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When your clients say they're "drowning" or they "can't trust themselves," we can't just chalk it up to a simple chemical imbalance. We have to get real about postpartum anxiety (PPA). The clinical model, with its standard screening tools like the Edinburgh scale, is missing the deeper, unrecognized crisis of identity and boundaries that fuels so much of the mental load and perinatal mental health struggle.

Carley Schweet joins Maranda us today to share her own journey through undiagnosed PPA and the profound psychological and neurological rewiring that happens in the mother's brain. They talk about radical self-care, the power of reconnecting with maternal intuition, and how setting and honoring boundaries is the key to moving from feeling "not enough" to thriving in motherhood. This conversation is your key to recognizing the subtle, yet debilitating, non-clinical signs of PPA and giving your clients permission to choose differently so they can heal at the root.

Check out this episode on the blog HERE: 

Key time stamps: 

• 01:47 Carley's personal struggle with undiagnosed postpartum anxiety 
• 02:56 The  fear of losing a child that silences mothers & mental health. 
• 03:40 The creation of Hello Postpartum gift boxes to honor the mother
• 07:12 Standard clinical scales miss the identity shift and deeper trauma. 
• 08:25 Postpartum anxiety can start 3+ years after birth. 
• 09:48 Carley's coaching background + boundaries and people-pleasing. 
• 11:13 Motherhood as a mirror for untrue narratives and lack of self-care. 
• 13:53 The challenge of boundary setting is a consistent theme
• 16:14 Psychological and neurological rewiring in the mother's brain 
• 17:21 The biggest hormonal drop occurs after the placenta detaches. 
• 17:40 The power of giving yourself permission to choose differently 
• 19:36 How Chat GPT and AI contribute to intuitive disconnection 
• 21:52 The daily practice of disconnection 

Connect with Carley: 

 In 2020, Carley founded Hello Postpartum, a platform dedicated to curating thoughtful gift boxes for new moms while uplifting other women-owned businesses. As a mom of two, published author, entrepreneur, and holistic self-care coach, Carley brings a passionate and intentional perspective to all she does. She currently lives outside of Seattle, where she runs her business and enjoys life with her family.   Website | IG 

NEXT STEPS:

• 🎒Download the Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool
• 🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training
• 🔔Sign up for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
• 👍Rate, REVIEW & share the podcast
• 📱Connect on Instagram!
• 📚Get a Copy of the BOOK: Reclaiming Postpartum Wellness
• Additional Courses for Providers & Postpartum Professionals

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Let's expose the standard advice that is making new mothers miserable: the push for high-fiber, raw fruits and vegetables immediately postpartum. It sounds healthy, but it's the root cause of crippling postpartum bloating, gas, and poor nutrient absorption!

Get ready for a physiological truth: the postpartum digestive system is temporarily compromised. Loading it with complex plant matter is sabotage. You'll uncover the ancient wisdom of traditional cultures (Chinese, Ayurvedic) that prioritized warm, cooked, easily digestible foods for thousands of years. This episode is your guide to strategic postpartum nutrition that maximizes healing and finally ends the cycle of depletion and discomfort.

Check out this episode on the blog HERE. 

Key time stamps: 

• 02:50: Why the postpartum digestive system is temporarily compromised.
• 04:05: The body prioritizes critical healing over complex digestion. 
• 05:40: Traditional cultures prioritize warm, cooked, easily digestible foods. 
• 07:15: Why cold, raw foods dampen the digestive "fire." 
• 08:20: The flaw in modern nutrition: ignoring digestibility and absorption. 
• 08:50: Fiber requires significant digestive capacity the postpartum body lacks. 
• 10:10: How high-fiber foods cause bloating, gas, and inflammation in a compromised gut. 
• 11:00: Raw vegetables are problematic: they require high energy and are "cooling." 
• 12:50: The benefits of cooking: increased nutrient bioavailability and reduced anti-nutrients. 
• 13:30: The real causes of postpartum constipation (hormones, fear, magnesium deficiency). 
• 14:55: How high fiber impairs nutrient absorption (binding effect) for depleted mothers. 
• 16:00: The correct progression: simple/cooked → complex/raw. 
• 17:00: Immediate relief: Switching to cooked, warm food resolves bloating in days. 
• 17:55: The importance of respecting digestive capacity and natural progression.

NEXT STEPS:

• 🎒Download the Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool
• 🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training
• 🔔Sign up for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
• 👍Rate, REVIEW & share the podcast
• 📱Connect on Instagram!
• 📚Get a Copy of the BOOK: Reclaiming Postpartum Wellness
• Additional Courses for Providers & Postpartum Professionals

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Postpartum providers, the PPD and exhaustion your clients face are direct outcomes of the medicalized birth model. Renowned OB-turned-advocate Dr. Stu Fischbein joins us to expose why standard practices (like the "six-week checkup") create pervasive obstetrical trauma. This episode cuts through the noise to reveal the root cause of the postpartum crisis and shows you how to fight for the holistic care your clients deserve.

Check out this episode on the blog HERE

Key time stamps: 

• 01:44: Dr. Stu's unique perspective: 28 years in hospital OB vs. 12+ years in home birth
• 04:52: OB residency teaches providers to view pregnancy as an illness
• 08:00: The hospital model is designed for efficiency and profit
• 11:48: The "see you in six weeks" model is driven by financial reimbursement
• 15:04: The medical system separates mother and baby as two entities
• 20:50: The economic and societal benefit of paid parental leave
• 23:44: subsidizing midwifery care for a year is an important social change
• 26:40: Why women must not abdicate responsibility for their birth care
• 29:44: Obstetrical abuse behaviors are similar to domestic abuse
• 35:07: Obstetrical trauma makes postpartum recovery more difficult. 
• 38:40: cognitive dissonance that prevents doctors from seeing the problem. 
• 44:45: Why families cannot rely on the system for postpartum support. 
• 46:00: The critical role of the husband in defending the mother
• 48:38: Why medicine ignores what it can't quantify or bill for 
• 50:40: The danger of licensing doulas and regulating quality. 
• 54:17: Why midwifery schools are becoming medicalized 

Connect with Dr. Stu

Stuart James Fischbein MD is a published author of the book “Fearless Pregnancy, Wisdom & Reassurance from a Doctor, A Midwife and A Mom” and peer-reviewed papers Homebirth with an Obstetrician, A Series of 135 Out of Hospital Births, Breech Birth at Home and Twin Home Birth. He spent 28 years assisting women with hospital birthing and, then for the next 12+ years, was a homebirth obstetrician who worked directly with midwives.  He now lectures globally, advocating for informed consent and reteaching breech & twin birth skills. Host of the weekly Birthing Instincts Podcast with Blyss Young. Website | IG 

NEXT STEPS:

• 🎒Download the Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool
• 🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training
• 🔔Sign up for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
• 👍Rate, REVIEW & share the podcast
• 📱Connect on Instagram!
• 📚Get a Copy of the BOOK: Reclaiming Postpartum Wellness
• Additional Courses for Providers & Postpartum Professionals

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 Stop Starving Postpartum Mothers: The Dangerous Lie of the 300-500 Calorie Postpartum Diet Recommendation

The 300-500 calorie recommendation for breastfeeding?  It's fundamentally flawed, based on decades-old data scaled down from men, and is actively keeping postpartum mothers nutritionally depleted. Maranda is exposing this colossal gap in maternal health. Learn the real metabolic demands of healing, the truth about nutrient depletion, and the 1100–1600 extra calories needed for holistic recovery. This is the key to unlocking lasting solutions for your clients struggling with exhaustion and mood disorders.

Check out this episode on the blog HERE: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/the-300-500-calorie-myth-why-standard-postpartum-nutrition-advice-is-starving-mothers-ep-244/

Key time stamps: 

• 02:12: Defining the 300-500 calorie myth and its inadequate nature.
• 03:45: The shocking history: RDAs based on male bodies, not women.
• 06:40: The massive nutrient depletion caused by pregnancy and birth.
• 08:15: Milk production costs 500-700 calories—consuming the entire recommendation.
• 09:30: Energetic demands: Tissue healing, blood rebuilding, hormone recalibration.
• 10:18: The shocking truth: Moms need 1100–1600 extra calories a day.
• 11:55: The focus of current science is accommodating weight loss, not healing.
• 13:00: 80% of postpartum women are depleted in key nutrients.
• 14:50: Why the body literally cannibalizes bones and teeth for milk.
• 16:30: The solution: Focusing on nutrients, not just calories.
• 17:00: Protein needed: 80 to 120 grams per day for tissue repair.
• 17:55: Importance of therapeutic micronutrients (beyond RDA levels).
• 18:40: The damaging effect of calorie restriction on postpartum hunger signals.
• 19:50: Restricting calories triggers a stress response and leads to weight retention.
• 20:45: The myth that breastfeeding guarantees automatic weight loss.
• 21:40: Prolactin, the lactation hormone, triggers fat storage—it's protective.
• 22:30: The 300-500 calorie recommendation needs to die.

NEXT STEPS:

• 🎒Download the Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool
• 🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training
• 🔔Sign up for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
• 👍Rate, REVIEW & share the podcast
• 📱Connect on Instagram!
• 📚Get a Copy of the BOOK: Reclaiming Postpartum Wellness
• Additional Courses for Providers & Postpartum Professionals

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If you feel like you & your clients are losing a battle, you need to listen. Journalist and activist Milli Hill  connects the dots on how the industrialized assault on female health is a unified war on women's autonomy. Milli connects the industrialized assault on female health to the rise of PPD and birth trauma. We expose the truth your perinatal mental health clients face: how ultra-processed food, profit-driven medicalization of childbirth, and sex-based language erasure attack the biological reality of motherhood. 

Check out the episode on the blog HERE: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/the-war-on-womens-language-with-milli-hill-ep-243/

Key time stamps: 

• 02:20 Ultra-Processed Women Why changing diet is a radical act of resistance
• 04:45 Disconnection from nature and the body as a systemic issues
• 09:06 The link between industrialization, profit, and the patriarchal control over women's bodies
• 12:11 Why the saying "all that matters is a healthy baby" minimizes the woman's birth experience and value
• 14:15 Moms and babies are not fine/ moving away from normalization of struggle
• 16:16 Navigating the debate around sex-based language and cancel culture 
• 25:00 Distinguishing between individual inclusion/pronoun respect and population-level language erasure
• 26:37 The erasure of women in politics and publications creates a new form of censorship
• 28:58 Language war is a men's rights movement aiming to decouple womanhood from female biology
• 31:00 "What About Women?"

Connect with Milli

Milli Hill is a best-selling author, feminist journalist, and advocate known for reframing the narrative around women's bodies and autonomy in health. She is the author of The Positive Birth Book, Give Birth like a Feminist, and the critically acclaimed Ultra Processed Women. She founded and ran the Positive Birth Movement (2012-2021), a global network focused on improving birth experiences. A leading voice in the debate around sex-based language in maternity care, she writes the popular Substack, WHAT ABOUT WOMEN, which focuses on feminism, sex/gender issues, and the erasure of women from language, alongside her Substack Unprocess (exploring a less processed plate and life). She lives in Somerset with her family.

Website | IG | Substack 

NEXT STEPS:

• 🎒Download the Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool
• 🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training
• 🔔Sign up for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
• 👍Rate, REVIEW & share the podcast
• 📱Connect on Instagram!
• 📚Get a Copy of the BOOK: Reclaiming Postpartum Wellness
• Additional Courses for Providers & Postpartum Professionals

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What if the very foundation of modern care—science alone—is the problem?

You see the stats: mothers are drowning in postpartum depression, crippling anxiety, and mysterious autoimmune flare-ups. You're doing the screenings, you're following the standard protocols, but the lasting solutions are elusive. What if the very foundation of modern care—science alone—is the problem? Maranda dives into the six critical limitations of medical science that are actively harming mothers in the fourth trimester. This isn't anti-science; it's a call for a more honest, holistic postpartum health model. This episode exposes the six critical limitations of medical care actively harming the fourth trimester. We break down why relying on RCTs ignores millennia of successful traditional postpartum practices. Discover the Three Pillars of Knowledge for root-cause resolution in perinatal mental health and move beyond symptom management

Check out the episode on the blog HERE: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/the-6-critical-blind-spots-of-science-that-are-harming-postpartum-moms-ep-242/

Key time stamps: 

• 04:15: Miranda’s personal story: Dismissed with Zoloft, actually had thyroid dysfunction, gut infection, and severe nutrient deficiencies.
• 09:05: The Three Pillars of Postpartum Knowledge: Science, Women's Stories, and Traditional Practices.
• 11:47: Limitation #1: Science is money-driven and prioritizes patentable solutions over holistic postpartum practices.
• 16:30: Limitation #3: Dismissing millennia of traditional care (like warm, cooked foods) as mere anecdotal evidence.
• 21:20: Limitation #4: Doctors are taught pathology, not how the body actually heals, leading to a focus on pieces instead of the whole.
• 26:38: Limitation #5: The male bias in research and leadership and why women were historically excluded from clinical trials.
• 31:45: Limitation #6: Time lag in policy change—it takes 10-15 years for new evidence to become standard practice.
• 34:23: Clinical Example: Client with "medication-resistant PPD" actually had Hashimoto's and severe B12/Ferritin deficiency.
• 36:50: Call to Action: Believe your client, investigate beyond basic labs, and hold providers accountable for outdated care.
• 40:17: Final thought: Science alone is not enough; we need all three pillars for comprehensive, root-cause postpartum support.

NEXT STEPS:

• 🎒Download the Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool
• 🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training
• 🔔Sign up for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
• 👍Rate, REVIEW & share the podcast
• 📱Connect on Instagram!
• 📚Get a Copy of the BOOK: Reclaiming Postpartum Wellness
• Additional Courses for Providers & Postpartum Professionals

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As a postpartum provider, you already know the postpartum anxiety and postpartum depression epidemic is real. But we are avoiding a massive blind spot. We’re talking about the missing partner in postpartum care—the fathers. 

Eric Stein, co-founder of Restorative Roots (the nationwide postpartum meal delivery service), to dive deep into how sidelining the masculine partner is costing maternal health dearly, often fueling postpartum resentment and a profound lack of safety. This isn't just about making dads feel useful; it’s about functional postpartum recovery and safeguarding the mother's entire well-being. Eric shares his raw journey from an unprepared first-time father to a fully present birth partner and why finding a men’s group was the game-changer for his family's harmony. Learn how, as a provider, you can help your clients' family dynamics and foster genuine holistic postpartum health for both parents.

Check out this episode on the blog HERE. 

Key time stamps: 

• 01:55: Why most fathers feel unprepared and excluded from postpartum care.
• 02:22: The cost of sidelining partners: increased maternal anxiety and slow progress.
• 03:07: Addressing the guilt of partners who can't take time off work.
• 04:03: Provider tip: Tailor communication to the partner (listener, talker, reader).
• 06:23: Societal pressure and why men feel pushed out of the birth process.
• 08:43: The trap of "robot mode" doing vs. the power of being present.
• 09:48: The missing inter-generational transfer of fatherhood knowledge.
• 10:18: Addressing postpartum resentment when partners are unsupportive.
• 14:30: Defining "masculine leadership" as showing up prepared and confident.
• 15:30: Why partner self-care is mandatory before the baby arrives.
• 20:41: The #1 intervention: Men's support groups for direct, masculine feedback.
• 25:59: Call to action: Providers must create or push men's groups for support.

Connect with Eric: 

Co-founder of Restorative Roots,  (formerly known as Mama Meals) a nationwide postpartum meal delivery company.  He spent the last 3.5 years growing their business from weekly pickups out of their garage to nationwide direct-to-consumer frozen delivery right to your door.

Website 

NEXT STEPS:

• 🎒Download the Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool
• 🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training
• 🔔Sign up for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
• 👍Rate, REVIEW & share the podcast
• 📱Connect on Instagram!
• 📚Get a Copy of the BOOK: Reclaiming Postpartum Wellness
• Additional Courses for Providers & Postpartum Professionals

Send us a text

Let's be real: telling a terrified mom that her horrific intrusive thoughts are "normal" is only half the story, and it's not good enough.

This episode is your new essential guide. We're cutting past the surface talk about "scary thoughts" and diving deep into the neuroscience of what's actually going on. Your client's brain is doing a brilliant, protective job being hypervigilant, but then sleep deprivation, nutritional depletion, and chronic stress turn that protection into a panic spiral. We explain exactly how to spot the difference between a normal thought and pathological Postpartum OCD and, most importantly, how to offer root-cause solutions that stop the nervous system from fueling those terrifying images. If you want to move beyond just screening and genuinely help your clients heal, you need to hear this.

Check out the episode on the blog HERE

Key time stamps: 

1:03  Naming the Unspeakable: What Do Postpartum Intrusive Thoughts Really Look Like?

2:34  Why Telling a Mom "It's Normal" Simply Isn't Enough (and Why It's Harmful).

5:57 Maternal Brain Plasticity 101: How Evolution Made the Postpartum Brain Brilliant.

8:18  Hypervigilance, Sympathetic Dominance, and The Postpartum Energy Debt.

10:58  The Spiral: When a Protective Thought Leads to Pathological Anxiety.

14:25 Root Causes Driving Postpartum Nervous System Dysregulation.

17:54 Case Study: Resolving Severe Nighttime Intrusive Thoughts with Nutrition (Ferritin & Labs).

20:22 Case Study: Feeding Anxiety, Blood Sugar Crashes, and Adrenal Support.

22:09 The Critical Distinction: Intrusive Thoughts vs. Postpartum OCD (P-OCD).

25:12 The Whole-Person Assessment Framework for Intrusive Thoughts.

27:08  Layered Interventions That Work: Regulation, Foundations, Trauma, and Support.

29:27 Common Provider Mistakes: Minimizing, Catastrophizing, and Isolating Symptoms.

32:17  Intrusive (Ego-Dystonic) Vs. Psychotic (Ego-Syntonic) Thoughts: Why This Distinction is Life-Saving.

35:17  Partner Education: Helping Support People Provide Help, Not Judgment.

37:47  Building Resilience, Not Symptom Suppression: Long-Term Nervous System Health.

NEXT STEPS:

• 🎒Download the Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool
• 🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training
• 🔔Sign up for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
• 👍Rate, REVIEW & share the podcast
• 📱Connect on Instagram!
• 📚Get a Copy of the BOOK: Reclaiming Postpartum Wellness
• Additional Courses for Providers & Postpartum Professionals

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Postpartum providers, let's be direct: Your clients are exhausted, anxious, and let down by the current system.

This episode with functional health expert Anu Simh gives you the unfiltered truth about postpartum recovery. We're destroying the "bounce back" myth and focusing on root causes: the massive changes in the mother-baby microbiome, the power of 42 days of rest, and why conventional diet advice is failing. Anu explains why the focus must be on rebuilding health at the root—through strategic nutrition, gut health support, and, most critically, community support. This is a deep-dive into how ancient, holistic care practices backed by modern science provide the lasting solutions for your clients’ lifelong well-being.

Check out this episode on the blog HERE: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/postpartum-gut-health-and-the-mother-baby-microbiome-anu-simh-ep-239/

Key time stamps

• 01:50: Ditch "Bounce Back": Recovery is about rebuilding the body, not a quick fix.
• 05:33: Ancient Wisdom: Universal postpartum care means warming foods and holistic support.
• 09:51: Provider Gap: Mothers seek help elsewhere because doctors miss the gut-microbiome connection.
• 12:00: 42 Days of Rest: It's a non-negotiable functional health window for hormonal and microbial reset.
• 15:40: Fueling Recovery: Good fats and complex carbs are essential for brain function and breastfeeding.
• 18:39: Microbiome Heirloom: The mother's gut changes dramatically, directly impacting the baby's microbial health.
• 22:15: Missing Support: Lack of community connection is a primary driver of maternal stress and poor outcomes.
• 26:28: Resources: Anu's book, Flourish from Within, on optimizing the baby's first three years.

Connect with Anu

Anu Simh is a Board Certified Functional Health Coach and graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She blends her background in organic chemistry, Ayurvedic counseling, and holistic nutrition to guide clients toward vibrant, lasting health. Anu’s work centers on gut health, sleep quality, circadian rhythm, and the brain’s reward system to reduce inflammation, manage cravings, and support sustainable weight loss. Through her Nine Arms of Wellness program, she teaches how to use food as medicine and draws from over 100 dietary theories to support physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.   Website | IG 

NEXT STEPS:

• 🎒Download the Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool
• 🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training
• 🔔Sign up for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
• 👍Rate, REVIEW & share the podcast
• 📱Connect on Instagram!
• 📚Get a Copy of the BOOK: Reclaiming Postpartum Wellness
• Additional Courses for Providers & Postpartum Professionals

Send us a text

Your postpartum clients aren't just "busy"—they're breaking down. Here's the truth your assessments are missing: The invisible mental load is a chronic state of cognitive overload that's hijacking her body.

 This isn't a failure of willpower; it's a physiological response to chronic stress that causes everything from unexplained anxiety and low milk supply to pelvic pain and insomnia. Maranda reveals how this unacknowledged cognitive burden triggers the HPA axis, shuts down nervous system regulation, and creates a cascade of physical symptoms. Every postpartum provider—from lactation consultants to functional health experts—must recognize this root cause. Stop treating the symptoms (the fatigue, the rage, the anxiety) and start addressing the overload. Learn the red flags and the Postpartum Restoration Method framework to deliver the lasting solutions your clients desperately need.

Check out the episode on the blog HERE: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/the-invisible-mental-load-why-mothers-are-breaking-down-ep-238/

Key time stamps: 

• 1:03 -  Defining The Invisible Mental Load & The Shocking Case of Low Milk Supply
• 3:33 - The Physiology of Cognitive Overload: HPA Axis and Systemic Effects
• 6:53 - Clinical Patterns Providers Miss: The Hyper-Vigilant Manager, Overwhelmed Perfectionist, and Depleted Default Parent
• 9:37 - Pelvic Floor Tension & The Bonding "Disconnection"
• 22:15 - The Red Flags and "Better Questions" for Assessment

NEXT STEPS:

• 🎒Download the Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool
• 🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training
• 🔔Sign up for the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
• 👍Rate, REVIEW & share the podcast
• 📱Connect on Instagram!
• 📚Get a Copy of the BOOK: Reclaiming Postpartum Wellness
• Additional Courses for Providers & Postpartum Professionals