'Nothing Came Naturally': Lydia West on Hyperemesis, Breastfeeding & Struggling to Connect
Happy Mum
Giovanna Fletcher
4.8 • 5.8K Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2026
⏱️ 76 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Over the past nine years, Happy Mum Happy Baby has evolved — and so has our mission! Increasingly, our conversations have centred on mums themselves: their mental health, wellbeing, relationships, and identity. Because when a mum feels supported, seen, and heard, everything else can flourish. So... welcome to the era of Happy Mum !
And joining us to start this exciting new chapter is the gorgeous Lydia West. You’ll know Lydia from It’s a Sin, Years and Years, and Big Mood, but what you may not know is that she welcomed TWO babies between filming seasons one and two of Big Mood!
For the first time, Lydia opens up about her pregnancies and births, sharing her experience of severe hyperemesis, as well as the challenges she faced with bonding and feeding.
She and Gi also discuss her returning to work just eight weeks postpartum, the importance of supported childcare on set, and learning to loosen the reins amid the chaos of toddler life!
Big Mood series two is now streaming on Channel 4
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | As you know, happy mum, happy baby has been in all of our lives for the last nine years. |
| 0:06.7 | And this podcast has been everything I hoped it would be and more. |
| 0:10.9 | It's been phenomenal to see mums pulling together in the way that they are. |
| 0:16.3 | And over the years, this podcast has evolved. |
| 0:19.6 | The community has grown. |
| 0:22.4 | And it's incredible to see all the different groups popping up on Facebook and Instagram. I absolutely love it. And over the years, there's |
| 0:28.2 | been such a gorgeous natural progression. And that is that it's become all about the mum. |
| 0:34.6 | It is all about the mum. As we talk about maternal mental health, about wellness, |
| 0:40.0 | about everything that you've got to give to yourself and those around you, the mum is our focus. |
| 0:46.5 | Therefore, there's been a few changes. We are now called happy mum. And we stop. Because you are our focus. You are the ones that we want to have |
| 0:59.2 | these conversations with. And we want to keep growing the space that we can hear more stories from |
| 1:03.5 | different moms, different experiences, different cultures. That's how we keep doing what we're |
| 1:08.8 | doing and making it even more impactful. |
| 1:11.3 | We've got amazing community stories. We've got a new substack that is now available. |
| 1:16.9 | And there's just going to be lots more to feed your soul. |
| 1:20.1 | The things that you love are still there. The podcast is still there. I'm still in the studio. |
| 1:23.9 | They've not blocked me yet. That's still happening. Don't worry. We just want to hear more. |
| 1:29.5 | But this is all about just creating a space so that we can soak up more mums, more new mums. |
| 1:34.7 | There's still going to be a space for new mums. But all of us as we go through this motherhood journey, |
| 1:39.2 | because we all know that that journey does not stop after our babies become toddlers. |
| 1:44.4 | So join us on this brand new chapter. |
| 1:46.8 | I'm very excited. |
... |
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