If you've suffered a 3rd or 4th degree tear during birth you might have joined the 'Birth Tear Support Group' on Facebook. This truly supportive group was created by Rosie after the birth of her first child resulted in a 3rd degree tear and she felt there wasn't enough information or support out there. So like many of the mums I have interviewed on this podcast, she set out to change that and created the FB group. It's how I originally came across Rosie and have followed her since. Rosie had an elective section with her 2nd baby and we speak about the postnatal recovery of both births. Rosie is a Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and we talk about her passion for working with women during pregnancy and the postnatal period. Rosie has kindly shared some blog posts she has written below on postnatal healing and more information can be found on her website.

https://www.rosierayner.com/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/birthtearsupport/

instagram: @rosie_naturopath

To contact Natalie, you can email on [email protected] or instagram @honestyogaLDN

In this episode I spoke to Sophie Baron, mum of 2 who started her own business after the birth of her first child. I wanted to discuss the topic of being an entrepreneur whilst being in the postnatal period. We talked about the reality of being a start-up founder whilst also being pregnant and the many struggles of being a working mum. For many of us who run a company or work for ourselves, it's not possible to take the 'normal' 9 months maternity leave and this episode sheds light on what it can look like. Sophie reflects on the highs and lows and has some great advice on being a business owner and a mum. Sophie was the founder of 'MamaMade' which many of you may have been familiar with and fed to your children. She is now working out what she wants to do next, I can only imagine it will be great, so watch this space.

Show notes:

Postnatal depletion book by Dr Oscar Serrallach

https://www.droscarserrallach.com/

Sophie can be contacted via her instagram account - @sophiembaron

Natalie can be contacted via email '[email protected]' or instagram @honestyogaLDN

I was so honoured that Rachel wanted to share her story with me on the Honest Postnatal podcast. Her desire was to highlight her birth injury in the hope that it helps other women going through a similar situation and to take away the shame and loneliness.

Rachel suffered a 4th degree tear during her first labour that resulted in a Rectovaginal fistula and colostomy bag. Rachel has gone on to have 2 further children via planned C-section and is the proud mum of 3 girls.

We discuss Rachel's birth story and how this resulted in the 4th degree tear and button hole tear that would culminate in a RectoVaginal fistula and a colostomy bag. We discuss the physical and mental aspects of everything Rachel has had to deal with and how important it is to advocate for yourself.

Show notes:

Birth trauma association: https://www.birthtraumaassociation.org.uk/#

LATNEM: https://latnem.org/ :

Trigger warning: Mention of Forceps, severe birth tears and PTSD.

If you would like to contact Rachel you can reach out to here via instagram: @_rachelchristina .

If you would like to contact Natalie you can email on [email protected] or instagram @honestyogaldn

Please consider taking a moment to subscribe and review the podcast to help more women find it and feel less alone during the postpartum period.

Lyanne is the kind of woman we all need in our corner. She is not only a postnatal campaigner who casually talks about chairing a round table in parliament, she is also an author of the amazing book "Your postnatal body". We discuss how Lyanne's first birth started her campaign work and we delve deep into her own postnatal experience as a mum of 2. We discuss the current campaign work that Lyanne and journalist Rosie Taylor are working on and Lyanne gives tips on how you can help make the postnatal experience better for all women.

You can get in contact with Lyanne on instagram here:@thatlyanne or @postnatalhealthcommunity

You can purchase Lyanne's book here:Your Postnatal Body https://www.amazon.co.uk/Your-postnatal-body-top-toe/dp/1780667752or

Pinter and Martin, www.pinterandmartin.com

Show notes:

Book: Things I wish I'd known by Victoria Young

5X MORE CAMPAIGN - https://fivexmore.org/

Rosie taylor - Journalist https://www.rosietaylorjournalism.com/(Campaign for another postnatal check within the first year)

https://maternalpituitarysupport.org/

Pelvic floor patrol - https://www.instagram.com/umihealth/?hl=en

Sundas Khalid - https://midwiferyandme.wordpress.com/Community Midwife // CEO Association of South Asian Midwives //

Set up a meal train - https://www.mealtrain.com/find/

Theo Clarke MP - https://www.theo-clarke.org.uk/

Make Birth Better - https://www.makebirthbetter.org/

Masics: https://masic.org.uk/

If you enjoyed this episode please hit the follow/subscribe button and leave a 5 star review so more women can find the podcast and we can improve the postnatal period for all. You can contact Natalie on [email protected] on instagram @honestyogaldn

The postnatal period can be a lonely time and finding your tribe of mums to help you through it can be hard. When Bridget was struggling to heal from a 3rd degree tear physically and mentally she found solace in swimming with other mums. She tells me the story of how this was the catalyst for 'Mamma Swim' a community of women coming together to empower each other through swimming and taking care of each others babies. And how for many women this has allowed them to find their 'mum tribe' and improve their mental health during the postnatal period and beyond. You can find out more about Mamma Swim and Bridget below: @Mammaswimhttps://mammaswim.co.uk/[email protected]/Show notes: Anna from Hackney Hypnobirthinghttps://www.hackneyhypnobirthing.com/Bridget Bakerhttps://bridgetbaker.wordpress.com/Mobsterhttps://www.mumswhobuild.com/If you enjoyed this episode please hit subscribe/follow and leave a 5 star review as this enables more postnatal mums to be able to find and listen to the podcast. You can contact Natalie on [email protected] or @honestyogaldn

• Catherine Bell. The Birth Cartographer

• Why postnatal recovery matters, Sophie Messager (book)

• Matrescence, by Lucy Jones (book)

• Ted talk - Alexandra sacks

• Hollie de cruz - hypnobirthing

• Frame - Mumhood

• Caroline Bragg

• Niamh Burn - Physio

• Squeezy app (NHS)

• Amity Reed - Overdue . Book

• Grace - postnatal doula

• James the midwife

• In your own time by Sara wickham

• Reclaiming Childbirth as a right of passage by rachel reed

• The Great birth rebellion podcast

• The midwives cauldron podcast

• Ibclc - Breastfeeding help

• Olivia lactation consultant

It's estimated 50% of women will experience prolapse at some point in their lifetime and it can be very common after giving birth. I speak to the lovely Fozia from Healu Collagen about her postnatal experience with prolapse and how this led to her creating her collagen brand. Armed with research and information on the benefits of collagen for women, Fozia explains how the benefits can help your pelvic floor recover after birth. It was an absolute joy to chat with Fozia and if you're struggling with prolapse at the moment, I think this episode will make you smile and deliver a dose of hope that things do get better.

You can follow Fozia here: @healu_collagen [email protected]If you enjoy listening to this episode please hit the follow/subscribe button and leave a review as this will help more women find the podcast and bring more awareness to the postnatal period. You can reach out to Natalie here:@[email protected]

Trigger warning: Mention of Forceps.

A 3rd degree tear can have a huge impact on your postnatal recovery. In this first episode, Natalie talks to Meadbh about how she healed from her tear physically and mentally and how she has gone on to set up the "Birth tear awareness' account on Instagram to help other new mums with third or fourth degree tears.

You can contact Meadbh via email or instagram on:

[email protected]

@birthtearawareness

If you found this episode helpful please hit the 'follow' button and leave a 5 star review. This way more women can be helped during the postnatal period.