This regional pregnancy podcast is 'kicking' myths worldwide

The premise was seemingly vital for the Moloneys: "if not us, then who?".

The Kick Pregnancy Podcast is one of the only podcasts dedicated to the pregnancy journey with a qualified obstetrician, with no topic considered off the table.

One message came from a woman in Brazil - she had found The Kick just at the right time in her pregnancy journey.

Others have travelled from as far as Shepparton to Ballarat Women's Clinic because listening to the podcast had put them at ease, feeling like they were among friends.

The podcast reach never ceases to surprise Dr Moloney and his wife Brigid, who wanted to cut through the noise of an increasing flood of anecdotal experts online with expertise, experience and legitimate credentials.

Conversations and chats from a podcast studio in Ballarat on what for generations has been taboo have notched up more than one million downloads from 92 countries. Eighty-one per cent of listeners found The Kick in 2023.

"One thing we do is tell it like it is," Dr Moloney said. "Predominantly before, anyone who has become pregnant had this mystery and fear...We want to get across the idea that if [a procedure] is necessary, there is a whole profession dedicated to the safety of the mother and child."

Dr Moloney is not the first Ballarat obstetrician to capture international attention for sound advice. The now-retired Harry Zehnwirth was a driver behind baby-settling program Sounds for Silence a decade ago, before a trend in ambient sound products emerged.

Brigid Moloney, a former podiatrist who also brings a marketing and communications background to the team, said they want people to be actively informed on previously unspoken topics such as miscarriage, endometriosis and heavy periods, and perimenopause.

Popular question and answer sessions, from people sending verbal and written direct messages, has delved into growing concerns and awareness in mental health, menstrual cycles and physiological changes.

Women are also wanting to know how to best prepare for a second birth when the first one has been traumatic.

The husband-wife duo launched Ballarat Women's Clinic about 18 months ago to offer a holistic healthcare approach for women at every stage of life from a restored historic building in Mair Street, central to the city's medical precinct.

But they also wanted to go beyond bricks and mortar.

They have been working to set a new standard in pregnancy education and birth preparation via their online program GrowMyBaby. Ms Moloney said the program had been receiving a lot of expatriate love from women in countries such as Egypt and Turkey, who wanted to still be informed by the Australian medical system and standards.

They felt a podcast that can be produced in Ballarat from Ballarat people was also an important nod to healthcare in regional Australia, reinforcing that the best advice was not confined to capital cities.

Ms Moloney, a mother of four boys, has long championed for women's equality and has been passionate about women's health education.

"Me, not being from a medical background, was on Instagram and feeding what I was reading back to Pat and getting more furious," Ms Moloney said.

"We thought, if not us than who? In this vacuum, I wanted to use good information and see how we could get in this field."

Ms Moloney felt the podcast was a chance to talk as a past consumer of obstetrics alongside a busy obstetrician and dad. They had contacts and greater access to fellow specialists, including allied health, that they knew could be hard for the average parents and parents-to-be to access.

It has been an adjustment for Dr Moloney who, while used to sharing medical statistics and details with patients, has had to shift into a more personal tone drawing on more personal experience.

They have found this has also greatly resonated with people wanting to learn more about pregnancy to better understand what friends and loved ones might be experiencing, but who were unsure where to turn.

"We see some of the older demographic who want to learn about contemporary obstetrics and the podcast helps those people understand what it might be like, for example, for their daughter," Dr Moloney said.

"If something changes in a pregnancy, say if a woman now has gestational diabetes or hypertension, we've found they might send their partner to listen to relevant episode.

"People can put it on the car when they're driving or in a space when they're alone and have a listen.

"...People love to hear stories and they can take from different topics; they might've had that thing happen to them or a personal angle to relate."

The Moloneys have also had feedback from couples who felt prepared to face whatever twists and turns their birth experience had taken.

Ms Moloney said she was often surprised at how confident some listeners had been in what she felt were incredibly challenging and complicated circumstances.

In a way, this was what they had hoped to achieve.

"We want listeners to ask better questions of their health," Ms Moloney said.

They have found a strong appetite for what they do and so, will continue to break down stigmas and healthcare myths for people where and wherever listeners need it most.