Beyond Postpartum

In this episode we hear from Marlas, who is a Queer parent who experienced multiple losses, and she shares her journey from her lowest point through to recovery from perinatal mental illness. We do talk briefly about suicide, so if this is a hard subject for you to listen too, please take care of yourself in whatever way you need to, and reach out for support if it's hitting hard for you. At the end I share an exciting announcement that you won't want to miss!

 In this episode of Beyond Postpartum, I have the privilege and honour of sharing a conversation I had with an amazing woman who's Instagram I chanced upon a few weeks ago. Katie Jameson is a mom of 4, a photographer, an advocate, a blogger, and a bereaved mother. She tragically lost her first son, Lochlan, at just a few weeks of age. In this episode, she tells us her story of navigating an unimaginable loss, parenting through grief, and why she is so outspoken about her journey. 

In this episode Dr. Allyson Shrikhande chats with me about chronic pelvic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction, and how it can affect (and be affected by) mental health. Dr. Shrikhande is a board certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialist, and the Chair of the Medical Education Committee for the International Pelvic Pain Society. Motivated by her own experience with chronic pain and pelvic floor dysfunction, she has developed a holistic protocol to treat her patients, and in this episode she gives some great tips and ideas of where to start if you are suffering from pain or a pelvic floor that just isn't the same as it used to be!

In this episode I chat with Melanie, who is is not only one of our incredible volunteers, she is also a mom of two, doula, student-midwife, and ultra-marathon runner (yes, seriously!). In this episode, she shares about working through infertility, depression, and chronic pain, and how having supportive prenatal care from Midwives helped her avoid PPD/A despite her history.

In this episode I chat with Patricia Tomasi and Jaime Charlebois who are the co-founders of the Canadian Perinatal Mental Health Collaborative. They share their own stories of resilience and recovery from perinatal mental illness, and why Canada needs a national perinatal mental health strategy, right now.

In this bonus episode, Celina takes us through a guided Nidra meditation.  

In this episode, I chat with Celina who is one of our amazing volunteers and who is also a meditation instructor. Celina and I talk about how and when she began to develop a meditation practice, what she noticed when she did 5 minutes a day of meditation for 30 days, and the benefits of meditation. At the end of the episode she takes us through a 20 minute guided nidra meditation that is suitable for all levels of experience with meditation.

In this episode I chat with Veronica Harris who is a Registered Clinical Counsellor in Nanaimo, BC. She shares her journey with postpartum anxiety and how when she made peace with not being ok she was able to be ok. We also talk about how expectations - our own, our partners, and societies - can negatively impact our parenting experience. And of course, we also talk about so much more. At the end, I introduce the concepts of radical acceptance and self-compassion, and talk about how and where you can find a counsellor of your own.

In this episode, Andrea share's her journey with postpartum depression and anxiety, how she made peace with the idea of having a 2nd child, and how different her 2nd postpartum experience was and why. She also shares about a program/module she developed for our in-person support groups, called 'The Art of Self-Care.'