What can decades of childbirth legal cases teach us about preparing for a safer birth?

In this episode of The Relaxed Mama Club, I’m joined by US-based childbirth attorney and bestselling author Gina Mundy.

Gina has spent more than 20 years working on childbirth cases, analysing medical records and looking closely at the decisions made during labour and birth. For much of her career, she represented hospitals and healthcare professionals. More recently, she has shifted her focus to representing families and using what she has learned to help parents prepare for childbirth.

Her book, A Parent’s Guide to a Safer Childbirth, brings those lessons directly to expectant parents.

This felt like a particularly important conversation to have right now. Here in the UK, recent maternity investigations and reports have understandably left many pregnant women questioning how safe maternity care is, and perhaps wondering what they can actually do to protect themselves and their babies.

But this isn't an episode about frightening you.

It's about knowledge, preparation and knowing that your voice matters.

Gina and I talk about what she has learned from years of childbirth cases, the patterns she has seen when things go wrong, and the practical steps parents can take to become active participants in their maternity care.

We also explore the current conversation around "normal birth", how we can avoid creating a false choice between physiological birth and medical intervention, and why safer birth should ultimately be about receiving the right care for you and your baby at the right time.

Birth preparation isn't about trying to control every detail of your birth. It's about understanding your options, knowing what questions you can ask, involving your birth partner and feeling confident enough to take an active role in your care.

Find Gina:

🌐 Gina Mundy's website

📖 Buy A Parent's Guide to a Safer Childbirth

📱 Follow Gina on Instagram

Prepare for birth with The Relaxed Mama Club:

🧘‍♀️ Join the Pregnancy Yoga waiting list

🎧 Online Hypnobirthing Course

If you found this episode helpful, please follow The Relaxed Mama Club and share it with a pregnant friend who might benefit from hearing it too. And if you have a spare minute to leave a rating or review, it makes such a difference in helping more mums-to-be find the podcast.

Because birth preparation isn't about predicting exactly how your birth will unfold. It's about feeling better equipped to meet it.

Feeling overwhelmed trying to juggle work and motherhood? What if the problem isn't your time management, but the way we've been taught to think about balance?

In this episode of The Relaxed Mama Club, I'm joined by life balance coach Roz Davies to explore why the traditional idea of work-life balance doesn't work for many mums, and what to focus on instead.

We discuss the difference between managing your time and protecting your bandwidth, how motherhood can change your sense of identity, why guilt is so common for working mums, and practical ways to reclaim your energy without adding more to your to-do list.

Whether you're returning to work after maternity leave or simply feeling stretched by the demands of motherhood, this conversation will leave you with a fresh perspective and simple, compassionate strategies to help you thrive.

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow The Relaxed Mama Club, leave a review, and share it with a friend who might find it helpful.

- For all the info and to apply to Balanced Mum Academy® click here: https://rozdavies.com/work-with-me/balanced-mum-academy

- Learn more about Roz and how she supports working mums at https://rozdavies.com

- Follow Roz on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/rozdaviescoaching/

In this solo episode, I'm exploring one of the most common phrases I hear during pregnancy: "I'm just going to go with the flow."

At first glance, it sounds like a sensible approach. Birth can be unpredictable, and staying flexible is important. But what if the "flow" you're talking about isn't actually the one you want to be following?

In this episode, I unpack the difference between the medical flow and the flow of labour itself, and why understanding that distinction can have a huge impact on your birth experience.

We'll explore how birth environments, care providers, birth partners, hormones, comfort measures and physiology all play a role in supporting the natural flow of labour, and why protecting these factors matters, regardless of where or how you plan to give birth.

This isn't about rejecting medical support or striving for a "perfect" birth. It's about understanding the conditions that help labour work most effectively and making informed choices that support your experience along the way.

In this episode, you'll learn:

✨ Why "going with the flow" isn't really a birth plan
✨ The difference between the flow of the maternity system and the flow of labour
✨ How the birth environment influences hormones and physiology
✨ The often-overlooked role of birth partner preparation
✨ Why comfort measures are more than just "nice extras"

If you're preparing for birth and want to feel more informed, confident and empowered, this episode is for you.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one. Come and connect with me over on Instagram @relaxed.mama.club and let me know what resonated most.

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider following the podcast, leaving a rating or sharing it with a pregnant friend. It really helps more women find the show and access evidence-based, supportive birth education.

www.therelaxedmamaclub.com

Toddler sleep can feel like one of the biggest challenges in the early years of motherhood. By this stage, sleep often stops being just about naps and night wakes, and can start to feel more like a negotiation, a power struggle, or even a knock to our confidence as parents.

In this episode, I’m joined by child sleep specialist Jess Prescott, founder of Jess' Sleep Secrets. Jess works with families navigating everything from bedtime battles and night wakes to co-sleeping transitions and those classic toddler delay tactics.

But rather than focusing on quick fixes, this conversation explores what’s really going on beneath the surface of toddler sleep.

We talk about the developmental shifts that happen in the toddler years, what self-settling actually means, and how parents can move away from trying to control sleep and instead feel more confident and calm in their approach.

In this episode we explore:

• Why toddler sleep often feels so different from baby sleep• What’s really going on when toddlers resist bedtime• The truth about self-settling and independent sleep• How to hold calm, confident boundaries at bedtime• The role parental confidence plays in sleep dynamics• Rethinking expectations around regressions and “sleeping through”

If bedtime currently feels more like a battle than a wind-down, this episode will give you a fresh perspective and hopefully a little more confidence as you navigate this stage.

You can connect with Jess and learn more about her work here:
https://welcome.jess-sleepsecrets.com/welcomehere

https://www.instagram.com/jess.sleep.secrets/

If you enjoyed this episode of The Relaxed Mama Club, please consider sharing it with a friend or leaving a quick review. It really helps the podcast reach more mums who might need reassurance and support.

Pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period bring huge physical changes to your body… but so many women are simply told that aches, pains and discomfort are “just part of it.”

In this episode, I’m joined by osteopath Lynn McGauley, who specialises in supporting pregnant women, new mums and babies. We explore what osteopathy actually is, how it works, and how it can offer gentle, practical support during pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and even for your baby.

If you’ve ever wondered whether the discomfort you’re feeling is something you just have to live with, or you’re curious about ways to better support your body through this season, this episode will open your eyes to what’s possible.

In this episode, we cover:

• What osteopathy is and how it works
• Common aches and pains in pregnancy
• Why pain in pregnancy isn’t something you have to simply put up with
• How osteopathy can support your body in preparation for birth
• Postnatal recovery and what your body really needs after birth
• How osteopathy can support babies (and what a session actually looks like)
• Gentle, practical ways to care for your body day-to-day

This episode is for you if:

• You’re pregnant and experiencing discomfort or pain
• You’re preparing for birth and want to support your body
• You’re navigating postnatal recovery
• You’re curious about holistic support for you or your baby

You can find Lynn and learn more about her work here:

https://primo-osteo.com/

https://www.instagram.com/primo_osteopathy/

https://www.facebook.com/primoosteo/

Raising girls today can feel… a little different.

Many of us didn’t expect the pressure to start quite so early. Conversations around body image, appearance, confidence and comparison are showing up younger and younger, and it can leave us wondering how best to support our daughters through it all.

In this episode, I’m joined by Lisa Williams, who runs Womanifest, a wellbeing festival focused on confidence, self-belief and self-worth for women and girls.

Lisa is also a mum to two daughters, including a teenager, and brings both personal insight and professional experience into this conversation.

Together, we explore what girls are really up against, how confidence can quietly get chipped away, and what actually helps, not in theory, but in real life.

This is a gentle, honest conversation for any mum raising a girl and wondering if she’s getting it right.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The pressures facing tween and teen girls today

• Why confidence can feel more fragile for girls now

• Body image, comparison and growing up in a fast-moving world

• The influence of early beauty and skincare culture

• The power of modelling self-worth in everyday life

• Creating spaces where women and girls can build confidence together

  
  

Lisa Williams runs Womanifest, a wellbeing festival centred around confidence, self-belief and self-worth.

With a growing focus on supporting tween and teen girls, Lisa is passionate about creating spaces where girls feel seen, heard and empowered. Alongside her business partner Tracey, she is also working within schools to support girls with confidence, body image and self-esteem.

• Womanifest Festival

• Follow Lisa on Instagram

In this episode, I'm joined by Christa Smith, Mindset Clarity Coach for Women and Belief and Body Code Practitioner from Ignite Your Life Co, for a grounding conversation about cultivating calm in the midst of everyday chaos.

Together, we explore why calm can feel so out of reach for so many mums, even when life looks “fine” on the outside, and why trying harder or thinking more positively often isn’t the answer.

Christa shares her personal journey into this work, the inspiration behind her book A Starter Kit to Joy, and her five-step approach to creating calm in a way that feels realistic, compassionate, and deeply human. We also talk about how stress and beliefs can live in the body, how this impacts the nervous system through motherhood, and how calm and joy can exist alongside messy, challenging days.

This episode is for you if you’re feeling overwhelmed, emotionally stretched, or craving a little more steadiness in the middle of it all.

You can find more about Christa's work at www.igniteyourlifeco.com and on Instagram @igniteyourlife.co

Birth is a physical event. And pregnancy is the training window.

In this solo episode, I explore why preparing the body during pregnancy matters, whatever kind of birth you’re planning.

Using the analogy of marathon training, I reframe pregnancy as the time when the body reveals how it manages load, pressure, and change, not because pregnancy causes problems, but because it exposes patterns that already exist.

In this episode, I cover:• why pregnancy doesn’t “break” the body• how lifelong movement patterns show up under increased load• what it really means to prepare the body for birth• why posture, breath, and pelvic mobility matter• how Body Ready Method supports more efficient movement, birth, and recovery

This episode is for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the physical side of birth preparation, without blame, fear, or pressure to “do it perfectly”.

Pregnancy is the training window. Birth is the event.

If this episode resonates, you can find more information about my Body Ready Method offerings at www.therelaxedmamaclub.com

Early motherhood is full of advice, expectations and pressure, and it can be hard to know what really matters.

In this episode of The Relaxed Mama Club, I’m joined by occupational therapist Helen Buteux, known as Becoming a Mummy. Helen combines science, play and real-life experience to support mums through the early months, helping them understand how to support their baby’s brain, body and emotional development, while also caring for their own wellbeing.

Together, we explore some of the most common myths in early motherhood and talk honestly about the realities behind them. This is a reassuring, grounding conversation for anyone feeling overwhelmed, unsure, or craving a calmer, more realistic approach to life with a baby.

You can find Helen on social media as @becoming.a.mummy and online at www.helenbuteux.com 

In this episode of The Relaxed Mama Club, I’m joined by Laura Teare, hormone and mindset coach, for a deeply honest conversation about hormones, motherhood and learning to work with your body rather than against it.

Laura's work is shaped by over a decade of supporting women with their wellbeing, alongside her own lived experience of PMDD and motherhood.

Laura helps people understand how hormones, mindset, and life stages interact, especially during pregnancy, postpartum, and seasons of change.

In this episode, Laura shares both her professional insight and her personal experiences, including living with hyperemesis gravidarum and PMDD, and how these have shaped her approach to wellbeing and self-trust.

Laura offers reassurance, clarity and practical wisdom, reminding us that awareness is not about control, but about building trust with ourselves over time.

This episode is for you if you’ve ever felt “not yourself”, struggled to make sense of emotional shifts, or wondered whether what you’re feeling is hormonal, emotional, or a bit of both.

You can connect with Laura and learn more about her work here:

https://www.lauratearejones.com/

instagram.com/Lauratearejones

https://www.facebook.com/laura.teare.5