Episodes

  • Episode 2: The Importance of Capturing High-Quality Maternity Data

    Episode 2: The Importance of Capturing High-Quality Maternity Data
    Mar 13 2026
    In this episode of the MAMA Podcast’s series for healthcare professionals, Heidi Eldridge is joined by Georgia Kontosorou, Midwife and Maternity Digital Programme Delivery Manager.With more than 20 years of experience across maternity services and over a decade working in digital maternity systems, Georgia brings a unique perspective on how data shapes safety, equity and decision-making in maternity care.Together they explore why high-quality maternity data is essential for improving outcomes, where the current gaps lie across NHS systems, and how better digital integration could help clinicians identify risk earlier and prevent harm.From the challenges of fragmented data systems to the opportunities for stronger national oversight, this conversation looks at how accurate, meaningful data can support safer, more proactive maternity care.Georgia also shares a powerful reminder for midwives: capturing good data isn’t just administrative work, it’s a vital clinical tool that helps protect families and improve care across the system.

    This series is proudly sponsored by Fletchers Solicitors, supporting our shared commitment to safer, more equitable maternity and neonatal care. Find out more about Fletchers Solicitors here: https://www.fletcherssolicitors.co.uk/


    If you’d like to find out more about MAMA Academy and our resources, visit: www.mamaacademy.org.uk
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    35 mins
  • Episode 1: Leading Change; How Midwives Are Shaping Governance

    Episode 1: Leading Change; How Midwives Are Shaping Governance
    Feb 27 2026
    Welcome to Episode 1 of our new 10-part MAMA Podcast series created for healthcare professionals working in maternity and neonatal care.In this first episode, our CEO Heidi Eldridge is joined by Dalvir Kandola, Consultant Midwife and Lead for Inclusivity, and Nursing Times Midwife of the Year 2025. Dalvir shares what leadership looks like in practice, how consultant midwifery creates space for deep, sustained improvement, and why meaningful change needs more than “an email and a poster”.

    Together, they explore:
    • The difference between leadership and management in maternity services
    • How to bring teams with you, reduce resistance, and build allies
    • What it takes to implement and sustain change (and why education alone isn’t enough)
    • Health literacy, inclusive communication, and reducing barriers for families
    • Anti-racism work in practice and why equity must be part of safety
    • How staff can raise concerns safely, including routes like Freedom to Speak Up and PMA themes
    • Practical examples of change, from vitamin D and iron pathways to improving identification of jaundice in Black and Brown babies
    • How tools like the MAMA Wellbeing Wallet can support consistent messaging and access to care

    This series is proudly sponsored by Fletchers Solicitors, supporting our shared commitment to safer, more equitable maternity and neonatal care. Find out more about Fletchers Solicitors here: https://www.fletcherssolicitors.co.uk/

    Subscribe to The MAMA Podcast to make sure you don’t miss the next episode in the series.

    If you’d like to find out more about MAMA Academy and our resources, visit:
    www.mamaacademy.org.uk
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    43 mins
  • From Expectation to Reality: NCT’s New Report on Pregnancy, Birth and Early Parenthood

    From Expectation to Reality: NCT’s New Report on Pregnancy, Birth and Early Parenthood
    Feb 23 2026
    In this bonus episode of The MAMA Podcast, Heidi is joined by Joanna from NCT (National Childbirth Trust) to discuss their newly released report, From Expectation to Reality: Parents’ Experiences of New Life through Pregnancy, Birth and Early Parenthood.Drawing on the voices of 2,000 new and expectant parents across the UK, the report explores the emotional realities of pregnancy, concerns around safety and staffing, informed consent, birth rights, postnatal support, and the urgent need to tackle inequity within maternity care.

    Together, Heidi and Joanna discuss:
    • Why nearly half of parents felt more worried than excited during pregnancy
    • The gap between a “positive” birth and feeling informed, supported or listened to
    • Reports of pressure, coercion and inconsistent consent practices
    • The impact of staffing shortages and service suspensions
    • Racial discrimination, language barriers and access challenges
    • What must change and how charities, professionals and parents can shape reform

    Read the full NCT report here:
    https://www.nct.org.uk/about-us/becoming-a-parent-report

    If you’ve experienced challenges in pregnancy, birth or postnatal care, support is available.You can find more of our resources at: https://www.mamaacademy.org.uk/

    If you'd like to support our work improving maternity safety and equity, you can make a one-time donation by texting:
    ‘MAMA05’ to 70085 to donate £5
    ‘MAMA10’ to 70085 to donate £10
    ‘MAMA50’ to 70085 to donate £50

    Together, we can amplify parents’ voices and help shape safer, more equitable maternity care.
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    39 mins
  • Termination for Medical Reasons (TFMR) with Emma Belle

    Termination for Medical Reasons (TFMR) with Emma Belle
    Feb 13 2026
    Content note: this episode discusses baby loss, TFMR, stillbirth and grief.

    Emma shares her experience of receiving a life-limiting diagnosis, navigating care during Covid, and living with grief while parenting her living daughter. She also discusses the stigma surrounding TFMR and why compassionate bereavement care matters so deeply.

    Support links:
    • Antenatal Results and Choices (ARC)
    • MAMA Academy Baby Loss Support

    If you’ve been affected by this conversation, please know you are not alone.

    Follow Emma on Instagram: @emmakbelle or @tfmrmamas

    If you’d like to see more of what we do, you can find us at:
    Our Website – https://www.mamaacademy.org.uk/ Or @mamaacademy on all your favourite social media platforms.

    If you'd like to make a one-time donation to support everything we do, you can text:
    ‘MAMA05’ to 70085 to donate £5
    ‘MAMA10’ to 70085 to donate £10
    ‘MAMA50’ to 70085 to donate £50
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    44 mins
  • Listen to staff, save services: leadership lessons from The Happy Midwife

    Listen to staff, save services: leadership lessons from The Happy Midwife
    Jan 30 2026
    Sophie Eldridge, better known as The Happy Midwife, joins Heidi Eldridge for a frank conversation about what maternity services need to change, and how change actually happens.Sophie is a practising midwife, mum, and perinatal governance professional with a passion for quality improvement. Together, they explore why transparency and communication sit at the heart of safer care, how “flattening the hierarchy” can protect families and staff, and what leaders can do right now to improve culture and retention.They also discuss flexible working, psychological safety, accountability, and why Sophie believes “keep asking why” is one of the most powerful tools in maternity care.

    In this episode, you’ll hear about:
    • Why transparent leadership improves culture and safety
    • The real reasons staff leave, and what retention looks like in practice
    • How to challenge unsafe or outdated practice without being silenced
    • What “flattening hierarchy” means on the shop floor
    • Why communication is at the root of most incidents
    • Sophie’s message to midwives and future leaders: go for the job, speak up, keep asking why

    Follow Sophie:
    TikTok: @thehappymidwife
    Instagram: @thehappymidwifeig

    If you’d like to see more of what we do, you can find us at:
    Our Website – https://www.mamaacademy.org.uk/ Or @mamaacademy on all your favourite social media platforms.

    If you'd like to make a one-time donation to support everything we do, you can text:
    ‘MAMA05’ to 70085 to donate £5
    ‘MAMA10’ to 70085 to donate £10
    ‘MAMA50’ to 70085 to donate £50
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    51 mins
  • Birth Injury, Recovery and the Reality of Life After Birth with Theo Clarke

    Birth Injury, Recovery and the Reality of Life After Birth with Theo Clarke
    Jan 16 2026
    In this episode of The MAMA Podcast, Heidi is joined by Theo Clarke to talk about her personal experience of birth injury and the long road to recovery that followed.
    Theo shares what it was like navigating physical recovery, postnatal care, and mental health challenges after a traumatic birth and reflects on how unprepared many parents feel for complications after labour.The conversation explores the realities of postnatal recovery, the importance of clear information and follow-up care, and why many parents struggle to access the support they need in the weeks and months after birth.
    Theo also discusses how lived experience can shape public conversations about maternity care, and why listening to parents’ experiences matters.
    This episode focuses on awareness, reflection, and the ongoing need for better understanding and support around birth injuries and postnatal recovery.

    If you’d like to follow Theo Clarke’s work, you can do so here

    If you’d like to see more of what we do, you can find us at:
    Our Website – https://www.mamaacademy.org.uk/ Or @mamaacademy on all your favourite social media platforms.

    If you'd like to make a one-time donation to support everything we do, you can text:
    ‘MAMA05’ to 70085 to donate £5
    ‘MAMA10’ to 70085 to donate £10
    ‘MAMA50’ to 70085 to donate £50
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    42 mins
  • Plus Sized Pregnancy with the Heavyweight Midwife

    Plus Sized Pregnancy with the Heavyweight Midwife
    Dec 12 2025
    Dr Alice Keely is a plus size specialist phd midwife with 25 years experience and a passion for helping women of all sizes have calm in control pregnancies. When her PHD research exposed how challenging the plus size pregnancy journey can be, Alice launched the Heavyweight Midwife to help women get knowledge, reassurance & be in control for pregnancy & birth.

    If you’d like to learn more about Dr Alice Keely, you can do that here:Website: https://theheavyweightmidwife.com/ Instagram: @theheavyweightmidwife

    If you’d like to see more of what we do, you can find us at:Our Website – https://www.mamaacademy.org.uk/ Or @mamaacademy on all your favourite social media platforms.

    If you'd like to make a one-time donation to support everything we do, you can text:
    ‘MAMA05’ to 70085 to donate £5
    ‘MAMA10’ to 70085 to donate £10
    ‘MAMA50’ to 70085 to donate £50
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    27 mins
  • What Midwives Wish the System Knew w/ Leah Hazard

    What Midwives Wish the System Knew w/ Leah Hazard
    Nov 28 2025
    In this episode, Heidi is joined by midwife, author and maternity advocate Leah Hazard to explore what life on the real frontline of maternity care is like, and what midwives wish the system truly understood. Drawing on almost 12 years as an NHS midwife in a busy urban maternity unit, Leah offers a powerful, honest insight into staffing pressures, moral injury, and the emotional toll of not being able to provide the standard of care midwives are trained, and desperately want, to give. Together, Heidi and Leah unpack how system pressures impact safety, staff wellbeing and families, and why safe staffing and proper resourcing are non-negotiable if we want better outcomes for parents and babies.

    We also cover:
    • what a day in maternity triage is really like
    • how staff shortages affect safety, compassion and continuity of care
    • moral injury, burnout and why so many midwives are leaving
    • the culture of fear around speaking up and whistleblowing
    • the importance of listening to parents and frontline staff in national reviews
    • Leah’s hopes (and worries) for the future of maternity care
    • honest advice for anyone considering a career in midwifery

    If you’d like to learn more about Leah Hazard, you can do that here:
    Website: https://www.leahhazard.co.uk/ Instagram: @leahhazard

    If you’d like to see more of what we do, you can find us at:
    Our Website – https://www.mamaacademy.org.uk/ Or @mamaacademy on all your favourite social media platforms.


    If you'd like to make a one-time donation to support everything we do, you can text:
    ‘MAMA05’ to 70085 to donate £5
    ‘MAMA10’ to 70085 to donate £10
    ‘MAMA50’ to 70085 to donate £50
    Show more Show less
    43 mins