Becoming a parent is a daunting adventure for many, and social media often magnifies its challenges. Our listener shares that after witnessing the primal scream of under-resourced parents (read: mostly mothers) on Instagram during the pandemic, she is more afraid than ever about becoming a mom. The stats validate her concerns: As of 2016, women spend about four hours a day on unpaid work, compared with about 2.5 hours for men according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. How is our listener to keep an open mind about becoming a parent when every part of her is feeling closed off?

Our guest Elaine Welteroth is an award-winning journalist, TV host, and author of the instant New York Times bestselling book "More Than Enough," which won the 2020 NAACP Image Award for outstanding literary work. Her popular new advice column “Ask Elaine” appears in The Washington Post, exploring how to navigate pivots in life with more ease and less angst. You can catch MaterniTea on Elaine’s Instagram. Apply for a “No” Grant from Pure Leaf here, and learn more about Elaine’s doula Kimberly Durdin and Kindred Space LA here.

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