Gabrielle is Mum to a 3 year old girl, Nellie and 9 month old girl, Maeve.

Gabby fell pregnant unexpectedly when she was 25, which made that first pregnancy a huge life changer for both herself and her partner, Rhett.

Isolation and anxiety led to Gabby struggling to find her confidence in her role as Mum. We talk about intrusive thoughts and the importance of having a community of support around you. Luckily she had another new mum, Emily, show up with a coffee and help her get out of the house and meet with her mother’s group! On a side note, Emily has also shared her incredible motherhood journey on a previous episode, which I highly recommend listening to.

Gabby shares how she felt so lost and overwhelmed in motherhood that she wishes now she had the perspective of being truely present with her baby. She also shares the different experience getting pregnant and having her second baby - when it was actually planned - but also how lovely it is so share this with experience with Nellie and seeing what a great big sister she is.

On todays episode I speak to Jacqui who is Mum to 6 month old, Collins.

With both Jacqui and her husband, Reece being semi-pro athletes, Jacqui shares how they balanced their commitment to sport and returning to the hockey scene post baby.

We talk about the dynamics of establishing feeding and the great balance that they achieved with mixed feeding, which also allowed her husband to bond with baby.

We discuss the hot topic of sleep! and the information overload when it comes to what to do and how to do it, alon with the unwanted comments and advice that is hard to ignore.

Jacqui shares about addressing the unexpected mental load of motherhood and the strain that can put on relationships. We talk about how sometimes we overthink or prepare for worst case scenario but that gets in the way of living and travelling with a baby.

Through our conversation we realise our styles of parenting are really opposite but how awesome it is that parenting and lifestyle choices can be so different and yet still successful and rewarding.

On todays episode I speak to Hannah, who is Mum to 19 month old Tessa.

Hannah's pregnancy was cut short when she was air lifted to Melbourne for an emergency c-section at 28 weeks due to severe pre-eclampsia which developed into HELLP syndrome - a rare but life threatening condition in pregnancy. It causes red cells in the blood to break down. It also causes problems with the liver, bleeding, and blood pressure.

When Tessa was born at a tiny 829grams, she spent the next 2 months in NICU before moving into Special Care closer to home. Once Hannah and Ryan could take their little girl home, life settled into a bit of normality with Tessa proving to be a great sleeper and a resilient wee kid.

We talk about advocating for ourselves and our children as well as the expectations we either perceive or put onto ourselves as new Mums. With a history of anxiety and depression, Hannah talks about the importance of prioritising mental health to make sure we are the best version of ourselves.

Hannah and a friend were talking about Postpartum Depression and decided to do a fundraiser called Mums Matter - to shine a light on a very real aspect of parenting and create a space for women to feel heard and comfortable talking about their struggles. On September 9th they have organised a family fun day in the town of Quambatook, Victoria to raise awareness and funds for Dr Jean Hailes Foundation.

Mums Matter 2023 Event Info/Tickets

Dr Jean Hailes Foundation