For this week’s Spotlight On feature, we spoke to Caroline Foran and Sinead O’Moore – the hosts of brand new parenting podcast Stretch Marks.
Each week, the presenters will discuss hot topics on areas such as maternal body image, relationships, matresence, careers and mental health.
Check out our exclusive interview with Caroline and Sinead below:
You recently launched the Stretch Marks podcast. Tell us a bit about the podcast and what you will be speaking about on it.
Stretch Marks with Caroline Foran & Sinead O’Moore is the brand new weekly podcast celebrating the stretch of motherhood – not the bounce back.
It starts with the boobs, hips and the bump but before long it’s our relationships, headspace and heart that can feel oh so stretched. Each week we will dive into a deep stretch like our postpartum body image, career goals v’s childcare reality, how our relationships can pull away and the decision to have more children – and invite our community on Instagram to get involved through polls, questions boxes and DM chats.
Together we are going to try to figure out why we feel pulled in so many directions & look at ways to prevent ourselves from snapping altogether.
Joined by our audience, experts + friends, we want to own our motherhood whatever shape it might take with compassion and a healthy dose of honest humour.
Sinead – you are also the host of the everymum podcast, which deals with everything from fertility and pregnancy, to navigating life as a new mother and family life. What inspired you to start this podcast?
I’ve seen the connecting power of podcasts that discuss the parts of our life that mean the most to us.
While everymum is all about the guest, this podcast was inspired by the friendship Caroline and I have, the areas and phases of motherhood that our social communities tell us are making them feel oh so stretched and gives them a place to get involved by sharing their views, hints and responses in polls and question boxes on insta.
Together we have big ambitions for how this show and this tribe can continue to grow to respect and admire the stretch they make on a daily basis. Sometimes something as little as getting out the door can feel like a stretch. Or how we are expected to be at the school gate and at our desks at 9am is a stretch.
Being all things to all people can leave us feeling frayed – but instead of bashing ourselves focusing on what we didn’t get done or comparing our reality to somebody else’s filtered life – there is grace and power in respected how we have grown and all that we do while loving our babies, our lives and ourselves.
Caroline – you also host the Owning It Anxiety podcast, inspired by your best selling book. Tell us a bit about that podcast and the topics you cover with. Are you working on another book or would you like to?
Owning It is quite niche in that it’s really all about helping the listener manage and better understand their experience of anxiety, be it something they’re really struggling with or something that’s more of an annoying background noise in their day to day lives.
I have on occasion touched on my experience of becoming a parent over on Owning It, and when that got such a good reaction – because people were really craving content of this kind – I knew there was room for something like Stretch Marks, where we could drill down further into the topic of anxiety and parenting.
My account of postpartum anxiety was one of my most listened to episodes. I am always toying around with a few book ideas, there’s probably another five in me, but I’m waiting until the right idea for right now comes to the fore for me. For now it’s all podcasting and workplace wellbeing talks.
What has the reaction been like so far to the Stretch Marks podcast?
Amazing – from Dm’s to chart positions (No 7 Show in Apple podcast chart) to an appearance on Ireland AM women are connecting with this show and with us as hosts as we are right there with them in the thick of the stretch.
“Super first episode! Just can’t wait to hear more from you both! It’s a match made in heaven. I can relate so much to the things we’re not meant to talk about. Well done. Love you both!”
“Congrats, brilliant first episode. Not going to lie, I cried with waves of emotions as you touched on a few things. Really looking forward to the rest.”
“Oh my word I’ve just listened to your new podcast Stretch Marks. You literally have both been my life line through all of these massive transitions as a new mum! First day back to work from a year of mat leave my heart is broken. Never in a million years did I think I’d feel this way as someone who was so incredibly career driven in my previous life. Thank you so much”
Do you have any planned guests for the podcast? Who would be your dream guests, dead and alive?
We hope to bring in expert voices or those who can impart their own experience and wisdom of the stretch. As for dream guests – the list is endless.
Would you guys like to take the podcast on tour?
How much fun would that be. It might be a little bit of a stretch for us right now but as the show grows, we would love to make this happen.
