After an extended break, we're back for a new season! Katie Kirby is my guest on this episode. Katie started off blogging at Hurrah For Gin, shining a light on the realities of motherhood at a time when the online world was filled with rose-tinted picture perfect versions of mum life. Since then, she's moved to writing books and her latest series is the Lottie Brooks books, aimed at the tween audience. We recorded this episode last summer and we talk about Katie being one of the first people online to start talking honestly about being a mum and how we still get sucked into comparing ourselv ..read more

Whether you’ve got a baby right now or your kids are a bit older, my chat with Libby Page on this episode will probably resonate with you. Libby is the author of three bestseller books - The Lido, The 24-Hour Café and The Island Home – and she became a mum last year to her son Robin. Libby is refreshingly honest about the ups and downs of her experiences so far as a mum, talking openly on social media when things go well, and when they all feel a bit overwhelming. We talk about her expectations of motherhood and how they compare to the reality, how honest we should be with pregnant women abo ..read more

How well does your baby or child sleep? Chances are, you’ve had or are having some issues with sleep (I know we are!) and if that’s the case, my guests today have got lots of helpful advice for you. Eve Squires and Gem Fryer run Calm & Bright Sleep Support which is a lifeline for so many parents facing sleep challenges with their children. We discuss some of the biggest sleep problems you guys are facing, answering your questions and we also look at the extreme versions of sleep coaching and whether there’s a middle ground (answer: yes!) Order their book Love To Sleep here and follow th ..read more

My guest on this episode is Natalie Lee – once a midwife, she started a fashion blog and now uses her online platform to discuss body image, confidence, shame and lots more. Now, Natalie has written her first book, Feeling Myself, which is a memoir about her experiences around sex and shame. In the book, Nat takes us along for the ride on her journey of self-discovery, searching out and then smashing some of the most powerful taboos around shame, sex and socialised sexism which have held her back and which she thinks have probably held you back too. Follow Nat on Instagram and buy her book h ..read more

This is a special replay of an interview I did with Deborah James back in January 2018. It was just over a year after she’d been diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer and we sat in her living room, drinking tea and talking about her experience over the previous 12 months. Now, four and a half years on, Deborah, who is mum to two children, has raised an incredible amount of awareness of bowel cancer, through writing for The Sun, publishing a book, appearing on national TV, all the while sharing her highs and lows with us all. A week ago, Deborah announced that – following a particularly toug ..read more

My guest on this episode was one of the nation’s saviours during the first lockdown in 2020. Reacting to a clear need for parents to keep their kids busy and happy while schools were closed, Rob Biddulph started a regular online drawing lesson for kids – Draw With Rob – and the response was huge. A dad of three, himself, Rob is the author and illustrator of brilliant picture books for younger kids, like Blown Away and Odd Dog Out, and of his new chapter book for older readers, Peanut Jones and the Illustrated City. Rob talks to me about parenting teens and why he still reads to his kids eve ..read more

CNN anchor and mum of two Zain Asher is my guest on this episode - her book Where The Children Take Us is an incredible memoir with the strong theme of taking the knocks that life gives you and using them to fuel you to succeed. The book details her parents’ journey from war-torn Nigeria to South London where they raised their four children. When Zain was five-years-old, tragedy struck and her father was killed in a road accident – an accident that nearly killed her older brother and left her mother to raise four children single-handed. Zain tells me how through sacrifices, strength and ..read more

My guest on this episode is Sarah Turner – aka The Unmumsy Mum – who has returned to the podcast to update me on her hectic whirl of a life parenting three boys and a cat, and to tell me all about her first novel, Stepping Up. The book tells the story of what happens when tragedy hits a family, turns it upside down and catapults protagonist Beth into a world of parenting her teenage niece and toddler nephew. It’s a brilliant read – funny, uplifting and sad – so it’s no surprise it became an instant Sunday Times bestseller. Sarah and I cover how she’s feeling about her youngest starting prima ..read more

Experiencing miscarriage is, without a doubt, devastating. And my guest on this episode is campaigning for a change in the law around the paid leave that parents are entitled to, when this happens.   Angela Crawley is MP for Lanark and Hamilton East and wants the government to introduce a statutory requirement for employers to provide three days of paid miscarriage leave for parents who experience a miscarriage before 24 weeks of pregnancy. Currently, bereavement legislation entitles parents who lose a baby after 24 weeks to two weeks of paid bereavement leave. But there’s nothing in plac ..read more

“Becoming a mother is both massive and profound… and at the same time mediocre and humdrum,” according to my guest on this episode, Ellie Taylor. And isn’t she bang on the money? I chat to comedian and actor Ellie about her journey from perfectly happy child free woman to mum of a toddler – including highlights along the way, like being celeb spotted while she was in the middle of her c-section and the joys of that first post-birth poo. Ellie’s book My Child And Other Mistakes is a warm and funny look at motherhood and a must-read whether you’ve just discovered you’re having a baby or you’re ..read more