Mothers In Medicine Podcast · Mothers In Medicine

How to make room for self care as a MIM: Dr Amanda Chisholm

January 1, 2026·36 min

Dr Amanda Chisholm joins Dr Shola for a candid conversation about self-care, motherhood, and working life in medicine. She introduces herself as a Lifestyle Medicine Physician and Portfolio GP. The discussion stays close to the day-to-day reality of juggling children and clinical work. Amanda says she has always found it hard to ask for help. She is used to being the person others rely on for solutions, and that makes vulnerability feel especially uncomfortable. She talks about having supportive parents while still struggling to lean on them. The episode keeps coming back to how that pattern shows up in daily life. Amanda describes the pressure of expecting herself to do everything alone. That pressure is part of how self-care can disappear. She also reflects on trying to be present for children, work, exercise, food, sleep, and rest all at once. During a difficult second pregnancy, she experienced depression and anxiety. She remembers feeling depleted and irritable. Even getting into the shower could become a battle. She also recalls panic attacks on the way to work, including pulling over between patients. The conversation does not rush past those moments. It leaves them in plain language. Amanda explains that she used to be the messy play mum, the one baking, painting the bath, and doing lively activities with the children. When her mental health worsened, all of that stopped. Later, as she started to recover, she found herself overcompensating and trying to make up for lost time. That created a different kind of pressure. The episode explores that shift without judgment. It also touches the practical side of support, including the fact that asking for help is often the first step toward making self-care possible. By the end, the tone moves toward encouragement rather than perfection. Amanda argues that self-care does not have to be a full routine to count. A bath counts. A five- or ten-minute walk counts. The conversation acknowledges that the trenches of early motherhood can feel endless. It also leaves room for the idea that this season changes. The result is a warm, honest exchange that treats care as something lived, not preached.

As heard by us

A calm, practical look at self-care starting over in small steps.

This episode keeps its focus on the strain of self-care when motherhood and medicine keep pulling in different directions. Dr. Amanda Chisholm is candid about struggling to ask for help, finding vulnerability hard, and ending up depleted, anxious, and trying to catch up later.

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Why you'd press play

For the days when your own care keeps sliding to the bottom of the list.

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