Explore every episode of the podcast Baby On The Brain

Calling all Baby on the Brain fans, Stylist's new parenting podcast, Mother Lovers Club is launching soon. Be the first to find out all about it.

Life as a working mum is not without its highs, lows and all-round ridiculous moments. Join Stylist’s Lisa Smosarski and Alix Walker as they swap stories – and share your candid voice notes - about the reality of the juggle, in a bid to ease the load for working mums everywhere. They’ll also be joined by a host of celebrity friends as they share their own parenting pearls of wisdom. 

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This week, Stylist's Fliss Thistlethwaite is joined by former BOTB special episode guest - and this time she's back at co-host - Shakira Akabusi. 

Together they will be chatting to founder of Little Omo Desriee Asomuyide about juggling life as a working mother, the highs, the lows and the challenges they experienced along the way. 

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Welcome to Baby On The Brain, a podcast brought to you by Stylist magazine - dedicated to the big life questions you face when you find out you’re about to become a parent. Hosted by Stylist's Digital Content Director, Fliss, this podcast began back in 2021 with a baby on the way. That baby is just three months off celebrating her second birthday now and we suddenly feel very old (where did the time go!?).

For this special bonus episode, we’ve teamed up with the international charity WaterAid to talk about the essentials every new mum should have – discussing what’s helped others mentally and physically through birth and those early stages of motherhood. This episode is co-hosted by Stylist's Lisa Smosarski, and features guests Shakira Akabusi and Dr Amalina Bakri.

Season 2 of Baby On The Brain begins on March 9th, and we kick off with Tobi Oredein and Ashley James!

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Returning to work after having a baby brings many challenges with it - and we're not just talking about balancing the spiralling cost of childcare and a new wave of mum-guilt as you re-enter the world of work.

Season 2 of Baby on the Brain is about the intimate and often neglected discussions around returning to work as a new mother. And how we, as women, can centre ourselves and our needs in the conversations about our return in a world that seems pitted against us both financially and mentally.

From flexible working to busting the myth of the juggle, each episode tackles one of the conundrums that women who want to return to work often find themselves scouring internet forums to find the answers to.

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This week, Stylist's Fliss Thistlethwaite is joined by founder of My Bump Pay Tobi Asare.

Together they will be chatting to author of 'The Blend: How To Successfully Manage A Career And A Family' Davinia Tomlinson about the the financial impact mothers face when they are making decisions about whether or not to return to work. 

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Baby Brain: A new podcast from Stylist

Deciding to start a family is an exciting time for many, but the reality of seeing a positive pregnancy test can send many women into a spiral of sleepless nights way before a baby arrives to do that for them. But this podcast isn’t about the practicalities of sleep or feeding, it’s not about birth or your changing body, this is all about YOU as a woman with a mind all of your own.

From identity to parental leave, to the inequality of the sacrifices men and women are still expected to make, each episode tackles one of the conundrums that keeps many mums-to-be awake at night when they find out their life is about to change.In this thought-provoking but light-hearted new podcast, Stylist’s Fliss Thistlethwaite - a mum-to-be grappling with her own questions - meets other pregnant women to chat about their concerns; finding experts and mothers who have answers to their middle-of-the-night worries.

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This week, Stylist's Fliss Thistlethwaite is joined by Motherkind founder Zoe Blaskey.

Together they will be chatting to Enough About the Baby author and Instagram influencer Becky Vieira about mental health of mums returning to work after maternity leave. 

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This week, Stylist's Fliss Thistlethwaite is joined by founder of PR Dispatch Rosie Davies-Smith.

Together they'll be chatting to parenting expert and a highly regarded popular childcare author Sarah Ockwell-Smith about sleep, and how a lack of it (or a huge shake up to the norm) can have a huge impact on a woman's return to work. 

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This week, Stylist's Fliss Thistlethwaite is joined by The SEN Mums' Careers Club host Leisa Millar.

Together they'll be chatting to author of Raising A Happier Mother Anna Mathur about identity, and how that changes (if it does!) after having a baby and returning to work.

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This week, Stylist's Fliss Thistlethwaite is joined by Stylist's very own Editor-In-Chief - and her boss - Lisa Smosarski.

Together they'll be chatting to two Stylist staffers about their returns to work: How it made them feel, the highs, the lows, the best advice they ever received, and the worst.

Joining Fliss and Lisa this week are Stylist Editor and mum-of-four Alix Walker, and Head of Digital Marketing and mum-of-one Tash.

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This week, Stylist's Fliss Thistlethwaite is joined by co-host Claire Lynch. Author of Small: On Motherhoods – published on paperback last year – she is also a university lecturer and mother-of-three and has spoken widely on her experiences of motherhood – including a Four Thought talk titled ‘The Other Mother’, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2020. Together they'll be discussing flexible working, with a spotlight on new parents returning to work and managing life with a family in tow.

They're joined by this week's guest, Anna Whitehouse, AKA Mother Pukka - the founder of the Flex Appeal campaign, the campaign for more flexible working - for everyone.

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This week, Stylist's Fliss Thistlethwaite is joined by co-host Atanuke Awe - entrepreneur, founder of community Mums and Tea, Learning with Ez specialising in diverse educational resources for babies and children and co-founder of Five X More - a campaign committed to highlighting and changing Black maternal health outcomes in the UK - and she’s a mother-of-two.

Together they'll be discussing the importance of carving out you time as a woman returning to work. They're joined by this week's guest: Sunday Times best-selling author, journalist, TV presenter and founder of Make Motherhood Diverse, and mother-of-two - Candice Brathwaite.

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Stylist's Felicity Thistlethwaite is joined by careers strategist and women's careers advocate Isobelle Panton for an honest conversation about the realities of working motherhood.

Together, they explore one of the biggest life transitions women experience: balancing parenthood with ambition, career progression and personal identity. Drawing on her work helping women navigate leadership, confidence and workplace dynamics, Isobelle unpacks the realities that often come as a surprise after becoming a parent.

The conversation delves into why women are rarely encouraged to prepare for the career impact of motherhood in the same way they're encouraged to prepare for pregnancy and parenting. Isobelle reflects on the assumptions she held before having children, the lessons she learned after becoming a mother, and the advice she now gives women who want both a fulfilling career and a family.

Felicity and Isobelle also discuss ambition after children, examining whether motherhood changes women's aspirations or simply forces them to redefine success on their own terms. They explore the importance of flexible working, equal partnerships at home, financial preparation and the practical conversations many couples should be having long before children arrive.

Packed with career insights, personal reflections and actionable advice, this episode offers a thoughtful guide for anyone navigating work and parenthood, while challenging the idea that women must choose between professional success and family life.

A practical, empowering conversation about ambition, identity, motherhood and building a career that works for the life you want.

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Felicity Thistlethwaite and Miranda Larbi are joined by campaigner, author and Flex Appeal founder Anna Whitehouse for a frank and timely conversation about modern parenting, workplace flexibility and the fight for equality.

Anna discusses the launch of the world's first Parent Strike, taking place on 27 August, which aims to bring mums and dads together to campaign for extended paternity leave and flexible working by default. The discussion explores why the burden of achieving equality continues to fall disproportionately on mothers, despite the growing demands of work, childcare and family life.

Drawing on their own experiences, Felicity, Miranda and Anna reflect on the mental load, invisible labour and capacity crisis facing many parents. From end-of-term chaos and childcare struggles to the pressure of balancing careers with family responsibilities, the conversation highlights how quickly parents can find themselves stretched to breaking point.

The trio also examines the push to return employees to the office full-time, questioning whether it benefits productivity or simply reinforces outdated workplace cultures. Anna argues that employers and policymakers have failed to keep pace with the realities of modern family life, particularly when it comes to supporting fathers to take on a more equal parenting role.

Comparing the UK's parental support system with countries including the Netherlands and Norway, Anna shares examples of how greater post-natal support, better parental leave and genuine flexibility can improve family wellbeing and create more equal partnerships at home.

Blending personal stories with practical insights and plenty of humour, this episode is a powerful discussion about what needs to change to make work and family life fairer for parents everywhere.

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Stylist's Baby On The Brain returns for its third series with an honest and insightful conversation about motherhood, identity and ADHD. In this episode, Wellness Editor Miranda Larbi and Head of Digital Fliss Thistlethwaite are joined by Five X More co-founder, writer and soon-to-be mum-of-three Atinuke Awe.

Tinuke reflects on her experience of becoming a mother before receiving an ADHD diagnosis, sharing how understanding her neurodivergence has helped her make sense of the overwhelming early years of parenthood. She opens up about the challenges of navigating motherhood without that knowledge, fighting for an adult ADHD diagnosis, and how it has changed her perspective on parenting.

The trio also discuss how attitudes towards motherhood have evolved over the past five years, the pressures women face when balancing identity and parenthood, and why greater awareness and understanding can make all the difference. As Tinuke prepares to welcome her third child, she shares what she hopes will be different this time around and the lessons she's learned along the way.

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