The Women Who Guided Me

Parris

The Women Who Guided Me is an Australian podcast bringing together wise, experienced women in the birth and postpartum space, in one place, so more women can find them.  From doulas and midwives to somatic therapists, bodyworkers and birth educators, women who don't just inform but help you trust yourself. This podcast isn’t just about adding more information but empowering you to own your birth journey. Each episode is a warm, honest conversation with a practitioner whose work genuinely makes a difference, covering everything from birth values and self-advocacy to postpartum healing and recovery. The podcast grew from my own experience — an empowering vaginal breech birth supported by an extraordinary network of women — and my desire to make those wise voices accessible to every woman navigating pregnancy, birth and motherhood.

  1. Sep 27

    Episode 14: Regulated, Not Perfect: Co-Regulating Through Toddler Meltdowns With Rachel Whytcross

    Rachel Whytcross is the founder of Shine Om and works as a sibling transition specialist, supporting families through what she calls one of the most significant and most under-served seasons in family life: the arrival of an additional baby. A former primary school teacher of over a decade, and also a yoga teacher and mindfulness coach, Rachel built her signature program, the Joyful Parenting Project, after living through the transition herself as a mother of two girls 21 months apart. Rachel's name came up through a number of previous guests on the podcast, a small reminder of how connected Canberra's birth and parenting community is. Her daughters' age gap is almost identical to my own two, which made this one of the more personally resonant conversations recorded so far. In this conversation we cover what's actually happening in your nervous system, and your child's, day to day, what co-regulation means in plain terms, and why regulating yourself comes before you can help your child regulate. We also get into the window of tolerance, how to hold a boundary without breaking connection, and why getting partners genuinely involved changes the whole family's dynamic, not just the load. CONNECT WITH RACHEL Shine Om — sibling transition support and the Joyful Parenting Project Website: www.shineom.com.au Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest: @shineomau MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Prefrontal cortex: the part of the brain managing big emotions and rational thought, not fully developed until around age 25Co-regulation: when one nervous system helps another return to calmWindow of tolerance: the zone in which a person can manage stress without becoming overwhelmedJoyful Parenting Project: Rachel's signature program, run through Telegram and Zoom, working with both parents together21 Days of Joyful Parenting Challenge: Rachel's program launching late November 2026

    Episode 14: Regulated, Not Perfect: Co-Regulating Through Toddler Meltdowns With Rachel Whytcross

  2. Sep 13

    Episode 13: Holding Space for the Emotional Side of Breastfeeding With Anne Endres

    Anne Endres is a Canberra midwife and IBCLC lactation consultant who has supported hundreds of families through pregnancy, birth and feeding. Multiple women in this community pointed me toward Anne. She is considered something of a breastfeeding guru here. I heard Anne's name again and again before we sat down, always from women who said the same thing: she was the person who finally made feeding make sense for them. That reputation is well earned. In this conversation we cover why feeding is natural but learned, the reasons breastfeeding can get hard beyond a straightforward latch problem, how words like “the golden hour” create expectations that leave women feeling like they are already falling short, and how Anne supports women through the physical and emotional sides of mastitis. CONNECT WITH ANNE Private midwifery in partnership with Dr Drew Marshall, Canberra Women and Babies Instagram: @evolve_midwifery Website: evolvemidwiferyservices.com.au/ MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE IBCLC: International Board Certified Lactation ConsultantOral function: how a baby latches, maintains suction and transfers milkTriple feeding: breastfeeding, pumping and topping up togetherBaby Friendly Health Initiative: the WHO and UNICEF framework behind hospital breastfeeding guidelinesAustralian Breastfeeding Association and La Leche League: peer to peer breastfeeding support groupsACT breastfeeding clinics: free lactation support through Maternal and Child Health nurses

    Episode 13: Holding Space for the Emotional Side of Breastfeeding With Anne Endres

  3. Aug 30

    Episode 12: The Many Different Paths to Motherhood: Fertility, Donor Conception, Surrogacy and Loss with Narelle Dickinson

    Narelle Dickinson has worked in the fertility, pregnancy and postpartum space for 25 years. She began her career in an obstetric hospital unit after an early plan to become a forensic psychologist didn't pan out, and quickly found her calling working with women. Over time her practice broadened into donor conception and surrogacy counselling, and obstetric loss and birth trauma. She now supports people across the full spectrum of family creation, from those navigating anxiety and depression in pregnancy and postpartum, to those building families through donor conception and surrogacy, to those processing miscarriage, termination for medical reasons, late-term loss and stillbirth. In this conversation we explore what happens emotionally and psychologically when the path to parenthood doesn't go as expected: the “identity shock” of infertility, the concept of matrescence, and the fears people carry around donor conception, particularly whether they'll love a genetically unrelated child as much as a biological one. Narelle speaks candidly about obstetric loss, the difficulty of claiming the identity of “mother” after a baby has died. We also get into what really defines a parent and a family, surrogacy in Australia — the psychological work of becoming a parent without carrying the pregnancy, and the legal requirements involved — and close on the systemic issues Narelle sees every day: the social invisibility of childless women, the cost barriers to fertility treatment, and the broader pattern of women having to fight to be heard in medical settings. CONNECT WITH NARELLE https://www.lotushp.com.au/ @lotushealthandpsychology MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Matrescence: The psychological transition into motherhood — likened to adolescence — marking a profound shift in identity.Obstetric loss: An umbrella term Narelle uses for miscarriage, unsuccessful embryo transfers, termination for medical reasons, late-term loss and stillbirth.Identity shock: Narelle's term for the disorientation people feel when the timeline and story they expected for becoming a parent doesn't unfold as planned.Donor conception counselling: Support for people building families using donor eggs, sperm or embryos, addressing fears about genetic connection and belonging.Pre-surrogacy counselling: A legally required process in every Australian state and territory involving intending parents, the surrogate and their partner, before a surrogacy arrangement can proceed.Altruistic surrogacy: Australia's surrogacy model, in which surrogates can be reimbursed for expenses but cannot be paid — unlike commercial arrangements overseas.Kinship adoption: Informal, culturally embedded family and child-rearing arrangements common outside white Western culture, contrasted with the narrower Western model of family.

    Episode 12: The Many Different Paths to Motherhood: Fertility, Donor Conception, Surrogacy and Loss with Narelle Dickinson

  4. Aug 16

    Episode 11: Honouring the Sacred Postpartum Window with Doula Kellie Hermes

    Kellie Hermes is a Canberra-based birth and postpartum doula, Reiki practitioner and mother of four, and the founder of Adorabirth. Her path into this work began with her own births,  including the loss of her first baby, and the deeply supported water birth of her daughter that followed, guided by a continuity-of-care midwife who believed completely in her body. That experience of being trusted through a hard posterior labour became the blueprint for the doula she is today. In this conversation we talk about what a doula offers beyond the birth room and why the weeks after birth need slowness and structured community rather than isolation. Kellie talks about how she supports both mothers and partners in the postpartum period and the different archetypes doulas move between depending on what a woman needs. We also get into how partners can stay grounded and involved without stepping on the mother's bond with her baby, why Kellie believes families need structured support rather than a vague "just ask if you need anything," and the bigger systemic shifts — from Nordic-style parental leave to models like Seven Sisters for Seven Days — that she thinks would change postpartum for the better. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Reiki: an energy-based healing practice; Kellie is trained in Reiki I & II and used self-Reiki to move through transition during her own labourContinuity of Care Programme: a midwifery care model, such as the one at Canberra Hospital, where a woman is supported by the same known midwife throughout pregnancy, birth and postpartumSeven Sisters for Seven Days by Michelle Peterson: a structured postpartum support model where one person from a woman's circle checks in on an assigned day of the week for six weeks after birthRhea Dempsey: Australian doula, author and birth educator known for her work on labour support and the archetypes doulas and midwives embody (the mother, the sister, the wise woman)Nordic parental leave policies: the extended, family-centred paid parental leave models used in countries like Sweden and Norway, cited as a benchmark for postpartum supportCONNECT WITH KELLIE Adorabirth — Birth & Postpartum Doula, Canberra Book a free chat via her website — https://www.adorabirth-kelliehermesdoula.com Related reading: “Honouring the Sacred Postpartum Window: Why Every Mother Needs Support Beyond Family” — Kellie's blog post on her website.

    Episode 11: Honouring the Sacred Postpartum Window with Doula Kellie Hermes

  5. Aug 9

    Episode 10: Allowed to Birth — Filming a Global Midwife with Jacinta Lagos

    Jacinta Lagos is an Argentinian-born filmmaker, birth photographer and videographer now based in the United States. She started out as a wedding videographer, then documented her own two pregnancies and discovered birth photography as its own genre, before training as a doula because she refused to just be “a fly on the wall.” Allowed to Birth: The Journey of a Global Midwife is her debut as a feature filmmaker. It follows midwife Kristine Lauria, who has attended over 5,000 births across more than 25 countries, including war zones and refugee camps, and explores how birth is supported, and sometimes constrained, across very different healthcare systems. This isn't a film that sets out to be anti-hospital or pro-home birth. It's about respectful care, and about the idea that birth can be a magical rite of passage in any setting, including a caesarean, if a woman feels safe, secure and respected. In this conversation, Jacinta talks about what called her to make the film after years spent behind the camera at births, the biggest revelations that came out of filming across such different cultures and healthcare systems, and what she wants women, wherever they're giving birth, to take from it. SHOW NOTES 00:00 - Introduction to Jacinta Lagos and her filmmaking journey00:24 - Jacinta’s transition from wedding videography to birth documentation00:49 - The inspiration behind "Allowed to Birth" and witnessing obstetric violence01:15 - Jacinta’s early work and focus on normalizing birth through media02:34 - Meeting Christine Laurier and the story of creating the documentary03:12 - The global perspective on birth practices and cultural influences03:51 - The meaning behind the film's title and its implications for women’s rights04:21 - How the film aims to change perceptions on individual and systemic levels11:28 - Barriers for first-time mothers engaging with birth knowledge12:55 - Challenging misconceptions about hospital birth and medicalization14:08 - The importance of respecting bodily autonomy and informed consent16:39 - The societal normalization of intervention and trauma in birth systems17:36 - The power of personal stories and first-person experiences in transforming attitudes19:13 - The inclusivity of the film and its non-graphic approach to birth imagery22:26 - The serendipity and harmony observed during Jacinta's filmmaking process27:45 - The transformational power of birth and its significance as a rite of passage28:45 - Reframing birth as a sacred, culturally meaningful experience32:45 - How respectful and safe environments enable women to have positive birth experiences36:38 - Obstetric system challenges: training gaps and misconceptions about risks40:39 - Jacinta's upcoming plans and the film's reception goals41:13 - Engaging audiences, sparking conversations, and promoting birth autonomyCONNECT WITH JACINTA & THE FILM Allowed to Birth: The Journey of a Global Midwife Distributed by Common Ground Film Australia Screening across Australia September–November. Canberra screening: 16 September. Follow Common Ground Film Au, Allowed to Birth, or Jacinta's personal account on Instagram for tickets and details.

    Episode 10: Allowed to Birth — Filming a Global Midwife with Jacinta Lagos

  6. Aug 2

    Episode 9: Pregnancy after Birth Trauma with Rhiannah Pohlman

    Rhiannah Pohlman (rhiannahrose.com.au) is a naturopath and counsellor supporting women navigating pregnancy and birth after a traumatic experience. Trained by Dr Catherine Bell, she is a birth cartographer, helping women map their births, advocate for their choices and build contingency plans, alongside nervous system regulation and birth story integration. She brings all of this together through Flourish, her pregnancy support program. Rhiannah was called to this work after two traumatic births of her own, each one teaching her something different about what she needed to feel safe. She has taken those lived experiences and built a program to support other women planning for birth after trauma. Rhiannah's first birth was a rural hospital induction that stretched over three days, ending in forceps, a vacuum delivery and a fourth-degree tear, with little support or referral afterwards. The second, years later, began as a healing natural labour just days before a scheduled caesarean, before turning into an emergency when her son's heart rate dropped. Two very different experiences. Both, she says, shaped everything she now does with women. In this conversation Rhiannah shares her birth stories, what she learnt and what changed in her as a result. The beauty in it all is that she still believes in birth and its power for transformation. We talk about what birth trauma actually is, how it can show up in your system, the importance of care providers using trauma-informed language, and what it takes to rebuild self-trust before trying again. In this episode: •Rhiannah’s own two birth stories, and what she learned from each •What birth trauma actually is, and why it’s about how you felt, not what happened •How birth trauma can show up in your day-to-day life, sometimes years later •Why she still believes in birth, and its power for transformation •The importance of care providers using trauma-informed language •Rebuilding self-trust before trying again Content note: this episode discusses birth trauma in detail. If that’s not something you’re up for today, look after yourself and come back to this one another time CONNECT WITH RHIANNAH rhiannahrose.com.au Instagram: @rhiannah_rose Flourish is Rhiannah's full pregnancy support offering, blending naturopathy, nervous system work, counselling and birth mapping for women preparing for birth after a traumatic experience. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE The Birth Map: a structured decision-making and communication tool created by Dr Catherine Bell, birthmap.lifeBirth cartography: mapping the different pathways a birth can take, so decisions can be made from an informed, rather than reactive, placeNervous system regulation: working with the body's threat response, not just talking through what happenedTrauma-informed language: the words and framing used by care providers that can either support or retraumatise a woman

    Episode 9: Pregnancy after Birth Trauma with Rhiannah Pohlman

  7. Jul 26

    Episode 8: My Mother's Birth Story

    I'm in Perth at the moment visiting my family, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to sit down with my mum and talk to her about her birth story, so how I was born. In the lead up to my son's birth late last year, my parents came over from Perth, and I remember asking my mum about her birth story. I found it a really empowering thing to listen to, and it gave me a lot of strength going into my own birth, because she went through something that was really hard and got through it. And I thought, that's in me. That birth story is in me. Her mum had five kids, and my mum will tell you more about it, but she got through some really hard things as well. So that was a real sense of strength for me going into my own birth. And I thought, what a cool thing for women to talk to their mums about how they were born. So I thought let's record my mum's birth story, and how I was born, and put it out there. SHOW NOTES What my mum remembers about her own birth, and what she was told growing upThe long road to falling pregnant with me, and the blood tracking that finally got us thereFinding out at nine weeks there were two heartbeats, and what happened at the sixteen week scanA pregnancy with no internet, just thick library books, and not really knowing what was going to happen to her bodyWhat she didn't want, more than anything, going into labourWaters breaking at a wedding, in stockings, with no panic at allA long induced labour, and the moment she was told it was caesarean or epiduralMeeting me for the first time, and the eye contact she still remembersGoing up to the ward the next day in her grandmother's pearls to talk to the women who were about to give birth

    Episode 8: My Mother's Birth Story

  8. Jul 19

    Episode 7: Informed, Supported, Confident with Dr Catherine Bell, Creator of The Birth Map

    Dr Catherine Bell is the creator of the Birth Map, a birth advocate and Managing Director of Maternity Choices Australia. After her own birth experiences left her with questions she didn't have the knowledge to answer, and after listening to countless mothers say they wished they had been better informed, Catherine set out to close that gap. In this episode Catherine walks us through what the Birth Map is and how it differs from a birth plan, what her PhD research found about what women genuinely need to feel prepared for birth, and why the word consent is failing women in the birth room. We also hear stories from her research that bring the findings to life — including a woman who moved to a caesarean pathway with almost joy because the decision was fully hers, and what consistently determined whether women in her study felt at peace with their birth or carried it as trauma. It was not what happened, it was how it happened. Find the Birth Map at birthmap.life. Catherine is also speaking on the panel at the Canberra screening of Allowed to Birth on 16 September at Dendy Cinemas. What's covered in this episode: What the Birth Map is and how it differs from a birth planHow to genuinely prepare for birth in a way that builds confidence rather than anxietyWhy informed consent as it currently operates in the maternity system is failing women and what should replace itHow to make decisions in labour when time is short and the pressure is onWhat your rights are as a woman navigating the Australian maternity systemHow to advocate for yourself with your care providerWhat Catherine's research found about preventing birth trauma before it happensCONNECT WITH CATHERINE birthmap.life Instagram: @birthmapping Maternity Choices Australia: maternitychoices.org.au RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE The Birth Map: a structured decision-making and communication tool for birth preparation. birthmap.lifeThe Game of Birth: a visual decision-making tool mapping physiological, medical and caesarean pathways using statistics from the Mother Baby ReportRealist Evaluation: a research methodology developed by Pawson and Tilley asking what works for whom, in what circumstances and whySensemaking: the process of building understanding of various options before making a decision, drawn from Karl Weick’s workSupported Maternal Decision Making: Catherine’s preferred term replacing shared decision making, placing responsibility clearly with the womanMatrescence: the developmental and identity transformation of becoming a motherThe BRAIN acronym: Benefits, Risks, Alternatives, Instinct, Nothing — a decision-making framework used in the Birth MapThe Bendigo consent case: a landmark Victorian case in which a woman’s lack of consent to vaginal examination was tested in courtMaternity Choices Australia: working with Catherine to implement the Birth Map approach in Australian maternity servicesAllowed to Birth: The Journey of a Global Midwife — Canberra screening 16 September, Dendy Cinemas. Catherine is on the panel.

    Episode 7: Informed, Supported, Confident with Dr Catherine Bell, Creator of The Birth Map
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About

The Women Who Guided Me is an Australian podcast bringing together wise, experienced women in the birth and postpartum space, in one place, so more women can find them.  From doulas and midwives to somatic therapists, bodyworkers and birth educators, women who don't just inform but help you trust yourself. This podcast isn’t just about adding more information but empowering you to own your birth journey. Each episode is a warm, honest conversation with a practitioner whose work genuinely makes a difference, covering everything from birth values and self-advocacy to postpartum healing and recovery. The podcast grew from my own experience — an empowering vaginal breech birth supported by an extraordinary network of women — and my desire to make those wise voices accessible to every woman navigating pregnancy, birth and motherhood.

Information

  • Creator
    Parris
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Women Who Guided Me
  • Show Website
    The Women Who Guided Me

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