Welcome back to the Maternal Journal podcast - a deep dive into the power of journaling and creativity to support mental health and wellbeing through pregnancy, birth and parenting.

In the final episode of our second series we’re joined by writer and journalist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, well known for her insightful column on parenting in the Guardian, and illustrator Pia Bramley (Pandemic Baby: Becoming a Parent in Lockdown) to talk about their fearless and funny book ‘The Republic of Parenthood’. From the struggles of broken childcare systems to the hunt for toddler-proof socks, we explore how stories and sketches can bring comfort, courage, and laughter to parenting.

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🎙️ An OG Podcasts Ltd production

Welcome back to the Maternal Journal podcast - a deep dive into the power of journaling and creativity to support mental health and wellbeing through pregnancy, birth and parenting.

In this episode, writer and artist/illustrator Miriam Gold discusses her beautiful graphic memoir, Elena - A Hand Made Life. The book is part memoir and part biography of her beloved grandmother, Dr. Elena Zadik. By the time Miriam knew her, Dr. Zadik was a longstanding GP in the former mill town of Leigh, Lancashire. But alongside her medical career, she carried with her the trauma of persecution and displacement, having fled war during the Second World War. Host Laura Godfrey-Isaacs explores how we can honour family stories and memories through the graphic form, using drawing, collage, and photography.

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🎙️ An OG Podcasts Ltd production

Welcome back to the Maternal Journal podcast - a deep dive into the power of journaling and creativity to support mental health and wellbeing through pregnancy, birth and parenting.

This week, host Laura Godfrey-Isaacs chats to writer and historian Isabel Davis and artist/illustrator Anna Burel about their book, ‘Conceiving Histories’ which is illustrated by Anna and inspired by Isabel’s own experiences. The book brings together history, personal memoir and illustration to investigate the culturally hidden experience of trying to conceive - looking at myth, fantasy, science and pseudo-science to explore the (un)reproductive body in pursuit of a viable pregnancy.

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🎙️ An OG Podcasts Ltd production

Welcome back to the Maternal Journal podcast - a deep dive into the power of journaling and creativity to support mental health and wellbeing through pregnancy, birth and parenting.

In this episode, host Laura Godfrey-Isaacs is joined by artist and poet Sophie Herxheimer who shares her collaborative practice of gathering stories and making them visual. Through poetry, cut-up collage, and performance, Sophie invites us into a space where the maternal voice-often fragmented or unheard-can become powerful, plural, and deeply alive.

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🎙️ An OG Podcasts Ltd production

Welcome back to the Maternal Journal podcast - a deep dive into the power of journaling and creativity to support mental health and wellbeing through pregnancy, birth and parenting.

In this episode, host Laura Godfrey-Isaacs speaks to Canadian writer and memoirist, Theresa Wong, who’s deeply moving graphic memoir ‘Dear Scarlet’ charts her motherhood journey, touching on how she moved from ‘tiredness to sadness’. Her experiences of postnatal depression shaped her early mothering experiences and is depicted in beautiful and economically drawn cartoons that communicate these Important issues in emotionally charged and redemptive cycles.

📱Connect with Theresa Wong

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🎙️ An OG Podcasts Ltd production

Welcome back to the Maternal Journal podcast - a deep dive into the power of journaling and creativity to support mental health and wellbeing through pregnancy, birth and parenting.

In this episode, host Laura Godfrey-Isaacs, is joined by artist and poet Mimi Kunz. Her book ‘Mother Tongue’ brings a stunning combination of poems and drawings together, made in parallel, whilst she was taking care of her new born daughter, Iris, in the first year of her life. The book recounts moments of marvel, fear, and laughter with Mimi exploring how the body of mother and child form our first language, our mother tongue.

In this gentle conversation, we hear Mimi read some of her beautiful poems as well as her positive ideas on the framing of motherhood and creativity.

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* Trigger warning, some of this episode discusses pregnancy loss, and a near-death birth experience*

Welcome back to the Maternal Journal podcast - a deep dive into the power of journaling and creativity to support mental health and wellbeing through pregnancy, birth and parenting.

In this episode, host Laura Godfrey-Isaacs, is joined by Bestselling American cartoonist Lucy Knisley. We hear about her book, ‘Kid Gloves’ which takes us on a journey through pre-conception, pregnancy and birth to the unexpected joys of parenting. Lucy's work brings warmth, wit, and vulnerability and explores how the graphic form can become a powerful space for advocacy, reflection, and solidarity as well as the means to highlight how some modern birth practices and cultures can let us down at one of the most important moments of our lives.

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🎙️ An OG Podcasts Ltd production

Welcome to the second series of The Maternal Journal podcast - a deep dive into the power of journaling and creativity to support mental health and wellbeing through pregnancy, birth and parenting - hosted by Maternal Journal founder, artist, writer and midwife, Laura Godfrey-Isaacs. This new series focuses on graphic novels and illustrated books, and we have some amazing guests who share their work and thoughts with us. Every podcast includes reflections from our guests on the relationship between motherhood and creativity and tips on how to boost your journaling practice.

In this episode, we're joined by cartoonist and writer Becky Barnicoat whose recent graphic memoir, ‘Cry when the Baby Cries’, is described as ‘The most accurate account of becoming a parent I have ever read’ by Philippa Perry. Her daily cartoons in publications such as The Guardian and Buzzfeed offer a candid and often hilarious glimpse into the emotional landscape of motherhood.

📱Connect with Becky Barnicoat

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🎙️ An OG Podcasts Ltd production