Is this... it? Getting through those days when parenting just isn’t what you thought it would be.
Emma thought she would slip into parenthood as naturally as anyone. She’d been around young kids her whole life and could change a nappy by the time she was 12.
But when the moment arrived, it was nothing like she expected. Mental health and fertility challenges had contributed new fears and ambivalence to Emma’s entry into motherhood –it wasn’t the love bubble joy she was expecting.
It turns out that’s totally common, natural even, to feel unexpected emotions like disdain – and even regret – about becoming a parent.
You’re not alone if the way you feel doesn’t match the way the world expects you to feel.
Emma speaks openly about those mixed feelings when she became a mum, and Motherhood Studies Sociologist Dr Sophie Brock unpacks the layers of parenting that make it feel like a total chore when you just want “the old you” back.
Survive & Thrive is a podcast from Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia (PANDA), find it in your favourite podcast app.
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Acknowledgement
PANDA acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land where we work and live and where this podcast is made. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We celebrate the stories, culture and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders of all communities who also work and live on this land.
We recognise the individual and collective contributions of people with a lived and/or living experience of mental health issues, their families, loved ones and supporters.
Each person’s journey is unique and a valued contribution to Australia’s commitment to PANDA's work and mental health systems reform.
It is through listening to and acting on the voices of people with lived experience, that those who provide services, those who fund services, and most importantly, those who use services that we will find the information we need to move towards the mental health system Australia needs.
Every person’s story we hear, every experience shared, helps to develop our understanding of the system that is required to best meet the needs of Australians living with mental health issues, their families, loved ones and supporters.
Credits
Host: Gia Hogarth
PANDA Digital Editor: Serena Ashmore
PANDA Commissioning Editor: Bec Shafer
Deadset Studios Senior Producer: Grace Pashley
Deadset Studios Executive Producer: Rachel Fountain
Sound Design by Krissy Miltiadou
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