Mother of All Solutions

In this special episode for the Women of the World Festival (WOW) London, host Laura Broderick speaks with parents and panellists at the Southbank Centre on Saturday 11 March 2023.

https://thewowfoundation.com 

The topic is childcare – lived experiences of using, accessing and affording it. Following the WOW panel discussion, The Case for Free Childcare, Laura caught up with Catherine Mayer (Co-founder of Primadonna Festival) and Hannah Peaker (Women’s Equality Party Chief of Staff.)

I hope you enjoy hearing what people had to say on the topic of childcare; and what can be done to support working parents - and parents wanting to work. Thank you to all caregivers (and kids) featured in this episode.

Links:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/mar/08/some-parents-england-spending-80-per-cent-pay-childcare-study

https://www.nesta.org.uk/data-visualisation-and-interactive/the-cost-of-childcare-where-are-englands-affordability-blackspots/ 

Mother of All Solutions podcast is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser.

Please keep in touch via Twitter or Instagram @SolutionsMother – it would also be great if you could take the time to listen to past episodes, and subscribe for future ones. 

Thank you for listening.

In the final episode of 2022, Laura interviews Jessica Moxham, the author of The Cracks That Let The Light In - a mother's story of raising her disabled son and the life-changing power of books. 

Jess discusses sections of her memoir, particularly around maternity leave and going back to work as an architect after having Ben, and then her later decisions and starting to write once Ben's siblings were born. 

It's a fascinating book, with lots to learn about Jess's family and disability. You can find in all good bookshops! 

To connect with Jess on Instagram and Twitter @jessmoxham 

Jess's blog can be found at https://son-stories.com/

Thank you for listening. If you have enjoyed the episode, please do share and if possible leave a review. 

Do keep in touch and subscribe for future episodes of Mother of All Solutions. The podcast is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser. 

To connect with Laura on Instagram and Twitter @SolutionsMother

In this episode, Laura starts her visit to the Mother House Studios in Catford in SE London, with a conversation with Dyana Gravina, founder of the Procreate Project.

https://www.procreateproject.com/

Laura then talks with 3 artists who use Motherhouse Studio and the co-director of this unique space with integrated childcare. 

https://www.motherhousestudios.com/

I hope you enjoy learning more about this special model of work and care, and hearing from the artist parents who use the space. 

Mother of All Solutions podcast is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser. 

Thank you for listening x @SolutionsMother  

In this episode Laura interviews audio producer and Creative Director of Inkslingers Media, Leona Fensome. 

We talk about her varied career and interests, including running an independent production company with a focus on oral histories. We discuss her work in journalism, then community radio and her current role supporting creative industries at University of Bedfordshire. We also share thoughts on the arts, heritage, creativity and parenting! 

To find out more about Leona please visit: 

https://inkslingersmedia.com/

And to listen to the Tape Letters project: 

https://tapeletters.com/

I hope you enjoy hearing from Leona and enjoy the episode. 

Mother of All Solutions is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser. Do subscribe for more episodes, and please keep in touch! @SolutionsMother

For World Prematurity Day on Thursday 17 November 2022, we have an episode with Catriona Ogilvy, founder of The Smallest Things. The charity is dedicated to creating a better world for premature babies and their families after neonatal care.

Catriona shares her own experiences of having two sons born preterm. She also discusses the mission and work of The Smallest Things, including the campaign to extend parental leave and the Employer with Heart scheme. 

To read more about the charity please link to the following: 

https://www.thesmallestthings.org/

https://www.thesmallestthings.org/after-nicu-a-post-pandemic-report-2021 

The Employer with Heart scheme mentioned is: 

https://www.thesmallestthings.org/employer-with-heart

You can connect on Facebook and follow the charity on Twitter and Instagram @_smallestthings #AfterNICU 

Thank you for listening. 

Mother of All Solutions is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser. You can connect with the podcast via Instagram and Twitter @SolutionsMother

This episode is a compilation of voices and stories from speakers and participants at March of the Mummies in Newcastle, Saturday 29 October 2022. 

#marchofthemummies protests were taking place in London, Newcastle and other UK cities, organised by Pregnant then Screwed:  

https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/event-march-of-the-mummies/

Laura Broderick, host and producer of Mother of All Solutions, was part of the crowd and took the opportunity to record with union rep Mel Wilson, councillor Erin Parker-Leonard and MP Catherine McKinnell.

Also recorded for this episode is trustee of Pregnant then Screwed, Beth Hazon, and mums and dads on the march. Thank you to everyone for sharing - it was great to hear your reasons for attending #marchofthemummies and I hope the podcast captures some of the atmosphere and issues from the day.

Listeners - I would love to hear your thoughts so do get in touch via Insta or Twitter @SolutionsMother 

Music for the podcast is by Ros Fraser; the protest song featured within the episode was written and performed by Beccy Owens.

Chants by all marchers - including children! 

In this episode, released on World Mental Health Day 2022, Laura speaks with Clinical Psychologist Dr Emma Svanberg. 

We speak about burnout and what that means for parents in particular. We cover recognising our feelings, and why we should take time to rest - even in small bursts. We also discuss the need for collective as well as individual healing. It was a fascinating and helpful conversation for me as the host - and I hope for you too. 

If you enjoyed the interview please do rate, review and subscribe to Mother of All Solutions on your favourite podcast app. To connect with Laura Broderick you can via Instagram and Twitter @SolutionsMother. 

Dr Emma Svanberg can be contacted via https://dremmasvanberg.com/ or Instagram as @mumologist 

Also discussed were: 

Make Birth Better: https://www.makebirthbetter.org/

March of the Mummies on Saturday 29 October: https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/event-march-of-the-mummies/ 

The podcast is presented and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser. Thank you for listening!

In this episode Laura speaks with Emma Mitchell, captain of Reading FC Women and member of Scotland’s National Team.

We talk about her career as a professional footballer, maternity leave and motherhood. Emma’s daughter Innes is 10 months old and Emma returned to football after 8 months of mat leave.

We touch upon mental health, physical recovery from birth and logistics of being a mum and training/playing professional football. It was brilliant to talk with Emma and hear what she had to say about motherhood and an athletic career. I hope you enjoy listening.

You can watch Emma in the BBC programme The Future of Women’s Football:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0cdwd26

And the Scotland team video following Emma’s return to her national team and qualifying camp can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwRJ1E6KRwo

Thank you for listening and supporting the Mother of All Solutions podcast - hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser.

Do subscribe and keep in touch via @SolutionsMother on Twitter and Instagram - it would be great to hear from you. 

This episode of Mother of All Solutions, with content creator Vivi Koroma Kala, is part interview part book chat! Vivi is Head of Content for Amazing If and also the creator of the bookstagram, The Cultured Life, which she set up whilst on maternity leave.

We talk about her career choices and changes, and have a conversation about the 3 books Vivi chose for us to read and review together:

• Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
• The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did) by Philippa Perry
• The Squiggly Career by Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis

I hope you enjoy learning more about content creation and the books we discuss! 

Vivi is on Instagram as the @thecultured.life and her website is www.theculturedmarketer.co.uk

You can connect to Laura via Instagram and Twitter via @SolutionsMother

Thank you for listening - if you can rate or review the episode that would be amazing. And do subscribe for future episodes!

Mother of All Solutions is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick, with music by Ros Fraser. 

Frankie Tortora, graphic designer and host of the Doing It For The Kids (DIFTK) community and podcast is on Mother of All Solutions! DIFTK is for "parents who freelance", and was set up by Frankie following her first maternity leave. She co-hosts the DIFTK podcast with fellow parent and freelancer Steve Folland, and they won Gold in the business category of the British Podcast Awards 2021.  

Laura and Frankie discuss managing maternity leave as a freelancer, navigating school summer holidays, community building and support networks. It was a joy to speak with Frankie about her work, family and podcast. 

Doing It For The Kids website for all the DIFTK community, podcast and social links:  https://www.doingitforthekids.net/ 

Mother of All Solutions is hosted and produced by Laura Broderick with music by Ros Fraser. Connect with MOAS via Twitter and Instagram @SolutionsMother. 

Further listening - Laura recommends listening to Episode #72 of DIFTK 'Planning your maternity leave as a freelancer.' On MOAS there is also Episode 5 - The Freelancers. 

Further research - Frankie suggests searching Maternity Action's website https://maternityaction.org.uk/