Why I'm qualified to do this

I have a Masters of Clinical Epidemiology.

Which is essentially the science of how we know what we know in medicine.

It's the study of how diseases and health outcomes occur in populations, and what actually drives them. The clinical side is about evaluating evidence: how to read a study properly, understand risk, and work out whether a finding is meaningful or whether it's just noise.

In short, I was trained to read the research itself.

Which is why I go straight to the primary studies, rather than waiting for them to filter through guidelines or turn up in a headline.

Why I started this

I kept finding things nobody had told me.

That a ferritin of 20 gets marked "normal" but is low for pregnancy. That the "count ten kicks" rule isn't what the guidelines say anymore. That the six-week postpartum check was never designed to flag your long-term heart risk.

None of it was hidden. It was just sitting in journals, where nobody reads it.

So I started writing it down.

What you'll find here

How pregnancy changes your body. What's happening, why, and what's worth acting on.

Your skin, your bloods, your everyday choices. The things that matter more than most people realise.

The honest version. If a study is observational, I'll say so, because that shows a link, not a cause. If it's an animal study, you'll know. If the researchers were funded by someone with a stake in the answer, I'll tell you.

It makes for less dramatic headlines. That's rather the point.

Written for Australia. Australian guidelines, thresholds and services. Most pregnancy content online is American and the advice does differ.

What this isn't

I'm not your doctor or midwife, and nothing here is personal medical advice.

What I can do is help you walk into your next appointment knowing what to ask.

Most of what I write ends the same way: here's the evidence, here are the words to use, now go and have that conversation with someone who knows your history.

Come along

📩 One email, every week. The research that matters, so you can make informed decisions.

📱 Daily on Instagram | @expectingmumsaustralia

✉️ Got a question? The best things I write start as questions from readers. Send me one.