For All Mum Kind with Cllr. Deirdre Kingston

Deirdre Kingston is a communications officer at a health charity, a Labour Party councillor and one of my oldest, dearest friends. In fact she was actually a bridesmaid at my wedding. She is a mum to a beautiful boy Abe and is expecting her second child in January and I couldn't be happier for her. What makes me less happy however - well, not at all happy actually - was seeing Deirdre appear in the papers this summer when she announced that she would not be going ahead as a Labour Party candidate for the next general election, a career that she has been working towards for many years, as she did not feel that she was supported as mother or as a women by the current political system. In this episode I talk to Deirdre about why she felt she had to make that choice. How the system and the constitution is failing women looking to get into politics and how it is inevitable that the Dáil will always be weighted towards men. We also discuss how a few simple tweaks to the health system could help thousands of women to successfully and confidently breastfeed. And also about the pressures put on new parents both emotionally and financially to get access to adequate childcare. An area we are falling way behind on compared to our European neighbours. And of course I chat to Dee about how she has changed since becoming a mother. The intensity, the joy and the fears of those first few months and what learnings she will take from her first pregnancy into this new one. It was fantastic as always to catch up with Dee and see her in all her stunning bump glory and I can’t wait to meet the little person that is growing inside of her in the new year. If you want to read more about what Deirdre does with the Labour Party you can visit her website or she she can be contacted through her Twitter, details of which are below: https://www.labour.ie/deirdrekingston https://twitter.com/deirdrekingston Thanks as always for listening and if you would like to keep the discussion going please follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forallmumkind/ I received some lovely messages this week about the podcast and I thank everyone who takes the time to message me - it really does make a difference. If you are enjoying the series so far please take the time to rate and review me on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. It means a great deal to the show and will make it easier for other potential listeners and new mums to find me. Thanks! Pamela x Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/for-all-mum-kind/id1456045096?mt=2 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5q5ErY3McbYLuzC2qGfxVz