Inside Mummas Circle

Rashelle Leahy
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  • Parenting

Inside Mummas Circle is a podcast for honest conversations about motherhood, identity, connection, and everything in between. Hosted by Mummas Circle founder Rashelle Leahy, this podcast brings together real stories, expert insights, and the conversations mothers are craving but don’t always get to have. From postpartum and mental load to relationships, confidence, career, nervous system support, and the emotional reality of raising children — nothing here needs to be perfect or polished. Whether you’re deep in the newborn stage, navigating motherhood for the first time, or trying to rediscover yourself alongside it all, this is a space where you can feel seen, supported, and a little less alone. Because motherhood was never meant to be done alone.

  1. 4d ago

    Touched Out, Rejected & Running on Empty: Intimacy After Baby, with Amanda Jade from The Parents Room

    Send us Fan Mail Our guest today is Amanda, a relationship and intimacy coach, a mum of older kids, and someone who knows first-hand how hard it is to stay connected to your partner in the thick of parenting. Amanda came to this work through her own struggles with body image and the identity shift of becoming a mum, and she brings honesty, humour and real practical tools to a topic many of us find hard to talk about. In this conversation, Rashelle and Amanda get real about what happens to a relationship after a baby arrives. Amanda explains why so many mums feel touched out, why dads and partners often feel rejected and forgotten, and why communication is at the heart of almost every breakdown. Rashelle shares her own story too: the game-changing advice to "be kind first", handing a project over to her husband and letting go of gatekeeping, and a couple of nights away with her husband when she wondered whether it would make or break them. We talk about small, low-pressure ways to reconnect, what to do when a touch leads to an expectation you're not ready for, and how understanding your love languages can change everything. Amanda also shares how to come back into your body through the five senses, how to reframe the way you talk to yourself, and why our kids are always watching how we love each other. She closes with the advice she gives every new mum: communicate with your partner, be kind to yourself, and know that you are enough. In this episode we cover: Amanda's story and why she became a relationship and intimacy coachWhy mums feel "touched out" and why partners can feel rejectedWhy communication is the biggest relationship breakdown, and how scheduling conversations (or pulling questions from a hat) takes the heat out of themUsing "I" language instead of "you did this", and why someone needs to be kind firstSmall, realistic ways to reconnect: a kiss at the door, holding hands in a co-sleeping bed, a six-second hugResponsive vs spontaneous desire, and how to say "not right now" kindlyThe five love languages, and why we often act out our own hoping to receive it backDivision of labour, the mental load, and letting go of gatekeepingBuilding guilt-free me-time, from a 10-minute bath to a booked massageComing back into your body through the five sensesReframing negative self-talk and stepping away from the social media highlight reelRole modelling kindness, love and healthy conflict for your kidsConnect with Amanda:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandajade_xx/ Website: https://www.amandajade.com.au/ https://moorinahavenretreat.com/ If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a mum who needs to hear it. You never know who's sitting in silence, thinking she's the only one. Motherhood was never meant to be done alone. Connect with Mummas Circle: 🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com 📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle Instagram: @mummascircle_ 📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

    Touched Out, Rejected & Running on Empty: Intimacy After Baby, with Amanda Jade from The Parents Room

  2. Sep 17

    Babywearing, IVF and Trusting Your Mum Intuition with Michaela from Nurture and Bloom.

    Send us Fan Mail Our guest today is a nurse, babywearing educator, the founder of Nurture and Bloom, and one of Mummas Circle's own facilitators. If you've ever seen her advice on babywearing pop up online, you'll know she brings warmth and real substance in equal measure, and this conversation is no different. Michaela takes us back to her long and bumpy road into motherhood, years of infertility with endometriosis and PCOS, multiple rounds of IVF, and a first pregnancy spent largely on bed rest with dangerously high blood pressure, all while her husband was deployed to Afghanistan. It was during that bed rest that she first discovered babywearing, breaking doctor's orders just once to attend a local babywearing meet, a moment that changed the direction of her life. We talk about how that discovery grew into Kanga Training, then formal study with the Australian Babywearing Association and, more recently, the Center for Babywearing Studies, where she deepened her understanding of infant development, co-regulation and why carried babies cry significantly less. Michaela also shares how she supports parents and children with sensory needs or ADHD, why babywearing isn't just "for crunchy mums," and her honest take on the guilt and noise so many mums feel around parenting choices — from co-sleeping to breastfeeding to babywearing itself. She closes with the advice she comes back to again and again: tune out the noise, and trust your own intuition. In this episode we cover: Michaela's journey through infertility, IVF and a high-risk first pregnancyDiscovering babywearing while on bed rest, and the meet that changed everythingWhat Kanga Training is and how it doubled as community and movementThe developmental science behind babywearing — including why carried babies cry 43% lessSupporting babywearing for families with sensory needs, ADHD or children on the spectrumCommon myths (like babywearing "spoiling" a child) and why they don't hold upHer top carrier recommendations and why fit matters more than brandHer vision for bringing babywearing meets and lending libraries back to BrisbaneHer advice on cutting through parenting noise and trusting your intuitionConnect with Michaela & Nurture and Bloom:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nurtureandbloom_babywearing/ If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a mum who needs to hear it — you never know who's sitting in silence, thinking she's the only one. Motherhood was never meant to be done alone. Connect with Mummas Circle: 🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com 📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle Instagram: @mummascircle_ 📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

    Babywearing, IVF and Trusting Your Mum Intuition with Michaela from Nurture and Bloom.

  3. Sep 5

    Tinkering with Two: Alice on ADHD, Perinatal Anxiety and The Nappy Collective

    Send us Fan Mail Alice is a mum of two, a content creator behind Tinkering with Two, and someone who's been beautifully open about her journey through perinatal anxiety and, more recently, an adult ADHD diagnosis. In this episode, Alice takes us back to the start, falling pregnant in a small Central Queensland town with severe hyperemesis, being diagnosed with perinatal anxiety after bursting into tears at an obstetrician appointment, moving to the Hunter Valley five months pregnant just as COVID hit, and later navigating an ectopic pregnancy before welcoming her daughter Tilly. We talk about how she processed all of it, how her Instagram page began almost by accident during lockdown, and the night she Googled "ADHD symptoms in women" and hit every single point on the list. Alice is honest about how much of her life she spent masking without realising it, what it took to get a diagnosis as an adult, and why her work with The Nappy Collective has become such a meaningful part of her story. In this episode we cover: Alice's journey into motherhood — hyperemesis, perinatal anxiety and an ectopic pregnancyHow Tinkering with Two started almost by accident during COVID lockdownThe messages from followers that led her to question if it was ADHD, not just anxietyThe night she Googled "ADHD symptoms in women" and recognised herself in every pointWhat masking looked like for her, and why her psychologist missed it for yearsGetting an adult ADHD diagnosis — the paperwork, the process, and proving childhood evidenceHow diagnosis and medication have changed her capacity and her motheringHer work with The Nappy Collective in Brisbane and the reality of "nappy stress"Connect with Alice & The Nappy Collective:  Instagram: Tinkering with Two The Nappy Collective: https://www.thenappycollective.com/ https://www.instagram.com/thenappycollective/ If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a mum who needs to hear it — you never know who's sitting in silence, thinking she's the only one. Motherhood was never meant to be done alone. Connect with Mummas Circle: 🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com 📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle Instagram: @mummascircle_ 📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

    Tinkering with Two: Alice on ADHD, Perinatal Anxiety and The Nappy Collective

  4. Aug 27

    "You Haven't Ruined Your Life": Mel on Teen Motherhood, Stigma & Building A Brave Life

    Send us Fan Mail At 16, Mel was told her life was over. Today, she's a former midwife of 19 years and the founder of A Brave Life — a Brisbane-based charity that has gifted hundreds of baby bundles a month to vulnerable mothers across Queensland and the Northern Territory, and built EMALO (Empowering Mothers and Little Ones), a judgement-free mothers' group designed specifically for young mums who don't feel they belong anywhere else. In this episode, Mel shares her own journey into motherhood as a teenager navigating a dysfunctional home, being placed in a home for pregnant teens, and rebuilding her life from her dining room table into a registered charity. We talk about the stigma young mums still face in healthcare settings today, why preventative support matters more than crisis intervention, and what it really means to be someone's cheerleader rather than their saviour. In this episode we cover: Mel's personal story of becoming a teen mum and the judgement she facedWhy she chose nursing and midwifery — and how it changed the trajectory of her lifeThe unconscious bias young and teen mums still face in healthcare todayHow A Brave Life started with baby bundles gifted from her dining room tableWhat EMALO offers young mums who don't fit into traditional mothers groupsWhy preventative support (not just crisis support) is key to breaking cyclesMel's message to any mum feeling isolated right nowConnect with Mel & A Brave Life: Website: abravelife.com.au Instagram: instagram.com/abravelife Facebook: facebook.com/abravelife Donate: abravelife.com.au/donation If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a mum who needs to hear it — you never know who's sitting in silence, thinking she's the only one. Motherhood was never meant to be done alone. Connect with Mummas Circle: 🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com 📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle Instagram: @mummascircle_ 📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

    "You Haven't Ruined Your Life": Mel on Teen Motherhood, Stigma & Building A Brave Life

  5. Aug 21

    Screen Time & Little Minds: What the Research Actually Says with Mariska Kerkhoff

    Send us Fan Mail Screen time is one of the most loaded topics in modern motherhood, and today's guest brings both the science and the lived experience to the conversation. Mariska Kerkhoff is a veterinary surgeon, children's book author and illustrator, and the founder of Tiny Tots Adventures. After her daughter was born three months premature and spent nearly four months in hospital, Mariska threw herself into research on child development, and screen time became a personal focus long before it became a professional one. In this episode, we talk about: What the World Health Organization actually recommends for screen time by ageThe difference between passive and interactive screen use — and why it mattersHow excessive screen time affects stress hormones, dopamine, sleep and physical developmentThe "six cups" framework for understanding your child's behaviour (connection, autonomy, play, movement, sensory, rest)Simple, low-cost activities you can set up at home with things you already ownWhy modelling your own screen habits matters more than any rule you setPractical, guilt-free ways to build screen-free routines — without a total overhaulThis conversation isn't about guilt or panic. It's about understanding what's happening for our kids so we can make informed, sustainable choices as families. Connect with Mariska:  Tiny Tots Adventures Tiny Tots Adventures at Home - Buy the book Instagram Facebook Motherhood was never meant to be done alone. Connect with Mummas Circle: 🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com 📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle Instagram: @mummascircle_ 📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

    Screen Time & Little Minds: What the Research Actually Says with Mariska Kerkhoff

  6. Aug 13

    Daisy's Story: Grief, ADHD, and the Year Everything Happened at Once.

    Send us Fan Mail This week we're joined by Daisy, one of our first mums from our North Lakes group — for a raw and honest conversation about her journey through motherhood. Daisy takes us through her birth story with her son Sonny, an unexpected cascade of interventions, and the brutal reality of newborn sleep deprivation. But this episode goes so much deeper than birth. Daisy opens up about the hardest year of her life, navigating Sonny's transition to daycare, her ADHD diagnosis and what it's meant to parent while unmedicated, and caring for her father through a sudden terminal cancer diagnosis, all while re-entering the workforce and planning her wedding. We talk about masking, late ADHD diagnosis in women, the mental load of being a working mum, finding your village, and how communication with her partner Brody carried them through grief and chaos. This is a conversation about resilience, community, and learning that "enough" can look like two minutes of stillness in a hard season. In this episode: Daisy's birth story and the reality of a cascade interventionThe emotional weight of starting daycare and letting go of controlLate ADHD diagnosis, masking, and parenting unmedicatedSupporting a terminally ill parent while raising a toddlerGrief, communication, and love languages with her partnerDaisy's advice for new mumsIf you're a mum juggling more than anyone can see, this one is for you. Motherhood was never meant to be done alone. If this episode resonated with you, please leave a review and share it with a mum who needs to hear it today. Connect with Mummas Circle: 🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com 📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle Instagram: @mummascircle_ 📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

    Daisy's Story: Grief, ADHD, and the Year Everything Happened at Once.

  7. Aug 5

    From Colic to Confidence: How Baby Massage Transformed a Mum's Journey with Naomi from Baby Love Massage

    Send us Fan Mail This week we're joined by Naomi from Baby Love Massage and Spa, a mum, baby massage instructor, and colic specialist who turned her own struggle with a colicky newborn into a mission to support other families. Naomi opens up about the early, exhausting weeks with her son Theo — unsettled, in pain, and dismissed by health professionals who simply told her "it's colic, off you go." Determined to find answers, she turned to baby massage, and everything changed. In this episode we cover: Naomi's personal story of navigating an unsettled, colicky baby and feeling unsupported by the healthcare systemHow baby massage helped ease Theo's symptoms, better sleep, regular bowel movements, and a calmer babyThe science of touch and bonding, including the role of oxytocin for both mum and babyWhy bonding doesn't always come instantly — and why that's completely normalNaomi's simple "hold their feet" technique for calming an unsettled baby anywhere, the car, the shops, 2am pacingHer exciting next chapter: opening her own baby spa facility with hydrotherapy sessionsWhether you're dealing with a colicky baby, struggling to bond, or just want practical tools to feel more confident as a parent, this episode is full of warmth, honesty, and hard-won wisdom. Connect with Naomi: 📷 Instagram: instagram.com/babylovemassagespa 🎓 Online course: babylovemassage.com.au/online-course Connect with Mummas Circle: 🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com 📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle Instagram: @mummascircle_ 📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

    From Colic to Confidence: How Baby Massage Transformed a Mum's Journey with Naomi from Baby Love Massage

  8. Jul 29

    Midwifery-Led Care: The Choices No One Tells You About | Alita Pashley, My Midwives.

    Send us Fan Mail Many mums assume there's only one path through pregnancy and birth, but few realise just how much choice they actually have. In this episode of Inside Mummas Circle, Rashelle sits down with Alita Pashley, director and practicing midwife at My Midwives, to unpack what midwifery-led continuity of care really looks like, from pregnancy through birth and into those first vulnerable weeks at home. From VBAC support and delayed cord clamping to daily home visits and why so much of birth trauma comes down to feeling a loss of control, Alita explains why continuity of care isn't the "alternative" option, it's how maternity care has always been done. In this episode:  ✨ What it means to be an "endorsed" midwife, and how Medicare rebates make private care more accessible  ✨ How to access private midwifery care (and why so few people know they can)  ✨ Navigating VBAC and hospital systems with continuity of care  ✨ Why delayed cord clamping matters, and the psychology behind it  ✨ What daily postpartum home visits actually look like  ✨ Why birth trauma is so often about agency, not outcome  ✨ The importance of finding your own "village" of support through pregnancy and birth Whether you're planning your first pregnancy, navigating a VBAC, or reflecting on a past birth experience, this episode will leave you with a better understanding of the choices available to you and the power of continuity of care. Because every mum deserves a village. 🤍 Connect with My Midwives https://www.mymidwives.com.au/ Follow Alita https://www.instagram.com/pash_the_midwife/ Connect with Mummas Circle: 🌸 Website: www.mummascircle.com 📘 Facebook Community: Mummas Circle Instagram: @mummascircle_ 📺 YouTube: @MummasCircle

    Midwifery-Led Care: The Choices No One Tells You About | Alita Pashley, My Midwives.
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About

Inside Mummas Circle is a podcast for honest conversations about motherhood, identity, connection, and everything in between. Hosted by Mummas Circle founder Rashelle Leahy, this podcast brings together real stories, expert insights, and the conversations mothers are craving but don’t always get to have. From postpartum and mental load to relationships, confidence, career, nervous system support, and the emotional reality of raising children — nothing here needs to be perfect or polished. Whether you’re deep in the newborn stage, navigating motherhood for the first time, or trying to rediscover yourself alongside it all, this is a space where you can feel seen, supported, and a little less alone. Because motherhood was never meant to be done alone.

Information

  • Creator
    Rashelle Leahy
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Inside Mummas Circle
  • Show Website
    Inside Mummas Circle

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