Learning to parent again when your co-parent and soulmate dies, with Nicky Wake
My guest this week is entrepreneur Nicky Wake. Nicky's story of grief and love and parenting is one that I was immediately inspired by when I first heard it. After meeting her soulmate Andy Wake back in 2002, Nicky went on to live her best life, and after a long journey to conceive, welcomed a baby boy called Finn. When Finn was just 9 years old, his dad, Nicky's soulmate Andy, had a heart attack that would leave him in a coma and then in round-the-clock care until he eventually passed away back in 2020, when Finn was just about to enter his teenage years. Parenting is challenging enough, but with her own grief and her son's to deal with, Nicky faced a period of intense darkness which resulted in struggling with alcoholism and going into rehab. Her son, just on the cusp of his 17th birthday, told her that getting sober would be the best gift she could give him. So that's what she did. Nicky is now sober, running multiple businesses, and channeling her grief and her pain into positivity by uniting other widows and widowers to help them bond and find love again, moving forward – but not moving on – through it all. This is a captivating story and Nicky's positivity throughout is really something to behold. I'll be back next week with more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Child free by choice, with Vicki Notaro
This week, I wanted to do something slightly different, in the sense that – most of the guests I have on are parents themselves. This week though, I wanted to explore a motherhood choice of a different kind: Choosing not to become a parent. And when I polled listeners to see who to speak to on this, hundreds of you suggested the brilliant Vicki Notaro. I've known Vicki for a long time as we both came up in the magazine industry at the same time, and I've known she was child-free by choice for a long time too. I firmly believe that some of the best mothering I've ever witnessed has some from people who haven't got a child of their own, but aside from that, I really wanted to know Vicki's take on choosing a child-free life, and to talk to her about how that choice is as valid a motherhood decision as any. We were both very sensitive to the fact that becoming a mother is a choice denied to many, but we also explore the societal norms and pressures that child-bearing can place on women, and how Vicki's relationships have been affected by her stance on the issue of having or not having kids. So yes, this isn't the typical everymum episode, but it is absolutely brilliant and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it. Back next week with more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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"It has been a long journey" – from chronic illness to healthy pregnancy with Rachel Purcell
My guest today is someone who’s lived through more than most of us can imagine, and yet meets the world with such calm, strength, and self-awareness, you’d never know it at first glance. Rachel Purcell might be best known to some as Roz Purcell’s sister, but she is very much her own person. A thoughtful, creative soul who’s been sharing her life online with quiet honesty for years. In 2016, Rachel was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia. She was just 27. And in the years since, she’s gone through a full reshaping - of her health, her relationship to her body, her identity, and her priorities. Now, she’s entering a totally new chapter: pregnancy. Rachel is currently expecting her first child, a little boy, and in this conversation, we talk about what it’s been like to move from illness to new life. She opens up about the fear and wonder of early pregnancy, the unexpected time it took to conceive, how her illness determined how long things would take, and how she imagines she might be as a mother. We chat about whether she plans to share her child online, how excited she and her husband Kev are about their new arrival, and how sleep is the thing she's most nervous about when baby arrives. Whether you’re a parent yourself or not, Rachel’s way of thinking about life and how to move through it with such positivity, is something we can all learn from. I'll be back next week with more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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You don't have to martyr yourself for motherhood with Ursula Quinn
If you've ever found yourself standing in the dark at 3am, gently rocking a baby who absolutely refuses to sleep, or you’ve spent hours negotiating with a toddler who suddenly needs water, a story, and three extra hugs, you are definitely not alone. Sleep deprivation is one of the hardest parts of early parenthood, and despite all the books, blogs and unsolicited advice, it can feel like no one really has the answer. That’s why I’m so excited about today’s guest: Ursula Quinn is a certified sleep consultant and a mam of three who works with families to restore something many of us take for granted, our all-important rest. Ursula didn’t start out in this line of work. In fact, like so many of us, she found herself utterly overwhelmed when her own children weren’t sleeping, and traditional advice just wasn’t cutting it. That frustration, and the fog of exhaustion, eventually led her to retrain, diving deep into the science of sleep and the emotional realities of family life. What sets Ursula apart is her incredibly compassionate, baby-led approach. She understands that there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to sleep, which is why I didn't ask her specific, practical advice in this episode – what works for one won't work for another. But whether she’s helping with gentle sleep shaping for newborns, tackling toddler bedtime battles, or supporting parents who are just done, she brings evidence-based tools, empathy, and zero judgment to every conversation. So whether you're just trying to survive the newborn blur or you're ready to make some gentle changes that work for your family, we’ve got you covered in this episode. I'll be back next week with more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Keeping your children safe online, with Dr Afif El-Khuffash
My brilliant guest this week is Dr Afif El-Khuffash, a neonatologist and professor of paediatrics who has also just completed a degree in Cyberpsychology too. Afif is also a fellow podcast host, and has a huge interest in how we all interact and engage online. Even though my little girl is only four, I'm already worrying about the inevitability of her being online eventually, whether that's on an iPad in the short term or longer term on a smartphone when she's older. So my conversation with Afif was around that topic – what is the best way to help your child stay safe and happy online. We talk about misinformation, explaining to your children that everything they see online is not necessarily real, and the most important thing – how to ensure the lines of safe communication are open between you and your child. No matter what age your child is there are challenges online, from bullying to harassment to accessing content that's not appropriate for their age – it's actually so scary what young children can be exposed to sometimes – so this conversation made me feel so much better and I hope you'll get some comfort from it. Enjoy the episode and talk to you again next week! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Meet everymum… discover Ireland's largest parenting community with over half a million followers across social and email channels. Hosted by Aisling Keenan, everymum the podcast promises to talk about the parts of motherhood we just don't hear enough about.Reassuring words, support on your motherhood journey, and authentic honest chat. everymum is here to let you know that you’ve got this, even when you feel like you don’t!Insane highs to anxious lows, we're here to remind you that every pregnancy, birth, baby and mum is unique, and every feeling along the way is completely valid.#everymumthepodcast is sponsored by WaterWipes - the no. 1 baby wipe in Ireland. Their wipes are made with simply two ingredients, 99.9% water and a drop of fruit extract. Together, we are committed to reassuring and supporting parents.Register with everymum today, and pick up your free gift bag, worth over €45 and packed with products, information and samples! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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