The Family Tribe

What happens when Anne’s lifelong best friend joins the podcast? Afif discovers just how much history he has missed, and a birth story somehow involves an offer to do the midwives’ hair. In this bonus episode, we welcome Martha Galvin, hairdresser, business owner, mother of three boys and honorary fifth Doherty sister. Martha shares the stories of her first son’s arrival and the later birth of her twins. She reflects on preparing for labour, discussing her preferences with her maternity team, choosing pain relief and understanding what might happen if plans needed to change. At the heart of her experience was feeling heard, supported and involved in the decisions being made. Martha also introduces her planned podcast, The Invisible Bag, exploring the unseen experiences and worries people carry through life. An affectionate, candid conversation about birth, friendship and the people who help us feel supported. Every birth is different, and Martha’s story reflects the choices and circumstances that were right for her. Put the kettle on, join us, and share this episode with someone who loves a good birth story.

Would banning teenagers from social media make them safer? And what might we miss if we judge their online lives by screen time alone? This week on The Family Tribe, Afif and Anne explore teenagers, technology and the daily negotiations happening in family homes, including their own. Maggie explains why she felt she received access to social media too late, while Faisal’s experience shows how recognising a problem and asking for help can become part of learning to manage it. There is also an alarming screen-time total that turns out to involve rather more Lego than expected. Alongside these family stories, Afif and Anne discuss Irish online safety rules, research on teenage mental health, school phone restrictions and the arguments for and against blanket bans. An honest conversation about setting limits, listening to teenagers and recognising our own scrolling habits.
Follow The Family Tribe, leave a rating or review, and share this episode with a parent navigating the same conversations.
Content note: This episode includes discussion of self-harm and suicide.

Headlines about babies swallowing millions of plastic particles can make an ordinary bottle feed feel like a parenting mistake. So what does the research actually tell us?
In this episode of Baby Tribe Shorts, Afif and Anne explore microplastics in baby bottles, silicone teats and milk storage bags. They revisit the Trinity College Dublin study behind many of the headlines, discuss why measuring particles is surprisingly complicated, and explain the distinction between detecting exposure and demonstrating harm.
They also separate microplastics from BPA, consider the practical drawbacks of glass bottles, and discuss why concerns about plastic should never undermine established advice on sterilisation and formula preparation. Along the way, Afif loses patience with Instagram fearmongering, Anne recalls a toddler licking a shoe, and a disagreement over millimetres becomes surprisingly competitive.
An episode about feeding choices, scientific uncertainty and helping parents make decisions without unnecessary guilt.

Weight-loss drugs are everywhere in the headlines. But what might they mean for our health beyond the number on the scales?
This week, Professor Afif EL-Khuffash and Dr Anne Doherty explore GLP-1 medicines and the research into their effects on the heart, kidneys, liver and painful knees. They explain how these medicines influence blood sugar and appetite, unpack “food noise”, and discuss why managing obesity involves much more than willpower.
They also explore emerging research on alcohol cravings, the findings in Alzheimer’s disease, and the practical realities of treatment, including side effects, nutrition, maintaining muscle and medical supervision. For breastfeeding parents, Afif explains what the available research can tell us, what remains unknown, and why individual circumstances matter.
Along the way, Anne questions both the evidence and Afif’s increasingly busy social calendar.
Science, scepticism and a little marital cross-examination as we explore what these medicines can offer, and where the questions remain.
This episode provides general information and does not replace individual medical advice.

In this Baby Tribe Short, Afif and Anne look at a recent New South Wales paper asking why birth interventions are rising. The study found that so-called cascade interventions, including induction or augmentation, epidural or spinal analgesia, and instrumental birth or intrapartum caesarean section, increased over time, even among women labelled low risk.
But what does “low risk” really mean? And does a rise in intervention automatically mean harm, overmedicalisation, or poor practice?
Afif and Anne unpack what the paper shows, what it does not show, and why the missing outcome data matters. They discuss maternal risk, hospital culture, birth preferences, induction, epidurals, caesarean birth, and the danger of drawing strong conclusions from incomplete data.
The big question is whether mothers and babies are doing better because of them.
Link to paper: https://www.mdpi.com/3042-898X/1/1/2