Joeli Brearley is a mum of two boys aged 10 and 12. She is a campaigner and author who founded the charity Pregnant Then Screwed, which campaigns against female discrimination in the workplace.

Her work on the campaign was so all-consuming that she suffered burnout after the pandemic and now suffers from auto immune disease caused by that stress.

Some stark statistics for you: 77% of women experience some form of discrimination in the workplace. And 74,000 women a year get pushed out of their job for being pregnant or taking maternity leave.

Joeli herself was pushed out of her job the day after she informed them she was pregnant. She was sacked by voicemail.

Her campaigning has influenced Westminster, with the huge aim to end the motherhood penalty, where women end up so much poorer than men, as soon as they become parents.

Joeli also co-hosts a podcast To Be A Boy, about modern boyhood, and we talked about how useful car journeys are with her sons as they can talk about difficult subjects, while staring ahead at the road, with no eye contact whatsoever!

Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lauren Petrie is a bereavement midwife. The time when you would meet her in her professional capacity is at the most painful time of a parent’s life: when you have been told, during your pregnancy, that your baby has died.

Lauren’s eldest daughter Mia is studying at University. Her second daughter Jada was stillborn. It was Lauren’s experience of how she was treated - good and bad - during that traumatic time, that has influenced her career and determination to create positive changes in Jada’s name.

Lauren’s story came to my attention when comedian Russell Howard shared earlier this year that he and his wife Cerys had lost their baby, and how they had been helped in their darkest times by Lauren.

We talked about how important it is for parents to spend time with their beautiful baby after the birth, to hold and talk to their baby and to take photos, to create the only memories they will ever have of that child.

With Baby Loss Awareness Week running 9-15 October, this felt like the right time to bring this chat to you.

Although this is incredibly difficult subject matter, Lauren is warm, generous and wise, and she left me feeling inspired by the way she has leaned into her grief, and has created a hugely positive legacy for Jada.

TRIGGER WARNING. This podcast contains upsetting content about losing a baby.

Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dolly Jones is a former Vogue.com editor who spent over 20 years at Condé Nast overseeing digital content at director level. Based on her experience of motherhood whilst in these roles, she has written a book called 'Leaving the Ladder Down' which is a funny, positive and practical guide for women thinking about how parenthood might affect their career. She has two children aged 11 and 13.

Dolly describes getting support for young children during your working hours as the 'patchwork quilt of childcare'. She also said that one of the many women she spoke to for the book, hadn't realised till she had children herself, that as a parent you can feel that you've run a marathon before you even get to work!

She also asked people to share their worst parenting mistakes, and once she had shared her own, people were very forthcoming with some great stories!

Overall the book has a reassuring positivity, which I love.

With both of Dolly's children now at secondary school, she spoke about how our identity is like a little candle flame, and said that now that school drop offs and pick ups are a thing of the past, she is looking forward to putting a bit more time into nurturing that flame. For instance she's started learning the piano, and can now play 'very badly'. So I asked her to play us out with a tune. But she seemed oddly reluctant to do so!

Spinning Plates is presented by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, produced by Claire Jones and post-production by Richard Jones.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.