Candice Brathwaite launches us into our brand-new season 4 and our mini-series on parenthood. And WHAT guest! She’s the Sunday Times Best-seller author of I Am Not Your Baby Mother and the founder of Make Motherhood Diverse, an online platform to provide visibility for all the “types” of mother you can possibly think of to stand tall, proud and heard. In her memoir she explores her childhood, her pregnancies and what it’s like to bring Black children into a racist society in which Black British women are 5 times more likely to die in childbirth.

We talk to Candice about the kind of motherhood that was pedalled to the women of Brixton of the mother and baby unit, how her husband and the other Black men in her family have been knocking the absent father stereotypes on the head. We discuss the shocking disparity of healthcare between Black mothers and other patients, from pain management to mental well being and how more Black women are liable to be picked up under the mental health act as being a danger to their child even during childbirth. Oh, and why her wardrobe collection is more than about looking good, but a radical act of self-care and Black feminism.

She's a superstar and this is a frank and eye-opening discussion that looks at so many facets of being a mother and a Black mother. We could've talked for hours.

I Am Not Your Baby Mother is published by Quercus Publishing and is available to buy from all good bookstores.

 CW: Traumatic birth and racism

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Social Media:

Candice Brathwaite: Instagram @candicebrathwaite

Naomi Sheldon: @NaomiSheldon1

Anand Patel: @therealdranand

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