Not Another Mummy Podcast

My guest on this episode is the brilliant Amy Hart. Best known for hitting our screens on Love Island, Amy is a TV personality, content creator and host of The Mums Club podcast.

Amy had her eldest son Stanley at 30, has just had her second boy Dexter, and is very much in her mum era. But she's very honest about the fact that the second time around has been harder than she expected - not because of Dexter, but because of the identity wobble that comes with spinning more plates and stepping back from some of the regular work she loved.

We also chat about:

Why she froze her eggs at 26 after a fertility MOT revealed she might be following her mum and nan into early menopause - and why she'd tell every woman in her twenties to do the same
The moment she seriously considered becoming a solo mum by choice, and what changed
Why she has absolutely zero mum guilt about working, going away for the weekend or leaving the kids with their dad (and why she thinks the backlash is pure double standards)
The day she took a three-month-old Dexter to a Downing Street garden party and why she'd do it again without hesitation
Her honest assessment of her own podcast... what she got wrong, what she'd do differently and how she's planning to refocus it when she comes back

Follow Amy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyhartxo/?hl=en and on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AmyHart

If you enjoyed this episode then please leave a rating or review - and you can follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss future episodes. Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound
Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Ben Cajee - CBeebies and CBBC presenter, BBC Sport broadcaster and now debut children's picture book author. His book, The Panda-Badger, is an uplifting story about a little character who doesn't quite fit into a world of pandas or badgers - and what happens when he realises that being both is actually his greatest strength. It's inspired by Ben's own experience of growing up mixed heritage, and it is already a firm favourite with my kids.

Ben chats to me about what it was like to be asked, in 2020, to speak publicly about his own experiences of racism. He explains how the viral CBeebies link he wrote himself, came about, and the harder, more personal one that followed... and the online pile-on that came with it.

Ben also talks about:

Being physically sick with nerves before a live half-hour BBC broadcast - in a wetsuit, in October, with nowhere to hide
Presenting Blue Peter, achieving the thing he'd always aimed for, and sitting on his sofa afterwards thinking it didn't feel how he thought it would
Why he refuses to let anyone describe him as just one thing (and the conversation with a former NBA star that helped him see why)
What it felt like watching his own links back to improve, and why he thinks not everything should be perfectly polished
The celebrity author narrative, and why he's not remotely bothered by it

Find Ben on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ben_cajee/?hl=en-gb
Buy The Panda-Badger: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Panda-Badger-Ben-Cajee/dp/0241562600

If you enjoy the podcast, please do leave a rating and review - it really helps other people find it. Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound
Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm joined on this episode - for the fourth time - by awesome psychotherapist and bestselling author Anna Mathur. Her new book How to Stop Snapping at the People You Love (as Well as the Ones You Don't) is a brilliant exploration of why we snap and how to respond when it happens.

We kick of by chatting about what it's like to be the expert on rage when you're also the person in the car park crying over a WhatsApp group message asking for a fiver.

We also cover:

Why snapping is rarely about the thing that triggered it - and what the carrier bag metaphor tells us about how we actually reach our limit
The difference between anger and rage, and why anger is more useful than we think
Why the shame spiral after a snap keeps your body in the same stressed state, making another one more likely, not less
How being a "good girl" becomes a survival strategy, and why it turns into resentment
What Anna's ADHD diagnosis taught her about her own nervous system - and how she parents a child with big feelings when she has them too
The perimenopause connection: what's actually happening hormonally, and why Anna started HRT
What a real apology looks like (and the version that actually makes things worse)
Anna's own burnout - what it felt like, and how it changed the way she lives now

Follow Anna Mathur on Instagram at @annamathur and check out her new book here: https://amzn.to/4btSdF6

If you enjoyed this episode then please leave a rating or review - and you can follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss future episodes. Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound
Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm joined on this episode by neuroscientist, parent and content creator Dr Michele Veldsman, and Dr Elizabeth Milovidov, Roblox's Head of Parental Advocacy and a digital parenting expert.

Our kids are growing up in digital worlds that many of us didn't experience ourselves. And if you've ever found yourself wondering whether you're getting screen time "right", feeling overwhelmed by gaming, or worrying that your child knows far more about technology than you do, you’re not alone.

On this episode, we talk about why gaming can be confusing for parents, what children are actually getting from online experiences, and why not all screen time is created equal. We also discuss how children's digital needs change as they grow, how to balance safety with independence, and why parents don't need to become experts in every app, game and platform their children use.

Plus, we explore Roblox's new age-based accounts and parental controls for younger users, designed to help families navigate gaming in a way that's appropriate for different ages and stages.

For more details visit Roblox’s Safety Centre
This episode is brought to you by Roblox, the immersive gaming and creation platform.

If you enjoyed this episode then please leave a rating or review - and you can follow the podcast to ensure you don’t miss future episodes. Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound
Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Dr Punam Krishan - GP, author, BBC TV regular and one of the most passionate advocates for maternal health in the UK.

Punam's new book, The Motherload, explores the hidden, long-term health costs of pregnancy and birth that the medical system consistently fails to address, and makes the case that mums deserve far better than the care we're currently getting.

Punam recorded this episode on her 43rd birthday, just months after finishing treatment for breast cancer. She talks with me about what a diagnosis like that actually does to you and what it means to come out the other side with a completely different relationship with your own body.

We also chat about:

The maternal health gap - why women's health has been under-researched for decades, and why mothers are the most overlooked group within an already overlooked system
Why birth trauma doesn't end when you leave the hospital - and how symptoms your body has been carrying for 20 or 30 years can suddenly surface in perimenopause
What proper postnatal care should actually look like - and why a six-minute GP appointment that focuses mostly on the baby isn't it
The motherhood health penalty: how we've normalised suffering as just part of the job, and what that costs us long-term
Why your kids need to see you rest, and how to explain it to them in a way that actually lands
What she said to herself carrying her suitcase up the steps at a train station that will make you stop and think

Follow Punam on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drpunamkrishan/?hl=en
Buy The Motherload: https://amzn.to/4vugliS

If you enjoyed this episode then please leave a rating or review - and you can follow the podcast to ensure you don't miss future episodes. Thank you!

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and author Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people about parenthood and confidence on the podcast. You can check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Threads: @iamalisonperry. You can buy my book OMG It's Twins now.

Music: Epidemic Sound
Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/notanothermummy.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.