Dads of the NICU

If you’re a NICU dad — or you are supporting one — this episode is absolutely for you. 

Today we’re joined by Tony Rush — a Senior Neonatal Nurse and Clinical Nurse Manager who’s been in the NICU since 1990. After starting out as a psychiatric nurse, Tony has spent decades helping families navigate some of the hardest moments of their lives.

Across thousands of NICU admissions, he’s gained rare insight into the lived experience of da...

Sometimes, the most powerful research doesn’t start in a lab — it begins through lived experience.

Today, we meet Mia Cahill, whose journey into the research space started in a deeply personal way. Born in Ireland with gastroschisis, she grew up understanding what it means to fight for a start in life. That experience shaped not only who she became, but how she now connects with other families walking a similar path.

Through her work...

In today’s episode, we meet Wayne Ratajczak — a then first-time dad whose daughter Emily spent 12 weeks in the NICU. For Wayne, skin-to-skin care wasn’t just bonding time; it became a vital part of Emily’s development and his connection with her. The more he held her, the more he saw how important that closeness was and how stable she became. 

Inside the NICU, Wayne took on everything he could and did as much of Emily’s cares as he ...

Today, we talk about why routine matters.
Why healthy habits matter, and how easy it is to slip into bad patterns when everything feels out of control.

In this episode, I speak with Michael Winwood, a dad who had two weeks’ notice that something wasn’t right — just enough time to feel the fear, but not enough time to prepare for what was coming.

While his baby was in the NICU, Michael was also juggling life with a two-year-old at...

We start this episode with a Trigger warning, as there are discussions of loss and miscarriage. 

Today, we meet two-time NICU mum, Megan Norbury — a proud NICU parent who has turned her lived experience into a mission to support other families on their own NICU journeys.

With a background in early childhood education, Megan knows first-hand the feelings of isolation that can come with life in the NICU. Those experiences sparked her p...

TRIGGER WARNING

Today’s conversation contains discussions of infant loss.

In this very special episode, we’ll be joined by Joanne and Scott Beedie— two truly remarkable parents who open up and share the deeply personal story of losing one of their twins to Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome.

This conversation is incredibly raw and emotional, as we explore what it means to balance hope and heartbreak, and how they navigated the NICU jou...

In our last episode, we explored the world of psychology — and today, we’re taking the next step into social work, uncovering the vital role social workers play in the NICU, and trying to remove the stigma that surrounds social work. 

Social workers are often the one constant presence for parents during their NICU journey — a steady voice through some of the toughest and most emotional days. In some hospitals, they’re automatically ...

Clinical psychology plays a vital role in helping families navigate the ups and downs of the NICU journey. For many dads, those first moments can be overwhelming — seeing their baby hooked up to machines, monitors, and tubes often looks nothing like the picture they had in mind.

Today, we’re joined by Clinical Psychologist Fiona Mann, who reminds dads just how important their presence and involvement really is along the NICU journey...

Meet Connor McGoverne and hear about his amazing son, Finley. Connor is a political reporter and TV journalist who’s used to asking all the tough questions, but when he learns his unborn son has been diagnosed with a very rare condition, the story becomes very complex.

While Connor and his partner Jamie’s first baby arrived according to plan, Finley’s journey introduced the word “gastroschisis” into their lives, followed by weeks of...

No better way to celebrate your son's first birthday than to release a podcast episode!

Today, we chat with Daniel Dyer-Smith, who walks us through the shock of being on a beach one minute, then 60min later having a son at 30 weeks. 

As a Lawyer, skilled in articulating precise messages and information, Daniel found it very difficult to find the right words to describe to friends and family what had transpired, and wha...

In today's episode, we hear from two-time NICU Dad, Kabe Redfern. Kabe walks us through the difficulties in processing the first 24 hours of NICU life, as well as the thoughts of trying again for a second child following such a traumatic first experience. 

Kabe is passionate about helping other Dad's going through their NICU journey, and he opens up and shares his insights on how Dad's can support each other, as ...

In our first episode of Season 2, brought to you by the Kids Research Institute Australia and the Embrace Program, we are joined by Dr Vincent Mancini. 

Dr Mancini is a Perth-based Senior Research Fellow with a PhD in Clinical Psychology, leading research at the intersection of masculinity, fatherhood, and children’s health and wellbeing. He is driven by the belief that every child deserves the opportunity to thrive, and that father...

Dads of the NICU is back!

After a long wait, Matt is back sharing stories and reflections, with the support of the Kids Research Institute in Perth and our great partners in EMBRACE. 

As I launch the new series today, on World Prematurity Day, I am very excited to introduce Dr Vincent Mancini from The Kids and his colleague Jack Boronovskis, who produces The Kids Research Institute’s mental health podcast, Embracing the Mind. I’ll be...

Having gone through 98 days in the NICU with our daughter Lara, the thought of trying again for baby #2 was far from my thought processes. It was going to take some time for the mental wounds to heal from our experience, and I started to question if I could go through it all again.

I was so focused on the negative outcomes that I did not give any hope or attention to positive outcomes for months. But after a while, I knew ...

I am back!  After a two year break to focus on family and work, I am back on the mic to bring you my next NICU adventure!

Our son Cooper was born at 26 weeks in February 2022, and we are right back where it all began in the same NICU, precisely 2 yeas and 4 days since Lara was discharged. 

In that time, we unfortunately lost our dear son Leo at birth at 18 weeks, but we re-grouped, and knew that our story had not ...

The only thing harder than spending 115 days in the NICU for Brodie James will be his next Ironman race.  

Brodie was able to turn to his training regime to keep a clear mind and a positive outlook during his NICU journey, which enabled him to support his wife and new son as best as possible, and be the rock and Ironman in the NICU. 

We discuss the highs and lows of his time in the NICU, and what life is like now ...

Picture this: You get a call from the Hospital in the early hours of the morning saying that your wife has just been rushed to the birthing suite for emergency surgery. You live over 30min away, and you know you wont make it in time to be there to support her.  What would be going through your mind?

Today I chat with Luke Bowtell, who opens up about the very traumatic birth of his daughter, and talks through the impacts th...

I chat with Will Jackson, a Dad that I met on day two of my NICU journey.  Will opens up on his experiences in the NICU, and we discuss all aspects of his journey, and how it effected him.  

NICU life is not the same for every Dad. Different parts of a NICU journey will impact Dads in a myriad of ways, and it is up to the individual to work out how to process what is happening, and deal with it in their own way. 

...

How many times have you walked in to your baby's room in the NICU and checked the monitors or the medical chart before actually checking on your baby?

I did this so many times on my NICU journey that I became so fixated on the data even though I didn't really know exactly what I was looking for. I needed to just try and forget about the numbers, and focus purely on my daughters physical developments. 

I ...