Postpartum Stories With Steph Stephanie O'Brien

Breastfeeding never came easy for me. I feel like I was constantly fighting an uphill battle, wading through misinformation from midwives, stress, and overwhelm.

On today’s episode of the podcast I’m joined by my lovely husband Clay, as we remember back to three years ago when our breastfeeding journey began. It’s not all sunshine and roses I’m sorry to say.

Some of the issues we faced includes our son losing more than 10% of his body weight, nipple damage, quick feeds that didn’t meet the expectations of the hospital, and pressure to introduce formula top ups.

But we did get through it and now we are about to hit three years of breastfeeding.

If you’ve enjoyed this episode and others, you can say thank you by buying me a coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Postpartum

If you want to work with me you can download my packages at www.postpartumwithsteph.com and get in touch for an obligation-free chat.

You can also connect with me on Instagram @postpartum_with_steph

If you’ve enjoyed this episode or any of the others please leave a 5 star rating and written review to help other people find the podcast. 

How does a breastfeeding expert go breastfeeding her own children? Was it always easy? Did it come naturally? Were there any challenges? These are the questions I've always wanted to ask the amazing Amberley Harris. 

If you don't know who Amberley is, you are in for a treat. She's a registered and endorsed midwife in private practice who helps women through the challenges of breastfeeding (I actually met her when my little one was 6 days old). She is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to breastfeeding, you can actually go back and listen to episode 10 of the podcast where she talks more specifically about breastfeeding in general. 

Today though, Amberley shares her own postpartum experience with both of her kiddos. She talks about how the experiences compared to one another, the challenges she faced breastfeeding her first bub, tandem feeding, the huge adjustment of going from one to two children and how all of that combined led her to the career she has now.  

Get in touch with Amberley below
Website: https://www.maternal-instincts.com.au/?v=6cc98ba2045f
Instagram: @maternalinstinctsbyamberley



If you want to work with me you can download my packages at www.postpartumwithsteph.com and get in touch for an obligation-free chat.

You can also connect with me on Instagram @postpartum_with_steph

If you’ve enjoyed this episode or any of the others please leave a 5 star rating and written review to help other people find the podcast. 

Did you fall into the trap of doing too much too soon after your baby was born? It’s ok if you did, I think we all feel a sense of pressure to return to our “normal” activities in postpartum. But what we often find is that we can’t immediately do all of the things we used to with ease.

My guest on today’s podcast is Kath Baquie, the founder of FitNest Mama. She chats about her first postpartum experience where a casual walk to and from a cafe with her 2-week old bub left her feeling an intense pelvic floor pressure. As a physiotherapist for women she knew something was up and quickly learned she had a pelvic organ prolapse. This diagnosis changed the way Kath went about her days in that early postpartum as she began to rest more and listen to her body.

This experience also propelled Kath into the work she is doing now with women in her online community called FitNest Mama which helps to provide pregnant and new mothers with the exercises, support & resources to help get their bodies and minds strong again.

She also chats about her breastfeeding experience, the work that she does, and the juggle of going from one to two kids (and then to three!)

You can find Kath on her website: www.fitnestmama.com or on Instagram @fitnestmama

You can also listen to her podcast here: https://www.fitnestmama.com/podcast

If you want to work with me you can download my packages at www.postpartumwithsteph.com and get in touch for an obligation-free chat.

If you’ve enjoyed this episode or any of the others please leave a 5 star rating and written review to help other people find the podcast.

You can connect with me on Instagram @postpartum_with_steph

When your baby arrived did you have all these expectations around sleep, like that they would sleep for hours at a time in their bassinet and easily drift off each night to the land of nod? Yeah me too. Did you feel pressure to have them on a schedule and linking sleep cycles? Samesies. Are you incredibly familiar with the term ‘wake windows’? Yep, I am you.

And when that little bundle arrived, and none of your expectations around sleep were met how did you feel? Overwhelmed? Alone? Lost? Frustrated? Babe, you are not alone.

Today on the podcast I’m joined by Fiona Weaver from Mama Matters. Fiona candidly shares her experience of sleep expectations not being met and how it led her to learn more about biologically normal infant sleep. In fact, she now works with parents to support them through sleep challenges in an honest, gentle way.

You can find Fiona on Instagram @mamamatters.au and check out her website www.mamamatters.com.au

If you liked the sound of my online mothers group - The Mama Collective, you can join here: www.postpartumwithsteph.com/the-mama-collective

If you want to work with me you can download my packages at www.postpartumwithsteph.com and get in touch for an obligation-free chat.

If you’ve enjoyed this episode or any of the others please leave a 5 star rating and written review to help other people find the podcast.

You can connect with me on Instagram @postpartum_with_steph

Yay a new podcast episode!!

Today I’m joined by the wonderful Lulu Well who shares her very vulnerable and raw postpartum story that was very much influenced by her traumatic birth.

Like many of us, Lulu went through a period of pleasing everyone around her except herself, saying yes to everything to keep everyone else happy and finally getting to a point of embracing the word “no”. Whilst dealing with PTSD which stemmed from her birth, Lulu sought help from a psychologist and started to rewrite her own birth and postpartum story. Her experience has also led her to become a postpartum doula (go gurrrrl!)

It was an absolute joy to hear Lulu’s story and I hope you enjoy it.

You can find Lulu on Instagram @thesunspell

If you want to work with me you can download my packages at www.postpartumwithsteph.com and get in touch for an obligation-free chat.

If you’ve enjoyed this episode or any of the others please leave a 5 star rating and written review to help other people find the podcast.

You can connect with me on Instagram @postpartum_with_steph

Welcome to 2021! This is the first new episode I’ve done in a while and I’m pretty excited about it.

Today I’m Joined by Jaren Soloff, a registered dietician, and IBCLC based in the US. Jaren combines her expertise as a skilled nutrition therapist and lactation consultant to support individuals looking to heal their relationship with food and body, specifically with women and birthing people in postpartum.

Jaren is also the author of The Postnatal Cookbook which was released in December. The book includes 75 easy, healing, and protein-rich recipes designed with new mums in mind.

Today we chat about how to look after yourself nutritionally in postpartum, body image and the pressure to “bounce back” after birth. Please note; this is a body positive space and we do not discuss weight loss or dieting tips.
 
You can connect with Jaren on Instagram a @fullcrcl. Or visit her website: https://www.fullcrcl.co/the-postnatal-cookbook You can purchase her book here: https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-postnatal-cookbook-jaren-soloff/book/9781646040995.html

If you want to work with me you can download my packages at www.postpartumwithsteph.com and get in touch for an obligation-free chat.

If you’ve enjoyed this episode or any of the others please leave a 5 star rating and written review to help other people find the podcast.

You can connect with me on Instagram @postpartum_with_steph