The Family Tribe

Headlines about babies swallowing millions of plastic particles can make an ordinary bottle feed feel like a parenting mistake. So what does the research actually tell us?
In this episode of Baby Tribe Shorts, Afif and Anne explore microplastics in baby bottles, silicone teats and milk storage bags. They revisit the Trinity College Dublin study behind many of the headlines, discuss why measuring particles is surprisingly complicated, and explain the distinction between detecting exposure and demonstrating harm.
They also separate microplastics from BPA, consider the practical drawbacks of glass bottles, and discuss why concerns about plastic should never undermine established advice on sterilisation and formula preparation. Along the way, Afif loses patience with Instagram fearmongering, Anne recalls a toddler licking a shoe, and a disagreement over millimetres becomes surprisingly competitive.
An episode about feeding choices, scientific uncertainty and helping parents make decisions without unnecessary guilt.

Weight-loss drugs are everywhere in the headlines. But what might they mean for our health beyond the number on the scales?
This week, Professor Afif EL-Khuffash and Dr Anne Doherty explore GLP-1 medicines and the research into their effects on the heart, kidneys, liver and painful knees. They explain how these medicines influence blood sugar and appetite, unpack “food noise”, and discuss why managing obesity involves much more than willpower.
They also explore emerging research on alcohol cravings, the findings in Alzheimer’s disease, and the practical realities of treatment, including side effects, nutrition, maintaining muscle and medical supervision. For breastfeeding parents, Afif explains what the available research can tell us, what remains unknown, and why individual circumstances matter.
Along the way, Anne questions both the evidence and Afif’s increasingly busy social calendar.
Science, scepticism and a little marital cross-examination as we explore what these medicines can offer, and where the questions remain.
This episode provides general information and does not replace individual medical advice.

In this Baby Tribe Short, Afif and Anne look at a recent New South Wales paper asking why birth interventions are rising. The study found that so-called cascade interventions, including induction or augmentation, epidural or spinal analgesia, and instrumental birth or intrapartum caesarean section, increased over time, even among women labelled low risk.
But what does “low risk” really mean? And does a rise in intervention automatically mean harm, overmedicalisation, or poor practice?
Afif and Anne unpack what the paper shows, what it does not show, and why the missing outcome data matters. They discuss maternal risk, hospital culture, birth preferences, induction, epidurals, caesarean birth, and the danger of drawing strong conclusions from incomplete data.
The big question is whether mothers and babies are doing better because of them.
Link to paper: https://www.mdpi.com/3042-898X/1/1/2

Baby Tribe has grown up.
In the first episode of The Family Tribe, Afif and Anne explain why they are widening the conversation from babies to the whole messy, funny and complicated world of family life.
They reflect on 18 years of parenting, raising teenagers, marriage, multicultural family life, ageing parents, disappearing villages, financial pressure and bringing up children in a digital world that none of us fully understands.
Along the way, they discuss 3:30 am wake-ups at every age, negotiating with teenagers through ChatGPT, growing up in Palestinian and West of Ireland families, and why loading a dishwasher remains one of marriage’s most dangerous tests.
They also share what they wish they had understood when their children were small, including the fleeting nature of ordinary moments and the unexpected joy of not only loving the adults your children become, but genuinely liking them.
The baby grew up. The podcast did too. Welcome to The Family Tribe.

Parenting doesn’t come with a manual but The Family Tribe is here to be part of the village that helps you through it.
Hosted by husband-and-wife medical experts Dr Afif El Khuffash and Dr Anne Doherty, The Family Tribe offers honest, evidence-based advice for parents and guardians of children from newborns right through to teenagers. Bringing together more than 40 years of combined clinical experience, as well as their own lived experience as parents, Afif and Anne help listeners navigate the chaos, love, worry, tears and awe of family life.
With two episodes each week, the podcast cuts through the noise of online advice and misinformation to explore the topics that matter most — from pregnancy, newborn care and child development to mental health, family relationships, teenage challenges and common parenting worries.
Main episodes are released every Tuesday, with a shorter Baby Bonus episode focused on pregnancy and baby health every Thursday.
Expect myth-busting conversations, expert interviews, real listener stories, well-known guests and practical guidance designed to reassure, inform and support parents, guardians and the wider family at every stage of the journey.