Anna Asks

Dec 01 2024 82 ep. 33 mins 13

Anna Asks Podcast artwork

Welcome to the “Anna Asks” podcast, a place for people and parents looking for actual answers to big questions. From pregnancy to prejudice, parenting to the pandemic, sleep to sexuality to social justice, we’ll be digging into the topics that matter to all of us, whether we like it or not. This podcast was previously titled “Motherhood Made Magic”. Anna Cusack is a speaker, mentor, connector, doula and author of “Mama, You're Not Broken: Unmasking the Unspoken Emotions of Modern Motherhood”

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S8, Ep5 - Finding your own path with parenting mentor Mel Burgess

Dec 01 2024 39 mins

For 15 years Mel Burgess has supported parents to learn how to understand, connect with and meet the needs of their children. In this interview Mel shares how, after a brutal first four years of parenthood, she came to learn these skills herself and begin teaching them to others. We also discuss: The patterns she sees in those seeking her support Common sites of difficulty and c

S8 Ep4. Manage at home or head to hospital? with paediatric nursing specialist Ilana Lawrence

Nov 01 2024 36 mins

You kid is sick. It's the middle of the night. What do you do? Paediatric nursing specialist Ilana Lawrence has been on duty at many an emergency room when concerned parents and caregivers bring their kids in. Sometimes these kids need immediate care, but a lot of the time parents and caregivers could have monitored and managed their child at home. The missing piece is education, w

S8, Ep3. The Emotional and Practical Realities of Welcoming Twins, Triplets or More with Dr. Cristina Cavezza

Jul 21 2024 37 mins

What's it like to find out you're expecting more than one baby? How does expecting multiple babies effect the experience of pregnancy, birth and postpartum? And what do mothers and parents of multiples (and their personal and professional supporters) need to know to get through those incredibly intense early years feeling well? As a psychologist, twin mother and host of t

S8, Ep2. Single Motherhood with Klyne Love

May 27 2024 61 mins

There are over 1 million lone parent households in Australia, and the overwhelming majority of these are headed by single mothers. This doesn't mean however that single mothers are one homogenous group, all with the same backstory, immediate needs or hopes for the future. Klyne Love is a single mother working primarily with single parents. She brings her lived experience and pr

S8, Ep1: Flu season, carers' leave and the career stumbling block we don't speak about

Apr 23 2024 29 mins

Welcome to season 8! This season is a combination of interviews and solo episodes. This ep starts with a little update from me on what’s been happening and what I’m enjoying working on, and leads into an audio version of an article I published last autumn about caring for sick kids. Who is taking the load and how does it impact them, how do we manage and renegotiate it in our f

S7, Ep7. Emmeline Tyler - From bliss to psychosis and the long road back to mental health as a mother

Mar 07 2024 97 mins

We now know it's important to be on the lookout for signs of postnatal depression, anxiety and even psychosis in the early days, but what happens if a mother experiences a mental health crisis further down the track? In this interview, Emmeline Tyler (she/her) shares openly about her birth and blissful postpartum, and how these assisted in helping her be well. She explains how

S7, Ep6. Ashley Winning - Fatphobia and perceptions of "health" and "risk" in maternity care

Feb 04 2024 35 mins

Ashley Winning is a birth and postpartum professional from QLD, Australia. Ashley experienced size-based discrimination in her first two traumatic pregnancy and birth experiences, which led her to dive deeply into the world of physiological birth for her third birth. Again, size-based discrimination struck and she was unable to access the home-based midwifery care she desired. Ashl

S7, Ep5. Postpartum Rage, Depression and Bilingual, Latina Motherhood with Emily Adler Mosqueda

Aug 24 2023 43 mins

Emily Adler Mosqueda is a Mexican American mother of two and paediatric speech language pathologist. Her second pregnancy and postpartum brought with it rage and depression - seemingly out of the blue, but really stemming from a sea of social conditions that led to chronic undersupport, overreaching and feelings of failure. This is a fascinating conversation spanning topics from be

S7, Ep4 - Making Your Voice Heard After Disrespectful Maternity Care with Sharon Stoliar

Jun 20 2023 44 mins

Despite being a midwife and equipped with insider knowledge of the maternity care system in which she worked, Sharon still felt vulnerable and disempowered during her own experience of giving birth to her son. Sharon's book "Scars of Gold" tells the story of her personal experience of birth trauma, the drastic impact it had on her life, and how she used her voice to fight for chang

S7, Ep3 - Queering Motherhood with Rafferty Hallows

May 14 2023 53 mins

Is there a more queer job than being a doula? Full spectrum Mother carer Rafferty Hallows thinks not. If you are ready to reimagine your life and relationships, resource yourself on the darkest days, embrace your neurospicy self + family or redefine your own postpartum experience years after birth, you'll want to listen to what they have to say. Big language warning on this one, an