Postpartum Production

By Kaitlin SolimineSociety & Culture Arts Parenting Kids & Family

Postpartum Production episodes

May 11, 2022Redefining Motherhood’s Worth Through Art with Memoirist Sarah Chaves
"I put so much pressure on myself to produce when I was pregnant. Just because there was that end date of Ooh, baby will finally come out into the world but also like this end of a chapter in my life where I would be able to produce as widely or as efficiently before I actually had the baby. So that was probably my biggest challenge during pregnancy."
~ Sarah Chaves
In this episode, Kaitlin is joined by Sarah Chaves. Sarah is a first-generation Portuguese-American author, mom and educator whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, and more. Her current project is a memoir about the death of her father when she was a teenager.

Sarah is also a mother to one vivacious little boy named Leo, and was three months postpartum at the time of this episode’s recording.

Sarah and Kaitlin talk about:
The questions and topics mothers face during postpartum and beyond, plus those that many creative practitioners also face.
The financial impact of being a mother, specifically the challenges of navigating a complete lack of a federal US maternity leave policy, which leaves so many new families in the lurch.
Sarah's memoir and the role her mother played both as a character in her writing & work.
And lots more.

Sarah can be found on:
Instagram: @sarita_chaves
Her website: sarahchaves.com

Related resources:

Some further reading on the false dichotomy between motherhood and creativity that Sarah talks about.

Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and give us a rating. This will help us reach more listeners like you who are navigating the joys and pitfalls of artistic and parenting identities.

For regular updates:
Visit our website: postpartumproduction.com
Follow us on Instagram: @postpartumproductionpodcast

Subscribe to our podcast newsletter on Substack: https://postpartumproduction.substack.com
40 min
May 03, 2022 Introducing the Postpartum Production Podcast with Kaitlin Solimine
"Postpartum is really about a constant period of identity transformation, and exploring every challenge and possibility that comes with that massive life transition.”
~ Kaitlin Solimine

Welcome to our corner of the world. This is the Postpartum Production Podcast. In this podcast, you’ll hear from artists like novelists, painters, filmmakers, choreographers, and more who are mothers and caregivers. Join us every other week as we unpack concepts like: What is postpartum? What does it mean to be a mother and an artist in a capitalist society? How do we stay relevant and visible as artists when our lives are completely transformed by the caregiving for another human being?

We will be constantly examining and re-examining what it means to be a productive artist and parent, and how we can work together to redefine productivity to create more supportive communities, careers, workspaces, and family structures for artist-caregivers.

We are excited for you to join this conversation.

We’d really love it if you could subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and give us a rating. This will help us reach more listeners like you who are navigating the joys and pitfalls of artistic and parenting identities.

Find out more about us:

Website: www.postpartumproduction.com

Instagram: @postpartumproductionpodcast

Subscribe to our newsletter: https://postpartumproduction.substack.com
10 min

About Postpartum Production

From the publisher's feed

TL;DR (i.e., give me the elevator pitch!) description:

Being a producer of creative projects and a mother don’t need to be mutually exclusive pursuits—how can we as parents in early postpartum (and well beyond!) reframe and reclaim the work we do as creatives and caregivers, to be seen as productive, valued, and meaningful? Join novelist and host Kaitlin Solimine on this journey to reframing postpartum and caregiving as worthy of intellectual, philosophical, and socially-impactful pursuit.

Long description:

It’s hard to find the balance between being a mother and pursuing creative projects – especially during the 4th trimester. When Kaitlin Solimine, a published, award-winning author and mother of three young children, was lying in bed recovering from her third childbirth, she had an epiphany: this time that most have described as “lost” time, was rather extremely creatively informative for her (she wrote new sections of her novel and even launched this podcast from that bed!).

Deep in the trenches of early postpartum herself, join Kaitlin and her creator-activist-mother guests, as they navigate the liminal space between mothering and creating. If you are a new parent in postpartum, had a creative pursuit before you became a mother, or simply seek inspiration from other artists who are creating during a transitional time, this is the podcast for you.

These episodes will provide you with practical and philosophical suggestions on how to reframe your work in a space where parenting is not ordinarily considered meaningful productivity, generate new ideas on how to incorporate creativity into motherhood (and how parenting moments may inspire creative pursuits as well!), and explore other artists’ processes around creating during the transition to parenting young children. Although this podcast is not meant to be prescriptive, hearing these stories and learning about the tools other creatives use will hopefully inspire you to consider ways to integrate your artist and caregiver identities in meaningful, impactful ways.

Why the term “production”?

Google the term “postpartum” and you’ll be led to a plethora of websites about postpartum depression and anxiety. While these are important topics and experiences worthy of additional research and support, the postpartum period, when treated with support and curiosity, can be reframed as one of creative possibility and identity transformation. Rather than relinquishing new mothers to corners where they need to choose between creative work and caregiving, or where they feel completely lost when it comes to their creative identity, this podcast provides a third path for creative mothers who are seeking meaning and validation of the caregiving work they do on a daily basis.

What is “productive” time when you’re a mother and a creative? How can public-facing creative projects, and the often hidden and devalued time of raising humans, be seen as “productive” pursuits within the current capitalist structure of American and Western society?

Kaitlin herself has discovered that the postpartum period after birth offers an opportunity to pause and find new significance to exploring artistry while caregiving as an integral part of life. Notably, Kaitlin recorded the early episodes of her first season while in postpartum with her third child.

Biweekly, Kaitlin talks with authors, poets, writers, painters, philosophers, and parenting experts about mothering, changing perceptions of motherhood/parenting, art, creativity, activism, family leave, childbirth, finding inspiration, changing identities, expansive change, caregiving roles, and more.