experience. Due to the severity of Sunny's condition, most of their energy was prioritized toward his recovery.

Despite their many challenges, Cass & Lara describe their experience positively, and they attribute their ongoing positivity to the support they had around them during this time.

This episode is raw and emotional, and we are so grateful to Lara and Cass for their vulnerability and for sharing their incredible journey so far with us.

As mentioned in this episode, we have linked The Royal Women's Hospital NICU Fundraising Page below:
https://www.royalwomen.org.au/areas-of-the-royal/departments/nicu

We will also be sharing more info over on our Instagram page: @theafterbirth_pod

As always, if you enjoyed this episode, please give us a rating and review on whatever platform you listen to us on.
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1h 4min
March 30, 2023 EP 6 - Llani: 3 Postpartum and BF experiences, NICU, Relationships, Intrusive Thoughts, PPD, Maternal Assisted C-Section and Recovery.
In today's episode, we chat with Llani.
Llani is from the Gold Coast, Australia, and has 3 beautiful boys with her partner.
She is passionate about spreading awareness about mental health and is currently working on an online platform that provides coaching, workshops, and programs. You can stay up to date with her journey via her Instagram: @theintentionalweekend
As described on her Instagram Llani is a mum who keeps it real, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with her.
We chatted about all 3 of her PP journeys and how they differed.
From being unprepared with her first to spending time in NICU with her 3rd, her story is told incredibly, and we cannot wait for you to hear this one.

As always, please remember to rate and share our episode.
Contact details to share your story:
IG: @theafterbirth_pod
Email: [email protected]

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1h 1min
March 23, 2023 S1 E5 - Jess: First Time Mum, Positive Postpartum, Elective C-section Recovery, Same-sex Couple, Early Postpartum, Jaundice
In this episode we talk to Jess, a first time mum of 6 week old Rio. This episode feels like a chat with a friend and took us right back to those early days. Jess and her partner Tina have navigated early postpartum like absolute champs and Jess talks about her experience so far with such positivity and a wisdom beyond her 6 weeks of motherhood. We talk about elective c-section recovery, a short stay in Special Care Nursery for jaundice, initial feeding struggles and much more! You can hear more about Jess' story of pregnancy and birth over on her TikTok channel @jessspez
We hope you enjoy today's show and please remember to contact us if you feel called to share your story. Just a note that we had a few audio issues throughout this episode - please bare with us while we navigate editing and troubleshooting these problems!
IG: @theafterbirth_pod Email: [email protected]
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42min
March 16, 2023 S1 E4 -Tess: PND, Bonding Struggles, Detachment, DMER, Returning to Exercise, Prep for Baby #2
For today's episode, we would like to implement a "Content Warning" as we discuss some topics that may be upsetting to some of our listeners.
Tess is an ED Nurse from Sydney, and today she opens up about her postpartum experience and how challenging it was for her mental health.
We touch on her postnatal depression, lack of bonding, and a condition called DMER (Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex). Tess also shares how she and her partner prepare for baby number two and what resources will be implemented.
We really enjoyed holding this space for her today and hope this episode solidifies for other mothers that they are not alone with their postpartum challenges.
PS - You will hear our bubbas in the back; Just keeping it real!
As always, if you would like to reach out to us, our contact details are below;
IG: @theafterbirth_pod
Email: [email protected]
RESOURCES:
Gidget Foundation Australia:
https://www.gidgetfoundation.org.au/
Beyond Blue - Pregnancy and New Parents
https://healthyfamilies.beyondblue.org.au/
PANDA
https://panda.org.au/
Raising Children
https://raisingchildren.net.au/pregnancy/health-wellbeing/mental-health/antenatal-postnatal-depression
Note: We are currently working on establishing better sound quality. Please bear with us; we are learning as we go!
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50min
March 09, 2023 S1 E3 - Kate Visser: Midwife & IBCLC - Postpartum with 3, Tongue Tie, Pumping, Donor breastmilk
Today's episode is a really informative and incredible chat with Kate and we get MILKY!
We chat about all things feeding related and both of use wish we has someone as helpful as her when we were first learning to feed our babies.
Kate is an Endorsed Midwife and IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) who has created an online resource called The Pump Better Guide.
You can access this guide and many other resources via her website https://www.milkybusiness.com/directory
To all our beautiful listeners, Kate has kindly offered 10% of her PBG until midnight Monday 13th March.
The code is: AFTERBIRTHPOD10
We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did and remember, if you wish to share your postpartum journey with us our contact details are:
IG: @theafterbirth_pod
Email: [email protected]
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1h 7min

FAQs about The After Birth Podcast:

How many episodes does The After Birth Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 22 episodes available.