Introducing MAMA: Motherhood, Alcohol, Mental Health and AnxietyIntroducing MAMA: Motherhood, Alcohol, Mental Health and Anxiety
Sober Awkward
When becoming a mum isn’t quite what you expected...
13:17•12 Aug 2026
MAMA: Honest Chats About Motherhood, Alcohol and Anxiety
Episode Overview
- Motherhood can turn previously "fun" drinking into a source of guilt, anxiety and overwhelming responsibility.
- Mummy wine culture normalises alcohol as self-care, yet its impact on anxiety and mental health often goes unquestioned.
- The MAMA series combines personal stories with university-backed research to help mums understand how alcohol affects them.
- Change is framed around curiosity rather than labels or rock bottoms, asking whether alcohol is truly helping.
- Talking honestly about alcohol, anxiety and motherhood can reduce shame and help mums feel less alone in their struggles.
“Instead of asking whether we have a drinking problem, perhaps we could ask whether alcohol is helping us become the mum, partner, and person that we really want to be.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This special Sober Awkward episode introduces MAMA – a six-part series fronted by Victoria Vanstone that puts motherhood, alcohol, mental health and anxiety under the microscope, with her trademark humour and brutal honesty. Victoria shares how becoming a mum turned her from happy-go-lucky party girl into someone facing hangovers alongside hungry toddlers and relentless responsibility.
She explains that MAMA grew out of that shift, focusing on why so many mums find themselves pouring wine at the end of an overwhelming day and why mummy wine culture has become so normal. As she puts it, hangovers once meant "guilt and noise and anxiety and responsibility" rather than lazy mornings on the sofa. Backed by the University of Sydney’s Healthy Mum, Healthy Bub research programme, the series blends real-life stories with proper science.
You’ll hear Victoria talk about anxiety climbing into the back seat with the baby, alcohol pitching up as a coping tool, and the exhausting grind of trying to moderate.
One standout line sums up the heart of MAMA: "Instead of asking whether we have a drinking problem, perhaps we could ask whether alcohol is helping us become the mum, partner, and person that we really want to be." The teaser promises episodes on wine o’clock, cravings, identity, moderation and those awkward conversations about changing your drinking.
It’s aimed at mums who feel overwhelmed, anxious, or suspicious that the glass of wine they rely on might be quietly making everything harder. With plenty of giggles, some wince-worthy oversharing, and research to cut through the noise, this introduction invites mums to start with simple curiosity about booze rather than big labels or rock bottoms.
If you’ve ever hidden in the pantry with a cuppa and wondered why “relaxing” drinks leave you wired at 3am, could MAMA be the nudge you’ve been waiting for?
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