Sarah is someone who I am incredibly proud to call a friend. Our friendship has emerged out of a surprising place, online through share experience, and mission to support, help, and advocate for rural communities and people.    See Sarah and her husband Steve run the Wish Collective, a small grass roots rural creative solution supporting families going through fertility treatment. The Wish collective provides a safe community for people to share and seek support. They also provide financial...

Megan is an incredible woman. FULL STOP.    The work she does supporting rural families, the life she has lived, the wisdom she has is INCREDIBLE. Megan is the mother of 5 beautiful boys, she is a wife, a loving grandmother, and an incredible writer.    Megan works in the Hospital to Home program doing the incredibly important work of supporting families who been bereaved after the loss of their babies. I can only imagine the way in which Megan works with her families, she has that...

Brittany has one hell of a story to tell. If I had to summaries her journey to three beautiful boys in a sentence it would be: “This is the journey of a women who lived and learnt, and from that did it different.” That’s right, from three births Brittany has had three incredibly different experiences. When we initially spoke, we noted that due to the nature of the podcast we didn’t really have time to capture all three births (producer Damian likes to keep us to a neat platform of under an...

Kate-Lyn and her partner Jack have been working towards building their family together for the last three years. Kate-Lyn a health twenty-three-year-old reach out to me late last year with her story that she felt she needed to share. As I opened her email, while sipping my tea, and sat with my mouth open (catching flies as farmer Chris would say) for what must have been an eternity, until he finally inquired; “what now?” I read out loud Kate-Lyn and Jack’s account of their medical journey...

Words like “warrior” and “survivor” get thrown around a lot these days. I often really struggle using these words in either my personal or professional life because I never want to offend, or upset someone with the words I have chosen to describe them or their journey or story.   However, in this case, I have searched and searched the English language to try and find another word for the incredible Em and I just cannot find one!   Em is a survivor... Em is a warrior... Em is a true testament...

They say dogs are the best judge of characters.    If this is true than there could be no better character than Elle. See Elle is what we have all come to expect of the women in our rural communities, practical, creative, kind, and determined.   Elle generously shares her experience of birthing rurally with her beautiful little boy Henry. Elle a nurse herself, wasn’t quite sure what she was in for, and approach pregnancy, birth, and postpartum with the same strength, determination, and...

Where do I even start with this episode…   This is the episode to listen to if you have Endometriosis and have ever wonder about how it will affect your fertility.    This is the episode to listen to if you have ever wondered about contraception, and its long term affects and implications on the body.   This is the episode to listen to if you have ever felt discriminated against in the fertility game because of your BMI.   Listeners this is Maddi…    Maddi and her husband lived in rural...

We had sooo many AH-HA moments with this conversation; strap in because you too are about to have so many … This is the episode for you if you have ever wondered about the connection between, mind, body, and health after having a baby. If you didn’t know what postpartum depletion was before starting this episode your about to learn all about it from the best.  Helen Johnson is a mother to two young children, a Yoga and Meditation teacher, Registered Nurse and the owner of Nurture Yoga and...

In part 2 of this amazing three way conversation, we find out from Ash and Lani how they make it through their grief with Cav to be able to face IVF and pregnancy again. Ash and Lani both speak so well about how their miscarriage affected them individually and as a couple, and how they managed to come back to pregnancy and make it this far. Strap in because this conclusion is well worth the wait. We wanted again also to say thank you to Ash and Lani for generously sharing their story and...

HOLD ON, because this is a big one – actually it is so big it is a two-part episode (I have tried my best to make it a cliff hanger, but don’t worry there are spoilers throughout). This is a big one because, it’s a three-way conversation. Ash and Lani both generously gave up one of their Saturdays and sat and talked me through their journey to become a family.    I don’t think I can put into words how amazing this couple are. They are sunshine, they are warmth, they are roll on the floor bell...

This is the chat to listen to if you’re a rural woman in health. It’s amazing how one experience can change the trajectory of the rest of your career. This is what happened for Jess. A rural physio her whole career took a sharp turn left when she herself needed support and didn’t know where to find it. Fueled by this it is Jess passion to support rural women in pregnancy and birth. I love the way Jess talks about problem solving and supporting rural communities, she doesn’t talk about quick...

Lighting the way is a charity born out of necessity. Like most amazing creative solutions, it was the lived experience of founder Claire Brett (you can listen to Claire’s remarkable story in S1E3) that launch the incredible charity that is lighting the way.   Lighting the way offers bereaved women free counseling, lactation, and chiropractic support. From humble begins Claire understands deeply the lack of support out there for rural women who have suffered a loss, and it is this that has...

We were so incredibly lucky recently to be able to catch-up with one half of the Paeds First Aid Sarah, who generously talked us through what drives her and her Co-Director Grace to deliver expert, no fuss direct evidence driven skills, training and knowledge to rural families.  See Sarah and Grace are both PICU nurses, and when they moved from the city to the country, they saw an incredible gap in support for rural families. So, they did what any/every rural woman does with the skills and...

What can I say about beautiful Sal from the Suite Set. It’s difficult to describe such a woman into words, but I am going to give it one heck of a shot.     Sal is the smart, sassy, keep it real girlfriend that every woman needs on speed dial. Sal is seriously whip smart. Her ability to be across so many topics, is completely beyond me, but it is the work that she does outside of her day job that we have truly bonded over.    See when Sal was faced with having to pack for her first baby, she...

Where do I even start with the incredible platform that is the Fertility Collective and Ceci. When you think about people who champion the infertility experience and space no one does it better than Ceci.    Ceci Fertility is a mother, friend, and has survived her own battle with infertility. She is also the founder of the Fertility Collective, the warm hug, belly laugh, and evidence driven platform that is a must during any fertility journey.    I recently was so lucky to sit down with Ceci...

Marney paints faces like artist paints canvas. Seriously check her out she is amazing. A talented makeup artist, Marney lives in Wagga with her husband Matt and her babies, Harper and Archie. Marn also suffers from Crohns disease. Marney was diagnosis with crohns when she was just 17 years old. This was a complete shock to her system. Marn is violently repulsed by the fact that often I don’t wash my makeup off, and have been known to wash my face with soap. She always forgives me though, and...

Katja is the voice and face behind the The Rural Mum. She moved to the farm with her Husband Ned, which fuelled a passion for sharing, educating and creating resources for other women and men entering family farm business and rural life.    Outside of running her family farming operations Katja and her husband Ned have three blessings, Eddie, Mac, and Caroline.    Katja takes us through her pregnancy and births during one of the toughest droughts in recent history. She talks about the...

Sometimes you meet someone without ever having met and just know that you have clicked. The zing (I have watched way too much hotel Transylvania with my son). But this is Ella. Even though I have only seen her socials and spoken to her over the phone I can feel her warmth. She is sunshine, so to watch her historical stories when she was in the fertility trenches and see how raw, honest, and broken, she was, was all that much harder.    Ella has generously shared her fertility journey with her...

HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS - THIS ONE IS A BIG ONE!!   Associate Professor Sarah Verdon is a powerhouse.   I can say this because; 1. It’s true and 2. Full disclosure she is my cousin.    I personally lived small parts of Sez story, I have cried and laughed with her. She is my text in the middle of the night to winge about pregnancy – she always has my back on a hard pregnancy winge.   Sarah has 3 beautiful blessings. From four challenging pregnancies. A fierce defender of the public health space,...

Dimity is a champion for rural communities and women! The powerhouse behind GRO events, Dimity is always bubbling along planning and organising some of the best parties, information nights, and just all-round fun for rural people.   Dimity shared her story in 2022 around the journey to freeze her eggs with the wonderful Steph from Motherland Australia (you can check out her episode via the link below). At that time, she had only just finished her first round of egg collection, and as she says...

Ash lives rurally with her husband Chris and daughter Lilly. She not only supports her husband to run their rural business, but she helps run their farm just outside of Bendemeer. Not traditionally a country girl Ash has thrown herself into her rural community and credits their love and support for getting her family through some of the tougher times. There will be so many rural women nodding to this remark, and it is so true that our love of the bush is deeply connected to the communities we...

Farmer Chris lives on a property with his wife (me - ain't he lucky ) and his two young boys Edward and Charles. Chris raises both cattle and sheep on his grazing property just outside of Armidale in New England. A man of the land, he loves a steak, a beer, a chat and his Mac truck – most likely in that order. Chris takes us through his journey of navigating miscarriage, pregnancy, birth and male factor infertility in the context of drought, bush fires and flooding rains as only the bush can...

Claire is an amazing mum to two little boys: Rosco and Jimmy. She lives on a farm with her husband, Jake. When Claire isn't helping on the farm, she's the creative force behind "iPhone Bridesmaid" and is dedicated to raising much-needed funds and awareness through "Lighting the Way." Additionally, Claire crafts the most delightfully scented candles with "Purposeful Candles." Claire walks us through her journey of pregnancy, birth, and miscarriage. She articulately conveys the despair and...

Alice is an incredible woman of strength and wisdom. She lives rurally on a farm with her husband, Dane, and son, George. Generously, Alice shares her journey through pregnancy, birth, and fertility. Importantly, she reveals how her family knows when to call it quits. Alice’s words humbled me as a clinician, witnessing her and her family’s resilience. Alice is brave, and as I’ve mentioned before, she’s truly a creative solution and resource in her community. I admire the way Alice speaks with...