Shows
By Your SideDad Matters: The Untold Story of Fatherhood — with Kieran AndersWhy do dads often feel like the “plus one” in pregnancy and early parenting?
In this powerful conversation, Katie talks with Kieran Anders, National Lead for Dad Matters, powered by Home-Start, supporting dads in the perinatal period to build strong relationships with their babies. He’s passionate about improving outcomes for families by ensuring dads are included, informed, and supported from the start.
Together, they unpack:
👶 How dads bond from birth (yes, hormones play a part!)
🧠 Why play, touch and presence are vital for baby brain development
💬 How to bridge the “dad engage...
2025-11-1435 minBy Your SideIt Starts With You: Parenting Beyond Fear and Shame — with Suzanne ScottHow our childhood experiences shape the way we parent isn’t always obvious — but it’s always powerful.
In this week’s episode, Katie talks with Suzanne Scott, founder of Trauma-Informed Parenting, about how childhood adversity (ACEs) can quietly influence our reactions, our patience, and even the stories we tell ourselves as parents.
Together, they unpack:
💛 What trauma really means (beyond the big events)
🧠 Why shame and fear drive so many of our responses
🌿 How pausing, breathing, and repairing can transform connection
This is a deeply grounding, hopeful conversation abou...
2025-10-1530 minBy Your SideRupture & Repair: Therapeutic Parenting for Children with TraumaBecoming a new parent changes EVERYTHING. Gareth, a single foster dad to three children, shares his unfiltered journey into parenting kids with early-life trauma and how it reshaped his life. He explains why trauma is relational, how healing happens through relationships, and why therapeutic parenting focuses on repair over punishment. This is a must listen for all parents about how you don't need to be perfect, you just need to relate.
Key takeaways include the power of adult-led, fast, authentic repair, choosing “time in” over “time out,” balancing structure with flexibility, and learning from triggers. Practical, hopeful guidance f...
2025-10-0625 minBy Your SideWhen the Expert Wonders: A Midwife’s Honest ConfessionsIn this episode, I sit down with Lucy Nicholson, a midwife with over 15 years’ experience, to talk about the very real pressures parents feel to be “perfect” — and why even the experts carry their own worries about pregnancy and early parenthood.
Lucy opens up about her own journey, from navigating expectations to making choices about care. She shares:
How to choose (and change) caregivers in a way that feels right for you
The role of self-compassion in easing new parent stress
Why building community matters — and how her Nesting Lotus classes create a s...
2025-09-2631 minBy Your SideFrom Orphanage to PhD: Mothering on My OwnBecoming a parent is challenging - but imagine becoming a parent without a partner, in a country you didn't grow up in and feeling that you couldn't tell the people who raised you that you were pregnant.
In this truly inspirational episode I speak to Jill Samukimba, who shares her journey from orphanage beginnings to earning a PhD while raising her son largely on her own. Jill describes how unexpected community support, faith groups and small acts of kindness helped her through pregnancy, study and early parenting.
She reflects on the challenges of asking for...
2025-09-0831 minBy Your SideWhen Joy Turns to Fear: One Mum’s Postnatal Psychosis StoryMost people have never heard of postnatal psychosis — until it happens to them.
In this incredibly brave and honest conversation, Abbi shares her personal experience of postnatal psychosis after the birth of her first baby. From the early signs and terrifying thoughts, to seeking help, hospitalisation, and what recovery really looks like — this episode is raw, important, and full of quiet strength.
We talk about:
🧠 What postnatal psychosis can feel like from the inside
🚑 How Abbi got help — and what she wishes more people knew
🫶 The power of being listened to without judgement
💛...
2025-08-2046 minBy Your SideReading to Babies, Even Without Books — with Stephanie MontgomeryYou don’t need a stack of books or a perfectly curated nursery to start your baby’s reading journey.
In this heartening and practical conversation, Katie is joined by Dr. Stephanie Montgomery — educator, early literacy advocate, and all-round story enthusiast — to explore how even the simplest moments can nurture a love of language from the very beginning.
Together, they dive into:
How stories help shape early communication and emotional connection
Why reading isn’t about the book — it’s about the bond
Easy ways to build early literacy, even without b...
2025-08-0132 minBy Your SideDaycare, Early Learning & the Awe of Babyhood — with Dan WuoriWhat if babies are some of the best teachers we’ll ever have?
In this uplifting episode, Katie is joined by Dan Wuori — senior advisor at the Hunt Institute, early learning expert, and one of the internet’s favourite voices on baby development — to explore how young children experience the world, what great early learning really looks like, and the quiet lessons babies offer if we know how to notice.
They talk about:
🧠 What makes quality daycare actually quality
🪁 Why early learning is built through play, not pressure
🌟 How babies invite us...
2025-07-3027 minBy Your SideFive Simple Things: Building Connection and Brainpower with Dr CorneliaThe conversation doesn't have to end here.
👉 Head on over to the podcast lounge
the space where you can ask your questions, share your thoughts and connect with other parents that get it. Because you don't have to do this on your own. 👈
In this episode of By Your Side, Katie sits down with Dr. Cornelia Ochola — a brilliant Kenyan paediatrician with over 15 years' experience walking alongside parents through the early years.
Together, they explore the heart of responsive caregiving: what it really means to tune into your baby, why the l...
2025-07-2524 minBy Your SideFinding Connection: The Lifeline of Parent-Toddler Groups with Jo GordonThe conversation doesn't have to end here.
👉 Head on over to the podcast lounge
the space where you can ask your questions, share your thoughts and connect with other parents that get it. Because you don't have to do this on your own.
What if something as simple as walking to a toddler group could change your whole week — or even your whole parenting journey?
In this episode of By Your Side, Katie chats with Jo Gordon, founder of Daniel’s Den — a network of parent-and-toddler groups with a big mission...
2025-07-2120 min
By Your SideHow Babies Really Sleep — with Professor Helen BallThe conversation doesn't have to end here.
👉 Join us in the podcast lounge the calm, comforting corner of the internet that gets the challenges of parenting. https://byyoursideapp.com/invitation?code=566EEB
Sleep. It’s the thing every new parent craves — and the one thing that can feel completely out of reach. So how do babies really sleep, and what should we actually be doing about it?
In this episode of By Your Side, Katie is joined by world-renowned infant sleep researcher Professor Helen Ball for a myth-busting, reassuring conversation that blends sc...
2025-07-1133 minBy Your SideMore Than a Massage: Building Bond Through Baby TouchWhat if one of the simplest things you can do with your baby — gentle touch — is also one of the most powerful for their brain, body, and your bond?
In this first episode of By Your Side, Katie is joined by child development expert Dan Berman to explore the science and soul behind infant massage. With nearly two decades of experience in Early Years and new parent support, Dan brings a rare blend of warmth, insight, and evidence-based wisdom to the conversation.
Dan is the President Emeritus of the U.S. chapter of the International Asso...
2025-06-3032 min