S3 - EP24 – Ric Hart on maternal loss and the reality of solo fatherhood

In this episode, host Rosie Moss speaks with Ric Hart—a writer, speaker, and solo father who lost his wife Jade shortly after the birth of their son Hugo in 2018.Ric shares the raw reality of grief colliding with fatherhood: bringing a newborn home alone, feeding Hugo through sleepless nights, and confronting what he believes were preventable hospital failures. From that devastation, he found purpose—writing children’s books that comfort his son, publishing an adult memoir, and creating a podcast and nonprofit work to support other grieving families.He also opens up about how contrast therapy—a mix of sauna and ice baths—helped him regulate his nervous system and eventually became a practice he now shares with others.Together, Rosie and Ric explore:The trauma of losing Jade during childbirth and the isolating experience of widowed fatherhood.How Ric broke time into “hour-by-hour” survival to keep going in those first months.The role of writing, storytelling, and advocacy in transforming grief into purpose.The social isolation of being a widowed dad in mother-centric parenting spaces.Rebuilding identity through contrast therapy and creating a coaching practice.Dating after profound loss and finding space for new love alongside eternal grief.Practical advice for anyone grieving: take small steps, let yourself feel, and lean on the people who truly show up.As Ric says, it’s about “just turning up”—for your children, for yourself, and for others walking the same path.