Motherland Australia podcasts are proving to be a valuable tool for rural mums

Former journalist Stephanie Trethewey was looking for a way to feel connected to other rural mums when she decided to put her story telling skills to good use.

Stephanie Trethewey who produces the Motherland Australia podcasts. Picture Chris Kidd

When new mum Stephanie Trethewey was facing the challenges of adjusting to life as a rural mum she came up with a unique way to connect with rural women across the country.

A former journalist who had lived in the city most of her life, Mrs Trethewey said the birth of her son Elliot and the changes to her life had come as a big shock.

“He was a very difficult newborn, he cried a lot for hours on end,” she said.

“It was a huge identify crisis for me having worked in media a corporate, I really struggled.”

To make things even more challenging, when Elliot was six months old Mrs Trethewey and her husband Sam who were living in Melbourne, moved to rural Tasmania in the middle of winter.

While she was excited about the move to Tasmania and the opportunity for a fresh start, Mrs Trethewey said she was not prepared for the day to day reality of being a rural mum.

“nk I had gone through a bit of post natal depression for sure and was dealing with becoming a mum and what that meant, completely lost my identity and then had another massive life change moving here,” she said

Living in a new area with no family or support network and Mr Trethewey busy setting up their new farming business, Mrs Trethewey said she was grappling with a new type of pressure and trying to work out what does being a rural mum actually mean.

“I remember just sitting here thinking I’m a rural mum now and the expectations that come with that,” she said.

“What does being a rural mum means? Do I need to have dinner on the table everyday, do I need to have smoko ready all the time? I just felt all this pressure and I felt really alone and I really yearned to connect with other rural mums. I wanted to know I wasn’t the only one going through challenges.”

Her answer came in the form of podcasts.

After some initial research Mrs Trethewey realised there were no podcasts out there specifically aimed at rural mums.

Tapping into her story telling skills, Mrs Trethewey set about creating Motherland Australia podcasts.

“I’m from the city, I had an image on my head of what a rural mum was, but that’s completely changed since I started the podcast,” she said.

“Being an ex-journo it just all sort of clicked, I love telling stories. I started in one night and committed to it.... I interviewed my first mum and it just started from there.”

Now Mrs Trethewey has created podcasts with mums from almost every state and territory, including Tasmania.

“It’s just incredible, every single rural mum is so different,” she said.

“I’ve spoken to mums that are great farm wives and do have smoko ready and have their life together and all the laundry done and their happy and that’s amazing. But I’ve also spoken to rural mums that don’t like that and don’t like cooking or baking and don’t want to fit the mould. That’s been really empowering for me because I’ve realised it’s ok, you can be whatever type of rural mum you want to.”

Mrs Trethewey said the podcast has not only been hugely beneficially for her mental health, it is also something she now loves doing.

She said while most of the women she interviews to do not think they have a story to tell, her listeners think otherwise.

“Without fail after every single episode I’ll get message from other women saying how extraordinary that mum is, because everyone can find something in someone’s story they can relate to,” she said.

“I think rural mum’s don’t get a lot of the admiration they should, they’re doing their thing, but they really are the glue that holds families and communities together.”

Mrs Trethewey posts a new podcast every week and they range from high profile women to just everyday mums.

She is now also looking for more Tasmanian women to share their stories.

To find out more go to Motherland Australia Facebook page.