In this tender and deeply honest episode, host Heather is joined by Louise Fletcher — a coach who helps women become the leading lady in their own life — to share the story of her son Daniel, and everything that came after.

Louise was in her early 20s, in a relationship only a few months old, when a late-night call from her doctor sent her to hospital with a suspected kidney problem. It was there she discovered she was four weeks pregnant. Coming from a broken family, all Louise had ever wanted was a family of her own, and she loved being pregnant — until, at around 25 weeks, she noticed the movements slow and her bump stop growing. Daniel was born at 32 weeks weighing 1lb 13oz, breathing on his own, tiny and perfect. He died at six days old.

Louise speaks with remarkable openness about the details she still carries: asking for the lung-development injection on the way to theatre and being told she didn’t need it; not holding her son because she was certain he’d be coming home, and because she felt she was in the way; and navigating it all largely alone, at 22, with a fragmented relationship with her mum.

She also shares what came later — the discovery that both fallopian tubes had been damaged during her section, the years of trying with her ex-husband that never came to anything, and the kidney transplant she lovingly calls Kate the Kidney. And she describes the moment, decades on, when she went looking for the root of a lifelong lack of confidence and found it waiting there: how can I be confident when I couldn’t carry a child?

Now Louise helps other women uncover exactly those buried beliefs. Her message throughout is that loss is never only about grief — it shapes worthiness, relationships, and business, quietly, for years, until someone helps you look at it.

• Discovering a kidney condition and a pregnancy in the same hospital admission
• Noticing reduced movements at 25 weeks, and Daniel’s birth at 32 weeks
• The injection she asked for and was told she didn’t need — and why she says speak up
• Not holding her son, and the lifelong feeling of “being in the way”
• Facing it all at 22, alone, with a fragmented relationship with her mum
• Damaged fallopian tubes discovered years later, and never conceiving again
• Kate the Kidney — her transplant, and the peace that came with it
• Tracing a lack of confidence back to not being able to carry a child
• How grief quietly shapes worthiness, relationships and self-sabotage
• Why talking helps but deeper subconscious work is what truly shifts it
• The healed, beautiful relationship she has with her mum today

“I’d tell her I was proud of her.” A moving conversation about grief, self-worth, and finding your way back to peace.

Connect with Louise: Louise Fletcher — Coach & Speaker Instagram: @iamlouisefletcher Facebook: facebook.com/louisefletchershines

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In this powerful two-part conversation, host Heather sits down with Samantha Jones — an ex-NHS midwife, acupuncturist, and now a fertility and pregnancy specialist — for an episode that comes at maternity care from both sides.

Samantha always wanted to be a midwife, and after having her own children and a wonderful experience of midwifery care, she went back and trained. But the reality of the job wasn’t the one she’d signed up for. After around seven years in the NHS, she found herself building rapport with women she then couldn’t care for the way she wanted: ten-minute appointments, protocols that didn’t fit the people in front of her, and a system where care felt disjointed rather than trauma-informed. She is candid about the two things she would change tomorrow — the blame culture and the time constraints — and equally clear that midwives genuinely want to be with women. That, after all, is what the word means.

Heather shares her own experience of being sent away after a loss with no leaflet, no aftercare, and a walk back through a waiting room full of scan photographs — and together they talk about what compassionate, trauma-informed support after baby loss could actually look like.

In the second half, Samantha turns to her fertility work. She explains how supporting women through birth trauma led her to women who simply didn’t want to try again, and how that shaped a practice built on choice rather than being pro- or anti-anything. She talks about unexplained infertility as good news rather than a diagnosis, why not everything needs to be medicalised, the “cycle of despair” couples ride every single month, and the profound effect of feeling disconnected from your own body — including one client of ten years who conceived naturally after seven months of working together.

• Seven years in the NHS and why the care felt disjointed
• What trauma-informed care really means — and why being heard matters
• The blame culture and time constraints she would change tomorrow
• The gap in support after miscarriage and baby loss, and what should replace it
• The BRAIN acronym and the 2015 Montgomery case — your rights in maternity care
• “Ignore a woman’s intuition at your own peril” — trusting your instincts
• How birth trauma work led Samantha into fertility
• Unexplained infertility, IVF, and why not everything needs medicalising
• The cycle of despair, and living in the wait rather than waiting to live
• Why preconception care should start 3–6 months before trying
• The mind-body connection as the biggest and least-discussed block
• Samantha’s three practical tips: omega 6:3 ratio, stress, and mind-body work

A moving, hope-filled conversation that ends with both women in tears — and a message that it is okay not to be okay.

Connect with Samantha: Samantha Jones — Fertility & Pregnancy Specialist, Ex-NHS Midwife & Acupuncturist Website: naturalfertilityandpregnancy.com Email: sam@naturalpregnancy.wales

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In this powerful episode, host Heather sits down with Michelle Turpin, a women’s empowerment coach and hypnotherapist, to discuss baby loss, the lack of support so many women face, and her journey to becoming an advocate for change.

Michelle opens up about her personal experience of pregnancy loss, the intense pressure of societal expectations around motherhood, and the additional challenges brought by her spinal condition. She shares how the absence of proper care and emotional support during her pregnancies drove her to speak out — and ultimately shaped the work she now does to help other women navigate similar pain.

Through her role as a coach and hypnotherapist, Michelle now helps women find their strength after loss, challenging the silence that still surrounds baby loss and calling for better awareness and care for those who experience it.

• Personal experience of baby loss and pregnancy challenges
• The pressure of societal expectations around motherhood
• How a spinal condition added to the difficulties of pregnancy
• The lack of support available during and after pregnancy loss
• Becoming an advocate for baby loss awareness and better care
• How hypnotherapy and coaching can support healing after loss

A vital conversation about the gaps in care that still exist, and one woman’s determination to make sure others don’t face them alone.

Connect with Michelle: Michelle Turpin — Women’s Empowerment Coach & Hypnotherapist

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