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Previa Alliance Podcast
Previa Alliance Podcast episodes
- Grief — How It Changes You
Grief doesn’t always arrive when you expect it—or look the way you thought it would. It can sneak into ordinary moments, surprise you years later, and change parts of you that you never saw coming. In this episode, we talk honestly about the unpredictable nature of grief, the ways loss can reshape us, and what it means to keep living while carrying someone or something we’ve lost.
If grief has caught you off guard lately, you’re not doing it wrong—and you’re not alone.
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Previa Alliance (@previa.alliance) • Instagram photos and videos
Previa Alliance Podcast (@previapodcast) • Instagram photos and videos
Keep the questions coming by sending them to [email protected] or DM us on Instagram!25 min - The Five Stages of Grief — Which One Are You In?
Grief is something we all experience, but few of us truly understand. In this episode, Sarah Parkhurst and Whitney Gay, LCSW, take a deeper look at the five stages of grief—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—and discuss what they really look like in everyday life.
Whether you're grieving the loss of a loved one, a relationship, a dream, or a season of life, this conversation offers insight into why grief isn't linear, why no two people grieve the same way, and how understanding the grieving process can bring hope and healing.
If you've ever wondered, "Is what I'm feeling normal?" this episode is for you.
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Previa Alliance (@previa.alliance) • Instagram photos and videos
Previa Alliance Podcast (@previapodcast) • Instagram photos and videos
Keep the questions coming by sending them to [email protected] or DM us on Instagram!23 min - Everyone Needs Me: The Reality of Sandwich Generation
You're scheduling pediatrician appointments, packing lunches, answering school emails...and helping your parents navigate doctor's appointments, medications, and life's next chapter.
Welcome to the sandwich generation.
In this episode, Sarah and Whitney explore the emotional weight of caring for children while also supporting aging parents—and why so many moms feel like they're being pulled in every direction at once.
Together, they discuss:
- What it means to be part of the sandwich generation
- The invisible mental load of caring for multiple generations
- Why it's okay to feel gratitude, grief, and exhaustion at the same time
- How caregiving can impact your mental health, relationships, and identity
- Practical ways to protect your well-being while caring for the people you love
If you've ever felt like everyone needs something from you—and there's nothing left for yourself—this conversation will remind you that you're not alone.
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Previa Alliance (@previa.alliance) • Instagram photos and videos
Previa Alliance Podcast (@previapodcast) • Instagram photos and videos
Keep the questions coming by sending them to [email protected] or DM us on Instagram!14 min - The Maternal Mental Health Expert Most Moms Don't Know Exists — Dr. Claire Smith on Reproductive Psychiatry
You've heard of an OB-GYN. You've probably heard of a psychiatrist. But have you ever heard of a reproductive psychiatrist?
If the answer is no, you're not alone.
In this episode, Sarah sits down with reproductive psychiatrist Dr. Claire Smith to explain why one of the most important specialties in maternal mental health remains one of the least known. Together, they discuss what reproductive psychiatry is, why so few specialists exist, how this training differs from general psychiatry, and why so many women never learn this specialty is available until they're already struggling.
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Previa Alliance (@previa.alliance) • Instagram photos and videos
Previa Alliance Podcast (@previapodcast) • Instagram photos and videos
Keep the questions coming by sending them to [email protected] or DM us on Instagram!41 min - The Lindsay Clancey Trial — What Does a Struggling Mom Really Look Like to You?
She scheduled the doctor's appointments.
She Googled slime recipes.
She packed lunches, answered school emails, signed permission slips, and showed up for her kids.
So...how could she possibly be struggling?
In this episode, Sarah and Whitney use the Lindsay Clancy trial to examine one of the biggest misconceptions in maternal mental health: we mistake functioning for wellness.
Why do we have such a hard time believing that a mother can be doing everything for everyone else while quietly battling postpartum depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma, or even a more severe mental illness? Why do we judge a mother's mental health by how well she cares for everyone else instead of listening when she tells us she isn't okay?
This isn't an episode about guilt or innocence. It's about challenging the assumptions that keep mothers suffering in silence and asking a question every family, provider, and community should consider:
What if we've been looking for the wrong signs all along?
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Previa Alliance (@previa.alliance) • Instagram photos and videos
Previa Alliance Podcast (@previapodcast) • Instagram photos and videos
Keep the questions coming by sending them to [email protected] or DM us on Instagram!24 min - Hayden Panettiere - Are We Finally Going to Listen?
Hayden Panettiere helped bring postpartum depression into the national conversation more than a decade ago. Her story reminds us that postpartum depression doesn't always look the way people expect—and that's exactly why so many mothers go unseen.
Sarah and Whitney unpack Hayden's experience, the stigma that still surrounds maternal mental health, and why mothers deserve to be believed before they reach a breaking point. This is a conversation about courage, compassion, and what every family should know about postpartum depression.
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Previa Alliance (@previa.alliance) • Instagram photos and videos
Previa Alliance Podcast (@previapodcast) • Instagram photos and videos
Keep the questions coming by sending them to [email protected] or DM us on Instagram!23 min - The Lindsay Clancey Trial — Why Every Mom Can’t Turn Away
Sarah and Paige unpack the Lindsay Clancy trial through the lens of perinatal mental health and the gaps in care that can leave maternal mental health crises overlooked. Paige, a licensed clinical social worker and founder of the Motherhood Center, explains why conditions like postpartum depression and anxiety often go undiagnosed and how postpartum psychosis, while rare, requires urgent attention. They explore the lack of specialized training among healthcare providers, the need for better collaboration and education, and what parents and professionals can do to improve maternal mental health care.
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Previa Alliance (@previa.alliance) • Instagram photos and videos
Previa Alliance Podcast (@previapodcast) • Instagram photos and videos
Keep the questions coming by sending them to [email protected] or DM us on Instagram!40 min - Why Back to School is Hard on You
Everyone talks about helping kids adjust to a new school year—but what about the parents?
Behind the first-day-of-school photos are moms juggling schedules, worrying about teachers, packing lunches, coordinating drop-offs, paying activity fees, and wondering if they're doing enough. For many parents, back-to-school brings excitement, but it also brings stress, grief, and an enormous mental load.
In this episode, Sarah and Whitney explore why this season can feel so emotionally overwhelming, the science behind life transitions, and practical ways to navigate back-to-school without burning yourself out before the year even begins.
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Previa Alliance (@previa.alliance) • Instagram photos and videos
Previa Alliance Podcast (@previapodcast) • Instagram photos and videos
Keep the questions coming by sending them to [email protected] or DM us on Instagram!17 min - When It Is NOT a Hot Girl Summer
Ever notice your patience gets shorter, your anxiety feels higher, and everything seems harder during a heat wave? You're not imagining it.
Extreme heat doesn't just make us sweat—it affects our brain, nervous system, sleep, hormones, mood, and even how we interact with the people we love.
In this episode, Sarah and Whitney unpack the science behind why hot weather can leave us feeling exhausted, emotionally reactive, overstimulated, and mentally drained. They also share practical ways to protect your mental health during the hottest months of the year, especially for parents, pregnant women, and anyone already carrying a heavy mental load.
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Previa Alliance (@previa.alliance) • Instagram photos and videos
Previa Alliance Podcast (@previapodcast) • Instagram photos and videos
Keep the questions coming by sending them to [email protected] or DM us on Instagram!15 min - Outnumbered… When You Feel Like You Can’t Give Enough to Each Child
Do you ever feel like you're not giving enough to each of your children? You're not alone. Sarah and Whitney unpack the guilt that often comes with raising multiple kids, what research says children truly need, and practical ways to let go of the pressure to be everything to everyone. A must-listen for moms navigating mom guilt, sibling dynamics, and the mental load of motherhood.
Follow Previa Alliance!
Previa Alliance (@previa.alliance) • Instagram photos and videos
Previa Alliance Podcast (@previapodcast) • Instagram photos and videos
Keep the questions coming by sending them to [email protected] or DM us on Instagram!15 min
About Previa Alliance Podcast
From the publisher's feed
There are few experiences as universal to human existence as pregnancy and childbirth, and yet its most difficult parts — perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) — are still dealt with in…
the shadows, shrouded in stigma. The fact is 1 in 5 new and expecting birthing people will experience a PMAD, yet among those who do many are afraid to talk about it, some are not even aware they’re experiencing one, and others don’t know where to turn for help. The fact is, when someone suffers from a maternal mental health disorder it affects not only them, their babies, partners, and families - it impacts our communities.
In the Previa Alliance Podcast series, Sarah Parkhurst and Whitney Gay are giving air to a vastly untapped topic by creating a space for their guests — including survivors of PMADs and healthcare professionals in maternal mental health — to share their experiences and expertise openly. And in doing so, Sarah and Whitney make it easy to dig deep and get real about the facts of perinatal mental health, fostering discussions about the raw realities of motherhood. Not only will Previa Alliance Podcast listeners walk away from each episode with a sense of belonging, they’ll also be armed with evidence-based tools for healing, coping mechanisms, and the language to identify the signs and symptoms of PMADs — the necessary first steps in a path to treatment. The Previa Alliance Podcast series is intended for anyone considering pregnancy, currently pregnant, and postpartum as well as the families and communities who support them.
Sarah Parkhurst
Previa Alliance Podcast Co-host; Founder & CEO of Previa Alliance
A postpartum depression survivor and mom to two boys, Sarah is on a mission to destigmatize the experiences of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs), and to educate the world on the complex reality of being a mom. Sarah has been working tirelessly to bring to light the experiences of women who have not only suffered a maternal mental health crisis but who have survived it and rebuilt their lives. By empowering women to share their own experiences, by sharing expert advice and trusted resources, and by advocating for health care providers and employers to provide support for these women and their families, Sarah believes as a society we can minimize the impact of the current maternal mental health crisis, while staving off future ones.
Whitney Gay
Previa Alliance Podcast Co-host; licensed clinician and therapist
For the past ten years, Whitney has been committed to helping women heal from the trauma of a postpartum mental health crisis as well as process the grief of a miscarriage or the loss of a baby. She believes that the power of compassion paired with developing critical coping skills helps moms to heal, rebuild, and eventually thrive. In the Previa Alliance Podcast series, Whitney not only shares her professional expertise, but also her own personal experiences of motherhood and recovery from grief.
Follow us on Instagram @Previa.Alliance