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 help our babies (and us) to sleep better, including, swaddling, singing nursery rhymes on repeat for hours and the holy grail of baby sleep ‘putting down drowsy but awake…’! We also discuss a how disrupted sleep affected our mental health in the early days

Emily and 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, 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 of ‘matrescence,’ about why mums feel guilty all the time, and how the process of becoming a parent can be such an emotional rollercoaster.

The Motherkind Café is a postnatal wellbeing and emotional support group which normally runs groups in Oxford but is operating virtually during the Covid-19 pandemic. If you’d like to join our online community, find us at The Motherkind Virtual Café’ on Facebook or if you have any comments on the episode, you can email us at hello@themotherkindcafe.org.