Poddy Training Podcast – ‘The Podcast For Dads’

Without coronavirus we would never have started our podcast

Margate based Lloyd Hollett is a professional comedian, travelling around the world for 80% of the year working in theatres, hotels and cruise ships among other venues. Jonathan Griffiths is a marketing director in the sports travel and hospitality industry. He’s currently working on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, meaning he spends a lot of time in Japan.

Two years ago, they were both preparing for very different roles though – becoming new dads. Lloyd, married to Danielle, was expecting his first child in June 2018, and Jonathan’s wife Lauren would follow a few months later in the October.

When Ottilie and Logan were born respectively, both men had very different experiences of the births to the ones they’d always imagined or planned for. Lloyd and Danielle were sent home from the hospital twice before Danielle went into labour on their bathroom floor after insisting Lloyd get some sleep upstairs.

“Finding your wife in that situation wasn’t pleasant, and I still feel an enormous amount of guilt that I wasn’t with her for those moments.” Says Hollett.

However, on rushing to the hospital the couple just about made it into the delivery suite where Ottilie was safely born (just eight minutes after the car park ticket was issued).

A few months later Jonathan and his wife’s plans for a tranquil water birth was also scuppered, after Lauren was told she had to be induced a week before the due date. Once the inducement was started things progressed well for the couple until the moment Logan was delivered and he wasn’t breathing properly. Jonathan recalls being told Logan needed to be rushed to the neo natal unit;

“I was standing in the middle of the room with my wife on one side out of it after a difficult delivery and my new son on the other with an oxygen mask on his face and the nurse pulling the emergency cord. It wasn’t the start I’d imagined that’s for sure!”

Luckily, Logan was discharged from neo-natal 24 hours later and the couple got to leave the hospital after another day of observations. But Jon’s experience left him with some mental health issues that manifested themselves about a year later. It was only after talking to Lloyd and sharing their stories that the friends decided more honest information should be available to expectant and new dads, or for men thinking about becoming a father.

They agreed to record a podcast, but their busy schedules and travel requirements meant they were finding it difficult pinning down dates to get together. But as Jonathan says, they saw the UK’s lockdown as an opportunity;

“When lockdown started because of coronavirus we realised we actually didn’t need to be in the same room. The technology exists that meant we could use this time to record the first season, so we invested in mics, researched podcast recording platforms and got to work. That’s how the Poddy Training podcast was born.”

The duo recorded all six episodes of the first season, which cover everything from trying for a baby to getting home with your new-born child, plus a ‘coronavirus special’ about coping in lockdown with toddlers.

“We’re really proud of the series,” added Lloyd, “and we hope our ‘warts and all’ approach will encourage other men going through similar situations to get in touch and start a conversation.

“The coronavirus has had such a devastating impact on many people, not just in the UK but around the world. However, without this time we’d never have had the chance to start Poddy Training, and if it can help even a handful of men then that’s our silver lining from this whole situation.”

Poddy Training and all 6 episodes, including a Coronavirus bonus episode is now available on most podcast platforms.

The pair have already started preparations for season two, which will include guest dads discussing topics including adoption, struggling to conceive and having big families.

Launched Fathers Day – AVAILABLE NOW

You can learn more at: www.poddytrainingpodcast.com
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