The Science of Motherhood

Most mamas picture birth happening in a hospital room, because that's the only version most of us have ever seen. There's another path many don't even know exists.
Hospital can feel like the only option on the table, but there's a wider spectrum of care available than most mums realise.
In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White sits down with Jaimee Smith, endorsed private midwife and manager of the Launceston Birth Centre. Jaimee shares how relationship based care shapes calmer births and why continuity with the same midwife changes the experience for mums.
This is part two of our six part Pregnancy and Birth series.
You'll hear about
Why continuity of carer changes birth outcomes
What actually happens inside a birth centre
How midwives support birth after caesarean
What private midwifery costs across Australia
Why home birth differs from free birth

Understanding the full spectrum of care available means you get to choose what feels safest and most supported for your family.
Share this episode with a friend who's exploring her birth options beyond the hospital doors. Subscribe to The Science of Motherhood so you never miss an episode.
Resources & Links
📲 Connect with Renee on Instagram: @fillyourcup_
🌐 Learn more about Dr Renee White and explore Fill Your Cup Doula services
🍪 Treat yourself with our Chocolate + Goji lactation cookies
Connect with Jamiee:
Website: themidwivesmidwife.com
Instagram: @themidwivesmidwife_
Facebook: The Midwives’ Midwife
Launceston Birth Centre
This episode is proudly supported by Fill Your Cup, Australia's first doula village, with doulas available across Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Hobart and Perth.
Disclaimer: The information on this podcast presented by Fill Your Cup is not a substitute for independent professional advice. Nothing contained in this episode is intended to be used as medical advice and it is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, nor should it be used for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for your own health professional's advice.

You've probably never been told that a private midwife is even an option, not just the hospital care you default to. That gap in information can shape how safe, informed and supported you feel through pregnancy and birth.
This conversation gives you a real look at what private midwifery care involves in practice, from early pregnancy through labour, and why having the same trusted person by your side changes the experience.
This is part one of our six-part Pregnancy and Birth series.
In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White chats with Kelly Langford, endorsed private midwife and co-founder of MAMA Private Midwifery Practice, to explore what private midwifery care and home birth involve. Together they cover continuity of care, what non-negotiables matter for first-time mums, the physiology behind labour, and how to choose a care provider that feels right.
You'll Hear About
What private midwifery care actually includes
Why continuity of care changes birth outcomes
How physiological birth naturally works
What pain relief looks like without intervention
How to choose the right care provider

You don't need a radical plan to feel in control of your birth, only the right information and the right people around you. Understanding your options early gives you the confidence to make decisions that are truly your own.
If this conversation shifted how you think about your birth options, share it with a friend who's navigating the same decisions. And subscribe so you don't miss an episode of The Science of Motherhood.
Resources & Links
📲 Connect with Renee on Instagram: @fillyourcup_
🌐 Learn more about Dr Renee White and explore Fill Your Cup Doula services
🍪 Treat yourself with our Chocolate + Goji lactation cookies
🌐 Learn more about MAMA and their midwifery services
📲 Follow Kelly and the team at MAMA on Instagram @mamabirth.au
This episode is proudly supported by Fill Your Cup, Australia's first doula village, with doulas available across Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Hobart and Perth.
Disclaimer
The information on this podcast presented by Fill Your Cup is not a substitute for independent professional advice. Nothing contained in this episode is intended to be used as medical advice and it is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, nor should it be used for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for your own health professional's advice.

That feeling of not quite recognising yourself after your baby arrives has a biological explanation. Pregnancy reshapes the structure of the brain, and those changes can still be measured years down the track. What you're experiencing is your brain doing exactly what it's built to do.
If you've ever said out loud that you feel like a different person since becoming a mum, you're describing something researchers can now see on a scan. Understanding what's happening in there changes how the whole experience feels.
In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White sits down with Dr Elseline Hoekzema, neuroscientist and head of the Pregnancy Brain Lab at Amsterdam University Medical Center, to unpack what pregnancy does to the maternal brain. Together they explore the changes to brain tissue first mapped in 2017, what those changes mean for how you think and feel, and what shifts differently the second time around.
Elseline also works through the questions that flooded in after Renee shared her research on Instagram, covering what might happen with a third or fourth baby, spacing between siblings, pregnancy loss, and what changes for fathers and adoptive parents. She's honest about how much this field still has left to uncover.
You'll Hear About:
What happens to grey matter during pregnancy
Why the changes peak in the third trimester
How a second pregnancy rewires different brain networks
What the research shows about perinatal depression
Why your instincts are worth listening to

Your brain has been quietly reorganising itself to meet the exact demands of the life you're now living. Knowing that gives you something solid to hold onto on the days you feel furthest from yourself.
Share this with a friend who's been saying she doesn't feel like herself since having her baby. And subscribe so you don't miss an episode of The Science of Motherhood.
Resources & Links
📲 Follow Renee on Instagram: fillyourcup_
🌐 Learn more about Dr Renee White and explore Fill Your Cup Doula services
🍪 Treat yourself with our Chocolate + Goji lactation cookies
Follow Elseline's and the Pregnancy Brain Lab's work on Instagram: @pregnancybrainlab
Explore the Hoekzema Lab research at pregnancyandthebrain.com
Studies mentioned in this episode
📄 Pregnancy leads to long-lasting changes in human brain structure. Nature Neuroscience, 2017. PMID 27991897
📄 Do pregnancy-induced brain changes reverse? The brain of a mother six years after parturition. Brain Sciences, 2021. PMID 33525512
📄 Mapping the effects of pregnancy on resting state brain activity, white matter microstructure, neural metabolite concentrations and grey matter architecture. Nature Communications, 2022. PMID 36414622
📄 The effects of a second pregnancy on women's brain structure and function. Nature Communications, 2026. PMID 41714315
This episode is proudly supported by Fill Your Cup, Australia's first doula village, with doulas available across Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Hobart and Perth.
Disclaimer: The information on this podcast presented by Fill Your Cup is not a substitute for independent professional advice. Nothing contained in this episode is intended to be used as medical advice and it is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, nor should it be used for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for your own health professional's advice.

Your child is banging on the wall, sobbing, and won't let you near them. In that moment, staying calm isn't about having the right words, it's about understanding what's happening in their brain and yours.
This conversation gets into what's happening in your child's brain during a meltdown, and how you can stay regulated enough to help them find their way back.
In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White sits down with Dr Tina Payne Bryson, New York Times bestselling author of The Whole-Brain Child and founder of The Center for Connection, to explore what's happening in a child's brain during a meltdown and how parents can respond in ways that build resilience instead of reactivity. They talk through practical, science-backed strategies for staying regulated as a parent, repairing after the hard moments, and why play might be the most underrated tool in your parenting kit.
You'll Hear About
Why the upstairs and downstairs brain matter
What to do when your child melts down
How to stay regulated during a meltdown
Why repair matters more than perfection
How play builds resilience and connection

You don't need to get every moment right to raise a regulated, resilient child. What matters is showing up, staying steady in the hard moments, and repairing when you get it wrong.
If this conversation shifted how you think about your child's big feelings, share it with a friend who needs to hear it too. Subscribe to The Science of Motherhood so you never miss an episode.
Resources & Links
📲 Connect with Renee on Instagram: @fillyourcup_
🌐 Learn more about Dr Renee White and explore Fill Your Cup Doula services
🍪 Treat yourself with our Chocolate + Goji lactation cookies
Guest links:
🌐 Website: tinabryson.com
📩 Subscribe: tinabryson.com/subscribe
📲 Instagram: instagram.com/tinapaynebryson
📺 YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCCXGwMEmoL_noUYgx8kpakw
📘 Facebook: facebook.com/TinaPayneBrysonPhD
🐦 X/Twitter: twitter.com/tinabryson
🏢 The Center for Connection: thecenterforconnection.org
🏢 Play Strong Institute: playstronginstitute.com
🏢 CFC Santa Barbara: cfcsantabarbara.com
🛍 Amazon shop (Tina's favourites): amazon.com/shop/tinapaynebryson
📚 Books: The Bottom Line for Baby, The Whole-Brain Child, No-Drama Discipline, The Yes Brain, The Power of Showing Up, The Way of Play
📱 HumanUp app: humanup.com
This episode is proudly supported by Fill Your Cup, Australia's first doula village, with doulas available across Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Hobart and Perth.
Disclaimer:
The information on this podcast presented by Fill Your Cup is not a substitute for independent professional advice. Nothing contained in this episode is intended to be used as medical advice and it is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, nor should it be used for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for your own health professional's advice.

Have you ever seen a headline claiming a certain food can boost your fertility and rolled your eyes? You're not wrong to be sceptical, and most of what circulates online about diet and conception is wellness noise dressed up as science.
This time, the science actually holds up. A new 2026 study traces a real, step by step mechanism from what's on your plate to whether an embryo implants.
In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White breaks down a new mouse study linking dietary fibre, gut bacteria and the uterine immune system. She walks through how the pathway works, where the research falls short, and what's reasonable to take from it if you're trying to conceive.
You'll Hear About:
Why mouse studies are used in fertility research
What the new 2026 fibre study found
How gut bacteria influence uterine immune tolerance
Why this mechanism doesn't yet prove human benefit
What foods support this specific fibre pathway

You don't need to overhaul your diet to take this seriously. Paying attention to fibre quality, not only quantity, is a small, evidence-backed step available to you now. The mechanism is real, even if the guarantee isn't, and that still counts for something.
If this episode helped you look at fertility diet advice differently, share it with a friend who's trying to conceive and wading through conflicting information. And subscribe so you don't miss an episode of The Science of Motherhood.
Resources & Links
📲 Connect with Renee on Instagram: @fillyourcup_
🌐 Learn more about Dr Renee White and explore Fill Your Cup Doula services
🍪 Treat yourself with our Chocolate + Goji lactation cookies
This episode is proudly supported by Fill Your Cup, Australia's first doula village, with doulas available across Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Hobart and Perth.
Disclaimer: The information on this podcast presented by Fill Your Cup is not a substitute for independent professional advice. Nothing contained in this episode is intended to be used as medical advice and it is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, nor should it be used for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for your own health professional's advice.