In honoring Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month, today’s topic is mother burnout. It’s something a lot of us moms feel, but we often don’t recognize it until it’s too late. Let’s learn more!

Diana Spalding is Digital Education Editor at Motherly, along with being a certified nurse-midwife, pediatric nurse, and mother of three. She wrote The Motherly Guide to Becoming Mama, which was just released. We’ll discuss what burnout means, why it’s important to pay attention, how to recognize the early signs, and what to do from there.

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Motherly

Instagram: Motherly

Facebook: Motherly Media 

The Motherly Guide to Becoming Mama: Redefining the Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum Journey by Diana Spalding, Jill Koziol, and LIz Tenety

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May is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month, and today, May 6, happens to be World Maternal Mental Health Day. It’s a fitting day to bring you this show with an expert who is the driving force behind a pioneering study to help diagnose postpartum depression earlier and get moms the treatment they need.

Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, MD, MPH, is co-principal investigator of the Mom Genes Fight PPD research study, as well as the Assad Meymandi Distinguished Professor and Chair of the UNC Department of Psychiatry and director of the UNC Center for Women’s Mood Disorders. Her funded research is focused on understanding the genetic signature of postpartum depression and investigating novel technologies and treatment modalities to optimize and personalize treatment for women with perinatal depression. Most recently, this has included the MOM GENES app and the brexanolone clinical trials, the first FDA-approved medication for postpartum depression. She knows a lot, and she’s done a lot with her significant work in perinatal mental health.

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Mom Genes Fight PPD Learn how you can join the study from the comfort of your own home.

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Emilia Ortega-Jara, LCSW is a psychotherapist, Founder and Clinical Director of Corazon Counseling Service Inc., a holistic culturally-rooted community-based counseling center that focuses on all things Preconception, Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum! Emilia has over 20 years’ experience working in the mental health field and has been a longtime advocate for culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services in the Latinx community. She has worked with various social justice organizations and community based mental health agencies throughout California. After the birth of her son, Emilia took special interest in developing her clinical expertise in the treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety distress among Chicana/Indigenous and Latinx communities. She is Certified as a Perinatal Mental Health Specialist through Postpartum Support International and is trained in EMDR, she uses EMDR techniques in the treatment of Perinatal Loss and Birth Trauma. Emilia is passionate about supporting and empowering parents at all stages of their parenting journey through the use of traditional ancestral knowledge and modern trauma-informed psychotherapy. Emilia is a mother to a spirited and emotionally attuned 8-year-old who loves the fact that mommy helps other mommies not be sad, and wife to the most supportive and socially conscious husband.

Nayeli Corona-Zitney is a bilingual, licensed clinical social worker whose private practice in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, specializes in Perinatal Mental Health. Her experience includes therapeutic work with adolescents, families, and new parents experiencing perinatal mood disorders. Nayeli is an active member of Postpartum International (PSI) and currently volunteers as PSI’s support coordinator for Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in California. Nayeli is committed to offering her expertise to the community. She does this through her private practice and also by facilitating pregnancy and postpartum support groups in the community in both English and Spanish. Nayeli is a wife, mother of two, and Perinatal Mental Health Advocate who integrates a social justice framework, which recognizes how migration and historical socio-political policies can negatively impact certain groups.

Puntos destacados del podcast:

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• Consejería Terapia del Diálogo:

Corazon Counseling

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One challenge that every therapist faces is helping clients through a difficulty that hits very close to home. For instance, when you’ve experienced a personal perinatal mental health challenge, then it can be triggering to provide support for others. Today’s guest has found a way to handle those difficult moments and turn her experience into commitment and advocacy for others.

Bridget Cross is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, certified perinatal mental health professional, and mom to two daughters. She lives in Savannah, Georgia, and works in private practice providing individual, family, and group therapy to new, hopeful, and expectant moms. Bridget is also a volunteer coordinator for the Georgia chapter of Postpartum Support International, and she’s a member of the Maternal Mental Health Collective of Savannah. Bridget’s passion is supporting women in all phases of life, but especially as they encounter and cope with the transition to motherhood. Bridget discusses what it’s like to work as a therapist with pregnant and postpartum moms when going through infertility, and what it’s like working with a perinatal population when going through her pregnancy and postpartum period., Therapists are human, and they have to deal with their own challenges while helping their clients.

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Bridget Cross LCSW

Facebook: Bridget Cross LCSW

Listen To Moms 

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The focus of our chat is on sex, but it’s also about relationships and stress and how our brains work. Our guest Emily Nagoski, Ph.D. shares her brilliant wisdom with us in this episode. Given the current state of the world, we are living in times of unprecedented stress, which absolutely affects how we relate to each other. I’m excited for you to hear this episode and learn more about your brain, sex and stress, especially postpartum. (FYI, sex related body parts, sex related words are used in our chat).

 Emily Nagoski is a sex educator and the author of Come As You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex LIfe and Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle. Her job is to travel all over the world, training therapists, medical professionals, college students, and the general public about the science of women’s sexual wellbeing.

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Emily Nagoski

Come As You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life by Emily Nagoski

 Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski

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Today’s show is a special episode with difficult and sensitive topics. We’ll be hearing about Nora and her story of postpartum psychosis and filicide. We have the honor of hearing from Nora’s mother, Kathryn Gahl. She will share from her perspective as a mother and what it’s been like to see what Nora has been through and continues to experience in her imprisonment after filicide. We’ll also hear from Dr. Brooke Laufer, a clinical psychologist who picked up on this case and has followed it closely. Nora has given her permission for us to have this conversation with Brooke and Kathryn about her case. The goal is to get information out in the public about postpartum psychosis, its detection, and treatment. Join us to hear the mother’s perspective, the clinical perspective, and what’s going on in Nora’s life right now.

Nora’s mother, Kathryn Gahl, became a widely-published, multi-genre writer after a long career as a nurse manager. She is the mother of a daughter and a son, and in 2004, she lost her young grandson to filicide. Now, her bookshelves sag with letters from her imprisoned daughter, who is also a registered nurse. Kathryn believes in the transformative power of dance, dark chocolate, and red lipstick to help her get through life.

Brooke Laufer has been a practicing psychologist since 2005. She began her clinical work in psychiatric wards with severely mentally ill patients and then worked in schools with adolescents and their families. She is currently in private practice doing psychoanalytic psychotherapy. After having her first child, Brooke had a disturbing postpartum OCD experience, which inspired her to begin researching, understanding, and specializing in the area of perinatal mental illness. She recently started working as an expert witness for women who have committed a crime in a postpartum episode. Brooke has two children of her own, along with a Golden Retriever and a loyal husband; they live, work, and play in Evanston, Illinois.

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Dr. Brooke Laufer

Kathryn Gahl

Gahlstone

Twitter: @kathryngahl

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Perinatal mental health is the focus of many Mom & Mind episodes, but infant mental health is often overlooked in our discussions. It’s fascinating to see the intersection of infant mental health and perinatal health, and research shows that we need to consider how these two systems work together to bring mental health to both parents and their babies. We are jumping into this interesting topic with today’s guest.

Meyleen Velasquez is a psychotherapist who specializes in infant and perinatal mental health. Her practice supports individuals identifying as women and clinicians working on practicing from an anti-oppressive framework. In today’s episode, we’ll talk about what infant mental health is and why it’s important to consider--along with perinatal mental health. Many moms worry about not doing the right thing for their child, so they fall into the traps of modern parenthood. Meyleen talks about the reality of parenthood, assuring you that you aren’t messing up your kids if you don’t attend to them ALL the time.

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Hummingbird Counseling

Facebook: Hummingbird Counseling

Zeroththree 

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We talk about a lot of things that people don’t want to talk about or even hear. Still, they are very real, challenging, and difficult circumstances surrounding pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. It’s important to share these stories because these difficulties become a reality for many people. Today’s show focuses on birth trauma and breastfeeding as we hear our guest’s personal account.

Erin Northrup is a mom of four busy children, ranging in age from 2-10. She lives in Atlantic Canada, where she enjoys spending time in nature with her family. With the birth of her oldest child, Jack, she experienced birth trauma, and this experience sparked her passion for researching trauma. Erin holds a bachelor’s in Psychology and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Health Services Research. Her current research explores the experience of breastfeeding after birth trauma. Her own experience of breastfeeding after birth trauma inspired her to become a volunteer with a breastfeeding support organization offering community-based, peer to peer breastfeeding support. She is committed to raising awareness of the intersection of birth trauma, breastfeeding, and perinatal mental health.

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Instagram: Live Learn Lactate

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We know that our body systems are complicated. There’s no way we can understand everything we need to know to have a healthy pregnancy and postpartum, but the more we know how the brain and body work together, the more prepared we can be. Today’s show focuses on the thyroid, the small--but mighty--organ that impacts fertility, loss, pregnancy, and postpartum.

Dr. Hilary Mandzik is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Cary, NC. She also sees clients remotely throughout North Carolina and Virginia. Hilary holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from George Washington University and a Master’s in Education from Harvard. In addition, she has advanced clinical training in perinatal mental health. Hilary is passionate about supporting parents in their journey from conception and onward. She wants to help parents and children feel connected to each other and live their best lives as individuals and as a family unit. In today’s show, Hilary tells us about how her thyroid condition impacted her fertility journey. We’ll discuss other clinical aspects to consider concerning the thyroid, as well as what you need to know if you’re working toward pregnancy. You’ll learn that many people have thyroid conditions and don’t even know it.

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Hilary Mandzik

Stop the Thyroid Madness book

Stop the Thyroid Madness website

Stop the Thyroid Madness 2 book

Hangry book: 5 Simple Steps to Balance Your Hormones and Restore Your Joy (Including a Customizable Paleo/Mediterranean Plan!)

The Sarah & Dr. Brooke Show podcast

The Autoimmune Solution book by Dr. Amy Myers

The Root Cause book by Dr. Isabella Wentz

The Hashimoto’s Protocol book by Dr. Isabella Wentz

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Welcome to a new year! This is a monumental year for me, as it marks ten years since I was pregnant with my daughter and experienced postpartum depression, anxiety, and OCD. I never dreamed back then that I would be where I am today, trying to help moms and families because of my personal mental health experience. In today’s show, I’ll reflect on those thoughts and feelings that were so overwhelming for me.

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Postpartum

PSI Directory

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