The MAMA Podcast

In this episode of The MAMA Podcast, Heidi Eldridge (Founder & CEO of MAMA Academy) is joined by Georgie Woollams, Founder of Mum Love, to explore the emotional transformation that comes with becoming a mother.Together, they discuss the realities of matrescence, the emotional shifts many women experience during pregnancy and early motherhood, and why supporting maternal wellbeing is so important.

Georgie shares insights into identity changes, self-compassion, emotional resilience, and the importance of building supportive communities where mothers feel seen, heard, and understood.This honest and empowering conversation highlights the challenges and joys of motherhood, offering valuable perspectives for expectant and new mums navigating one of life's biggest transitions.

Follow Georgie and Mum Love:Instagram: @wearemumlove

LinkedIn: Georgina Woollams-Edwards

This episode is part of The MAMA Podcast’s healthcare professional series, proudly sponsored by Fletchers Solicitors.

In this episode of The MAMA Podcast, Heidi Eldridge (Founder & CEO of MAMA Academy) is joined by Roobin Jokhi to explore how communication can shape trust, safety, and experiences within maternity care. Drawing on their experience supporting families and healthcare professionals, they discuss the importance of compassionate conversations throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period, and how clear, empathetic communication can help families feel informed, respected, and empowered during some of life’s most vulnerable moments.

Together, they explore the impact that trust and psychological safety can have on outcomes for both families and staff, the challenges professionals face in high-pressure environments, and why listening with empathy matters at every stage of the perinatal journey. This episode is part of The MAMA Podcast’s healthcare professional series, proudly sponsored by Fletchers Solicitors.

In this episode of The MAMA Podcast, Heidi Eldridge (Founder & CEO of MAMA Academy) is joined by Dr Rebecca Moore, Perinatal Psychiatrist and Co-Founder of Make Birth Better, to explore the vital role of perinatal mental health in protecting both families and healthcare professionals.

Drawing on her extensive experience supporting parents and maternity staff, Rebecca shares insights into the emotional realities of pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood, the impact of trauma on families and professionals, and why compassionate, psychologically safe care matters at every stage of the perinatal journey. Together, they discuss the importance of recognising mental health needs early, reducing stigma within maternity services, and creating supportive environments where both families and staff feel heard, valued, and cared for.

This episode is part of The MAMA Podcast’s healthcare professional series, proudly sponsored by Fletchers Solicitors.

In this episode of The MAMA Podcast, Heidi Eldridge (Founder & CEO of MAMA Academy) is joined by Grace Nartey, Lead Midwife for a Maternity Trauma and Loss Care Service, to explore what truly compassionate bereavement care looks like in practice and why supporting midwives is essential to delivering it.Drawing on over 30 years of experience across nursing, midwifery, safeguarding, and perinatal mental health, Grace shares insights into supporting families through baby loss, communicating difficult news with honesty and kindness, and creating meaningful, lasting memories during the most devastating moments of care. Together, they discuss the importance of presence over perfection, the role of language and personalised care, and how midwives can navigate the emotional weight of their work while continuing to provide safe, compassionate care to families.

This episode is part of The MAMA Podcast’s healthcare professional series, proudly sponsored by Fletchers Solicitors.

In this episode of The MAMA Podcast, Heidi Eldridge (Founder & CEO of MAMA Academy) is joined by Amanda Clifton, registered nurse, midwife and maternity governance specialist, and Parbeen Alamgir, Partner and Birth Injury Specialist Solicitor at Fletchers, to explore how learning from investigations can improve outcomes for women, babies and families.Together, they discuss the recurring themes that continue to emerge in maternity investigations, including missed escalation, women not being listened to, consent and communication challenges, and the impact of systemic pressures on staff. The conversation also looks at how learning can be embedded into practice, from improving documentation and training to strengthening governance processes and supporting staff following adverse outcomes.

The episode covers:

• Common themes identified in maternity investigations and birth injury cases
• The importance of listening to women and acting on concerns
• Escalation challenges and delays in assessment or intervention
• The impact of staffing pressures, training gaps and system constraints
• How investigations translate into learning and changes in practice
• Supporting staff and families following adverse outcomes
• The role of governance, documentation and multidisciplinary learning
• Empowering women and families to advocate for their care

This episode is part of The MAMA Podcast’s healthcare professional series, proudly sponsored by Fletchers Solicitors.

In this episode of The MAMA Podcast, Heidi Eldridge (Founder & CEO of MAMA Academy) is joined by Leah Lewin, Co-CEO of White Ribbon Alliance UK, and Keelie Grindley, founder of the Nya birth collective and a midwife specialising in equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), to explore equity in maternity care, anti-racist midwifery, and how to improve outcomes for Black and minority ethnic women and birthing people in the UK. 

The conversation covers:
-Why Black women and minority ethnic groups experience poorer maternity outcomes in the UK
-The difference between cultural competence and culturally respectful care
-How to actively listen to women and birthing people to improve safety
-The role of education, training, and leadership in tackling health inequalities
-How maternity services can move from awareness to meaningful, system-wide change.

We also explores the importance of psychological safety for both staff and patients, and why creating inclusive, respectful environments is key to improving outcomes across maternity and neonatal services. Whether you’re a healthcare professional, policy maker, or advocate for safer maternity care, this episode offers practical insight into how we can work together to reduce disparities and ensure every family receives safe, high-quality care.

This episode is part of The MAMA Podcast’s healthcare professional series, proudly sponsored by Fletchers Solicitors.

In this episode of the MAMA Podcast’s series for healthcare professionals, Heidi Eldridge is joined by Georgia Kontosorou, Midwife and Maternity Digital Programme Delivery Manager.With more than 20 years of experience across maternity services and over a decade working in digital maternity systems, Georgia brings a unique perspective on how data shapes safety, equity and decision-making in maternity care.Together they explore why high-quality maternity data is essential for improving outcomes, where the current gaps lie across NHS systems, and how better digital integration could help clinicians identify risk earlier and prevent harm.From the challenges of fragmented data systems to the opportunities for stronger national oversight, this conversation looks at how accurate, meaningful data can support safer, more proactive maternity care.Georgia also shares a powerful reminder for midwives: capturing good data isn’t just administrative work, it’s a vital clinical tool that helps protect families and improve care across the system.

This series is proudly sponsored by Fletchers Solicitors, supporting our shared commitment to safer, more equitable maternity and neonatal care. Find out more about Fletchers Solicitors here: https://www.fletcherssolicitors.co.uk/


If you’d like to find out more about MAMA Academy and our resources, visit: www.mamaacademy.org.uk

Welcome to Episode 1 of our new 10-part MAMA Podcast series created for healthcare professionals working in maternity and neonatal care.In this first episode, our CEO Heidi Eldridge is joined by Dalvir Kandola, Consultant Midwife and Lead for Inclusivity, and Nursing Times Midwife of the Year 2025. Dalvir shares what leadership looks like in practice, how consultant midwifery creates space for deep, sustained improvement, and why meaningful change needs more than “an email and a poster”.

Together, they explore:
• The difference between leadership and management in maternity services
• How to bring teams with you, reduce resistance, and build allies
• What it takes to implement and sustain change (and why education alone isn’t enough)
• Health literacy, inclusive communication, and reducing barriers for families
• Anti-racism work in practice and why equity must be part of safety
• How staff can raise concerns safely, including routes like Freedom to Speak Up and PMA themes
• Practical examples of change, from vitamin D and iron pathways to improving identification of jaundice in Black and Brown babies
• How tools like the MAMA Wellbeing Wallet can support consistent messaging and access to care

This series is proudly sponsored by Fletchers Solicitors, supporting our shared commitment to safer, more equitable maternity and neonatal care. Find out more about Fletchers Solicitors here: https://www.fletcherssolicitors.co.uk/

Subscribe to The MAMA Podcast to make sure you don’t miss the next episode in the series.

If you’d like to find out more about MAMA Academy and our resources, visit:
www.mamaacademy.org.uk

In this bonus episode of The MAMA Podcast, Heidi is joined by Joanna from NCT (National Childbirth Trust) to discuss their newly released report, From Expectation to Reality: Parents’ Experiences of New Life through Pregnancy, Birth and Early Parenthood.Drawing on the voices of 2,000 new and expectant parents across the UK, the report explores the emotional realities of pregnancy, concerns around safety and staffing, informed consent, birth rights, postnatal support, and the urgent need to tackle inequity within maternity care.

Together, Heidi and Joanna discuss:
• Why nearly half of parents felt more worried than excited during pregnancy
• The gap between a “positive” birth and feeling informed, supported or listened to
• Reports of pressure, coercion and inconsistent consent practices
• The impact of staffing shortages and service suspensions
• Racial discrimination, language barriers and access challenges
• What must change and how charities, professionals and parents can shape reform

Read the full NCT report here:
https://www.nct.org.uk/about-us/becoming-a-parent-report

If you’ve experienced challenges in pregnancy, birth or postnatal care, support is available.You can find more of our resources at: https://www.mamaacademy.org.uk/

If you'd like to support our work improving maternity safety and equity, you can make a one-time donation by texting:
‘MAMA05’ to 70085 to donate £5
‘MAMA10’ to 70085 to donate £10
‘MAMA50’ to 70085 to donate £50

Together, we can amplify parents’ voices and help shape safer, more equitable maternity care.

Content note: this episode discusses baby loss, TFMR, stillbirth and grief.

Emma shares her experience of receiving a life-limiting diagnosis, navigating care during Covid, and living with grief while parenting her living daughter. She also discusses the stigma surrounding TFMR and why compassionate bereavement care matters so deeply.

Support links:
• Antenatal Results and Choices (ARC)
• MAMA Academy Baby Loss Support

If you’ve been affected by this conversation, please know you are not alone.

Follow Emma on Instagram: @emmakbelle or @tfmrmamas

If you’d like to see more of what we do, you can find us at:
Our Website – https://www.mamaacademy.org.uk/ Or @mamaacademy on all your favourite social media platforms.

If you'd like to make a one-time donation to support everything we do, you can text:
‘MAMA05’ to 70085 to donate £5
‘MAMA10’ to 70085 to donate £10
‘MAMA50’ to 70085 to donate £50