For this special edition of the podcast, Motherkind Café coordinator Katherine Crawford spoke to 2 Thames Valley Police officers, Detective Superintendent Kelly Gardener and Detective Sergeant Graeme Allen who specialise in domestic abuse. They explain how the police process works when a domestic abuse allegation is made by a victim, and the ways in which the police investigation can support and protect someone escaping an abusive relationship.  Please don't suffer in silence - you can...

In this episode of the podcast,  Motherkind Café coordinators Katherine Crawford, Emily Malden and Jules Pidgeon are joined by local mum Heather, who gave birth to her second baby in May 2021, to discuss loneliness in motherhood and how the pandemic has affected Heathers experience of second-time motherhood.  Pre-warning there is brief discussion of suicidal thoughts and of a traumatic birth experience. Please proceed with care if you might find that hard to listen to.  We discuss the...

Happy Christmas from The Motherkind Café! In this episode the four Motherkind Café coordinators Emily Malden, Katherine Crawford, Kats Handel and Julia Pidgeon talk about all the extra pressures on mums at Christmas, and how we all manage those responsibilities for our family. Join us on a meandering, wine-accompanied conversation through how we each create ‘the magic of Christmas’ for our often underwhelmed children, and how Kats skilfully used a detached retina this year as a way to...

For episode 9 of the podcast,  Motherkind Café coordinators Katherine Crawford and Emily Malden are joined by Kate Thirlwall, a local mum and poet, who has written 4 poetry collections reflecting on her experience of the highs and lows of motherhood.  Kate talks honestly about how past trauma and an experience in hospital shortly after the birth of her son derailed her breastfeeding experience, and left her feeling like she had failed.  She also talks about feeling isolated and invisible as...

Hello! This is the Motherkind Café podcast, a podcast where we talk honestly about motherhood, mental health, and everything in between. We are three mums, Emily, Katherine and Kats, and we run a postnatal peer support group in Oxford to give space to women to talk about their mental health in the postnatal period. This episode we chatted about SLEEP! And how we all dealt with the sleep deprivation that accompanies having a small baby to look after. We discuss the various things we tried to...

Emily & Katherine are joined by Dr Guin Webster for this episode of The Motherkind Café podcast. Guin is a clinical psychologist and mindfulness teacher, and one of the original founders of The Motherkind Café, she has also worked in many roles supporting women in the perinatal period, she is a qualified postnatal group facilitator, set up the Oxford sling library and has taught hypnobirthing and mindfulness for birth and parenting amongst other things! We talked to Guin about the concept...

TW: Please note in this podcast, our peer supporter Jules talks about the traumatic experience she had in hospital giving birth to her son Archer. Please proceed with care if you think you may find it upsetting to listen to. Jules tells us her birth story, which took a dramatic turn when she had a postpartum haemorrhage immediately after her son was born. The complications of her birth and the challenges of an understaffed maternity service meant she was separated from her son for over 24...

Happy Christmas from Motherkind HQ! This is episode 5 of The Motherkind Cafe Podcast, recorded a few days before Christmas in 2020, a year none of us will ever forget. [WARNING: We do several swears, so probably not ideal listening if there are children around who can understand bad words...] We are three mums, Emily, Katherine and Kats, and we run a postnatal peer support group in Oxford, providing a space to talk honestly about motherhood, mental health and everything in between. This...

Hello! This is episode four of The Motherkind Café Podcast, the podcast where we talk honestly about motherhood, mental health and everything in between. This week we talked about that unwanted visitor that arrives when you suddenly have a small person to look after - GUILT We take a rambling journey through the guilt we've felt about bad haircuts, screen time, sleep training, childcare, work, finding motherhood boring, and having to leave young babies or children in hospital. Katherine and...

Hello! This is episode 3 of The Motherkind Café Podcast. The podcast where we talk honestly about motherhood, mental health and everything in between. We are Emily, Katherine and Kats and we are three mums who run The Motherkind Café, a postnatal peer support group for women in Oxford. This week we talk about frozen themed facemasks, coping with lockdown, and Kats' experience of becoming a mum, which includes her husband coming to pick up her and their newborn baby from hospital dressed in...

Hello! This is episode two of The Motherkind Café Podcast. The podcast where we talk honestly about motherhood, mental health and everything in between. We are Emily, Katherine and Kats and we are three mums who run The Motherkind Café which is a postnatal peer support group for women in Oxford. Warning: This podcast contains references to depression and suicide which some listeners may find distressing. In this episode, Katherine discusses how she found becoming a mum, and also her...

The podcast where three mums talk honestly about motherhood, mental health and everything in between

This is The Motherkind Café Podcast! We are Emily, Katherine and Kats and we currently run The Motherkind Café, which is a postnatal peer support group for women in Oxford who would like to come and talk honestly about motherhood and mental health.  In this podcast we explore different aspects of motherhood and mental health and we hear experiences of women who've suffered with a postnatal mental illness and recovered, as well as how being a mum can affect your wellbeing in general. Expect...