Real stories podcast
Perinatal Stories Australia
A podcast dedicated to holding space for the untold stories of motherhood and mental illness in Australia. Through providing a listening ear to the lived experiences of struggle and healing in pregnancy and motherhood, this podcast aims to reduce stigma around mental health, to inform listeners about support services available, and to inspire those on their own healing journey. Share your story via the website perinatalstoriesaustralia.com and follow the podcast on Instagram and Facebook @perinatalstoriesaustralia for more storytelling and validating maternal mental health content. This podcast is not a substitute for therapy and no medical advice is provided. Reach out to your medical professional should you have any concerns.
We share these conversations because hearing from other parents can make you feel less alone. Some episodes talk openly about suicidal thoughts, psychiatric hospital stays and other hard experiences, so choose a time when you have support around you.
Latest episodes
Episode 47: Rachel
7 July 2025
- pregnancy
- depression
- anxiety
- medication
- psychiatry
- talk therapy
- community mental health team
As a paramedic, Rachel spent many years supporting others through medical and mental health emergencies. And although she was trained to recognise the signs of mental ill health in others, it was something she never imagined she would experience herself -...
Episode notes for Episode 47: Rachel (opens in a new tab)Episode 46: Lisa
2 June 2025
- depression
- PTSD
- rage
- insomnia
- talk therapy
- EMDR
- IFS
- meditation
- neurofeedback
- Maternal Journal
Trauma isn’t always about what happened - sometimes it’s about what didn’t. Lisa already felt anxious and lonely navigating pregnancy, birth, and postpartum in a new country without the safety net of family or maternity care in her mother tongue. But this...
Episode notes for Episode 46: Lisa (opens in a new tab)Episode 45: Amber-Lee
19 May 2025
- PTSD
- anxiety
- depression
- rage
- birth trauma
- talk therapy
- helplines
- group therapy
- breathwork
- EMDR
- Women's Circles
When Amber-Lee found herself unexpectedly pregnant, she knew life was about to change - but nothing could have prepared her for the profound impact that a complicated pregnancy, birth, and postpartum period would have on her mental health. In this powerful...
Episode notes for Episode 45: Amber-Lee (opens in a new tab)Episode 44: Natalie
5 May 2025
- insomnia
- anxiety
- quasi-hallucination
- CATT
- medication
- psychiatric ward
- hypnotherapy
- Hospital in the home (HITH)
- MBU
- talk therapy
Just when she thought the debilitating anxiety of her pregnancy was behind her, Natalie found herself pushed to the brink by insomnia. What began as ten sleepless nights quickly unravelled into terrifying hallucinations and inescapable panic that she would...
Episode notes for Episode 44: Natalie (opens in a new tab)Episode 43: Natalie
21 Apr 2025
- pregnancy
- anxiety
- insomnia
- quasi-hallucination
- Crisis Assessment and Treatment Team (CATT)
Like so many of us with antenatal anxiety, Natalie downplayed her symptoms and clung to the belief that she would find relief from the all-consuming worry and insomnia when her baby was finally in her arms. But instead of finding relief after birth,...
Episode notes for Episode 43: Natalie (opens in a new tab)Episode 42: Kristy
7 Apr 2025
- depression
- birth trauma
- anxiety
- history of mental ill health
- ADHD
- medication
- GP
- talk therapy
- psychiatry
Whenever Kristy struggled with anxiety or depression in the past, she coped by keeping herself busy. Even when she endured years and years of IVF and ICSI, she coped by keeping herself busy. But when she experienced birth trauma and a sudden decline in her...
Episode notes for Episode 42: Kristy (opens in a new tab)Episode 41: Chloe
24 Mar 2025
- melancholic depression
- anxiety
- birth trauma
- insomnia
- history of mental ill health
- MBU
- ECT
- medication
- psychiatry
- talk therapy
It’s nearly impossible to think about Chloe’s story without thinking about all the places where she navigated the worst of her anxiety and melancholic depression: the hospital where she was left parenting in a traumatised body after a retained placenta; the...
Episode notes for Episode 41: Chloe (opens in a new tab)Episode 40: Dayna
10 Mar 2025
- birth trauma
- PTSD
- D-MER
- anxiety
- panic attacks
- talk therapy
- medication
Dayna’s story really gives meaning to the phrase one thing after another. When she birthed her son, there was no golden hour or newborn bubble, which is something she’s still grieving. Instead, there was an emergency c-section, a dystonic reaction,...
Episode notes for Episode 40: Dayna (opens in a new tab)