Joining me this week is journalist and author Rachel Johnson. Rachel was the first female graduate trainee at the Financial Times and has since written weekly columns for the Sunday telegraph, daily telegraph and evening standard. She is a contributing editor of The Spectator and now writes a weekly column in the The Mail on Sunday. From 2009-2012 she was editor of The Lady, Britain’s longest-running women’s magazine. Rachel, welcome to the Mummafesto.

My guest this is blogger, campaigner and founder of grassroots organisation Five X More, Tinuke Awe. Five X More is an organisation committed to changing and highlighting Black maternal outcomes in the UK and was founded following Tinuke’s own experience with traumatic birth. She's also a campaigner on Autism in the black community. In April this year, Tinuke received an Inspirational Women Award for her campaign for quality maternity care.

You can find out more about Tinuke's work via her Instagram and fiveXmore's website.

Joining me this week is Vyki Sparkes, otherwise known as Museum Mum. After gaining a Masters in Museum studies and working at some of London’s best museums, Vyki founded Museum Mum to help families find great cultural activities and share her own families’ adventures with trip reviews and reports. Since 2012 Vyki’s platform has grown to over 40k families taking her recommendations for the UK’s best cultural spots.

Joining me this week is author Daisie Lane. Daisie is the founder of the Lockdown Mama Community and author of Mothers in Lockdown – a collection of stories from mothers sharing their experiences of pregnancy, birth and postpartum during a global pandemic. The book collates 150 honest accounts of mothering amid a challenging period in history and the devastating impact that maternity restrictions had on maternal mental health in the UK. Daisie, welcome to the Mummafesto.

You can find out more about Daisie's work and her book here.

My guest this week is Jemima Hartshorn. Jemima is a human rights lawyer, public

prosecutor and clean air campaigner. In 2017 she founded Mums for Lungs, a grassroot

campaign group advocating for clean air in London. Since 2017, Mums for Lungs has

become central in the fight for clean air – leading several successful campaigns to reduce

children’s exposure to harmful pollutants and affirming the power of community driven

activism.

You can find out more about Mums for Lungs and how you can get involved here.

@mumsforlungs

My guests this week are comedy duo, Ellie and Helen – otherwise known as the Scummy Mummies. They joined forces in 2013 and have since gone on to produce an award-winning podcast, a sell-out tour and a popular book. Their podcast, the Scummy Mummies Podcast, has now been downloaded over 5 million times and in 2020 won the Glomama UK podcast trophy. Scummy Mummies, welcome to the Mummafesto.

You can find out more about the Scummy Mummies upcoming tour here.

My guest this week is Natasha Devon. Natasha is a writer, broadcaster & activist. She tours schools and universities delivering talks as well as conducting research on mental health, body image, gender and equality. She campaigns both on and offline to make the world a fairer place. Natasha is founder of the Mental Health Media Charter, which scrutinises the way the media report on mental health. She co-founded Where’s Your Head At, which aims to improve mental health in British work places. She works with a number of charities, is a Patron for No Panic, as well as an Ambassador for Glitch and the Reading Agency. Natasha has a weekly radio show on LBC (Saturday from 6pm). She is a patron for Pride at Global, which works on LGBTQ representation across all of Global Media brands. Natasha has a column in Teach Secondary magazine, as well as writing regularly for a number of other publications, including The Guardian and Grazia Magazine.

The Mummafesto podcast is hosted by Stella Creasy MP, a Labour backbench MP and mum of two young children. Each week it considers how parenting influences politics.

My guest this week is author, coach and founder of Motherkind Zoe Blaskey. Zoe is passionate about helping mothers shift from guilt, exhaustion and comparison to confidence and empowerment. Zoe’s debut book is published today, and features advice and recommendations from over 60 experts on how to navigate the endless expectations of motherhood.

You can find out more about Zoe's debut book here.