Plus size pregnant are being told they are ‘high risk’ in pregnancy - I’m talking here about why this isn’t true, why it’s such a bad thing for your well-being to be described as high risk, and I have some tips for you on what you can do if you are described this way.

If you enjoy the show, please follow! And please leave a review. And do reach out if you think I can help YOU have a happy pregnancy!

Megan’s birth did not go to plan (Arthur was 4 months old when we spoke, thriving and gorgeous!) but she had a positive experience. Her story has learning

and empowerment for you if you are plus size and pregnant, or planning your pregnancy!

If you need info and empowerment, follow the Heavyweight Midwife on Instagram and TikTok and join the Heavyweight Midwife Facebook Group.

@theheavyweightmidwife

This week I chatted with Tamar, who was 8 weeks pregnant with her 2nd IVF baby at the time of our interview. Tamar talked about her really positive experiences navigating an anxious pregnancy journey, adjusting to believing that being a mum was actually happening!

If you enjoy the show, please Review and Follow me. It masked a big difference.

If I can help you, find me at linktr.ee/theheavyweightmidwife

Ahhh mamas - the sound is a bit glitchy here and there on this recording, so massive apologies for this!

But the conversation I had with Lucy was really uplifting! And the sound quality doesn’t stop her lovely birth story coming through. There’s lots of learning and empowerment in there!

Thanks so much for sharing your story Lucy!

Please Follow, Rate and Review the Show if Your’e Enjoying It!!

And if you need my support for Pregnancy Empowerment, you can find it at essentials.theheavyweightmidwife.com

On this week’s show I spoke to Cathy Bowker, an Infant Feeding Specialist Midwife, to get you knowledge and tips on pregnancy preparation for successful breastfeeding From the ‘3 Keeps’ to Building Yourself a Throne.

I know many plus size pregnant women worry that breastfeeding will be more difficult for them, and Cathy is full of calm reassurance and practical advice.

Me & Cathy go right back to our midwifery training days - over 20 years - and she’s a very dear friend of mine! So I know she is passionate and an expert on this topic. This episode is definitely for you if you are planning to breastfeed your baby.

Cathy provided some recommendations on her favourite resources too:

La leche league (Getting breastfeeding on track after a difficult start)

Breastfeeding.support (Breastfeeding with Large Breasts)

Nancy Morbacher on YouTube (What Feeding Positions Work If I’m Large Breasted?)

My Expert Midwife on YouTube (My Expert Midwife - How To Harvest Colostrum)

On this week’s episode I am speaking to Sadie about a particular care pathway at her local NHS Trust that has really helped her. Sadie is pregnant with her third baby, and when she felt she was not being listened to by her obstetric consultant about her wishes for birth, her midwife offered to begin a ‘Hear to Listen’ intervention. In this fascinating conversation Sadie tells me what happened next and how she’s feeling now.

Thank you Sadie, for sharing your experiences so openly and hopefully helping others to feel more confident in asking to be heard.

‘Hear to Listen’ isn’t a national policy, and is, I think, unique to Sadie’s Trust. Different Trusts may have similar initiatives and perhaps more still could adopt this kind of approach. I would love to hear about your experiences at your local hospital. Please contact me if you have something to share!

In this episode, I talk to the very wonderful Megan Rossiter. Megan is the creator of the Birth-Ed birth preparation method, a holistic and empowering birth prep programme, aimed at putting you in control for pregnancy, birth and beyond.

Megan and I talk about how the ‘cascade of interventions’ can easily start rolling, about how to put yourself in control for your pregnancy and birth, and how to get the information you need from midwives and doctors, rather than giving over the power to them to make your plans for you. She has some simple, effective tips to get you in control for birth, and emphasises there’s no reason you shouldn’t be, just as you are in all other areas of your life!

Find Megan’s wonderful work & sharing of fabulous birth images on social media @birth-ed

On this episode of the podcast I met the fabulous Kirsty Jones. Kirsty was nearly 26 weeks pregnant when we recorded our chat, and she told me all about her experiences on her journey to motherhood, something she has wanted for a very long time. Kirsty has focussed on improving her health & wellness holistically, helping her to work on her relationship with food, readying herself for pregnancy and birth, and she has documented this on her amazing, real & often hilarious socials @bobalongwithkirsty and in her Sort Your Sh!t Out podcast, alongside her Personal Trainer & friend @beewallis.

We talked about the experience of longing for pregnancy, and then struggling with it, navigating appointments and communicating with midwives, sonographers and doctors as a plus size pregnant woman. I know lots of the experiences Kirsty has had and the wisdom she imparts will resonate with many listeners. Thank you to Kirsty.. and Listeners, enjoy!

Follow me on Instagram & TikTok @theheavyweightmidwife

Join the Heavyweight Midwife Facebook Group if you are on the journey to parenthood!

Email me at alice@theheavyweightmidwife.com

The Heavyweight Midwife Podcast is Here!!

This is a safe space where we chat all things plus size pregnancy empowerment. I’ll always aim for this podcast to be a place where you can feel good, you can learn, get reassurance and empowerment, so your pregnancy and birth are experiences you can be in control of - as this is absolutely key to having positive pregnancy & birth experiences.

On this first episode, I try to reign in my love of talking(!) and explain briefly how The Heavyweight Midwife came about, what my ethos is, and get started with the reassurance that you need!

Buckle up for a wonderful first Series, with a mix of expert guests and plus size mamas, sharing their wisdom and experiences. Each episode is curated to bring you unique knowledge and empowerment for your pregnancy journey!

Follow me on Instagram & TikTok @theheavyweightmidwife

Join my Heavyweight Midwife Facebook Group

Join my Step by Step Empowerment Plan if you need access to my resources & support, step by step, through your journey to parenthood.

Email me at alice@theheavyweightmidwife.com

In this Season 2 launch episode, join me as I let you in on my five pillars formula, that underpins all of my client work. Wherever you are on your journey to parenthood, if you have appointment with health professionals and decisions to make, this is going to be an unmissable episode for you. Each of the five pillars is fundamental to building a happy, in control journey to parenthood. And you can put these to use right now!

If you enjoy the episode and the show, please rate and review! This work is my passion and you will be helping others to find the show and get my help too.

For anyone who has spent any time trying to get pregnant or thinking about it, worrying about it, or navigating fertility services, Nicola Salmon is probably a name you are very familiar with! In her incredible fertility support service for those living in bigger bodies, Fat Positive Fertility, Nicola has helped thousands of women on their journeys to parenthood.

In this episode Nicola and I talk about being empowered, asking for what you need, getting the support you need (and binning anyone who is less than supportive!) We also discuss our mutual hatred of ‘healthy lifestyle services’ and any referrals made without information and consent!

l have had several Heavyweight Midwife Plan members tell me they literally would not be a parent without Nicola’s help, so please do follow her if you don’t already and if she can help you!!

I absolutely loved this chat and I really hope you do too. Thank you Nicola xx

In her own words, Gabby knew nothing about plus size pregnancy stuff when she got pregnant. But early on she was very interested in having a waterbirth. In this episode Gabby takes us through her journey of support and empowerment, her (sometimes hilarious, sometimes awful) appointments with health professionals and her dogged determination to do it her way - in water, partying to Taylor Swift and ‘off her head’ on gas & air (Gabby’s words!)

I’ve got to know Gabby really well during her journey and I’m delighted she is now a Heavyweight Midwife Team member and a wonderful friend.

Trigger warning: We briefly & sensitively discuss Gabby’s history of disordered eating in this episode.

If you enjoy the episode and want to support the show, please follow, rate and review! This work is my passion and you will be helping others to find the show and get my help too.

Jenny Patterson is a midwife and lecturer whose research focuses on birth trauma.

Dr Tomasina Stacey is a UK Midwife and Researcher, specialising in stillbirth prevention. In this fascinating and reassuring chat, Tomasina provides tips and explainers to help you navigate the tricky topic of risk, she simplifies the numbers that can be hard to get our heads round, and in her wonderful, calm and compassionate style, she provides reassurance for pregnancy and birth. I loved this discussion with my friend and colleague - thank you Tomasina!

In my first chat with a U.S mom, I meet MacKenzie, a first time mum who early on in her pregnancy became disillusioned with the standard approach of doctor-led care. In this fascinating chat we discuss some differences between U.S and UK care systems, and she tells me all about her midwives and her homebirth waterbirth. Please do check out her amazing birth photos for ultimate inspiration! XX

Katie had a lockdown birth in 2020 the first time around. She had a GD diagnosis, was on insulin and had an induction that left her feeling disempowered. This time, in 2024, Katie had some Heavyweight Midwife empowerment, that helped her advocate for her longed-for waterbirth. Her consultant agreed it… but you’ll never guess what happened next.

Katie was so empowered by her pregnancy & birth experiences that since having baby Savannah, she’s joined Team Heavyweight Midwife! With her background in mental health and talking therapies, Alice is keeping Katie busy in the Facebook Group while she’s on maternity leave!

If you enjoy the podcast, please rate review & follow us. It helps other people who need our empowerment to find us! XX

Jo Moscalu wanted to specialise in binge eating as a dietitian. But then she found herself suffering from

the very issue she helped so many clients overcome. In this fascinating conversation, we talk about Jo’s own struggles, how she’s overcoming them… and also about Alice’s pet peeve - maternity dietetics (or ‘healthy

lifestyle’) services. Thanks so much for being my guest Jo!!

Please rate, review and follow the show if you enjoy it. You’ll help others who need us to find us!!

Ruth was planning her fourth caesarean birth when we recorded this episode. Navigating her care has been challenging for her but she has done it brilliantly, pushing back against the ‘internalised fat-phobia’ she’s encountered along the way. A must-listen for anyone who wants tips on self-advocacy!

This week’s guest is Victoria Holyoak. Founder of C-SectionUK, speaker and advocate for c-section education, Midwife Vic has been practicing midwifery for over a decade both nationally and internationally. She sits across a number of advisory boards, as well as working with commercial platforms in an advisory capacity and as a writer. 

(20+) The Heavyweight Midwife Group | Facebook

When Samantha first had a baby, she went along to a local sling library and was told that ‘fat people don’t fit slings’. This ignited a fire and passion for her, one that has led to her baby wearing with all of her four children and now consulting and advocating for plus size people to find the right baby carrier for them and to enjoy this practical and uniquely special way to carry and bond with your baby! I absolutely loved chatting to Samantha about her work and I know you’ll enjoy it too if you’re a baby wearer or are currently pregnant and considering it - I’d thoroughly recommend it and Samantha is such an expert!

Eleanor and Dean joined me (with baby Hazel) for this detailed and illuminating chat about how to work together and prepare well for advocating for your birth choices.

In this episode, we discuss pregnancy loss as well as Eleanor’s mental health challenges - and we talked about how preparing and working together and with their health professionals led to them having an experience in hospital ‘made us feel heard’.

The sound quality is not the greatest for this episode, but what you can learn about communicating with health professionals and promoting your own positive experiences definitely is!

Florence Wilcox is a UK consultant obstetrician and the host of the brilliantly informative ObsPod podcast.

In this episode I put some commonly asked Heavyweight Midwife Community member questions to Florence and we have a brilliant chat about how women & doctors can best work together to improve pregnancy and birth experiences.

Don't worry alone! If you need my help and expertise, visit theheavyweightmidwife.com

On this week’s show, I’m talking to Emma Haslam about all things IVF abroad.

Following her own journey with infertility which led to the birth of her son via IVF abroad Emma Haslam has become the go-to independent expert guide for fertility testing and treatment in Europe. Since 2019 Emma has helped 100s of people globally struggling to conceive to start and grow their families.

Emma has been featured in the national and international media, interviewed and featured in a book and is an advocate, writer and podcaster for the infertility community. Emma was a headline speaker at The Fertility Show in London 2025, and Judge at the European Fertility Care awards in 2024 and 2025.

Emma is on a mission to make fertility testing and treatment globally more transparent, affordable, accessible, safe and supported for more people and she wants to put you firmly back in the driver’s seat of your fertility journey and give you the best chance of reaching your desired destination; growing your family.
LinksWant to learn more about going abroad for fertility treatment? Start with my free training that will tell you everything you need to know.yourivfabroad.co.uk/freemasterclassIVF abroad podcast with Emma:yourivfabroad.co.uk/podcastConnect with Emma on Instagram:www.instagram.com/yourivfabroad.co.uk

If you’re plus size and pregnant, it might mean you’re referred to see a doctor, a consultant obstetrician to be precise. But, if your referral is solely because of your BMI, what is it for? And will you actually see a consultant? What should you expect and how should you prepare? And… is it compulsory to be ‘consultant-led’ for plus size pregnancy?