you've had a baby...not a lobotomy

If one more person tells you to just take some time for yourself while you're drowning, this one's for you.

In this solo episode, I go off on the self-care industry and why taking a bath is not the answer to your rage, your burnout, or your lack of capacity.

Self-care has become another job on the to-do list, dressed up as wellness and sold back to us. And underneath it all? A whole lot of unexamined beliefs about why women can't put themselves first in the first place.

I get honest about...

This episode was recorded back in 2022 when the podcast first started. Since then, Laura has continued her work with hundred of mothers and also her own self-discovery, so I feel that an update of motherhood and life from Laura is needed here - watch this space!

In this episode, Sam is joined by Laura Greenwood, psychotherapist, mother, and founder of her own private practice in Yorkshire, for an honest conversation about the early years of motherhood.

Laura shares what it was really like becoming a mother to her son Owen, who struggled with allergies, colic...

‘Baby brain.’

We've all said it. We've all had it said to us, usually with a little pat on the head and a ‘bless her.’ In this episode, I'm calling it out for what it actually is - a lazy, patronising insult dressed up as a joke, and I'm bringing the neuroscience to prove it.

Because here's the thing, while we've been told for decades that pregnancy turns our brains to mush, the research tells a completely different story. Your brain isn't declining when you become a mother. It's being rebuilt to make you a more att...

Here's a plot twist for you: Ashley Chang built a business for working parents before she was a parent herself.

Ashley is the founder of Sundays — an executive assistant service that pairs working families with (mostly) mum-run support, both at work and at home. She spent years deep in the research, talking to exhausted parents, watching the drop-off that happens the second ambition meets a baby. Then she had her own son, four months before we recorded this and got to test every assumption on herself in real time.

I loved this one. It's rare to...

In this episode I'm calling out the PR stunt for what it is. Flexible working policies were never going to be the holy grail on their own and the stats prove it.

Careers After Babies' 2024 report found a 32% reduction in women in managerial roles after becoming a mum, alongside a 44% increase in admin roles. Brilliant, capable women, moving backwards, not because they've lost their edge, but because nothing around them was built to hold them through the change.

This isn't a logistics problem and it never was. You can't fix an identity crisis with a...

I recorded this conversation with Amy Taylor-Kabbaz back in 2022, right when I first started this podcast and I didn't get to publish it at the time. I'm so happy it's not out in the world for more mammas to hear from this incredible woman who changed the trajectory of my motherhood for the better.

Amy was my mentor and I trained with her for nearly three years in motherhood coaching and she's the reason Mothers' Hood exists. She was the first person who ever made me feel like what I was going through in early motherhood wasn't...

In this first episode of season 2 of the glammed up podcast, I'm starting with a special episode and format.

I'm handing over the mic. For the first time ever, I'm the guest on my own podcast and the brilliant Laura Greenwood from Laura Greenwood Therapy is asking the questions.

Laura is one of my closest, most trusted friends. We met studying motherhood and matrescence coaching and facilitating together back in 2020, and she knows my story in a way very few people do. She's also a psychotherapist with 18 years of experience, now specialising in supporting mothers...

She's back! And she's had a glow up.

If you found your way here from the old days of The Mothers Hood Podcast, welcome back. And if you're new, I'm so happy to have you here too.

Samantha Murrell is a Back-to-Work Coach and Matrescence Guide for women returning to the workplace after having a baby and Season 2 of You've Had a Baby, Not a Lobotomy is here to do what mainstream media still isn't — hold space for the real conversations about motherhood, identity, career, and ambition.

This isn't about muddling through. It's ab...

In this episode, I’m joined by Tamsin Broster, feminist visibility and confidence coach, former Ministry of Defence leader, mother of two and all-round powerhouse.

Tamsin shares her deeply personal story of stepping away from a 20-year civil service career to reclaim her identity, rebuild her confidence and rewrite what success means not just as a mother, but as a woman navigating loss, IVF, leadership, and the complexity of modern motherhood.

This is a raw, rich, and honest conversation about what it means to live through matrescence in its fullest expression. From navigating IVF treatments, pe...

Listen up as I drop some truth bombs in this episode, waxing lyrical on why becoming a mother can accelerate your career like a bat out of h*ll!

We’re telling mothers that they lack drive, determination, commitment and that when the baby arrives, that’s it, it’s game over for their career and they’ll just shuffle off into the background.

But what if I told you this doesn't have to be the case?

What if I told you that becoming a mother is a supercharged way of achieving bigger and bett...

In this moving episode, I sit down with Robin Lynn.

Robin is a clarity coach, speaker, musician and the unapologetic host of the Gucci God podcast. As the founder of Robin Lynn Coaching, Robin guides women through life’s pivots with power, prayer, and a little bit of cosmic spice.

Robin shares her journey into and through motherhood. From navigating postpartum with bipolar disorder and infidelity to being blindsided in a custody battle, to redefining what it means to be a “good mother”.

We talk about the expectations we carry, the stories we inheri...

We live in a culture that celebrates and almost idolises mothers who appear to do it all and have it all together. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle - we do more and more and are praised for doing so, so we continue to do more and more because that praise and recognition feels good.

But this is often an appearance and frequently masks burnout and exhaustion.

In episode 7, Layla O’Mara shares her experience of being Supermum and the effect it had on her.

Listen as Layla shares

The return to work for most mothers, who chose to or have to, is not smooth sailing. We have birthed and nurtured a new life and our lives have radically changed. Then we enter back into a world that does not recognise or value our mothering roles and the additional energy and time this requires.

This week’s guest, Rachelle Glendon, experienced this ‘friction point’ after the birth of her second child.

Listen as we discuss:

In this first solo episode, I open up about my own journey of becoming a mother and returning to work. The disorientation, the guilt, the tears and the transformation that followed.

If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Who the h*ll am I now?” after becoming a mother, this one's for you.

I share how discovering matrescence — the transformation of a woman to a mother — changed everything for me. From feeling lost, anxious and unseen, to finding clarity, purpose and confidence. And a lot of letting go of the things that no longer served me.

MOTHE...

Becoming a mother is a huge transition and one that is rarely celebrated, supported, and honoured in the ways that mothers need. This leaves mothers disoriented, lost, and exhausted.

Gladys Kangau experienced all of this after the birth of her first child. She was told she had post-partum depression but believed it was something else. This started her on a journey of searching for her truth and led her to find matrescence which helped her to make sense of her mothering journey.

We discuss:

*Content/trigger warning – references to suicidal ideation and potential miscarriage*

Pregnancy is often a complex time of joy and celebration mixed in with worry, anxiety, uncertainty, physical pain, nausea, sickness, exhaustion, and everything in between. But for some women, there is little enjoyment because of the risk that their baby might not survive the pregnancy or for long after the birth.

This was the reality for our guest, Kylie Blascetta.

Kylie shares:

*Trigger Warning *Domestic Violence*

Entering motherhood and looking after a newborn baby can be challenging enough without adding what Lucy Wylde had to deal with. In this episode, Lucy bravely shares her experience with domestic violence in the form of coercive control. She discusses this abuse by her partner which appeared shortly after her daughter was born and the journey to leaving her partner several years later. Lucy is a beautifully empathic soul and you will hear how deeply she feels and expresses her emotions.

You will learn:

· How the abuse manifested and t...

The very first episode of the Mothers’ Hood Podcast explores the taboo topic of rage and anger in motherhood with Alison Ryan.

Alison shares her experience of the overwhelming rage she felt after having her second daughter. This is a topic that is rarely discussed or acknowledged and is shrouded in so much shame and guilt.

We discuss:

Tune in to raw and honest conversations about motherhood, identity, and the messy beauty of it all.

These are the stories we should have heard growing up, as we navigated pregnancy and motherhood - the real, unfiltered truths of the journey.

Yet, we live in a world where mothers often find themselves isolated, navigating the ups and downs of parenting alone.

Without hearing others' stories, we lack the reference to make sense of our own experiences and the language to express what we're feeling. This leaves many mothers feeling disconnected, lost and questioning...