everymum

My guest this week is Carla Kelly, who is one of the founders of Ask The Midwife, a company that aims to support parents from pregnancy through to postpartum and beyond. A midwife herself, we asked you guys, our cherished listeners, to put questions to her that you might need advice on. We talked about an incredible grandparents refresher course that they run (totally genius if you ask me) their various antenatal and postnatal classes, how they help build a community of mothers so no matter what you're going through you feel less alone, and there's a little bit of chat about the various colours of baby poop. We cover all bases here on everymum! Anyway – enjoy my chat with Carla and I'll speak to you next week.Note: If you have a specific medical query, it's recommended to speak to your GP.

My guest this week is Shannen Bulman Joyce, who was previously known on social media as Big C and Me, because she used her platform to document her cancer journey. Over the course of her adult life, just the past ten years, she's been diagnosed with and survived cancer three times. She's now the healthiest she's ever been, and is thriving and living life as a single mother to her daughter Roisin. We chat about everything from health anxiety and mam guilt, to what it was like having to explain to her daughter that she and her daughter's dad were no longer together. We also talked about the difficulties around being a parent and being sick, even with a more minor illness, and the guilt that comes with that. I'm thrilled I finally got to chat to Shannen as I'd followed her for a long time, and she's one of the most genuinely inspirational people you could come across. Enjoy and I'll chat to you next week.

My guest today is model and mam of three, Rosanna Davison. Over the past few years, life has changed dramatically for Rosanna. From going through a tragic 14 miscarriages and believing she wouldn't be able to carry a pregnancy to term, she and her husband sought the help of a surrogate from Ukraine to make their dream of having a family come true. She talks to me about the anxiety of knowing her baby was in someone else's body in a completely different country, and how she coped with that. And then we talk about the shock of her finding out shortly after her daughter was born that she had spontaneously conceived healthy identical twin boys. It was great to hear Rosanna's honest take on life with three under five, how she manages everything and how her identical twins have interesting differences (particularly when it comes to sleeping arrangements!) but it was an emotional episode too, and I had tears in my eyes many times throughout – I hope you enjoy lovely Rosanna's story.

Kelly Donegan is my guest this week – you might know Kelly, if you're a millennial like me, from Tallafornia, a reality show she starred in 12 years ago now. If you've been following her online, you'll have seen her go from reality TV star to fitness expert to now, a mammy of one. Since her daughter Cherry arrived, Kelly's plans for motherhood haven't quite gone off as she'd hoped. We talk about the disappointment you can feel when your birth plans go the exact opposite to what you'd hoped, the challenges so many people go through when it comes to breast feeding, and what Kelly would do differently if she could go through it all again. It's such an open, honest and brave conversation, which I think is refreshing, given the tendency online to only show the 'good' and cover up the tougher times. I hope you enjoy it.

My guest this week is Ali Deasy, who is famous where she lives as the mother who is shadowed everywhere she goes by her gorgeous triplets, Bruce Ted and Lenny. Ali has been a guest on Everymum in the past, but I saw recently she spoke online about her mental health struggle when the boys were between the ages of 2 and 3 years old. I caught up with her as soon as I heard that, because often I think postnatal depression or motherhood-related depression might only be associated with the immediate aftermath of having a baby, or as something that you can be certain you've escaped if your child is older than one – that's absolutely not the case, and I chatted to Ali about how she leaned on her friends to help her through that tough patch. We also chat about the logistics of managing three four year old's (and her angel of a daughter, Georgia, who is like another mammy to the three lads), and how she only dresses them the same if she needs to be able to do a quick headcount in public. I've never smiled so much during an episode, honestly, so I hope it's the same for you. Enjoy!

Warning: This episode discusses baby loss.My guest for this episode is Jessica Bourke, otherwise known as The Fertility Detective. She's known among her followers and patients for her honest, straightforward and compassionate approach to all things fertility, and as she says online, she has nearly two decades of experience helping people to get and to stay pregnant. Before you start listening to this week's episode, I must let you know – we speak extensively and in detail about what it's like to go through various types of miscarriage – just something to be aware of if that's a subject that's sensitive to you at the moment. Jessica is a total pro and it was clear from chatting to her just how much of a vocation her job is for her. I know you'll learn so much from this one, just as I did. 

My incredible guest this week is the OG sleep coach in Ireland, the person with thousands of hours of pacing hallways and bedrooms with babies in her arms – Kelly Geoghegan. Kelly's business, Sleepy Stars, is all about helping babies with sleep. But her fascinating career has featured superyachts, helicopters and changing time zones twice in a week, all the while caring for babies that need their sleep. She chats to me about her celebrity and high net worth clients, how she approaches trying to get twins and triplets to sleep in the same room together, and so much more. We also discuss the largely unregulated sleep coaching industry, and Kelly says she would love to see more controls in place to stop parents who are desperate for help from finding it in the wrong places. Kelly is probably one of the most hands-on experienced professionals I've spoken to, she walks the walk – literally – and I even got a cheeky question to her about my own daughter... a perk of the job, maybe? Enjoy, and I'll speak to you again next week.

This week I spoke to Sarah Ockwell Smith, a parenting expert who has written 15 books on parenting over the course of her career. While we could've covered a number of topics, what I really wanted to speak to her about was the idea of gentle parenting and what it really is. Like you, I've seen Instagram memes and Tiktokers talk about gentle parenting, and most of what I saw left me more confused than enlightened. But speaking to Sarah really gave me a clear picture of what it means to be a gentle parent – and no, it doesn't involve mollycoddling your child and refusing to discipline them. I learned a huge amount during this episode, including how to deescalate a tantrum in the moment, and how best to go about stopping them before they even happen – something other parents of toddlers I'm sure could benefit from. Enjoy, and I'll be back next week with more.