The First Six Months – Details, episodes & analysis

Chine McDonald has many hats and she wears them well. However, during those first six months, she had to figure out which hats to wear, when. This is a brilliant episode for any 'highlighter girls' out there - the kinda of person who might be looking to get an A* in motherhood. We unpack the many mysteries around where our unconscious ideals might be coming from, as well as visiting Chine's first six months which included forceps, A&E, Bursitis, so much love and a poonami in a Board Meeting. 

You can follow Chine on Instagram @chine_mcdonald and her book Unmaking Mary is on sale now. Her podcast Motherhood vs The Machine is also worth a listen. 

After reading Mother Animal by Helen Jukes I KNEW we would have such a fantastic conversation about all things pregnancy and matrescence. Helen was a wonderful guest and we get right into it about what the animal kingdom has to teach us about our still pretty victorian birth and parenting practises. We discuss everything from chaos and structure, baboons, the use of the phrase 'baby brain' and why we love bats. 

You can find Helen on Instagram @helen.jukes and her book, Mother Animal, is out now in the UK.

Whilst at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Pippa went to see Good Luck, Cathrine Frost - a brilliant show about pregnancy, miscarriage and motherhood which somehow manages to talk about all these things with a lightness and a seriousness, whilst spanking Socrates on the bottom. Pippa leapt at the chance to interview Cathrine about her First Six Months and to discuss some of the themes of the show. 
If you have a chance to see her performances at Edinburgh Fringe 2024, you can book tickets here https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/good-luck-cathrine-frost

#pregnancy #theatre #miscarriage #socrates #bonding #love #sixmonths #birth #motherhood #csection 

Content Warning: Difficult birth

Pippa talks to Sophie about a tricky birth, body autonomy and uncovering health issues later in life that may have impacted those first six months.

TW: Miscarriage

In this episode, Pippa talks to Gemma about having a baby in a different country, sleep deprivation and the fear that comes when you have experienced multiple losses; how it can feel impossible to believe this pregnancy is going to make it. 
They also discuss, at length, piles and what to do about them.

CONTENT WARNING: Attempted suicide

In this episode, Pippa is talking to Carrie Carlisle about her First Six Months. Carrie’s husband tried to take his own life when she was six months pregnant, which meant her first six months was  dominated by trying to get her husband well.

She talks about the amazing care she received, the loneliness of people not knowing what to say and how life doesn’t have to be picture perfect to be perfect. It’s your perfect, not everyone else’s. 

www.clarkeandcarrie.com

#firstsixmonths #suicide #suicidalthoughts #gettingwell #amazingNHS #mum #mom

Pippa talks to Clare Bourne (@clarebournephysio), a pelvic health specialist and full time mum. She loved her first six months but her second six months was disrupted by covid, meaning her husband couldn’t come home as a GP in the NHS. Clare talks about navigating loneliness and anxiety but ultimately finding her way through. 

Being a Pelvic Health Specialist, we also talk A LOT about vaginas. So if you have any crotch concerns, this is the episode for you.  We decide, in fact, that Clare is the Bear Grylls of Vaginas.

#firstsixmonths #pelvichealth #vagina #vaginalhealth #changes #crotchchat 

Michelle talks to Pippa about her relatively easy pregnancy and birth experience (amazing what we count as easy, that's all I'll say), having a Lockdown Baby and many tales of trying to express milk. 

#mum #newmum #firstsixmonths #matrescence #express #lockdownbaby #SpritzForBits

"If you've waited so long for this, are you allowed not to enjoy it sometimes?"
In this episode, Pippa speaks with Prachi, a mother and sexual health doctor based in Edinburgh about her experiences of the first six months. After a difficult time with IVF, Prachi was determined to make the best of her first and (most likely) only six months. There is a lot of joy in this episode, as well as travel tips alongside the stresses of navigating fertility treatments.

#IVF #FirstSixMonths #Newmum #Mom #Stories #womensstories 

Two weeks late, double mastitis and a 27 hour labour. Anything else you want to throw at me?

Pippa talks to the delightful Cariad Lloyd about her first Six Months and how she managed to navigate the unbelievable number of challenges sent her way. 

We had to label this episode 'explicit' because of Cariad's potty mouth.

#hipdysplacia #mastitsis #csection #breastfeeding #hormones #brownies #phonescrolling