The Motherkind Podcast

In this Motherkind Moment, Zoe Blaskey is joined by broadcaster and journalist Emma Barnett for a deeply honest conversation about early motherhood, identity, and what really happens to us when we become mothers.

Emma shares the reframe that changed everything for her: moving from the idea of maternity leave to maternity service. A season where you are always on call, constantly adapting, sacrificing parts of yourself, and often expected to carry on without much language for how profound that experience really is.

Together, Zoe and Emma talk about those early months – the walking, the exhaustion, the heatwaves, the survival mode – and the surprising way creativity can sometimes re-emerge in the middle of it all. Not because motherhood is easy, or beautiful, or calm – but because so much else has been stripped back.

They explore the tension so many mothers feel: how maternity can be deeply depleting and, at the same time, quietly expansive. How there can be grief for who you were, uncertainty about who you’re becoming, and moments of clarity that feel almost shocking when you’re in the trenches.

This is also a conversation about what we’re missing culturally – the lack of space, language and stories for matrescence. Not parenting advice. Not baby manuals. But an honest reflection on the inner shift of becoming a mother.

Because motherhood doesn’t just add something to your life. It changes you.

In this Moment, they explore:

Reframing maternity leave as maternity service

Creativity, identity and thinking again in early motherhood

The loss, rebirth and in-between space of matrescence

If you’ve ever felt changed by motherhood in ways you couldn’t quite explain, this Moment is for you.

If you liked this moment, listen to the full episode: Maternity Service, Not Leave: A New Perspective with Emma Barnett

Remember to subscribe to Motherkind — it helps more mothers find the show and keeps our community growing.

Ready to feel like yourself again? Download your FREE Matrescence Cheat Sheet

Connect with Zoe:

Follow Zoe on Instagram 

Get Zoe’s Sunday Times bestselling book, 'Motherkind: A New Way to Thrive in a World of Endless Expectations’

This Motherkind episode is sponsored by:

Headline sponsor Wild Nutrition, the brand raising the bar for women’s supplements. Want to feel the Food-Grown difference yourself? Get 50% off for three months at wildnutrition.com/motherkind. Ts and Cs apply.

For a £100 sponsored job credit, visit Indeed.com/ Motherkind

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if motherhood wasn’t meant to be this hard – or this lonely?

In this episode of Motherkind, Zoe is joined by journalist and bestselling author Helen Russell to explore how culture shapes the way we experience motherhood.

After becoming a mother in Denmark, Helen shares how living in a Nordic system gave her “permission to live differently” – with more rest, trust, parental support and far less guilt. Together, Zoe and Helen unpack why so many mothers in the UK feel under pressure to cope alone, and how much of that is cultural rather than personal.

In this conversation, we explore:

Why vulnerability in motherhood is normal – not a failure

How parental leave, childcare and systems reduce guilt and burnout

What Denmark gets right about raising children and supporting mothers

Why happiness doesn’t mean feeling good all the time

The power of community during big life transitions

This episode is a gentle but powerful reminder that if motherhood feels overwhelming, it’s not because you’re doing it wrong – it’s because you were never meant to do it alone.

Remember to subscribe to Motherkind — it helps more mothers find the show and keeps our community growing.

Feeling different since becoming a mother? Get clarity on who you’re becoming now and  download your FREE Matrescence Cheat Sheet

If you liked this episode, listen to this next: Motherhood transformed me into who I was meant to be all along | Megan Rose Lane

Connect with Zoe:

Follow Zoe on Instagram 

Get Zoe’s Sunday Times bestselling book, 'Motherkind: A New Way to Thrive in a World of Endless Expectations’

This Motherkind episode is sponsored by:

Headline sponsor Wild Nutrition, the brand raising the bar for women’s supplements. Want to feel the Food-Grown difference yourself? Get 50% off for three months at wildnutrition.com/motherkind. Ts and Cs apply.

For a £100 sponsored job credit, visit Indeed.com/ Motherkind


Sonic Rooms from Pop That Mumma is a guided audio album designed to help mums find moments of calm in everyday life – use code MOTHERKIND for 30% off.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you ever felt like you’re trying so hard to be a good mum… but somehow it still never feels like enough?

In this Moment, Zoe talks about good girl conditioning – the deeply ingrained beliefs many of us carry into motherhood without realising it. The need to be agreeable, to keep the peace, to over-give, and to measure our worth by how much we do.

When these patterns come into motherhood, they don’t disappear – they intensify. Suddenly, we’re not just trying to be a good girl, we’re trying to be a perfect mum. And that can leave us exhausted, resentful, and disconnected from ourselves.

This episode is about recognising that there is nothing wrong with you. These are learned behaviours – and they can be unlearned.

In this Moment, we explore:

What good girl conditioning is – and how it shows up in motherhood

Why people-pleasing and perfectionism lead to burnout, not fulfilment

How meeting your own needs and setting boundaries creates real confidence

If you’ve ever felt burnt out from trying to be everything to everyone, this one’s for you.

If you liked this moment, listen to the full episode: Breaking Free From Perfectionism and People-Pleasing

Remember to subscribe to Motherkind — it helps more mothers find the show and keeps our community growing.

Feeling different since becoming a mother? Get clarity on who you’re becoming now and download your FREE Matrescence Cheat Sheet

Connect with Zoe:

Follow Zoe on Instagram 

Get Zoe’s Sunday Times bestselling book, 'Motherkind: A New Way to Thrive in a World of Endless Expectations’

This Motherkind episode is sponsored by:

Headline sponsor Wild Nutrition, the brand raising the bar for women’s supplements. Want to feel the Food-Grown difference yourself? Get 50% off for three months at wildnutrition.com/motherkind. Ts and Cs apply.

For a £100 sponsored job credit, visit Indeed.com/ Motherkind

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If confidence feels like something you’ve lost since becoming a mum, this episode is for you.

If you’ve been moving through motherhood feeling lower in confidence than you ever expected – second-guessing yourself, feeling like you’re “just surviving”, or wondering where you went, press play on this one.

In this episode, Zoe is joined by confidence coach and founder of PepTalkHer, Dior Bediako, for a conversation that completely reframes what confidence actually is, especially in early motherhood.

Dior shares why confidence isn’t about feeling fearless or having it all together, but about being willing to feel doubt, fear and insecurity… and still showing up. Zoe and Dior talk about how much motherhood asks of us internally, why survival is not a failure, and how the relationship you have with yourself quietly shapes your confidence, your choices and the example you’re setting for your children.

This conversation is grounding, expansive and deeply reassuring, a reminder that you are not behind, broken or failing. You are becoming.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

Why confidence often dips in early motherhood – and why that’s completely normal

A powerful redefinition of confidence that allows fear and self-doubt to exist

How tiny, compassionate actions can rebuild self-belief when life feels overwhelming

Why the way you speak to yourself matters more than doing motherhood “perfectly”

If you’ve been hard on yourself lately, if your inner critic has been loud, or if you need permission to meet yourself with more kindness, this episode is for you.

Remember to subscribe to Motherkind — it helps more mothers find the show and keeps our community growing.

Feeling different since becoming a mother? Get clarity on who you’re becoming now and  download your FREE Matrescence Cheat Sheet

If you liked this episode, listen to this next: Work Series: If you're feeling low in confidence, listen to this - with Lauren Currie

 Connect with Zoe:

Follow Zoe on Instagram 

Get Zoe’s Sunday Times bestselling book, 'Motherkind: A New Way to Thrive in a World of Endless Expectations’

This Motherkind episode is sponsored by:

Headline sponsor Wild Nutrition, the brand raising the bar for women’s supplements. Want to feel the Food-Grown difference yourself? Get 50% off for three months at wildnutrition.com/motherkind. Ts and Cs apply.

For a £100 sponsored job credit, visit Indeed.com/ Motherkind

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“It’s how you were parented that lays the foundation – it sets the blueprint for your own parenting.”

This is a short moment from a much bigger conversation on Motherkind. But it tends to stop people in their tracks.

In this clip, Harriet and Zoe talk about something so many of us don’t fully look at until we become parents ourselves – the relationship we had with our own parents, and how that quietly shapes the way we show up with our children.

Harriet shares what it can be like to grow up in an enmeshed relationship, where you’re very close, but boundaries are blurred, where you might have been the best friend, the emotional support, the one who grew up a little too quickly. And how becoming a mum can suddenly shine a light on things you once told yourself were “fine”.

She shares a question she now asks her clients – and it’s a powerful one: Would you want your child to have the childhood you had?

This clip gently explores some of the early signs that something might feel off – struggling to say no, feeling guilty for wanting things differently, having your boundaries minimised or dismissed. And how confusing that can be, especially when you rely on your parent for support or childcare.

If this resonates, please know you’re not alone. And you’re not ungrateful. And you’re not making it up.

This is just one small part of a much bigger, compassionate conversation about awareness, autonomy, and breaking cycles – without blame, and with a lot of kindness.

If you liked this moment, listen to the full episode: Generational trauma expert: How to break unhealthy patterns and become the parent you wish you'd had - with Harriet Shearsmith

Remember to subscribe to Motherkind — it helps more mothers find the show and keeps our community growing.

Ready to feel like yourself again? Download your FREE Matrescence Cheat Sheet

Connect with Zoe:

Follow Zoe on Instagram 

Get Zoe’s Sunday Times bestselling book, 'Motherkind: A New Way to Thrive in a World of Endless Expectations’

This Motherkind episode is sponsored by:

Headline sponsor Wild Nutrition, the brand raising the bar for women’s supplements. Want to feel the Food-Grown difference yourself? Get 50% off for three months at wildnutrition.com/motherkind. Ts and Cs apply.

For a £100 sponsored job credit, visit Indeed.com/ Motherkind

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices