The Good Enough Mother

By Dr Sophie Brock

Society & Culture

What's The Good Enough Mother about?

The role of being a Mother offers us the potential for incredible expansion, growth, and power, while also being one of – if not THE – most challenging, undervalued, and taken for granted roles in the world. Motherhood Studies Sociologist, researcher, and single Mother, Dr Sophie Brock hosts The Good Enough Mother (TGEM) podcast with an aim to change how Motherhood is culturally defined and individually experienced. TGEM draws its name from a theorist and pediatrician Winnicott, who highlighted the ways ‘good enough’ parenting is actually what is best for our children – not perfectionism. The podcast centres the Mother as the starting point for conversations with experts and change-makers who are passionate about seeing social, cultural, and institutional change to better support Mothers and therefore our families, and communities.

Download our free app to listen on your phone

LAST EPISODE

68. A New Take on 'The Mumm...

10.12.2021

What have we been led to believe about the ‘mummy wars’ and how do they relate to patriarchal motherhood and ‘the perfect mother myth’? These are the questions I address in this episode of the podcast, where I offer a ...

The Good Enough Mother episodes:

10.12.2021 68. A New Take on 'The Mummy Wars’ What have we been led to believe about the ‘mummy wars’ and how do they relate to patriarchal motherhood and ‘the perfect mother myth’? These are the questions I address in this episode of the podcast, where I offer a ...
09.27.2021 67. Housework is not Mothering Anyone who has had children or cared for children knows that they contribute to the creation of housework! But the work that goes into the domestic sphere of housework, is different from the work that goes into care-giving and mothering. ...
09.13.2021 66. Rage and Anger in Motherhood What remains ‘under the surface’ in Motherhood and still so taboo to talk about directly? ‘Mom-rage’. Minna Dubin published two articles in The New York Times on maternal rage. In this conversation we reflect on Minna’s experience of publishing on ...
08.30.2021 65. Why 'Motherhood'? Claiming Space in our Culture and our Work In this solo episode I reflect on my own journey of coming to Motherhood Studies and what is has meant to study Motherhood before coming a Mother myself. I share important distinctions between Motherhood the structure, Mothering the practice, and ...
08.16.2021 64. The Ecological Awakening of Motherhood We may recognise, acknowledge, and seek to explore biological, psychological, and sociological dimensions that are involved in the transition to motherhood and experience of being a mother – but what about the ‘environmental’? Our environment and our relationship to the ...
08.02.2021 Ep 63. When Productivity in Motherhood is Linked to our Worthiness In this episode I share my reflections on how the ‘perfect mother myth’ is linked to notions of productivity and worth, and add some nuance to the conversation about self-sacrifice in Motherhood. Sometimes, it can feel like there is a ...
07.19.2021 62. Awakening to the Possibilities of Birth In this episode, Maha Al Musa, founder and creator of BellydanceBirth® and EmbodyBirthᵀᴹ shares her passion and advocacy for an expansion and reclaiming of what birth can mean, and how we as mothers experience and make meaning of our births. ...
07.05.2021 61. Motherhood as a Rite of Passage “I know that women can remember the wholehearted ways of knowing carried deep in our bones to heal their own their own lives, and this work is the medicine needed to reweave the world.” Kamya O'Keeffe. This podcast episode traverses ...
06.21.2021 60. Perfectionism in Partnerships and in Parenting How do the pressures we experience both individually and contextually, shape the relationships we have with our partners, children, and ourselves, and what can we do to deepen our sense of connection? . . . This episode is with Michaela ...
06.07.2021 59. The Sexual Revolution of Motherhood “We become mothers in the womb of society. A mother’s relationship with sex can’t be disentangled from how she feels about herself, how she feels about her partner, as well as how society impacts and constructs her worldview.” Sarah Forbes. ...
05.24.2021 58. Alternatives to The Perfect Mother Myth Our ongoing journey through Motherhood can involve a process of letting go as much as of new learning and growth. In this episode I reflect on the process of what it means to go on the journey of unpacking how ...
05.10.2021 57. Embracing Our Maternal (and Professional) Expertise Maternal knowledge and the expertise we develop through the practice of mothering our children is often defined as being in the ‘private’ realm, while professionals are regarded as experts in the ‘public’ realm. When the two are brought together, there ...
04.26.2021 56. Identity Creation as Mothers How do we navigate challenging the model of self-sacrificial motherhood to ‘find ourselves’ as Mothers, when our children need us so intensely and we lack adequate support? What narratives do we attach to our identities and the ‘roles’ we occupy, ...
04.13.2021 55. Maternal Ambivalence What is maternal ambivalence and how can embracing ambivalence help us as Mothers? I share what maternal ambivalence is and isn’t, whether it is something we can ‘escape’ in motherhood, and how ambivalence is connected to ‘Mum guilt’ and our ...
03.29.2021 54. The Expectations of the ‘Good Child’ and the ‘Good Mother’ Have you ever felt judged as a mother based on the way your child has behaved? In this episode I discuss the concept of the ‘good child’ and how it relates to the ‘good mother’ concept – also known as ...
03.15.2021 53. How the Perfect Mother Myth Impacts Individual Mothers The social construction of Motherhood impacts us as individual mothers. This is the case even when we resist the ‘shoulds’. In this episode I discuss what some of these impacts are and draw on the analogy of the ‘fish tank’ ...
03.02.2021 52. The Personal is Political: Birth, Grief, and Motherhood Janet Fraser’s story is one that I think every woman and mother needs to hear. As she says, when feminists said the personal was political, they probably did not anticipate in how many ways this could be true. Janet’s baby ...
02.15.2021 51. 'Mothering Ourselves Back to Wholeness' Within The Social Construction of Motherhood As mothers, we shoulder the burden of structural inadequacies but can feel these inadequacies as personal failings – like it is all ‘on us’. As so many of us are mothering in isolation, without the support or community that we ...
02.01.2021 50. Addressing Misconceptions about Good Enough Mothering In this episode I address what I believe are some misunderstandings about the concept and application of the ‘good enough’ mother as an approach to parenting. I recognise the subjective, complex, and changing use of language – as it is ...
01.18.2021 49. Rethinking 'Mummy Brain' Did you know that a Mother’s brain is more malleable and receptive to learning after giving birth? In this episode of TGEM I chat with Dr Jodi Pawluski, behavioural neuroscientist and therapist about the fascinating effects of motherhood on the ...
12.21.2020 48. The Festive Season as the Arena for the Perfect Mother Myth This final episode of 2020 is a reflection on the ways perfect motherhood shapes the lives of mothers, and explains how and why the festive season and other celebrations intensify and amplify this pressure. I give voice to the often-invisible ...
12.07.2020 47. Neuroscience and the Nurture Revolution Dr Greer Kirshenbaum is the first ever neuroscientist doula and is founder of Nurture Neuroscience. She has worked in academic neuroscience labs, studying how genetics and experience shape the brain, nervous system and body to influence lifelong physical and mental ...
11.23.2020 Ep 46. Child Bereavement and Mothering with Grief This is a conversation about grief and mothering, and the complex challenges that arise when not only grieving the death of your child, but in also supporting your children who are grieving the death of their sibling. I speak with ...
11.09.2020 45. Conscious Parenting as Our Opportunity for Growth What does ‘conscious parenting’ mean and how does it afford us the opportunity for growth as mothers? This conversation is with Bridget Wood, thought leader on human behaviour and mother to three young children. Bridget discusses the ways conscious parenting ...
10.26.2020 44. Infant Feeding as a Social, Cultural, and Political Issue This conversation about breastfeeding may be unlike any you’ve heard so far. I speak with world-renowned breastfeeding expert Professor Amy Brown from Swansea University, who specialises in research exploring early experiences of parenthood with a focus on infant feeding, mental ...
10.12.2020 43. Scary Thoughts as Part of Motherhood *Trigger warning – talk of intrusive harm thoughts. Perhaps surprisingly, having unwanted and intrusive thoughts as a mother is incredibly common, and in fact – almost universal. Yet, how often is this spoken about in motherhood? In this episode I ...
09.27.2020 42. Revealing the Mask of Motherhood In this solo episode I reflect on the cultural construction of Motherhood as a ‘mask’ that we are expected to wear. We recognise, internalise and perform what it means to be a ‘good mother’ in our society. The power of ...
09.14.2020 41. Allying the Needs of Both Mothers and their Children Often, there can feel as though there is a conflict between the ways we would like to parent, and the social and structural forces that shape and influence our everyday lives as mothers. Amanda Donnet from Spilt Milk Psychology joins ...
08.31.2020 40. A Mother’s Matrescence This is a conversation about the concept of ‘Matrescence’ as the transition into the identity of being a mother – a process that is unfolding and ongoing. I speak with Amy Taylor-Kabbatz who is a best-selling author, speaker, journalist, Matrescence ...
08.17.2020 39. Financial Value and Self-Worth: In Motherhood and in Business In this episode I talk with Leisa Masters from Earthside Birth Services on the subject of money and worth in motherhood and in business. We are both single mothers and business owners whose work supports mothers. It’s from this context ...
08.03.2020 38. The Soul-Work of Mothering The ever-unfolding transition into motherhood is one that often asks us to connect in with our values, our desires, and our sense of identity, to embark on a journey of growth and transformation in ways that we had never anticipated ...
07.20.2020 37. 'Time to Fly': On Grieving, Mothering, and Loving Again This is a conversation with Eileen Robertson Hamra about her memoir ‘Time to Fly: Life and Love after Loss’ – a story of resilience, grief, and love, told with raw honesty and deep vulnerability. In December 2011 Eileen and Brian ...
07.06.2020 36. Anger in Motherhood The imagery of the ‘perfect mother’ is almost the antithesis of the ‘angry mother’. Yet anger is commonly experienced in motherhood, particularly within a modern, western culture of intensified motherhood that places such high expectations on the ways that mothers ...
06.22.2020 35. How Trauma Impacts our Mothering Motherhood has many challenges, some that are talked about more publicly than others. One common challenge within mothers’ experiences that isn’t often addressed, is how trauma – particularly childhood trauma – impacts the practice of mothering our own children, and ...
06.09.2020 34. Postnatal Depletion as the Physiological and Social Cause of our Exhaustion This conversation is with Dr Oscar Serrallach, GP and author of the ground-breaking book, The Postnatal Depletion Cure. In both his clinical work, and as a father to his three children, Oscar has witnessed the enormous stress of modern motherhood ...
05.18.2020 33. Surrendering and Softening into Mothering During Challenging Times This conversation is with Sophie Burch, mother of 4 boys including twins, and therapist and coach, who is on a mission to help people maintain their mental wellbeing from pregnancy through birth and parenting. Sophie talks openly about her experiences ...
05.03.2020 32. The Becoming of a Mother In this episode I talk with Julianne Boutaleb – a consultant perinatal psychologist and Director of Parenthood in Mind – about the transition to motherhood, particularly in the context of the Covid-19 global pandemic. We discuss the dynamics and importance ...
04.20.2020 31. Beyond Sleep Training - with Carly Grubb In this conversation with Carly Grubb, founder of The Beyond Sleep Training Project, Little Sparklers, and Grubby Mummy and the Grubby Bubbies blog, we talk about the consequences of sleep training, the failure of our systems in supporting new parents, ...
04.06.2020 30. A Pause in your Day Let this be a little slice in your day where you take a moment to draw inwards and connect with yourself – even when (and perhaps most importantly when) you are busy multi-tasking in listening to this with while parenting ...
03.30.2020 29. Screentime: research and integration What does the research actually say on screentime, particularly for young children? I provide an overview of both the detrimental impacts and the ways screentime can be helpful. I apply this information about screentime to the philosophy of good enough ...
03.23.2020 28. Self Isolation as a Single Mum In putting together this week’s podcast I reflected on the extent to which our lives and the information that surrounds us at the moment is shaped by this worldwide pandemic. It almost seems as though anything worth discussing needs to ...
03.15.2020 27. The 'Story' of Life and Letting Go We generally go through a number of points in our lives where we come to question our identity and who we are: we experience a shift in how we see ourselves, how we experience the world, and what our values ...
03.08.2020 26. Conscious Preparation for Birth and Motherhood I talk about the process and practice of conscious mothering through The Good Enough Mother, but what does that paradigm look like when applied to birth? This episode is with Leisa Masters of Earthside Birth Services who is an online ...
03.01.2020 25. Aggression as a Call for Connection What does dealing with aggressive behaviour in your child look like when you're a conscious parent? In the first part of this episode I dive into what it means to parent from a place of consciousness and reflexivity. Why it ...
02.23.2020 24. Grieving the Loss of Motherhood - with Sarah Roberts What is it like to grieve the lost opportunity of motherhood? This week’s conversation is with Sarah Roberts who is a grief teacher and counsellor with over 25 years experience. After travelling her own journey of infertility for 10 years ...
02.16.2020 23. Reconstructing Motherhood: Special Needs Mums Sociologists pull back the veil on lived experience and connect this experience with the broader social and cultural context that we live within. Diving into analysis and coming up with theories that speak to individuals’ experiences, we can give broader ...
02.10.2020 22. Embracing Good Enough Mothering as your 'Self Care' Current notions of ‘self care’ are letting mothers down. Part of the ‘perfect mother myth’ is that mothers are self sacrificial saints who have responsibility for the physical and emotional needs of the family. Yet, they are also expected to ...
02.02.2020 21. Seven Sleep Myths (Part II) This episode offers insight into what the research says on sleep training practices and frames the struggle with baby sleep as a structural and cultural one, rather than a purely individual one. I try and move the debate away from ...
01.27.2020 20. Sleep... To the Brink of Despair, and Through. (Part I) Sleep is one of the most loaded and controversial topics you can discuss within motherhood. There is judgement regardless of whether you sleep train or not, and I firmly believe all mothers are doing the best with the information and ...
01.20.2020 19. The Over-Treated yet Under-Recognised Problem with Maternal Mental Health This episode contributes to the conversation on maternal mental health – specifically postpartum depression and anxiety - reframing the disorders (at their epidemic levels). I draw on research to suggest these disorders can be understood not necessarily an individual problem ...

Older episodes