626 Navigating Postpartum Support with Dr Eliza Hannam

More from Australian Birth Stories

1. 

   17 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 14 min

   629 | Elise Two births, HG, DCDA twins, induced labour, special care nursery, TFMR

   In this episode I chat to Elise, originally from Scotland and now living on Sydney's Northern Beaches with her partner Dan and their three children. Elise has experienced severe hyperemesis gravidarum in all three of her pregnancies, and she takes us through an incredibly quick, vaginal birth with her first daughter Delilah, the heartbreaking termination for medical reasons of her daughter Rain following a trisomy 18 diagnosis, and finally the induced vaginal birth of her twins, Posey and Ziggy, which included a frightening resuscitation moment in the birth suite. Elise speaks openly about…

2. 

   13 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 1 min

   628 | Tully Smyth - finding love, egg freezing, elective caesarean, breastfeeding, grief and motherhood

   In this episode I chat to Tully Smyth about her winding road to motherhood and the birth of her daughter, Elke. Tully shares her honest experience of being single well into her thirties, the decision to freeze her eggs twice, and how that choice changed the way she approached dating and eventually met her partner, Ned. She talks candidly about choosing an elective caesarean, the guilt and shame she carried around that decision, and the realities of her recovery, which was far from the straightforward experience she expected. Tully also opens up about grieving her mother, who she lost to…

3. 

   10 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 27 min

   627 | Amy - Five births, blended family, prodromal labour, assisted vaginal birth

   In this episode I chat with Amy, a birth photographer and former doula living on the Sunshine Coast, about the birth of her fifth baby, her first with her now husband after a divorce from the father of her first four children. Amy takes us through meeting her husband, the decision to grow their blended family, a frightening heterotopic pregnancy scare, weeks of prodromal labour, her waters breaking in the frozen aisle at Coles, and a birth that took some unexpected turns when her baby wouldn't move down into a good position. She speaks so honestly about needing to meet an entirely different…

4. 

   3 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 19 min

   625 Jessie Stephens | twin pregnancy, gestational diabetes, premature birth, NICU, breastfeeding twins

   In this episode, I chat with Jessie Stephens, who many of you will remember from her first birth story with her daughter Luna in episode 415. Jessie returns to share her second pregnancy and birth journey, this time with a twist nobody expected, twins. She takes us through the heartbreak of a miscarriage, the shock of discovering twins at her scan, gestational diabetes, a premature caesarean birth at 33 weeks, weeks in NICU and the reality of triple feeding two newborns. It's an honest and moving conversation about the highs and lows of a twin pregnancy and birth. Today's episode is brought…

5. 

   30 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 9 min

   624 Danni Duncan four babies, twin birth, emergency caesarean, VBAC, bowel cancer survivor

   I chat with Danni, a mother of four living on the Gold Coast, who takes us through eight remarkably eventful years of motherhood. Danni shares her path to becoming a mum of four, including a miscarriage before her first pregnancy, the surprise of conceiving twins through ovulation induction, an emergency caesarean for her daughter Harlow, a VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarean) she fought hard for with her fourth baby, and finally, the bowel cancer diagnosis that arrived just seven months after giving birth to her youngest, London. Danni speaks candidly about postpartum body image,…

6. 

   27 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 7 min

   623 | Grace - Two births, midwifery care, induction, homebirth, physiological birth, fetal ejection reflex

   In this episode, high school teacher and mother of two Grace shares her contrasting birth stories from Wollongong, NSW. Her first pregnancy was meticulously researched and planned. Grace approached conception with the same precision she'd bring to organising a holiday, using ovulation tracking and basal temperature monitoring to conceive her daughter Frankie. Though she'd arranged a private homebirth midwife, a late-pregnancy scan showing low amniotic fluid led to an unplanned induction and vaginal birth in hospital. Four years later, her second pregnancy with son William unfolded very…

7. 

   5 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 31 min

   637 | Beth - two physiological births, MGP, unmedicated hospital birth and a family centered home birth

   Beth shares two beautiful birth stories. Her first with Bernie was an unmedicated hospital birth at the Mercy, and Quinn's home birth through the Joan Kerner programme, where her partner Paddy caught their daughter in their own lounge room. Beth talks honestly about the power of continuity of care, hiring a doula for both births, and why birthing at home felt like the most natural thing in the world. Mother Dose by Land Lab I rarely talk about supplements on here – mostly because so many aren’t backed by real evidence, and as someone who’s always reading the fine print,…

8. 

   21 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 12 min

   636 | Sarah Viliamu - two contrasting births, induction, miscarriage, pregnancy after loss, doula support, spontaneous labour, Pink Elephants

   In this episode, I chat to Sarah Viliamu, content creator, model and founder of The Self Love Supply, about her two very different birth experiences four years apart. Her first birth took place in Melbourne during the height of the 2020 lockdowns and ended in a long induction with a frightening postpartum haemorrhage. In between her two children, Sarah experienced two miscarriages and speaks honestly about that grief and the anxiety that followed her into her next pregnancy. Her second birth, a spontaneous labour at home followed by a short, powerful vaginal birth in hospital, could not have…

9. 

   14 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 27 min

   Mel | IVF, emergency caesarean, postpartum anxiety and depression, mother and baby unit stay

   In this episode I chat to Mel about her road to motherhood, which began with a year of unexplained infertility and a round of IVF squeezed in during a short trip home from remote Northern Territory. Her pregnancy played out almost entirely in a small community several hours from the nearest town before an unsettled labour led to an emergency caesarean and a frightening panic attack on the operating table. Mel speaks candidly about feeling disconnected from her newborn son in those first days, the baby blues that tipped into something far more serious, and the two week stay in a mother and…

10. 

    7 Sep 2026 · 23 min

    It’s Time to Fix Postpartum Care with Senator Marielle Smith

    In this episode, I speak with Senator Marielle Smith about the newly established Senate Select Committee on Women’s Health and what it could mean for women and families across Australia. We unpack what a Senate Select Committee actually is, how it differs from a Royal Commission or state-based inquiry, and - importantly - how the stories and experiences shared with the committee can help inform recommendations and future policy. We also discuss why the inquiry extends beyond postpartum care to examine broader issues affecting women’s health, including women’s pain, medical…

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