The Motherkind Podcast

Default parenting doesn’t start with a conversation – it creeps in quietly, until one day you realise you’re carrying the mental load, the guilt and the responsibility almost entirely alone.

In this powerful Motherkind moment, Zoe is joined by Lou Beckett, author of The Default Parent, to name something so many mothers feel but rarely have language for.

Together, they unpack the emotional, physical and invisible weight of being the default parent – the one who carries the responsibility, the mental load, and the constant background hum of guilt. Lou shares the moments that pushed her to write the book, the research that confirmed it’s not “just you”, and why so many women feel lost in motherhood even when they’re doing an incredible job.

This is an honest, funny, rage-inducing and deeply validating conversation for anyone who’s ever felt unseen in the day-to-day reality of parenting – and especially for those who are carrying more than their fair share.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

Why becoming the “default parent” often happens quietly – and why it’s so hard to undo once it’s set

The invisible labour of motherhood, and why it’s exhausting even when you “have support”

How guilt, comparison and unrealistic expectations keep mothers stuck – and how to start letting them go

If you’ve ever thought, “Why does this feel so hard when everyone else seems to cope?” – this conversation is for you.

Remember to subscribe to Motherkind — it helps more mothers find the show and keeps our community growing.

Feeling like you’re carrying it all? Download your FREE Mental Load Cheat Sheet and learn how to start feeling lighter, even if nothing in your life changes.

If you liked this episode, listen to this next: Why the Mental Load Causes So Much Tension and how to Communicate Your Way Out Of It

Connect with Zoe:

Follow Zoe on Instagram 

Get Zoe’s Sunday Times bestselling book, 'Motherkind: A New Way to Thrive in a World of Endless Expectations’

This Motherkind episode is sponsored by:

Headline sponsor Wild Nutrition, the brand raising the bar for women’s supplements. Want to feel the Food-Grown difference yourself? Get 50% off for three months at wildnutrition.com/motherkind. Ts and Cs apply.

Usbourne Books

For a £100 sponsored job credit, visit Indeed.com/ Motherkind


Sonic Rooms from Pop That Mumma is a guided audio album designed to help mums find moments of calm in everyday life – use code MOTHERKIND for 30% off.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this Motherkind Moment, Zoe Blaskey is joined by broadcaster and journalist Emma Barnett for a deeply honest conversation about early motherhood, identity, and what really happens to us when we become mothers.

Emma shares the reframe that changed everything for her: moving from the idea of maternity leave to maternity service. A season where you are always on call, constantly adapting, sacrificing parts of yourself, and often expected to carry on without much language for how profound that experience really is.

Together, Zoe and Emma talk about those early months – the walking, the exhaustion, the heatwaves, the survival mode – and the surprising way creativity can sometimes re-emerge in the middle of it all. Not because motherhood is easy, or beautiful, or calm – but because so much else has been stripped back.

They explore the tension so many mothers feel: how maternity can be deeply depleting and, at the same time, quietly expansive. How there can be grief for who you were, uncertainty about who you’re becoming, and moments of clarity that feel almost shocking when you’re in the trenches.

This is also a conversation about what we’re missing culturally – the lack of space, language and stories for matrescence. Not parenting advice. Not baby manuals. But an honest reflection on the inner shift of becoming a mother.

Because motherhood doesn’t just add something to your life. It changes you.

In this Moment, they explore:

Reframing maternity leave as maternity service

Creativity, identity and thinking again in early motherhood

The loss, rebirth and in-between space of matrescence

If you’ve ever felt changed by motherhood in ways you couldn’t quite explain, this Moment is for you.

If you liked this moment, listen to the full episode: Maternity Service, Not Leave: A New Perspective with Emma Barnett

Remember to subscribe to Motherkind — it helps more mothers find the show and keeps our community growing.

Ready to feel like yourself again? Download your FREE Matrescence Cheat Sheet

Connect with Zoe:

Follow Zoe on Instagram 

Get Zoe’s Sunday Times bestselling book, 'Motherkind: A New Way to Thrive in a World of Endless Expectations’

This Motherkind episode is sponsored by:

Headline sponsor Wild Nutrition, the brand raising the bar for women’s supplements. Want to feel the Food-Grown difference yourself? Get 50% off for three months at wildnutrition.com/motherkind. Ts and Cs apply.

For a £100 sponsored job credit, visit Indeed.com/ Motherkind

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if motherhood wasn’t meant to be this hard – or this lonely?

In this episode of Motherkind, Zoe is joined by journalist and bestselling author Helen Russell to explore how culture shapes the way we experience motherhood.

After becoming a mother in Denmark, Helen shares how living in a Nordic system gave her “permission to live differently” – with more rest, trust, parental support and far less guilt. Together, Zoe and Helen unpack why so many mothers in the UK feel under pressure to cope alone, and how much of that is cultural rather than personal.

In this conversation, we explore:

Why vulnerability in motherhood is normal – not a failure

How parental leave, childcare and systems reduce guilt and burnout

What Denmark gets right about raising children and supporting mothers

Why happiness doesn’t mean feeling good all the time

The power of community during big life transitions

This episode is a gentle but powerful reminder that if motherhood feels overwhelming, it’s not because you’re doing it wrong – it’s because you were never meant to do it alone.

Remember to subscribe to Motherkind — it helps more mothers find the show and keeps our community growing.

Feeling different since becoming a mother? Get clarity on who you’re becoming now and  download your FREE Matrescence Cheat Sheet

If you liked this episode, listen to this next: Motherhood transformed me into who I was meant to be all along | Megan Rose Lane

Connect with Zoe:

Follow Zoe on Instagram 

Get Zoe’s Sunday Times bestselling book, 'Motherkind: A New Way to Thrive in a World of Endless Expectations’

This Motherkind episode is sponsored by:

Headline sponsor Wild Nutrition, the brand raising the bar for women’s supplements. Want to feel the Food-Grown difference yourself? Get 50% off for three months at wildnutrition.com/motherkind. Ts and Cs apply.

For a £100 sponsored job credit, visit Indeed.com/ Motherkind


Sonic Rooms from Pop That Mumma is a guided audio album designed to help mums find moments of calm in everyday life – use code MOTHERKIND for 30% off.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you ever felt like you’re trying so hard to be a good mum… but somehow it still never feels like enough?

In this Moment, Zoe talks about good girl conditioning – the deeply ingrained beliefs many of us carry into motherhood without realising it. The need to be agreeable, to keep the peace, to over-give, and to measure our worth by how much we do.

When these patterns come into motherhood, they don’t disappear – they intensify. Suddenly, we’re not just trying to be a good girl, we’re trying to be a perfect mum. And that can leave us exhausted, resentful, and disconnected from ourselves.

This episode is about recognising that there is nothing wrong with you. These are learned behaviours – and they can be unlearned.

In this Moment, we explore:

What good girl conditioning is – and how it shows up in motherhood

Why people-pleasing and perfectionism lead to burnout, not fulfilment

How meeting your own needs and setting boundaries creates real confidence

If you’ve ever felt burnt out from trying to be everything to everyone, this one’s for you.

If you liked this moment, listen to the full episode: Breaking Free From Perfectionism and People-Pleasing

Remember to subscribe to Motherkind — it helps more mothers find the show and keeps our community growing.

Feeling different since becoming a mother? Get clarity on who you’re becoming now and download your FREE Matrescence Cheat Sheet

Connect with Zoe:

Follow Zoe on Instagram 

Get Zoe’s Sunday Times bestselling book, 'Motherkind: A New Way to Thrive in a World of Endless Expectations’

This Motherkind episode is sponsored by:

Headline sponsor Wild Nutrition, the brand raising the bar for women’s supplements. Want to feel the Food-Grown difference yourself? Get 50% off for three months at wildnutrition.com/motherkind. Ts and Cs apply.

For a £100 sponsored job credit, visit Indeed.com/ Motherkind

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If confidence feels like something you’ve lost since becoming a mum, this episode is for you.

If you’ve been moving through motherhood feeling lower in confidence than you ever expected – second-guessing yourself, feeling like you’re “just surviving”, or wondering where you went, press play on this one.

In this episode, Zoe is joined by confidence coach and founder of PepTalkHer, Dior Bediako, for a conversation that completely reframes what confidence actually is, especially in early motherhood.

Dior shares why confidence isn’t about feeling fearless or having it all together, but about being willing to feel doubt, fear and insecurity… and still showing up. Zoe and Dior talk about how much motherhood asks of us internally, why survival is not a failure, and how the relationship you have with yourself quietly shapes your confidence, your choices and the example you’re setting for your children.

This conversation is grounding, expansive and deeply reassuring, a reminder that you are not behind, broken or failing. You are becoming.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

Why confidence often dips in early motherhood – and why that’s completely normal

A powerful redefinition of confidence that allows fear and self-doubt to exist

How tiny, compassionate actions can rebuild self-belief when life feels overwhelming

Why the way you speak to yourself matters more than doing motherhood “perfectly”

If you’ve been hard on yourself lately, if your inner critic has been loud, or if you need permission to meet yourself with more kindness, this episode is for you.

Remember to subscribe to Motherkind — it helps more mothers find the show and keeps our community growing.

Feeling different since becoming a mother? Get clarity on who you’re becoming now and  download your FREE Matrescence Cheat Sheet

If you liked this episode, listen to this next: Work Series: If you're feeling low in confidence, listen to this - with Lauren Currie

 Connect with Zoe:

Follow Zoe on Instagram 

Get Zoe’s Sunday Times bestselling book, 'Motherkind: A New Way to Thrive in a World of Endless Expectations’

This Motherkind episode is sponsored by:

Headline sponsor Wild Nutrition, the brand raising the bar for women’s supplements. Want to feel the Food-Grown difference yourself? Get 50% off for three months at wildnutrition.com/motherkind. Ts and Cs apply.

For a £100 sponsored job credit, visit Indeed.com/ Motherkind

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices