Postpartum University® Podcast

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Dad brain is real: Men's brains change after baby arrives too!

Ever wonder what happens to dads when a new baby enters the picture? We all know about the wild ride moms go through, but what about the silent, powerful transformation happening in partners? If you're a postpartum provider, perinatal mental health professional, or advocate for new parents, this episode is an absolute must-listen. We're discussing the biological brain changes in men after childbirth, the paternal identity shift, and why understanding these nuances is crucial for holistic postpartum care. You're about to uncover insights that will profoundly impact how you support new families, fathers in the postpartum period, and ultimately, maternal well-being. This isn't just about men's struggles; it’s about empowering all parents to thrive in early parenthood.

Check out the episode on the blog: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/what-happens-to-dads-after-baby-the-science-behind-dad-brain-ep-220/

Key Time Stamps: 

• 00:00: Intro: Unpacking fatherhood's unseen transformation.
•  03:17: The science of men's brain changes after baby. 
• 04:34: Real-life impacts of paternal brain shifts. 
• 06:13: Navigating increased anxiety and identity shifts in new fathers.
•  07:57: Relational strain and libido changes for dads. 
• 09:32: Acknowledging male birth trauma and secondary trauma. 
• 12:04: The invisible load: Financial stress and protector instincts in new fathers. 
• 14:42: The societal pressure for men to "be strong." 
• 15:29: Why "postpartum" is specific to mothers: The biological truth.
• 18:05: The dangers of mislabeling paternal mental health.
• 18:46: Accurate terms for paternal perinatal mental health. 
• 19:14: Supporting fathers: Witnessing, educating, and partnership skills.
•  21:01: The vital balance: Supporting fathers without excusing absence. 
• 22:11: Why a mother's postpartum journey is unique. 
• 23:15: Holding both truths: Fathers change, postpartum is for mothers. 
• 25:20: Call to action for providers and lasting impact on postpartum 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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As a postpartum provider or professional, it can feel like the standard "bounce back" narrative after birth just doesn't quite capture the profound shifts your clients are experiencing and  you sense a deeper transformation happening beyond postpartum depression and anxiety. Get ready to have your understanding of motherhood completely reframed with Jessie Harrold as she shared the concept of matrescence – the essential and often overlooked developmental transition into motherhood. Forget the outdated idea of simply "recovering"; this conversation unveils how becoming a mother is a radical rewiring on biological, psychological, social, and even spiritual levels, a journey that can take years and demands a whole new level of support and understanding. This is critical postpartum education for all who work with new mothers.

Check out this episode on the blog HERE. 

Key Time Stamps: 

• 02:19: Diving into the definition and significance of matrescence. 
• 05:02: Comparing matrescence to adolescence 
• 07:20: "losing yourself" as a necessary part of mother becoming. 
• 10:52: The growth and reprioritization during matrescence. 
• 13:20: The normative matrescence experiences & postpartum depression. 
• 15:39: Matrescence as a developmental model 
• 16:48: Grieving pre-baby identities. 
•  21:52: Connecting matrescence to adult development 
• 23:37: Mindfulness when navigating postpartum changes. 
• 24:42: The importance of community and tradition in the healing process
• 25:40: Exploring "mother powers" as during this transition 
• 27:38: The challenges of building community in modern motherhood

Connect with Jessie: 

Jessie Harrold is a coach and doula who has been supporting women through radical life transformations and other rites of passage for over fifteen years. Jessie specializes in matrescence, or the transition to motherhood.  She's the founder of the internationally acclaimed matrescence support program MotherSHIFT and The Village.  She is the author of Mothershift:  Reclaiming Motherhood as a Rite of Passage.   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 Fan Mail

Providers, let's challenge the standard 6-week checkup and the conversation around "default birth control". 

What if it's not just "standard care" but a MAJOR factor in the rise of postpartum depression and anxiety we're seeing? Is hormonal birth control a silent driver of postpartum depression and anxiety? It's time to connect the dots. New research links hormonal birth control postpartum to increased maternal mental health risks. Understanding the biological reality of postpartum, including postpartum brain rewiring, shows why synthetic hormones disrupt a healing body. This is a call to action for anyone supporting new mothers. For postpartum providers and perinatal mental health professionals focused on holistic support and evidence-based care, this knowledge is essential for informed consent and optimizing postpartum recovery. 

Check out this episode on the blog: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/the-link-between-hormonal-birth-control-and-postpartum-depression-ep-218/

Key Time Stamps: 

• 2:37 hormonal birth control postpartum and mental health
• 3:34 Key finding: 49% increased postpartum depression risk linked to hormonal contraception
• 5:12 Highlighting birth control as default postpartum care.
• 6:48 Diving into the biological reasons behind the link.
• 7:52 The complex postpartum body state: hormones, nutrients, sleep, inflammation.
• 11:48 Synthetic hormones interfere with delicate postpartum healing.
• 13:11 Exploring postpartum brain rewiring and changes.
• 15:26 How hormonal birth control can alter brain structure/function.
• 17:14 The "neurological collision" of postpartum brain changes and birth control.
• 20:34 Lack of provider training in postpartum brain science and hormone impacts.
• 25:07 Systemic issue: medicating women through a sacred transformation.
• 27:56 What holistic postpartum care and informed consent should look like instead.
• 31:09 The need for ongoing postpartum support (recovery takes years!).

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 Fan Mail

Think postpartum psychosis is just a scary headline? Think again. This powerful episode pulls back the curtain on a condition too often misunderstood and dangerously dismissed. Join us as we listen to Aaisha Alvi, a postpartum psychosis awareness advocate and survivor, whose raw and compelling story will challenge everything you thought you knew. As postpartum providers and professionals, you'll gain invaluable insight into the lived experience of this psychiatric emergency, the critical warning signs, and the potentially life-saving actions you can take. This isn't just theoretical knowledge; it's essential postpartum education that could directly impact the lives of your clients and their families.

Check out this episode on the blog HERE. 

Key Time Stamps: 

• 01:17: Meeting Aaisha Alvi & the urgent need for PPP awareness.
• 02:24: Aaisha's progression from PPD/PPA to psychosis after birth.
• 05:13: The onset of terrifying delusions & altered reality.
• 06:38 & 09:29: Repeated dismissal by doctors despite clear distress.
• 08:21: PPP after miscarriage: highlighting broader risk factors.
• 17:07: Hallucinations & delusions: the critical diagnostic markers.
• 18:07: PPP as a psychiatric emergency with suicide/infanticide risks.
• 23:34: The heartbreaking impact of dismissed pleas for help.
• 25:16: Aaisha's healing journey: medication, therapy, self-education.
• 21:52: The critical importance of truly listening to mothers.
• 15:18: Challenging the "rare" label & advocating for better care.
• 28:35: Hope for improved provider awareness & life-saving interventions.

Connect with Aaisha

Aaisha Alvi is a postpartum psychosis awareness advocate and writer. Her book, A Mom Like That: A Memoir of Postpartum Psychosis was recently released. You can follow her awareness efforts below.

Website | IG |

Read the first 5 chapters of Aaisha's Book: A Mom Like That: A Memoir of Postpartum Psychosis ---> https://books.google.ca/books?id=kd_eEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT12&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&gboemv=1&redir_esc=y

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 Fan Mail

What if postpartum depression isn’t the problem itself… but a symptom of something much deeper? 

This episode is going to make you rethink everything you know about postpartum depression.  Something fixable? I'm breaking it all down: the nutrient depletion, trauma, sleep loss, birth medications, toxins, and isolation that are wrecking postpartum health—and why the current system is failing mothers at the root.

If you're a postpartum provider, doula, therapist, midwife, nurse, or birth professional (or anyone passionate about postpartum recovery), this conversation is ESSENTIAL. It's time to stop labeling and start healing at the core. If you’re searching for functional nutrition, perinatal mental health education, and REAL answers for postpartum healing—you’re exactly in the right place.

Check out this episode on the blog: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/postpartum-depression-is-a-symptom-not-a-diagnosis-ep-216/

Key Time Stamps: 

00:00  The hard truth about postpartum depression
01:06  Miranda’s experience with postpartum depression & bipolar disorder
02:28  Science proves it—but the system doesn’t value mothers
03:30 Postpartum depression as a symptom, not a diagnosis
04:51  Why symptom labels don’t fix root causes
05:50 How postpartum medications can help—and how they can hurt
06:30 Why postpartum care must be more than prescribing meds
08:54 The 6 root causes behind postpartum depression
10:19 The shocking nutrient depletion rates in postpartum women
11:47 Toxic overload and why detox pathways matter
13:57 How sleep deprivation physically rewires the postpartum brain
15:19 Unprocessed trauma and nervous system breakdown
17:47 How birth medications impact postpartum mental health
19:08 The brutal reality of no support and isolated motherhood
20:22  Providers aren’t taught postpartum-specific healing
21:04  Is this anecdotal or real science? (Hint: it’s clinical, it's proven)
22:35  Why depression is the warning light, not the broken engine
23:43  Why moms aren't broken—the care system is
24:34  The new model of postpartum care: body, mind, spirit, and environment
25:41  How Postpartum University is revolutionizing postpartum healing

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 Fan Mail

Ever wonder if what a new mom is feeling is just "mom worry" or something more like postpartum anxiety? 

Maranda and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and perinatal mental health specialist, Kathryn Lopez, break it down in this episode. We're diving into how to tell the difference between those normal "mama" worries and when it might be postpartum anxiety – think physical feelings, constant unease, and those "what if" thoughts that feel way out of control.

We're tackling those sometimes scary intrusive thoughts that pop into a new mom's head – are they normal, or something to pay closer attention to? And what about feeling down about your old life? Is that just part of becoming a mom, or could it be something more? We even chat about that surprising link between postpartum rage and anxiety. If you're a postpartum pro, you need to hear this to help the moms you work with feel understood and supported.

Check out the episode on the blog: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/how-to-differentiate-between-postpartum-anxiety-vs-normal-motherly-worries-kathryn-lopez-ep-215/

Key Time Stamps: 

• 01:58: What is Normal Mother Worry? Understanding Postpartum Anxiety vs. Typical Worry
• 03:38: When Does Mother Worry Become a Problem? Recognizing Unhealthy Postpartum Stress
• 05:47: How to Differentiate Postpartum Anxiety Symptoms from Normal Maternal Concerns?
• 09:36: Understanding Intrusive Thoughts Are They Normal or a Sign of PPA?
• 12:08: The Intent Behind Intrusive Thoughts in Postpartum
• 15:50: Is It Postpartum Depression or Grief? Understanding Loss in Early Motherhood
• 16:52: The Grief of Old Life in Postpartum
• 21:00: How Does the Nervous System Impact Postpartum Anxiety? Understanding Hyperarousal
• 25:48: Connection with Postpartum Rage and Anxiety
• 29:43: The Sleep Deprivation Cycle and Postpartum Mental Health

Connect with Kathryn: 

Kathryn Lopez is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and Life Coach who specializes in perinatal mental health and sex and intimacy therapy. She helps individuals and couples navigate the emotional and relational shifts of parenthood, from conception and pregnancy to birth, postpartum, and beyond. 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 Fan Mail

What happens when a postpartum provider becomes the patient?

In this deeply personal and powerful episode, Maranda shares—for the first time ever—her lived experience with postpartum bipolar disorder. This isn’t a conversation wrapped in statistics and clinical jargon. It’s raw, it’s unfiltered, and it’s the story behind why she created the postpartum healing framework that has now supported thousands of women.

If you’ve ever worked with a mother whose emotional shifts feel like more than “just the baby blues,” or if you’re a provider seeking to understand the depths of postpartum mental health from the inside out, this is the episode you need to hear. We’re talking about misdiagnosis, trauma, gut health, sleep deprivation, and how one woman’s fight for her life became a movement for maternal care reform.

Check out this episode on the blog: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/my-personal-battle-with-postpartum-bipolar-disorder-ep-214/

00:00 – The silence and stigma around postpartum bipolar disorder
 03:07 – Birth reflections and emotional shifts begin
 05:56 – Support systems break down: Meal train, family, and overwhelm
 08:10 – Chaos of postpartum: Alone w/ 3 kids, house construction, a puppy
 09:23 – When darkness creeps in: Resentment, despair,  intrusive thoughts
 10:24 – Rapid mood cycling: Chipper days followed by terrifying lows
 11:26 – The physical toll: Colitis, exhaustion, hair loss
 13:19 – The diagnosis: “You have postpartum bipolar”
 15:09 – Mania and clarity: Using the highs to plan for the lows
 16:58 – The internal struggle: Knowing better but not doing better
 18:43 – Nutrition as medicine: Grocery lists, meal planning, supplementing
 20:12 – Prioritizing sleep: Hard conversations with her partner
 22:29 – Finding what works: Each child’s unique sleep needs
 23:29 – Delegating and support: What helped lighten the load
 24:48 – Breathwork, journaling, and nervous system regulation
 26:04 – Recovery: Symptoms gone in three weeks—no meds, no relapses
 27:00 – How her experience became the foundation of her method
 27:50 – Why this story has remained untold—until now
 29:24 – The call for nuanced, honest postpartum care

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 Fan Mail

We’ve got to stop telling moms to “just wait six weeks and then you’re good to go. 

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Jena Bradley, a postpartum physical therapist and core restoration expert. Together, we’re unpacking the biggest myths around postpartum movement and Dr. Jena reveals what providers really need to know for effective core and strength recovery.  Learn how to assess readiness for activity, why core health is about so much more than aesthetics and has everything to do with strength, energy, and functional healing. This conversation will reshape how you approach core rehab and early postpartum care and healing.

Click HERE to check out this episode on the blog. 

Key Time Stamps :

• 01:16: myths about postpartum fitness 
• 02:21: The importance of movement in initial six weeks postpartum. 
• 06:17: Using pain as a key indicator for appropriate activity levels. 
• 07:29: bleeding patterns as a sign of exertion in postpartum. 
• 10:55: Critical assessment signs to gauge readiness for movement. 
• 11:40: Identifying the source of pain (diastasis recti, pelvic floor, C-section scar). 
• 13:20: Shifting from aesthetics to functional healing and core strength. 
• 18:27: The interconnectedness of nutrition, sleep, nervous system regulation, and mental health in postpartum fitness. 
• 18:50: The crucial role of nutrition in muscle rebuilding. 
• 20:32: Addressing motivation and consistency in postpartum exercise.

Connect with Dr. Jena:

Dr. Jena Bradley is a physical therapist, postpartum core restoration coach, and proud mom of 4 girls. With over a decade of experience in physical therapy, Dr. Jena empowers moms with quick, effective workouts and expert guidance tailored to busy schedules. Her approach emphasizes core strengthening as the foundation for rebuilding a strong, healthy body after pregnancy.

Website | Podcast | IG | YouTube 

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 Fan Mail

What if the crushing fatigue, the anxiety, the brain fog, and the constant crying aren’t mental health issues at all—but signs your client’s body is depleted and screaming for help? 

The truth is; Postpartum depression  symptoms mimic postpartum iron deficiencies and postpartum anemia.

This episode takes a bold look at one of the most underdiagnosed, misunderstood, and easily missed causes of postpartum “depression”: anemia. We’re breaking down how iron deficiency, B12, and folate depletion can mimic mental illness in postpartum women, and how so many providers are missing the signs. If you're a postpartum provider, doula, midwife, nurse, or any practitioner supporting postpartum women—you cannot afford to overlook this conversation. We’re talking labs, clinical clues, testing gaps, and holistic strategies to support deep, root-cause healing.

Check out the episode on the blog: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/is-it-postpartum-depression-or-postpartum-anemia-ep-212/

Key Time Stamps: 

• 00:00 – The misdiagnosis of postpartum depression
• 01:40 – What is anemia, and how is it connected to postpartum?
• 03:19 – Overlapping symptoms of anemia and depression
• 06:05 – Ferritin levels and common signs of deficiency
• 07:27 – Maranda’s personal story of missed anemia
• 09:23 – Why most checkups aren’t helping moms
• 10:43 – What labs to run + strategies for healing
• 13:09 – Iron absorption + practical supplementation tools
• 15:00 – Signs to look for when “depression” isn’t depression
• 15:35 – MTHFR, genetics, and what really matters
• 16:36 – Empowering providers to support real postpartum healing
  
  

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 Fan Mail

Postpartum weight loss isn’t what you think it is.

We’re pulling back the curtain on one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented topics in postpartum health: women’s weight. Dr. Beth Westie is here to set the record straight and blow your mind. If you’re a provider still talking about “getting your body back” or encouraging calorie restriction after birth—stop what you’re doing and listen in.

In this episode, we talk about the difference between healing and shrinking, why the weight loss industry fails postpartum women, and how most “health advice” is based on studies done on men. You’ll hear how under-eating, fat restriction, and stress can derail hormone health for years, and why functional medicine and body literacy are the future of postpartum care. This is a conversation every provider needs to be part of.

Check out the episode on the blog: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/why-women-need-fat-the-truth-about-hormones-weight-loss-dr-beth-westie-ep-211/

Key Time Stamps: 

00:00 – Intro: Breaking the postpartum weight stigma
 01:11 – Meet Dr. Beth Westie and her work in hormone-based healing
 02:00 – Differentiating real support from toxic weight loss advice
 04:36 – The male bias in nutrition, fitness, and medical research
 08:25 – Why postpartum women need more fat, not less
 12:23 – The role of stress, depletion, and unmet needs in healing
 16:30 – Why most OBs aren't trained in hormones or root cause care
 19:04 – Hyperthyroidism, nutrient deficiencies, and missed diagnoses
 27:15 – The normalization of postpartum dysfunction
 28:48 – How we shift from symptom acceptance to real prevention
 29:32 – Dr. Beth’s work in hormone testing and functional care
 30:49 – Where to find Dr. Beth + bonus podcast episode link

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