LushTums - The Podcast

Pregnancy Yoga, Positive Birth, Motherhood discussions with Clare Maddalena and Clair McGill from LushTums 

For their first ever podcast meet Clare Maddalena, founder of LushTums and her business partner Clair McGill.  Find out why Clare wanted to train people to teach Pregnancy, Postnatal and Women's Yoga and how her journey as a Yoga Teacher began.  In this episode we discuss  our hopes for the podcast how becoming mothers shaped our journey  insights from giving birth  pregnancy cravings! https://www.teachpregnancyyoga.com/ - join us on one of our trainings https://www.lushtums.co.uk

Clare and Clair talk to long time friend and collaborator Helen Moss about her passion for Rest and why it is so important during the postnatal period and how her own experiences led her to this work.   Unfortunately Helen's microphone did not work so apologies if the sound is not great at times.  Find out more about Helen's work at https://www.imaginerest.com The recommended app "The Breathing App" https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-breathing-app/id1285982210 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.ayny.breathingapp&hl=en_GB&gl=US https://coherentbreathing.com Clare's book https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Witchs-Herbal-Apothecary-by-Marysia-Miernowska-author/9781592339099

We speak to Tina Mason, Head Physiotherapist and owner of Brighton Physiotherapy Clinic about her work and what women need to know about their pelvic floor.  We talk about the importance of getting a new mummy check, even if it is years after having a baby, and discuss the lack of understanding around our postnatal bodies and why jumping straight into high impact exercise following birth may not be the best thing.  This is a must listen for anyone who has questions about the pelvic floor and trampolining! Find out more about Tina and her work here: - www.womenshealthbrighton.co.uk www.brightonphysio.co.uk Insta: @womens_health_brighton Facebook: @womenshealthbrighton Tina Mason, physiotherapist & owner of Brighton Physiotherapy Clinic / Women’s Health Brighton BSc(hons) MCSP, MHCPC, MPOGP, MAACP, PhysioFirst 

In this episode the Claires are joined by registered Nurse, Midwife, Author, NLP trainer and Father of 8 and Grandfather of 12 - Mark Harris.  Mark shares insights from his fascinating career as a Midwife, shares his thoughts on why there aren't more male midwives and gives tips on how men can better support their partners through pregnancy and birth.  We talk about why 30% of parents describe birth as "traumatic" and how the Birthing Awareness 3 Step Rewind Process can help those who are suffering.  He also explains why consistently doing the washing up without being asked may be more effective at boosting connection and oxytocin than a bunch of flowers!   Find Mark's Antenatal Education programme "Birthing for Blokes" for Fathers-to-be for FREE at https://birthing4blokes.com/oc/ Use the word "FREE" as coupon code Train as a Birthing Awareness 3 Step Rewind Practitioner at  https://birthingawarenesstraining.com Book before the end of May for any dates later in the year and receive a £95 discount with the code "Thankyou321!" Mark's book "Men, Love & Birth" is out now https://www.waterstones.com/book/men-love-and-birth/mark-harris/denis-walsh/9781780662251 To find out more about training as a Pregnancy & Postnatal Yoga Teacher or Antenatal Educator with LushTums go to https://www.teachpregnancyyoga.com/ or email Clair McGill at teachertraining@lushtums.co.uk

We talk to Claire Russell Burns, certified "Restore Your Core" Teacher and tutor on our LushTums Postnatal Yoga Teacher Training, about her experience of stomach separation (or diastatis recti) following the birth of her children.  We discuss postnatal bodies, rehabilitation and how we approach movement differently.   Find out more about Claire and her offerings at http://clairerussellburns.co.uk Are you drawn to working with people during Pregnancy and Postnatally?  Perhaps you would like to become a LushTums Yoga Teacher or Antenatal Educator - find out more here https://www.lushtums.co.uk/train-with-us

Clare and Clair speak to Dr Ally Grandison, Director of the Surrey Baby Lab and longtime LushTums student about her work researching how Babies perceive the world and the role language plays.  She discusses her research discoveries, how work has influenced her parenting journey,  preparing to welcome her third baby into the family and what it has meant to her to attend LushTums classes for 6 years with Clare. Ally's personal webpage: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/alexandra-grandison-nee-clifford  Here listeners will find information on research, media engagement, publications and wider roles at the University of Surrey. The Surrey Baby Lab website: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/surrey-baby-lab  Here listeners can find out more about the research that we do at the Surrey Baby Lab, the methods and techniques we use, our research team and how you can take part in studies if you'd like to do so. You can also follow the Surrey Baby Lab on various social media platforms: Facebook: @surreybabylab Twitter: @LabSurrey  Instagram: @surreybabylab Ally's pregnancy diary on the LushTums blog https://www.lushtums.co.uk/blog/2018/5/31/pregnancy-diary-week-6-finding-out and her birth story https://www.lushtums.co.uk/birthstory-1

Writer and founder of the Positive Birth Movement Milli Hill talks to Clare & Clair about writing her books, her experience of motherhood and the passions that led her to her work.  We talk about The Positive Birth Book and how it almost didn't happen, the impact of Give Birth Like A Feminist and why we still need to fight for woman-centred care. We also talk about Milli's latest book aimed at pre teen girls, due out this summer called "My Period: Find your flow and feel proud of your period!" and why she feels it is important we educate young people about the whole menstrual cycle. https://www.millihill.co.uk https://www.positivebirthmovement.org https://www.facebook.com/positivebirthmovement https://www.instagram.com/positivebirthmovement/ https://www.millihill.co.uk/books/the-positive-birth-book/ https://www.millihill.co.uk/books/give-birth-like-a-feminist/ https://www.millihill.co.uk/books/my-period/ https://www.waterstones.com/book/after-birth/jessica-hatcher-moore/9781788166430 https://www.waterstones.com/book/unwell-women/elinor-cleghorn/9781474616850 Train with Clare & Clair and become an expert yoga teacher in your area https://www.teachpregnancyyoga.com/  

The Claires are joined by LushTums Teacher Helen Eadie who talks about her journey and things she has learned along the way.  What is cranial sacral therapy? Why is Scaravelli Inspired Yoga so special?  Why is everyone talking about fascia? What is Heartmath and how is it using science to help us with anxiety?   Find out more about Helen: - https://www.heleneadieyoga.com https://www.instagram.com/heleneadieyoga/ For more about Fascia  https://www.joanneavison.com https://www.heartmath.com Helen mentions this book  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anxiety-Really-Strange-Steve-Haines/dp/1848193890

This wonderful meditation is around 8 minutes and is for everyone.  Take a little bit of time to be still and listen to your heart.  

Maria Viner CEO of Bristol Charity Mothers for Mothers shares her story and experience of losing her baby son William and how this has influenced her life and the incredible work she has done supporting mothers and educating care providers.  We discuss her work with Tommys and the Royal College of Obstetrician and Gynaecologists (RCOG) Women's Network as well as the life changing work of Mothers for Mothers for those suffering from perinatal mental health illness.   *Trigger Warning - this episode discusses Baby Loss, Depression, Anxiety, OCD and mental health illness and experiences  For support with Baby Loss  https://www.tommys.org https://www.sands.org.uk https://www.rcog.org.uk For support with mental health  In Bristol https://mothersformothers.co.uk Nationwide  https://maternalmentalhealthalliance.org In Brighton  https://umeusfoundation.org      Go to https://www.teachpregnancyyoga.com/ to find out how you can train with us to be an expert pregnancy and postnatal yoga teacher and Antenatal Educator. 

A little catch up and sneaky peak of what is to come this year on the podcast.   https://mythicmedicine.love/podcast http://wecandohardthingspodcast.com https://www.facebook.com/birthingawarenesspod/

The most talked about subject by parents!  Why don't they sleep?  How can you get them to sleep?  Am I creating bad habits by doing the easiest thing to get them to sleep?  Lyndsey is an experienced paediatric nurse and children’s public health nurse, Lactation Consultant and co-founder and clinical director of the Holistic Sleep Coaching Program  She is also the author of 3 books  Holistic Sleep Coaching,  Let’s talk about your new family’s sleep and  Still Awake Responsive sleep tools for toddlers to tweens A passionate believer in gentle, responsive parenting that never compromises infant mental health or feeding, Lyndsey works to educate professionals and families about strategies that are protective of the parent-child bond. Her knowledge and experience supporting families with sleep without leaving infants or children to cry alone is why she is trusted by breastfeeding and gentle parenting advocates around the world. https://lyndseyhookway.com https://www.instagram.com/lyndsey_hookway/ https://www.facebook.com/LyndseyHookway

Anna Crowle is a Women's Physiotherapist whose groundbreaking work and published research papers suggest that pelvic organ prolapse is caused by tension not weakness questioning the effectiveness of commonly used approaches and treatment.

Clare and Clair speak to Midwife Mark Harris about his work supporting those suffering from trauma.  We talk about what trauma looks like and why it might occur and how the 3 Step Process Mark uses and trains others to use can help.  Find out more about Mark and find a 3 Step Practitioner here: - www.birthingawareness.com Mark's interview with Dr Caitlin Walker about the clean language model https://youtu.be/mDaXZqLgFUo Blog written by a GP and student of Clair's about her experience of the 3 Step Process https://www.lushtums.co.uk/blog/2021/9/23/birth-trauma-and-3-step-process-what-happens-before-during-and-after Find out about training as a pregnancy yoga teacher and train with Clare in the 3 Step Process here https://www.teachpregnancyyoga.com/

Clare and Clair talk to Obstetrician Dr Victoria Medland about her work, how we can help women and birthing people to have better experiences in hospital, why language matters so much and how her own experiences of motherhood and birthing gave her a new perspective.  In the UK in 2020/2021 around 46% of Births were by Caesarean or Assisted Delivery (Forceps or Ventouse) *  https://www.tommys.org/ https://evidencebasedbirth.com/ Dr Sara Wickham https://www.sarawickham.com/ Guidelines on Assisted Vaginal Births RCOG- https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1471-0528.16092 www.lushtums.co.uk   We offer specialist Pregnancy Yoga, Postnatal Yoga, Women's Yoga and Antenatal Education classes all over the UK, in Canada, France and Holland. LushTums Yoga At Home Enjoy our signature practices to help you be more comfortable in pregnancy and prepare for birth - online, anywhere, anytime: https://lushtumsyoga.uscreen.io Fancy a change of career? Sign up for our Teacher Trainings and become a LushTums Teacher  https://www.teachpregnancyyoga.com/ * Reference Childbirth: method of delivery in NHS hospitals in England 2020/21 published Mar 24, 2022

Clare and Clair talk with Kate Woods about her career.  What is a Doula? Why are they important?  We discuss how she started training other Doulas (including Clare) and why she is passionate about providing Doulas for refugees, the birth of Doulas Without Borders and how they are breaking down linguistic barriers to offer even better support with Mother Tongue.  (This was recorded last year) https://www.consciousbirthing.co.uk/ https://www.doulaswithoutborders.com/ https://www.mother-tongue-birth.org/

This episode is for anyone in a long term relationship!   Dominique is a therapist initially working at Relate supporting couples and families in the UK’s first family counselling service.  She has trained doulas and antenatal teachers all over the world and is author of the book The Seven Secrets of a Joyful Birth. Although our focus is on navigating the years after bringing a baby into your family we talk about so much more.  Celebrating difference, learning the right way to have an argument and mismatched libidos are all discussed. Find out more about Dominique and work with her https://www.dominiquesakoilsky.com/ Want to find out how you can become an expert Pregnancy and Postnatal Yoga Teacher? You can connect with Clare & Clair and start training TODAY at  https://www.teachpregnancyyoga.com/

After a little break, we reflect on some of the episodes we recorded last year.   We have started to record some new podcasts with some wonderful people.  We can't wait to share them with you! 

Have you heard of gut health, probiotics, antibiotic resistance?  These are hot topics but how do they relate to birth and our babies.   Together with her partner Alex, Toni Harman made the documentary film Microbirth asking the question  Could birth and infant feeding affect a child's long-term health? It won awards and instigating discussions and changes that are happening today.  Their follow up book “The MicroBiome Effect” brought together more information and questions about what we can learn about the role of bacteria in birth, feeding and our ongoing health.  Get tickets for the conference happening on 29th & 30th April https://microbirth.com/the-microbirth-plan/ Find out more about Toni's work https://microbirth.com/about/ Want to find out how you can become an expert Pregnancy and Postnatal Yoga Teacher? You can connect with Clare & Clair and start training TODAY at  https://www.teachpregnancyyoga.com/