The anticipation of having a baby is often regarded as a joyous event in the life of a couple, and yet the transition to parenthood usually involves profound transitions and challenges in the couples' intimate relationship. Further complicating things, the perinatal period is when women are most vulnerable to mood and anxiety disorders, with perinatal depression being the number one medical complication of the postpartum period. Thankfully, a brief intervention has been developed to strengthen couples' relationships called The Before Baby Relationship Checkup. It's offered during pregnancy to help ease the transition to parenthood and reduce the risk of perinatal mood disorders. We're excited about this new service for new mothers, and we're "chick chatting" with Dr. Ellen Darling to learn more.

Dr. Ellen Darling is a clinical psychologist in Providence, RI, specializing in couples therapy, young adult mental health, and perinatal mental health. She holds a PhD from Clark University, where she trained at the Center for Couples and Family Research. Dr. Darling is passionate about guiding couples through challenges, including intimacy difficulties, alienation, communication impasses, chronic conflict, infidelity, parenthood issues, and other periods of transition. She practices Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT), an evidence-based approach that identifies patterns that keep partners disconnected and, in doing so, offers new possibilities for empathy and change.

In this episode, we chat with Ellen about the Before Baby Relationship Checkup. This checkup is a couples intervention specifically designed to address maternal mental health by screening pregnant women for early detection and decreasing primary risk factors. Here are several of the questions that we covered:

• ellendarlingphd.com

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Our bodies go through so much during pregnancy and postpartum. Our hormones fluctuate like no other time in our lives, which can all take a significant toll on mothers. Actress and entrepreneur Ashley Greene Khoury knows this firsthand as a new mother to her daughter, Kingsley. Even before becoming a mother, Ashley became highly passionate about being a reproductive health advocate after her own pursuit of a pharmaceutical-free lifestyle (including hormonal birth control). Through her experiences, they have led her to start her own company that helps others with their hormonal health.

Ashley Greene Khoury rapidly rose to fame following her portrayal of Alice Cullen in the 'Twilight' movie franchise and immediately solidified herself as a champion for women from all walks of life. For over a decade, she has aligned with charities and movements that support and empower women (like Donate My Dress, No More, A21), cementing herself as a trusted advocate for wellness, femininity, and gender equality.

More recently, Ashley co-founded Hummingway, a brand with the goal of transforming how all women (and anyone with a period) view their own reproductive health. Hummingway is laser-focused on providing its customers with a suite of innovative, non-toxic, effective products designed to support your hormonal health.

Ashley launched Hummingway with her sister-in-law, Olivia Khoury, in 2021. The duo is on a mission to have a positive impact and offer alternative choices for menstruators everywhere who are frustrated with the industry's lack of comprehensive solutions. Through Hummingway, Ashley is eager to leverage her work ethic, network, and platform for this powerful cause with a commitment to excellence and building trust. We are here for it and excited to learn more!

In this episode, we chat with Ashley Greene Khoury about all things motherhood, career, and how women can navigate their bodies and hormonal health postpartum! Here are several of the questions that we covered:

If you are expecting, or a new mama, or someone who wants to know more about and take charge of their hormonal health, check out Hummingway and use promo code MOMS30 at checkout.

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Returning to school can be a lot for the whole family — not just for the kids but also for parents. You have to adapt to a new schedule; your kids get new teachers, they may have to make new friends and more. It can be a lot. And while change can be good, it can also be challenging. Our podcast guest, Kelly Smith, is an expert in her field, and she is sharing some helpful tips and mindfulness activities for kids to make the back-to-school transition better and easier for everyone. 

Kelly Smith is a globally renowned yoga and meditation teacher, founder of Yoga For You, and host of the chart-topping Mindful in Minutes podcast and its spin-off, MedKelly's Mama. Kelly's successful show and accessible but powerful approach to mindfulness have solidified her as a rising star in the world of yoga and meditation. In the fall of 2023, Kelly published her first book, Mindful in Minutes: Meditation for the Modern Family. Kelly wrote the book with the primary goal of helping families of all kinds learn how to use meditation to cope with the everyday struggles of being a person who is also part of a family.

In this episode, Kelly talked about mindfulness for modern families and activities to help ease the back-to-school transition for kids and parents. Here are some of the questions we covered:

Kelly's mindfulness activities for kids and tips are great for going back to school, but I noticed that they can be used many times in our lives. There are so many benefits to practicing mindfulness and meditation. Doing these practices as a family is a wonderful way to introduce them into your kids' lives and grow together through challenging times.

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When you have a child, you realize that you'll be preparing three meals a day, seven days a week, for the next 18 years for each of your kids. That can be a bit overwhelming to think about for any parent. Thankfully, our guest today, Chef Catherine McCord, knows this all too well as a mother of three. We are excited to have her as our guest on this episode because she is sharing her experience, tips, and tricks to make the age-old question, "What's for dinner?" much easier for us all. 

Catherine McCord is the founder of the popular website weelicious.com and the family food brand One Potato. She is the author of Smoothie Project, Weelicious, Weelicious Lunches, and her newest book Meal Prep Magic: Time-Saving Tips for Stress-Free Cooking. Catherine has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, and the Kelly Clarkson Show. She is a regular on the NBC Emmy Award–winning show Danny Seo Naturally as well as Food Network’s #1 rated Guy’s Grocery Games. Catherine lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three children and she has earned the trust of parents everywhere, including some familiar names such as Jennifer Garner and “The Pioneer Woman” Ree Drummond.

In this episode, Catherine McCord talked about all things motherhood and how to navigate the kitchen and feed your family with less stress! Here are some of the questions we covered:

A lot of the magic is also in her new book, Meal Prep Magic. It takes readers a step beyond the ideological approach of Marie Kondo and The Home Edit, bringing parents a practical guide to organizing the most important space in their home — the kitchen. It offers 100 of her favorite family recipes, including tried-and-tested secrets for saving time. (What parent doesn't want that?) We also really love how the recipes are easy to prep and make ahead. It's a great book for all home cooks and busy mothers! If you want your time to get easier in the kitchen, listen to this episode!

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About to have a baby? Expecting moms often think about everything the baby will need, but what about you — the mother you are becoming? Preparing for motherhood and your postpartum time is imperative. It's a transformative time — mind, body, and soul. And there is a lot to think about and consider when preparing for your new life with your baby. This is why we are grateful to chat with Anne Wanlund and Stef Werdmuller on today's episode to dive deeply into the postpartum period, including postpartum wellness and the connection between postpartum depression and breastfeeding.

Anne Wanlund is the Co-Founder and CEO of Canopie, a digital maternal mental health company. Before Canopie, she spent over five years leading maternal health organizations in East Africa, most recently as the COO of a social enterprise that uses technology to improve maternal and child nutrition. She has worked in global health for the State Department, USAID, and Massachusetts General Hospital and has a Master's degree from Tufts University. Anne is channeling her passion and expertise in maternal health and personal experiences with mental health conditions as a new mom to address the enormous care gap.

Stef Werdmuller is an IBCLC, teacher, and medical records coordinator at Aeroflow Healthcare. She is also a postpartum doula and student herbalist with an ever-increasing passion for supporting growing families. After a challenging experience breastfeeding her first child without access to resources and support, Stef was inspired to care for other parents going through the same issues. Stef values sustainability and innovation and wants the mothers she supports to know that they matter, and that non-judgmental help is available while they nourish their babies.

In this episode, we chat with Stef and Anne about all things postpartum, including the connection between postpartum depression and breastfeeding. So many things are going on with our bodies when we are postpartum. With all of the changes, physically and emotionally, it's important to keep certain things in mind and do certain things for a smoother transition to new motherhood. Anne and Stef explain how mothers' mental health can impact their ability to feed their babies, and thankfully, they share where mothers can turn for help and much lots more.

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During pregnancy, we wait nine long months (some more, some less) to meet our precious babies. Then, once our babies enter the world, our world is truly never the same. Everything is about the baby. And everyone begins asking about the baby. Yes, the baby is extremely important, but what about the mom? Our guest today, Becky Vieira, is saying, "Enough about the baby!" She wants to bring more attention and support to new moms, and we're chatting with her all about it.

We're excited to have Becky Vieira as our guest! Becky is the voice behind the popular Instagram mom account @WittyOtter, where she is leading the shift in how women speak about motherhood. Becky has been a go-to writer in the parenting space for more than seven years for sites like Baby Center and Scary Mommy. Before becoming a writer, she spent fifteen years as a publicist for some of the biggest public relations agencies. She represented major consumer brands, including Mattel’s Barbie®, Disney Consumer Products, and the charitable Stand Up to Cancer program. Becky now lives in Northern California with her husband and son, and we are pumped to "chick chat" with her about the first year of motherhood.

In this episode, we chat with Becky about all things motherhood, strategies for thriving, and how we can shift the traditional perspective of the first year of motherhood. Becky is hilarious and honest in sharing her struggles during her first year of motherhood. She touches on her experience with postpartum depression, the problems she faced in her marriage, and her post-baby body image. We appreciate her strength and willingness to share her own personal stories to help better prepare moms for the reality of that first year and strategies for thriving. It's a great episode that we think every new mom should listen to.

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The pelvic floor is usually not something a person regularly thinks about. Unfortunately, it's not something someone necessarily pays attention to until they experience a problem. When a woman becomes pregnant and has a baby, many women start to recognize just how important their pelvic floor is and that they may need to seek help. Pelvic floor health is not the sexiest topic, but it's a vital one, especially for expecting women and mothers. And today's guest, Dr. Marcy Crouch, is an expert talking with us all about vaginas and the pelvic floor. She's sharing her vast knowledge and experience as well as what all women need to know about pelvic floor health during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. 

Dr. Marcy is the founder of The Down There Doc. She's a mama and a doctor dedicated to universally serving, empowering, and equipping women and the birthing community with confidence-building and injury-prevention tips, along with valuable information and knowledge to support birth preparation and postpartum recovery. Through The DownThere Doc's content, online programs, virtual sessions, advocacy, and clear, candid information, Dr. Marcy and her team of experts are dedicated to creating better care for women everywhere. Her vision is to set a new standard of physical health and well-being for birth preparation and postpartum recovery for the birthing community so women thrive physically throughout their lives. We absolutely love this mission and are ecstatic to have her on our show. You'll leave this episode feeling more knowledgeable about your pelvic floor, and you'll have a better understanding of what you can do to better prepare for childbirth, how to effectively push during labor, some recovery from childbirth tips, and the most useful pelvic floor tips in the days and weeks following childbirth.

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As someone with a twin brother who has autism, this topic is very near and dear to my heart. It's important to me to have this discussion with a professional so that more people can understand autism, what it means, the signs and symptoms, and how families can get help. The CDC recently released data showing 1 in 36 children is now affected by ASD. Now more than ever, we all need to understand autism better.

Today we have Jana Sarno as our guest! Jana is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with extensive educational, clinical, and professional development experience in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis. She earned her Bachelor of Science from Western Michigan University (WMU). Jana then attended The University of Southern Mississippi for her PhD. in school psychology. During her time at USM, she worked with children enrolled in Head Start/Early Head Start, local school districts, a multi-disciplinary setting for children with communication and developmental disorders, and the USM School Psychology Clinic. After her time at USM, Jana completed a year-long internship at the Marcus Autism Center, an NIH Autism Center of Excellence in Atlanta, GA. While at Marcus, Jana received intensive clinical experience in the assessment and treatment of severe problem behavior, verbal behavior, and feeding disorders. 

It's evident that Jana is an expert in her field, and we are grateful to spend some time with her to chat about autism, early signs and symptoms, and the steps to take if your child is exhibiting any of them. We came with a lot of questions, and she delivered. If you or anyone you know has questions about ASD and wants to learn more, this episode is for you.

We hope you found this episode helpful. If you did and enjoyed it, please subscribe to our podcast, Chick Chat, and leave us an honest review.

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It's so exciting once your child hits the babbling and talking milestone! Their first words are precious and parents try to do everything they can to help their child learn how to better express themselves and their needs through language. But if you notice that your child isn't saying as many words as his peers, you may be concerned that your child might have a speech or language delay. I know I felt this way with my first child and brought this up to our pediatrician. It can be a real concern, but thankfully there are plenty of resources that can help. Today's podcast guest is talking with us about all of the signs of speech and language delays and what parents can do.

On today's episode, we have Speech Language Pathologist Lenora Edwards. Lenora is an ASHA Board Certified Speech Language Pathologist and Chief Knowledge Officer at Better Speech. Since obtaining her CCC's in 2010, she has worked with individuals of all ages, from little ones who are learning to understand and express themselves to adults who want to improve their speaking skills and become more fluent and effective communicators.

Lenora shares with us about signs of speech and language delays, how parents can identify a speech or language delay, and all the steps that follow. It's a great episode that will give parents more clarity on what to expect, and how they can help their child if they suspect a delay.

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Did you know that our past experiences can affect how we parent in the present? It seems quite obvious, but there are so many layers to this. I've learned a lot about this from Dr. Shefali Tsabary and today, we have the privilege of having her with us on our show.

Who is Dr. Shefali?

Dr. Shefali received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Columbia University. Specializing in the integration of Western psychology and Eastern philosophy, she brings together the best of both worlds for her clients. She is an expert in family dynamics and personal development, teaching courses around the globe. She has written four books, three of which are New York Times bestsellers, including her two landmark books, The Conscious Parent and The Awakened Family.

Today, Dr. Shefali is chatting with us about creating the ultimate parent-child relationship. We explore some practical solutions that can allow parents to connect with their children authentically, and she shares some powerful tips from her latest book, The Parenting Map.

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