In part one of this beautiful conversation between Natalie and Kate Merrick, a psychotherapist and mum, Kate shares her incredible journey with her daughter Eliza and their 99 days in hospital after Eliza was born early at 29 weeks. This remarkable story is a true testament to the deep knowing of a woman's body, a teeny but mighty baby girl and a mother's unwavering love and trust. Kate sees the gifts of her experience and also shares how her emergency caesarean birth was utterly sacred. Part two will follow soon, not to be missed, thanks so much for your openness and honesty Kate. Kate's IG - @rushmead_farm Kate's websites - www.rushmeadfarm.com https://www.katemerrickpsychotherapy.co.uk/ Natalie's website www.nataliemeddings.com If you'd like to get in touch with Jenna & Natalie please email motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com Thanks as always for listening.
This month on Mothers Talking, Jenna is chatting to Rachel Parker Soden about her current living situation, how it came about and how her and her two boys are 'letting the road guide us'. In this inspiring conversation, Rachel shares how sometimes the best thing we can do, is just to do, not overthink and let fear take over but let action lead you somewhere beautiful. Rachel is experiencing how staying present can make life so much better and her rare ability to let go, practice deep gratitude and allow her hard feelings is truly refreshing. Thank you Rachel for your mindful reflections on motherhood. If you'd like to explore Rachel's beautiful artwork, please go to her website. https://rachelparkersoden.co.uk/ If you'd like to contact us at mothers talking please email us at motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com Thanks as always for listening Jenna & Natalie www.nataliemeddings.com www.theminimalistdoula.com
Natalie and Jenna are chatting birth in this month's episode of mothers talking. We look at the current landscape of birth preparation and explore how we feel about it. We discuss what we think is more helpful when preparing for birth and how listening and tuning into yourself is much more important than listening to others. Come with us on this journey to uncover the deep needs of pregnancy and find your way to birth with curiosity and calm. Natalie's website is below where you can order her book, How to Have a Baby and the walk talk, Gathering your forces. www.nataliemeddings.com Jenna's website www.theminimalistdoula.com If you would like to get in touch with us please email us at motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com Thanks as always for listening x
In this month's episode of mothers talking, Jenna chats to Suzie Vaughan, psychotherapist and breath work practitioner, about our mum rage and what we can do about it. We discuss the shame and guilt around anger that especially women can feel, we chat about how giving ourselves permission to feel it can help us work with our anger and not suppress it. Suzie offers great tools and tips to help you process your anger in a healthy way and opens up about her own journey with anger in raising her son. A brilliant episode to remind us to always be kind to ourselves. If you would like to contact Suzie her details are below - Suzie Vaughan - Breathe in Peace on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/breatheinpeacewithsuzie?locale=en_GB And instagram https://www.instagram.com/breathe_in_peace_/ Facebook community group - Lose your sh!t less as a Mum with Suzie Vaughan https://www.facebook.com/groups/loseitless?locale=en_GB As always, thanks so much for listening. Jenna & Natalie www.theminimalistdoula.com www.nataliemeddings.com
It's very easy as a new mum to be thrown off your beautiful instinct by well meaning but misplaced comments about your baby...in this month's episode of mothers talking, Natalie chats to lovely Laura Hubbard, new mum to baby Bobby, about how she is feeling during these sensitive early days. As a second time mum, Laura trusts herself more in knowing her baby and is working hard to drown out the voices that make her feel like she doesn't. Laura also featured in an earlier episode if you would like to hear more from her. https://motherstalking.podbean.com/e/laura-lonne-s-story-trust-yourself/ If you would like to get in touch with Natalie and Jenna please email us at motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com Natalie's website is www.nataliemeddings.com Jenna's website is www.theminimalistdoula.com Thank you as always for listening
In this rather unique episode of mothers talking, Jenna and Natalie get personal. As we both go through big changes in our lives, we talk candidly about where we are and how we are feeling during this period of transition. As usual, we are unfiltered and unscripted and it's interesting the twists and twirls this conversation takes. Grab a cuppa and join in the chat. If you would like to get in touch about anything, please email us at motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com Natalie's website www.nataliemeddings.com Jenna's website www.theminimalistdoula.com Thanks as always for listening.
Natalie and Jenna are back in the first mothers talking episode of 2025. Malikah Almaghrabi chats to us about how she enjoys motherhood with her beautiful daughter, Rumi and how allowing the duality of the experience helps her to be present and find the joy. We share how we each enjoy motherhood and what it means to us and how it isn't necessarily what you think. Thank you so much for joining us Malikah, we feel your joy. To get in touch with Natalie and Jenna, please email motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com Natalie's website www.nataliemeddings.com Jenna's website www.theminimalistdoula.com Thanks so much for listening
In our last episode of the year, Jenna and Natalie are delighted to welcome back the wonderful Peter Walker. Peter oozes compassion and warmth in his third episode with us as he chats about how fathers can help support their partners through pregnancy and birth but explores so much more than that. Peter talks about how babies are our teachers, not the other way round, how breathing out is one of the most important things you can do and gives us a real dose of what father love can feel like. Thanks so much Peter for this special episode. We do discuss some sensitive topics in this episode so please be mindful when listening. For more information and to contact Peter please visit http://www.thebabieswebsite.com/ To contact Jenna and Natalie please email us at motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com Thanks so much for listening.
Natalie and Jenna are back together in this month's episode of mothers talking. Natalie joins Jenna in her thoughts on how often we are interrupted as mothers and the impact this has on our minds and bodies. As two mums at different stages in our journeys we discuss the challenges and the gifts of our kids' interruptions and how Natalie reframes this for us all as a super power. If you would like to visit Natalie's new website for all her offerings including her new audio book for How to Have a Baby, please go to - www.nataliemeddings.com And if you'd like to get in touch with us please email motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com Thanks for listening
In this thought provoking episode of mothers talking, Jenna chats to Saumeel Patel about how acupuncture can support your fertility journey. Saumeel is an incredible acupuncturist and holistic practitioner who explains how simple it can be to prepare the body for pregnancy. Jenna and Saum also discuss how important acupuncture is in treating the whole person and how brilliant it can be for the grey areas in health especially when you're finding it hard to get the answers you need. Please be aware that we do discuss some sensitive issues including miscarriage. If you'd like to contact Saumeel please follow this link https://www.acupunctureinsurrey.co.uk/ If you'd like to contact Jenna or Natalie please email us at motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com Thanks for listening
Mothers talking is delighted to chat to Alex Heath, a perinatal trauma therapist and founder of The Birth Republic, in this much needed episode. Alex who is so down to earth and honest about her own journey with anxiety, which inspired her to retrain as a therapist, chats to Jenna about birth trauma, perinatal struggles and what we can do to help ourselves through it. Please be aware of the sensitive subject matter and go gently when listening. If you are struggling with anything we discuss in this episode, please do seek help, you are not alone. If you would like to reach out to Alex Heath, please follow her links below: https://thebirthrepublic.com/ https://traumaticbirthrecovery.com/services/ The book Alex mentions - Depressive Illness: The Curse of the Strong by Tim Cantopher If you would like to contact Jenna & Natalie at mothers talking, please email us at motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com Thank you
Natalie and Jenna are back after the summer break with this honest episode of mothers talking. We are chatting openly about our own experiences with anxiety and sharing our thoughts about this difficult yet common feeling. Do you suffer from anxiety? Is it running your life? Is it even something to cure? We do our best to explore what living with anxiety is like on a personal and wider level. If you are struggling at the moment, know that you are not alone and please do seek help. Your GP can be a good place to start and you can also contact www.mind.org.uk www.anxietyuk.org.uk We'd also love to hear from you if you have a story to share or feelings to air, feel free to reach out to us at motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com
We are so delighted to have this mothers talking chat with the brilliant Dr Emma Svanberg, clinical psychologist for parents, author and campaigner. In this rich episode we discuss Emma's latest book, Parenting for Humans, where Emma allows us to discover why we parent the way we do and uncover more of ourselves in the process. Emma has a way of making us feel relaxed about our parenting choices and reassures us that what we're doing is enough. Emma is so warm and insightful with what she shares, this is a good one, not to be missed. Thank you so much Emma. Emma's links - https://dremmasvanberg.com/ @mumologist on instagram Facebook group @ The Village - A Parenting Community for Humans
The wonderful Peter Walker is back with us in this enriching episode of mothers talking. Peter Walker, a leader in his field of developmental baby massage, is so wise, knowledgeable and all heart as he chats with Jenna about the wealth of benefits our babies receive from respectful and loving touch. It's a reassuring listen because you definitely can't hold your baby too much. Some sensitive topics are discussed so please be mindful when listening. You can hear more from Peter a few episodes back in 'You calm the belly, you calm the baby'. If you would like to email him, his email is walker@thebabieswebsite.com You can find more about Peter's work here www.thebabieswebsite.com @thebabieswebsite on instagram If you would like to get in touch with Jenna & Natalie please email motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com
In this soothing episode of mothers talking, Natalie and Jenna explore the sometimes controversial topic of sleep, in babies, toddlers and beyond. We look at how the decisions we make with sleep have a deep and lasting impact on us and our children and as always how trusting your gut and ignoring the 'shoulds' is always best for you and your baby. This is the blog Jenna mentions during the show. https://www.theminimalistdoula.com/blog/night-time-parenting And if you have any thoughts you would like to share with us please do email us at motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com We would love to hear from you.
In this special episode of mothers talking in honour of World Down Syndrome Day, Jenna chats to Susie Baxter whose beautiful son Ziggy has Down syndrome. Ziggy and Jenna's son Jude met in their speech and language class run by the wonderful Down syndrome charity, 21&co. Susie shares her journey with Ziggy as well as exploring what Down syndrome means to her. *We do touch on some very sensitive issues in this episode including baby loss and termination so please be mindful when listening* Useful links: Ziggy's instagram @zigstar21 Positive about Down Syndrome https://positiveaboutdownsyndrome.co.uk/ 21&Co http://www.21andco.org.uk/ Tommy's https://www.tommys.org/baby-loss-support
In this curious episode of mothers talking, Natalie and Jenna chat to mums, Molly Russell and Tahmina Pinnington-Mannan, about their unicorn births, in particular the difficulty they have had in sharing their experiences. Have you ever heard of a unicorn birth? Maybe you've had one? Maybe you want one? Come and have a listen and find out what it's all about. If you would like to get in touch with us about any of our episodes, please email us at motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com
In this enlightening episode of mothers talking, Jenna is thrilled to chat to the warm and wise Peter Walker, father of five, developmental baby massage expert and author, whose latest book, 'The Resilient Child' is out now. Jenna and Peter discuss a baby's first 1001 critical days from conception to toddlerhood, explore what's important for a child to thrive in those early days, weeks and months, as well as how Peter has helped, Jenna's son Jude, through his incredible developmental delay clinic. If you would like to reach out to Peter, his email address is walker@thebabieswebsite.com And you can learn more about his work and order his books here, thank you. www.thebabieswebsite.com
In this absorbing episode of mothers talking, Natalie chats to Hannah Rafael, mum to George, about their journey with George's school stress. George was struggling after the pandemic and as he transitioned to secondary school, the environment only encouraged his anxiety further which led to his eventual school refusal. Stressful though it was, Hannah reflects on how it was necessary for her son to take a break from the school system to find himself again. If there is a topic you'd like to hear us discuss please email us at motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com
Natalie and Jenna are back together in this episode of mothers talking, chatting all about discomfort. A thoughtful discussion about why discomfort is important and how we actually need more of it and the gifts it brings. Is your life getting too comfortable? Is comfort wrapped in convenience actually blocking our sense of self? We now have an email address so please feel free to write to us and let us know your thoughts at motherstalkingpodcast@gmail.com.