Explore every episode of the podcast The Matrescence Podcast

,Content warning: Death, miscarriage, domestic violence In this week’s episode we chat to mum of 3 and death doula, Amanda. Amanda became a mum earlier in life than expected. While she breezed through conception and pregnancy, Amanda’s first birth was not what she had planned for, hoped for, or expected. Despite wanting a natural birth, Amanda agreed to have her first birth induced. After 17 long hours of back to back contractions, she was taken for an emergency c-section. She gave ...

In this week's episode we chat to Alix. Alix is an eldest daughter, a mother to a 4-year-old daughter, a clinical psychologist, and a recovering ‘good girl’. Through both her post-graduate training and clinical experience, and her own lived experiences of being parented and raised in the pursuit of perfect, Alix has become intimately acquainted with the notion of "the good child” and how this presents in the mothering experience. Alix’s own introduction to motherhood was fraught, with he...

8 years ago on a Sunday afternoon, Bree walked down Kel's long drive way for an interview. After the news that their neurdiverse son was no longer welcome at Before and After School Care, Kel and her husband had been forced to explore other care options. While the first nanny was okay, the fit wasn't quite right. 18 and with minimal experience with children, on paper Bree was probably not an ideal candidate. In fact, on her first day she had to call her mum to walk her through ...

Content warning: This conversation involves mild discussion of abusive relationships and the lasting affects this experience can have on our motherhood journey. In this week’s episode we chat to Dr. Lisa about the transition from professional woman to mother (and back again). Lisa is a doctor of public health and has spent her career conducting large scale randomised control studies, publishing in top ranking journals, supervising students up to PhD level, and more. These...

In this week’s episode we chat to Rachael Rose. Rachael is a women's circle facilitator, teacher, doula and business woman. While her business is multifaceted, it is connected by a common thread of wanting to build communities, connect women and offer spaces where mothers feel less alone and more loved.As her business has evolved, she has moved into the business coaching space as well. In her words: “There is no village to return to, we must create the world we want to see.” Ra...

Hello beauties. Welcome back!In this week’s episode Bree and Kel get you up to speed on what has been going on behind the scenes. What Bree is doing for work and how she is feeling about it, how Kel is navigating this new stage of parenting teens, some updates on the kids, the podcast, and so much more. This is a vulnerable and imperfect conversation between friends. We hope it will keep you company and offer some belly laughs when you need it most. We can’t wait to bring ...

For many couples, the return to sex after having a baby is slow, bumpy and sometimes even a little bit awkward.Between hormones, fatigue, contraception, changing bodies, unpredictable schedules and feeling touched out, there is a lot to contend with. So whether you are 12 weeks or 12 months postpartum, if you're not having much sex, you're certainly not alone. In this week's episode we chat to Jo Robertson about sex and intimacy in the postpartum period.Jo has a Master’s of Science in Me...

Slowly but surely, we are seeing an increased awareness of the need to prepare for birth. More and more couples are investing their time and money into hiring doulas, reading books, writing a birth plan and accessing independent birth education. We love to see it. But the truth is, that birth is just one (very very) important day in your motherhood journey. Once your little one is earthside, the hard work really begins. And yet we are not seeing the same investment in prep...

In this week's episode, we chat to Keely. Keely is a New Zealand, born Australian raised expert, currently living in the U S as you will, hear, Keely is a bit of a Jack of all trades. She's a military wife, a mother of two, a yoga instructor health coach, and is currently working towards both her Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counselling, as well as her certification as an end of life doula. Today Keely shares with us, her two births- one quick ecstatic, very sudden birth in a birt...

While progress is slow, more and more we are seeing a growing awareness of the term matrescence - What it means, why it matters and how it shapes our experience of motherhood. We now have a handful of experts, books, blogs, podcasts and social media accounts dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding of this powerful rite of passage. As the women in our community grow in their understanding of matrescence, we are seeing an increased capacity and desire to understand their p...

After traveling the world for 8 years straight, Megan returned to Australia single, homeless, unemployed and pregnant.Despite her circumstances, Megan felt calm, confident and optimistic about the journey that lay ahead. After the birth of her son, Megan returned to TAFE to complete her senior years of high school. This allowed her to gain entry into Curtain University to complete a double degree in financial planning and accounting, and subsequently her CPA. While navigating the challen...

Regardless of how you enter into motherhood, the experience of matrescence is universal. Matrescence is powerful, irreversible and will change you to your core. So the fact that your friendships might also change, should come as no surprise. And yet, it often does. The fact is, that the vast majority of women, becoming a mother changes their friendships. Sometimes this will be for the better- letting go of that toxic friendship may be long overdue. But other times it wi...

Christmas is the most magical time of the year. Or is it? Every year it feels like Christmas costs more. This year, Australians are set to fork out $23.9 billion on everything from presents to pina coladas.But there is another cost that is rarely talked about. The cost of women’s time, energy and sanity. As Christmas draws near, women are busy working behind the scenes to pull off the work of an entire Christmas village. No Santa's little helpers. No Rudolph. Just a mum ...

In this week’s episode Kel and Bree sit down together to check in, and chat about some big life changes; Building a house, moving, supporting a child with chronic unexplained illness, updates on both Kel’s doula studies and Bree’s midwifery studies, a career change.. or not, how Bree is adapting to life as a mum of two and so much more. As they wrap up the end of the season, Kel and Bree wanted to strip it right back. No experts, no plan, just an honest conversation, about the ups ...

In this episode, we talk to Brad and Tabitha Fennel. Brad and Tabitha are acupuncturists with a thriving clinic on the Gold Coast in QLD, but as you will hear, their work extends far beyond this. In their day to day work, Brad and Tabitha work with couples and individuals, helping them to reconnect with themselves and reconnect with their life. One of the reasons we sought out Brad and Tabitha as guests is that we are a big fan of their own podcast: Turn On The Podcast. B...

In this week’s episode we chat to Sam Foster. Sam is a Midwife and Lactation Consultant experienced in all areas of pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period including lactation and infant feeding. She qualified as a Midwife in the UK in 1997 and worked in the community and the hospital until she emigrated to Brisbane in 2011. Throughout the episode we chat to Sam about her journey from being a midwife in the UK, to now working exclusively as an IBCLC in Brisbane. Sam also indulge...

In today’s episode we chat to Laura, an unschooling mama to 3 beautifully wild children. Throughout the episode we talk about homeschooling and unschooling, including the logistics, the legalities and what the day to day looks like when children are in charge of their own learning. From here we dive into, what the average parent can learn from the unschooling philosophy (spoiler alert, there is alot). Regardless of how or where you choose to educate your child/ren, you will pla...

All throughout pregnancy, midwives, GP’s, friends and strangers alike, remind us of the importance of breastfeeding. By the time women give birth, they have well and truly internalized the message that “breast is best.”However, while our society promotes breastfeeding, it does not protect it.Medical interventions, mother-baby separation, inadequate lactation support and paid parental leave, all mean that mothers face an uphill battle in establishing and maintain breastfeeding. As a resul...

In this week's episode we chat to Steven Kennedy who is the founder of Birthing Dad's and the PREPARE Foundation. In his past life, Steven was a sparky, an engineer and an actor. In 2017 Steven welcomed his little boy into the world. Despite having invested heavily in birth preparation, Steven recalls this experience as being traumatic for both parents. Born by emergency c-section with an APGAR score of 1, their little boy required extensive resuscitation and spent the fi...

When you are pregnant, it feels as though the whole world wants to weigh in on what you can eat. Or more specifically, what you can’t eat. No coffee, no alcohol, no sushi, no fun.However, once a woman gives birth there is a not so subtle shift from focusing on the mother's wellbeing, to focusing on the baby.New mother's are sleep deprived, healing from birth, recovering from 9 months of depletion and oftentimes providing 100% of a babies nutritional needs. Despite this, postpartum mothers rec...

In this episode, we sit down with Yara Heary, to talk about the identity shift that accompanies matrescence. Yara is a Perth Based psychologist who works exclusively with women throughout conception, pregnancy, and motherhood. Yara started Life After Birth Psychology following the birth of her first son which started her on yet another journey of self-rediscovery. Her experiences throughout early motherhood sparked her passion to support other women as they navigate their own family of o...

In this week’s episode we talk to Rebecca Cefai from Growing Gently Psychology about all things parenting. As a registered psychologist with many years of experience working in the childhood development and parenting space, Rebecca was perfectly positioned for a smooth transition to motherhood. However, like everyone else, motherhood turned her world upside down and she quickly realised that there was a gap between best practice parenting and what was realistic when you were on the ...

In this weeks episode we chat to Caitlin Dunsford who is a women’s health physio working across both the public and private sectors in Sydney. Throughout this episode we chat to Caitlin about some of the normal changes that your core and pelvic floor undergo in order to grow and bring a baby into this world, how to take care of your pelvic floor in pregnancy and in the early postnatal period, and how to know when things are not as they should be. We also discuss what a women’s health physio d...

As a new mum, your baby's sleep habits can easily dominate conversations. Is she sleeping through the night? How often does she wake over night? Does she self soothe? Does she sleep in the cot, my baby will only sleep on me. You will ask each other overe coffee. We search the internet, books, social media and chat to other mum's in order to gage what is normal and to find answers to the problem of our child's sleep. Throughout the first year of our child's life we&...

In this week’s episode we speak to Andrea.Andrea is a doula and birth educator who works with couples all over the globe to prepare them for birth. Andrea’s birth courses are unique in that they pay particular attention to the role of the partner- both in birth and in the months that follow. Throughout the episode we explore the role of the birth partner, why it is so important and how to do it well. We also touch on some juicier topics partner’s who insists on staying away fro...

In this weeks episode we talk to a beloved member of our Brisbane birth community, Kirby Hood. @olivejuicelifestyleKirby is a birth photographer, videographer, Doula and more and was responsible for capturing Emmy’s birth. While Kirby is well known in the birth community, few know her story. Kirby’s introduction to motherhood began when she became a step parent to a beautiful two year old girl. As she navigated her co-parenting journey, she was on her own journey to conceive.What fo...

In this episode, we catch up with Bree at 1 week post partum to talk about how she prepared for her postpartum journey and reflect on how it's going so far one week in. She talks in detail about what she did to prepare for postpartum and how it has played out. She reflects on the impact on her mental health and the things we put in place. What worked, what didn't and hopefully by sharing that with you, you'll get some ideas maybe for your own journey or to support someone in your life as they...

In today’s episode Kel and I sit down to chat to Emily about birthing outside of the system. Emily is a mother of 2 who lives in Melbourne and works as an authentic birth keeper.Like so many birth workers, Emily had given very little thought to pregnancy and childbirth until she embarked on her own journey to fall pregnant. Following 14 months of trying unsuccessfully to conceive, Emily sought the support of an OBGYN and was eventually diagnosed with endometriosis. After undergoing ...

This episode is an absolute spine tingler. Tanya is a 47 year old middle class professional and single parent. Mum of two boys, Tanya knows first hand how intense the experience of matrescence can be.Last year Tanya’s matrescence journey took a unique turn when she found out her son, a child himself at just 15, was expecting a baby with his girlfriend or the same age. Whilst many of the teen’s friends had known about the pregnancy for quite some time, Tanya did not receive this news unti...

In this episode Bree sits down with Kel to discuss her experience sustaining a third degree (3B) tear during the homebirth of her second child, Emmy. Bree's homebirth was positive, empowering and everything she had hoped for. However despite having had an undisturbed physiological birth, Bree was surprised to realize that she wasn't experiencing the post-birth euphoria that so many had described. Infact, she seemed to be in quite a lot of pain. After some time spent bonding with her...

In this episode Bree sits down with her husband Matt to recount her birth story with their second child Emmy. After the positive but disempowering birth of her first child (See Episode 10), Bree knew that should they have more children she would want to have a homebirth. Long before she fell pregnant, Bree began assembling her team and planning her dream birth. By 12 weeks she had locked in a private midwife, enrolled in a Hypnobirthing Australia Course and asked Kel to be her doula...

Today we are joined by Bridie Allan. Bridie has a Bachelor of Psychology, a Masters Degree in Mental Health and is about to complete her Masters in Sexology. Bridie has been working with adults and children in a sexual health/ sexual education space for many years now including working in a prison setting with child sex offenders, victims, perpetrators and youth offenders. She has also worked in community psychiatric care where sexual issues are prevalent and now works exclusiv...

In this episode Bree interviews Kelly about her experiences as a working mum. This story begins when at 30 years old, recently engaged and waiting for her visa to be approved, Kel found out that she was unexpectedly pregnant. Having already packed up their home and committed to an across the globe move to her company's London office, she and her husband decided to go ahead. What was initially meant to be years of adventure traveling as a couple quickly turned into a stressful j...

In this episode, Kelly sits down with her husband Anthony to walk through the birth of their two boys, born in 2008 and 2010. It's an exploration of a couple well into their relationship and parenting journey as they recount the stories, emotions and very different births, one in Australia and the other overseas.It's a rare opportunity to hear a dad's story, in his own words and experience the interplay of funny anecdotes, difficult moments and honest emotions.Don't miss this episode.

In this episode Bree sits down with her husband Matt to discuss the birth of their first child in 2018.Falling pregnant at 21, Bree decided to give birth through her local public hospital as part of their Midwifery Group Practice program. Together Bree and Matt discuss the lead up to their birth which included some major life changes and growth as a couple, and the birth itself which they feel was ultimately very positive, but not empowering. They touch on how their birth and postp...

At some stage, every parent has asked themself: What is the perfect age gap? Back to back? Two under two? Wait until one is off to school? If you have found yourself on Pintrest late at night reading about the perfect age gap, this episode is for you. Throughout this conversation Bree and Kel share their experiences with their with two different age gaps. Kel talks about their conscious decision to have two children close together (14 months apart) for fears th...

In this episode we explore the topic of informed consent with Danielle Rhodes. Danielle is a certified Hypnobirthing Australia practitioner and founder of Your Sacred Space Hypnobirthing and Hypnotherapy. Danielle regularly teaches couples about informed consent as part of the Positive Birth Program. Her passion for this topic is rivalled only be her extensive knowledge. Throughout this conversation we discuss what informed consent is (and what it is not), why it is important a...

In this episode Bree and Kel sit down to discuss their experiences with antenatal education. Kel does her best to recall her experience taking Lamaze classes in the UK before the birth of her first child in 2008. Bree discusses her experience taking her local hospital's antenatal classes before the birth of her first child in 2018 and how she felt they left her frustratingly underprepared for the "natural" birth she envisioned. Subsequently, Bree and Kel talk about their experi...

In this episode Bree and Kel talk about their experiences studying during motherhood. Originally recorded in late 2020 Bree reflects on her first year as a student midwife and highlights some of the unique challenges of juggling university, work and motherhood. Kel discusses her experience studying to be a doula and how she is utilizing the self-paced online learning approach to complete her studies alongside a full-time thriving corporate career. Together they disc...

During this discussion Kelly and Bree analyze what "busy" means to them. Together they explore the difference between "time" and "capacity," and how to figure out if you are operating over capacity. This is not an episode with quick snappy suggestions about "how to have more time in your day" or "how to be more productive." It is a thoughtful discussion that involves unpacking where our beliefs about busyness originated from, who do they serve, why do mothers so often fee...

In this episode Bree talks about her decision to hire a private midwife. We discuss what a private midwife does, how this experience differs to other models of care and whether it is worth the cost. Bree shares how she found and chose her private midwife and Kel shares some exciting news. Key themes: Private midwife, midwifery-led care, MGP, Doula, Homebirth

Join Kelly and Bree as they remember and share their breastfeeding journeys as Bree contemplates doing it all again with her second child on the way. Among the funny stories and personal accounts are nuggets of knowledge to help prospective and new mothers with what no-one really tell you about breastfeeding, especially when you just don’t know what you don’t know.They touch on the challenges of learning a new skill, the changes your body goes through and even donating milk to others.&n...

As Bree announces she is pregnant with her second child we talk about processing her first birth and the options she are looking at for this birth. We touch on midwife led care, versus OBGYN and how to choose a care provider to meet your needs. There are key decisions to be made early in this pregnancy to ensure she gets the birth she wants.Key themes: midwife versus obstetrician, hospital versus home birth, brain technique, intimate birthing, antenatal testing, tests during pregnancy, gestat...

Matrescence describes the process of becoming a mother. It encompasses the complete physical, psychological, social and emotional changes that come with this major right of passage.While 77% of Australian women have experienced matrescence, few have ever heard of the term. Have you? In this episode we attempt to answer the question; "What is Matrescence." Who coined the term? Why does it sound just like adolescence? And why aren't more people talking about...