It’s the last episode of Series 3
Anna Kent is my guest on the season finale of the New Leaf podcast.
She’s a midwife, humanitarian and single mum - who spent her 20s in war zones with MSF / Doctors Without Borders
She’s just written a book called Frontline Midwife, which tells all these stories, and we also discuss a lot of these together. They are incredible.
In a Nutshell, we discuss miscarriage, unsafe/safe abortion, gender-based violence, white saviour complexes, white privilege, giving birth in war zones, single-parenting, childcare costs and so much more.
Episodes are for everyone… but - who would especially appreciate this episode —>
Women who have done aid work in third world countries
Single mums
Women who have experienced baby loss
Some personal reflections at the end of Series 3
9 episodes, 10 lessons from my second back to work journey.
Breastfeeding a baby with a CMPA and working, for me personally, was basically not possible. I was a horrible breastfeeder despite insisting/persisting for 6 months, and I don’t think I would do it again. Full disclosure!
Balancing another baby with another back-to-work journey was really, really hard. (it’s f*cking hard, and we need help. But there isn’t any. So I thought I’d crack on and create it myself, as part of my next project)
I felt intensely pressured to make the podcast more ‘mainstream mummy’ for the sake of exposure. I was extremely close to going for it. But, I felt you guys were better than that!
I can’t be creative and productive at the same time. I made a big decision to finish this podcast series first - before resuming the other project - because I was crying all the time / literally could not manage both with two under 3… I had to aggressively prioritise. Watch this space.
I often felt doubt and self-consciousness. Why do I do this podcast in the first place? What am I trying to create for other women? These were the questions I kept asking myself whenever I had minor freakouts. It is a cliche but if you’re true to yourself then the rest will follow. Everything is a yes, until it is a no. If that makes sense.
Perfect aint possible. I’ve had to drop a lot of this streak, and learn by ‘failing’ / doing. Fail fast!
Outsource in both work and home where you can, I am now in a little team of 2 with my sound guy Freddie, and it was best decision ever. Even Beyonce only has 24h in her day. You cannot control and do everything.
Vanity is a weird thing. I gained more weight than ever with number 2. And it’s probably taking longer to come off. And I’m less fit now than I was when I was pregnant. But I created two babies, so I struggle to properly care, despite my inner voice often popping back out to haunt me. It’ll come off when it’s going to. Not easy to keep repeating but I will keep trying!
Our self-judgments are so often wrong. In my family, my sister is the ‘writer’ (she is fantastic at it). I would never have believed that I would ever write or create ANYTHING, and always told people that I “wasn’t creative” (why did I tell people this?). But then I got asked to write something for a parenting website. And now I write, and ‘create’, all the time. Weird.
I think it’s taken me about 3 years to learn to be a mum. But I think it maybe takes the rest of your life. I love it more (and more) every day, as every day I figure out the hacks. Personal time, Sleep, Exercise, partner support, friends and work - all essential things that help me stay ‘me’. A big part of the next project is about all of these things.
See you soon!
Thank you so, so much for a fantastic series.
It is my privilege to hear and share all these wonderful stories.
See you on the flip side for series 4 - big things are to come.
Letty x