Podcast unpacks the pressures inflicted on new mothers through the lens of the Seven Deadly Sins

A new podcast from Hobart-based organisation the Women’s Health Education Network uses the seven deadly sins to explore the pressures inflicted on new motherhood. The story behind it.

Peta Titter founder and CEO of Women's Health Network podcast Seven Deadly Sins Inflicted on Post Natal Women. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

There is one enduring emotion Peta Titter has experienced in her years working in women’s health education: anger.

Ms Titter is the founder and CEO of Hobart-based organisation, the Women’s Health Education Network (WHEN), which seeks to improve health literacy for women from childhood to post-menopause.

But she said even in an era where information has supposedly never been more accessible, the roadblocks are still significant, particularly for the “neglected” demographic of post-natal mothers.

“If you don’t have money in this space, you will not get the care you deserve and that makes us really angry,” she said.

Peta Titter founder and CEO of Women's Health Network podcast Seven Deadly Sins Inflicted on Post Natal Women. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“We want to be on the ground and putting women at the centre.”

The desire to provide accessible and engaging education resources has led to the development of a collection of podcasts, with the latest from their Little Black Dress of Women’s Health series examining new motherhood through the lens of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Alongside Melbourne-based perinatal-psychologist Frances Bilbao, each episode explores how the sins inform behavioural expectations placed on new mothers, from sloth to envy to the forgotten “eighth sin” of loneliness.

“Women’s behaviour in western society has been shaped by the signs whether your religious or not,” Ms Titter explained.

“You’re taught not to be rude, be angry, eat too much, and this is extremely intensified in the post-natal period.”

Ms Titter said it was important to normalise the fact that for many women, the post-natal period can produce intense feelings of grief – for their bodies, relationships or previous social lives.

Peta Titter founder and CEO of Women's Health Network podcast Seven Deadly Sins Inflicted on Post Natal Women. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“If a new mother grieves they’re considered bad mothers,” she said, with the curated nature of social media partly exacerbating this.

“In nine months you’re body will change and after you give birth you’re going to be sleep-deprived, you’re going to be taken away from your social circles and your work, your pelvic floor, joints and estrogen levels will change …

“Women are not allowed to feel upset by this, but we want to them to know they are not alone.”

Ms Titter said the format – two women simply having a chat – was key to their mission of supporting new mothers.

“We’re still putting up PDFs for women who are not reading it, but we wanted to make this engaging by two women simply chatting about the topic, and not talking at women,” she said.

“Especially down here in Hobart with a lot of our services going, there’s no support for women after birth.

“If the mother’s not well or coping, the baby is not going to cope, so the most important thing in this whole equation is equal billing for the two.”

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Originally published as Podcast unpacks the pressures inflicted on new mothers through the lens of the Seven Deadly Sins