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Today I speak with Dr. Ciera Kirkpatrick. She is an assistant professor of advertising and public relations at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Ciera studies how messages in the media — like social media, advertising, and news coverage — influence individuals’ health by affecting their health-related knowledge, attitudes, and behavior intentions. After becoming a mom in 2020, Ciera became especially interested in the media's effects on new mothers. She noticed that social media was influencing her postpartum experience and her expectations of motherhood. Combining her personal experience with her expertise in media effects, Ciera began studying how social media comparisons to motherhood portrayals can be harmful to the mental health of new moms. Ciera lives in Nebraska with her husband, son, and a daughter on the way!

We talk about:

-what the research says

-idealized motherhood

-how moms compare themselves

-finding out who is most susceptible

-postpartum body image

-where we get our health information

-curating who you follow

-shifting trends in content

Time Stamps

1:00 Introduction

3:30 idealized motherhood

9:13 self-esteem & comparison

16:15 health info from peers versus providers

22:04 education versus entertainment

32:05 overlap of the comparison

33:40 how her researchers influenced her actions

38:20 shift toward more organic content

40:54 rapid fire questions

CONNECT WITH CARRIE

IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/

Website: https://carriepagliano.com

CONNECT WITH CIERA

IG: https://www.instagram.com/dr_ciera_k/

Website: https://journalism.unl.edu/person/ciera-kirkpatrick/

Twitter: @Dr_Ciera_K

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciera-dockter-kirkpatrick/

The Active Mom Podcast is A Real Moms' Guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond for active moms & the professionals who help them in their journey.

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