Fertility Life Raft Alice Rose

This is a very special episode with an amazing woman: Susannah Tresilian, who I know personally through a family connection. 
Susannah is a theatre director with extensive experience in the UK and international theatre world, as well as a leadership coach with experience coaching and training around the world and a successful audio career in podcasts, and BBC arts and factual programming. She produced documentaries, dramas and BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour for many years; The Arts Hour on the BBC World Service, and made the Books podcast for the Guardian.
She has directed and toured theatre productions around Europe; co-produced international festivals in UK, Italy and France; and has delivered workshops in corporate, arts, academic and educational settings.
She has founded ARIADNE, working with women who make social and political theatre to inspire change around the world. www.projectariadne.org 
Susannah found time to speak to me about how she navigated what she calls the Trauma Years.
We talk about the impact of recurrent pregnancy loss on her personal life, career and identity.
She shares a profoundly personal moment, when she decided to consciously move out of that era and step into the new version of herself at her Dad, Nicholas Tresilian’s memorial service. There’s a powerful piece of audio included here from Nicholas’s last ever broadcast on Classic FM which had to be part of this episode when I heard Susannah talking about this moment in her life.
This was one of my favourite conversations- I do think, whatever your own story, it’s a must listen. Full of wisdom, kindness, compassion and of course we talk about what kept Susannah afloat on her own life raft, through her journey to finally bringing two daughters into the world.
If you found this show moving, helpful or you just want to let Susannah know what listening to her story meant to you, please leave a review and share the episode.
These conversations reach much further when listeners can spend a minute or so to do this and they really do find those who need them this way: thank you for being part of this with me.
You can find more on Susannah’s coaching company here:
The Leadership Collective.
If you're in the middle of a Fertility voyage yourself, please head to https://www.fertilityliferaft.com/ for immediate support, 1:1 transformative coaching; the membership, downloads and free resources too. 
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I LOVED this great episode with Kayleigh from an incredible new platform called Fertility Mapper. It's a verified peer review site for fertility clinics...I know right?! So brilliant and needed.
They've also just launched an incredible new service which is an NHS funding eligibility calculator.
Please have a listen to find out why this platform is going to save millions of people SO much time, energy, stress and overwhelm and completely change the game for people looking for both NHS and private fertility clinics in the UK.
Fertility Mapper is a free online platform and you can support it by leaving your own review and use it here: https://fertilitymapper.com/
It's founded by Kayleigh who I chatted to on this episode...here's more about why she's the perfect person for the (very big!) job:
Kayleigh Hartigan is the founder and CEO of Fertility Mapper: an independent platform that harnesses the power of community reviews and data to make an assisted path to parenthood more personalised and transparent. The platform was created in response to a lack of data, resources and reliable information around fertility, and the need to set a new standard of treatment.
A healthcare expert with over 17+ years’ experience, Kayleigh has a BSc in the Biology of Fertility and Embryo Development (UCL) and an MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing (LSE). 
She has worked across both the public and private sector. This includes senior roles at the Department of Health and the NHS in the UK and helped to establish an informal digital advisory board that helped inform the UK’s landmark Women’s Health Strategy. 
Kayleigh has held significant executive roles in health-tech including COS of HealthHero and COO of Zava, two of Europe’s largest and fastest growing healthtech companies and a Managing Director of a European private equity advisory firm.
Kayleigh set up Fertility Mapper in 2022 to tackle the big issues of fertility by improving access to services and increasing their quality.
Do you need emotional support right now?
SO many instant resources are available on our website fertilityliferaft.com to support you through this experience. You can also follow us on Instagram.
We love hearing from you so please do rate, review and subscribe - the more people who find us, the more we can support and you can play a part in supporting anyone going through fertility stuff by supporting this podcast, thank you so much. You can always email hello@fertilitylife.com. too and let us know your thoughts.
What do you want to hear on this podcast next?
Come and visit fertilityliferaft.com which exists to make your fertility experience so much better.
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I remember feeling totally marooned on a rock while everyone else moved on and my life felt completely on hold. It’s really one of the foundational problems most people feel when experiencing fertility issues or any kind of difficult path to bringing home a baby. So you’re definitely not alone.
It’s really why I created my course Reclaim why I run The Life Raft membership - to help people live their lives while they're going through all of this.
Have a listen to this episode where I give you questions to think about, journal on and offer a message of hope; that there is a way to live life while you go through all this and at the same time allow yourself to feel everything.
I am running a free challenge, the Gentle Mindset Challenge this week. You can sign up here.
Over three free live calls, I’ll be talking about:

Uncertainty and the Unknown

Friends and Family - coping with happy news and isolation

Hope: finding it, reframing it and keeping it.


The last time I ran this gorgeous challenge was two years ago now so I’m absolutely delighted to be bringing it back for you this year. You’ll gain so much from every call and if you can’t make the live sessions everything is recorded for you anyway. If you want to stay anonymous you can.
If you want to join the free pop up group: you can. Whatever stage of the journey you’re at, you are so welcome to join us.
There is no criteria - if you’re trying to bring home a baby and it’s feeling really difficult: then you are very welcome to come along.
You can find all the resources I provide at fertilityliferaft.com and follow us on Instagram.
We love hearing from you. Please send us an email hello@fertilitylife.com. Let us know your thoughts. What do you want to hear on this podcast next? We’ve got so much to come for you and we are wishing you all the love and compassion for whatever is happening in your own story right now.
Come and visit fertilityliferaft.com which exists to make your fertility experience so much better.
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This week I'm chatting to Alicia Burnett, founder of Black Baby Loss Awareness Week and Tommy's midwife.
Alicia only started speaking publicly about her own experience when her little boy Micaiah died after a complicated diagnosis at six months old. This is a really beautiful and moving episode which is full of hope - if you are affected by baby loss, please know that there are lots of places to go for support which is something we chat about in this episode along with all the things which
Alicia found supported her through her own experience and why we so desperately need Black Baby Loss Awareness.
Support
Within the Life Raft membership we have a specific group for women who have been through loss; expert content and live support plus a pregnancy after loss or infertility support group (kept completely separate to the main space).
There are also lots of Life Raft podcast episodes you can listen to for hope, compassion and so much warmth and empathy.
Tommy's, Sands and the Miscarriage Association are all wonderful charities who are ready to support you. 
There are also wonderful books from writers Pippa Vosper, Jennie Agg, Sophie Martin, Elle Wright and Zoe Clarke Coates and Bex and Laura from The Worst Girl Gang Ever. 
Links
If you are looking for connection, compassion, warmth and support right now join my free 3 Day Gentle Mindset Challenge starting Wednesday 11th October. 
Hear and read more from Alicia on Instagram via @midwife_alicia and @blackbabylossawareness.
For more information about the Tommy's services mentioned in this podcast, go to tommys.org.
You can find all the resources I provide at fertilityliferaft.com and follow us on Instagram.
Get in touch
We adore hearing from you. Please send us an email hello@fertilitylife.com. Let us know your thoughts. What do you want to hear on this podcast next? We’ve got so much to come for you and we are wishing you all the love and compassion for whatever is happening in your own story right now.
Come and visit fertilityliferaft.com which exists to make your fertility experience so much better.
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NOTE: Please be aware that this episode covers stillbirth, donor conception and unexpected conception without assisted reproduction.
It was a total joy to chat to Shema on this episode about her story and why she’s so passionate about her work as a Trustee for Tommy’s.
Shema tells me about how she got through losing her little boy, Altair; how she felt when she heard she’d need donor conception and the extraordinary story of how her little girl came to be!
We have a bit of a rant about how mainstream media cover anything to do with fertility, particularly the recent story which picked up on research that discovered ‘one in 5 women will go on to have a natural pregnancy after having an IVF baby’.
We also talk about the power of connection and why we need to have conversations like this one! From people who have been through it all, to offer hope, guidance and support to others going through it now.
Hear and read more from Shema on Instagram.
The Fertility Life Raft Podcast with Elle Wright mentioned in this episode is available on our Podpage account.
For more information about Tommy's, go to tommys.org.
You can find all the resources I provide at fertilityliferaft.com and follow us on Instagram.
We adore hearing from you. Please send us an email hello@fertilitylife.com. Let us know your thoughts. What do you want to hear on this podcast next? We’ve got so much to come for you and we are wishing you all the love and compassion for whatever is happening in your own story right now.
Come and visit fertilityliferaft.com which exists to make your fertility experience so much better.
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This conversation introduces you to Amy Rushworth, who is an empowerment mentor and breathwork healer.
Some of this conversation is quite out there! Come to it with a curious mind, and have a listen to the profound effect that the work Amy does has had on her own life, and why she now spends her time supporting other people with her rebirthing breathwork techniques and other modalities.
My aim with this podcast is always to bring you a giant table of offerings and introduce you to the mind-boggling array of different healing options out there for anyone going through a fertility journey - it might be that the fertility experience brings up other traumas that you have already had, or it might be that fertility itself has become traumatic for you.
Looking at different ways of processing it with people who are very experienced, hold space for you and are trauma informed might just give you the exhale, comfort, support and hope that you need today.
I really hope that you love this conversation. I would truly really love to hear what you think because I don’t know how many of you are into this kind of stuff! Is it familiar for you? Is it new? Let’s talk!! Send me a message on the @fertilityliferaft Instagram account and let me know what you think.
Hear and read more from Amy on Instagram and at amyrushworth.com.
You can find all the resources I provide at fertilityliferaft.com and follow us on Instagram. You can also follow me too.
We adore hearing from you. Please send us an email hello@fertilitylife.com. Let us know your thoughts. What do you want to hear on this podcast next? we’ve got so much to come for you and we are wishing you all the love and compassion for whatever is happening in your own story right now.
Come and visit fertilityliferaft.com which exists to make your fertility experience so much better.
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