The Science of Motherhood

Fertility preparation begins months, sometimes years, before you start trying to conceive. Knowing what to look for, and when, could change the entire shape of your conception journey.
If you've ever wondered whether your body is actually ready for pregnancy, or whether there's something your results aren't telling you, this conversation will change how you think about your health.
In this episode, Dr Renee White sits down with Megan Haralampou, degree-qualified Naturopath, Nutritionist, and Biomedical Science graduate, to unpack what a truly comprehensive pre-conception blood panel looks like and why the standard tests often aren't enough. Together they explore iron absorption, thyroid antibodies, cycle tracking, postpartum blood work, and how to read your results through an optimal lens.
This is episode one of our six-part Trying to Conceive series.
You'll Hear About:
Why "normal" blood results can miss a fertility concern
What a complete iron picture actually looks like
How to track your cycle beyond a period tracking app
When to get blood tests done after having a baby
What postpartum thyroiditis has to do with depression

Understanding your body before pregnancy, and after, is one of the most practical things you can do for your health. You deserve care that looks at the full picture, not just what fits inside a reference range.
Share this episode with anyone who's thinking about trying to conceive and wants to go in prepared. And subscribe so you don't miss an episode of The Science of Motherhood.
Resources & Links
Connect with Renee
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
Connect with Megan
Website: thebiomedicalnaturopath.com.au
📲 Follow Megan on Instagram: @thebiomedicalnaturopath
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 been so sick in pregnancy that you couldn't keep water down, lost weight, or ended up in hospital wondering how your body was supposed to sustain a baby when it couldn't sustain itself? If that's your story, or the story of someone you love, you've probably also been told at some point that it was stress, anxiety, or something you just needed to push through.
It wasn't. And the science has finally caught up with what HG patients have been saying for decades.
In this episode, Dr Renee White unpacks the genetic and hormonal research that proved once and for all that hyperemesis gravidarum isn't psychological. It lives in a gene, it runs through a receptor, and it has nothing to do with how much you wanted your pregnancy.
You'll Hear About:
Why HG is a distinct condition from morning sickness
How a placental hormone called GDF15 drives severe nausea
Why your baseline levels before pregnancy predict your risk
What the beta thalassemia finding revealed about sensitivity
How pre-pregnancy desensitisation could prevent HG entirely

Your body wasn't failing you. It was responding to a hormonal contrast it hadn't been prepared for, and now researchers know exactly why. The science sees you, and it's moving fast.
If someone in your life has been through HG, share this episode with them. It might be the first time the biology's been explained in a way that finally makes sense. 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.

⚠️ Content note: This episode contains discussions of sexual assault, suicide, and depression.
If you've been through fertility treatment, you already know it's more than a medical process. It's months, sometimes years, of appointments and numbers and waiting, with very little space given to how you're actually doing.
There's research showing that nearly 50% of people in fertility treatment develop PTSD, regardless of whether they get pregnant. Not because they're fragile. Because the system they're moving through wasn't built with their nervous system in mind.
In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White chats with Nicole Lange, a trauma-informed acupuncturist who has spent 20 years working exclusively at the intersection of women's reproductive health and trauma. They explore why stress matters more than we've been told, why it matters less than we've been blamed for, and what whole-person fertility care actually looks like in practice.
You'll hear about:
Why the stress of trying to conceive is on par with a cancer diagnosis
How chronic stress affects every system involved in fertility
What the 25/75 framework is and how it changes outcomes
How acupuncture supports circulation, immunity, and nervous system regulation
Why whole-person fertility care is the most evidence-based option available

You are not just a fertility outcome. And the care you receive shouldn't treat you like one.
If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone navigating their own fertility journey. And 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 Nicole Lange
Nicole's website: www.lifehealinglife.com
Follow Nicole on Instagram @notafixer
Follow Nicole on YouTube @thebabyyouwant
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.

Does it feel like your body hasn't quite come back together yet after you've had your baby? That clicking, that instability, that sense that your hips or knees might give way. It's not in your head, and it's not a sign that something is wrong.
So many mums are told that by six weeks, things should be settling. But if you're still breastfeeding and still feeling like your body doesn't quite belong to you yet, that timeline was never based on what your hormones are actually doing.
In this episode, Dr Renee White unpacks why so many postpartum women feel structurally unsound for months after birth, and why the answer has everything to do with a hormone your body is still responding to, whether anyone told you that or not.
You'll Hear About:
Why relaxin affects every joint, not just your pelvis
What happens to hormone levels when you're breastfeeding
How the six-week clearance myth fails postpartum women
When to seek support from a women's health physio
Why your joint integrity will return, on its own timeline

Your body isn't broken. It's doing something hormonally complex on a timeline that was never going to fit neatly into six weeks. The integrity will come back. It just takes longer than anyone tells you.
If this episode helped something click for you, share it with a mum who's been told she should be fine by now. 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.

If you're neurodivergent, the maternity system wasn't built with your brain in mind. The appointments, the environments, the cognitive load of it all. Nobody tells you that's why it feels harder than it should. They just hand you the same pamphlet and send you on your way.
That gap matters even more when you're navigating pregnancy, birth and early parenting. It's not just your body being stretched. It's every system you've built to keep yourself functioning.
In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White sits down with Jennifer Curtis, registered occupational therapist and registered midwife, to explore what occupational therapy actually offers pregnant and postpartum women, and why that support is so often invisible. Together, they unpack the very real cost of a health system designed for neurotypical brains, and what it looks like when care is finally built around the whole person.
This is the final episode of The Science of Motherhood's three-part autism series. If you missed Parts 1 and 2, head back to episodes 221 with Dr Abbey Love and 222 with Linda Hollenberg.
You'll hear about:
Why autistic women face higher perinatal health risks
What occupational therapy actually is and does
How sensory processing intensifies throughout the perinatal period
What to ask at your first midwifery appointment to get better support
Why late autism diagnosis so often happens in pregnancy or motherhood

If this conversation opened something up for you, share it with a mum or healthcare provider who needs to hear it. 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
🔗 Explore the Aspect New Parents Hub: Autistic Pregnancy and Parenthood Hub 🔗 Connect with Aspect on Instagram: @aspect_aus 🔗 Occupational Therapy Australia directory — find an OT near you: https://www.otaus.com.au 🔗 COPE (Centre of Perinatal Excellence) service directory: https://www.cope.org.au
📚 Somatic Maternal Healing by Helena Vissing (Psychodynamic and Somatic Trauma Treatment for Perinatal Mental Health) 📚 Matrescence by Lucy Jones
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.