Conversations with Parents

Sarah McInerney is known for her self-assured, cool and calm approach to interviewing politicians, but on the first episode of the brand new season of Conversations with Parents podcast she tells host Jen Hogan, about the anxiety that plagued her second pregnancy.

In a revealing and personal interview, McInerney discusses best laid plans and shares how becoming a mother of two children wasn’t as straightforward as she might have hoped.

“My first pregnancy was a dream,” she says on the podcast. “I absolutely flew through it and thought, ‘Oh, I’m a natural mother. I’m just made to do this.’ The second pregnancy was the complete opposite.”

Sarah talks to Jen about what surprised her about having boys, the guilt she felt over her heavy Drive Time schedule and more.
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Conversations with Parents from The Irish Times and parenting journalist Jen Hogan is coming back with a new season.

Season three will feature another group of interesting people with new parenting stories to tell.

Find us wherever you get your podcasts - or on irishtimes.com.

Conversations with Parents from The Irish Times is brought to you in association with Avonmore Super Milk.
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Former footballer Richie Sadlier is now better known for his career as a psychotherapist and working with young people in the area of sex education and wellbeing. Knowing what he knows about young people's lives, Andrew Tate and the manosphere, he's well equipped to deal with the thorny issues that many other parents actively avoid discussing. But he admits he might be the last person his young children will want to talk to by the time the teen years roll around. Richie and his wife, Fiona, have had a long and arduous road to parenthood. After eight heart-breaking rounds of IVF followed by a miscarriage, they're now mum and dad to Sam and Molly. In his first appearance on a parenting podcast since their joyous arrival, Richie shares the insights and observations he's made so far about the fatherhood journey so far. And just like he learned to do while in recovery from addiction, he advises anyone couple going through IVF to just take everything one day at a time.

Presented by Jen Hogan. Produced by Aideen Finnegan and Niamh Browne.

Brought to you in association with Avonmore Super Milk.
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Miriam O’Callaghan says she understands that having eight children is a source of fascination for people. And where once she might have been bothered by the double standards (i.e. how male broadcasters don’t seem to be defined by their parental status), she is now as happy to talk about her brood as she is about her TV career. The current affairs presenter has just released her memoir “Miriam: life, work, everything” and she delves into all of the above in this enthralling conversation with Jen Hogan. Miriam reveals she had secondary infertility after the birth of her first child, and how her last pregnancy almost had a tragic outcome. She also speaks about her blended family and how close she remains to her former stepdaughter. Miriam also explains how a period of disordered eating in her teens motivated her to build up her daughters’ confidence before they entered the tricky teen years. And she speaks about the devastating loss of her sister Anne, who she closely shared her early years of mothering with.

Presented by Jen Hogan. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

Brought to you in association with Avonmore Super Milk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor wasn’t expecting to have a baby so soon into her relationship with her now husband, but she says there was a part of her that felt really good about it. This was in the early 2000s when it was not the done thing for a female pop star to start a family. 21 years and five boys later she’s managing to juggle family life with a successful singing career, having just released her eighth studio album, Perimenopop. But it hasn't all been smooth sailing. In this episode Sophie speaks about her first-born’s shaky start after a premature birth, raising five boys and embracing the wisdom that comes with getting older.

Presented by Jen Hogan. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

Brought to you in association with Avonmore Super Milk
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.