Under the Hood

How can women have a self-empowering birth experience? Vedic Meditation master Thom Knoles discussed empowerment around the birth and labor and explains the importance of mothers in raising global consciousness.

Vedic meditation master Thom Knoles discusses stress, ways to combat it, and the effect that it can have during pregnancy. Whether you are a mother, pregnant, or neither, you will find something in this conversation that you can relate to.

How does becoming a mother change your identity? How can you deal with the guilt that can arise when making space for yourself after childbirth? Listen in as Marriage and Family Therapist Jaimi Brooks, along with Under the Hood's executive producer Chelsea Levy, tackle these questions and more.

Listen in as Heather guides you in identifying the muscles surrounding your pelvic floor and how to synchronize your breath.

Have you ever sneezed, laughed too hard, or jumped on a trampoline and had a bit of pee come out? Guess what: It's all related to your pelvic floor. Thankfully Patti and Aleks sat down this week with Heather Jeffcoat, a Doctor of Physical Therapy specializing in the pelvic floor and all of its possible dysfunctions, both related and unrelated to labor and childbirth. Post childbirth flat butt? We cover that too. Dive in and hear everything you never knew about the very important pelvic floor.

Patti and Aleks are sitting down with our favorite advocate for choice, Ricki Lake. You may know Lake from her years as a television host, but her truest passion and calling for the last decade has been as a curious advocate for women's reproductive health. Lake is unafraid to question, investigate, and most importantly, tell the truth. In this episode, you'll hear what inspires her, what she hopes her legacy will be, and what she wants every woman to know. This one is not to be missed!

This week we are speaking with Ridhi Tariyal, a scientist, innovator, and crusader for women's health. The company she co founded, Nextgen Jane, created the Smart Tampon, a device that will assist in collecting data in order to earlier diagnose women's health issues. In addition to tackling period blood and the stigma surrounding it, Ridhi sheds light on the challenges of leading a startup as a woman.

This week, we are speaking to Katy Kozhimannil an expert in public health policy and its impact on pregnancy and childbirth. She has advocated tirelessly on behalf of birth workers to ensure that their services are available to pregnant women everywhere, especially in underserved communities where we see the highest rates of infant and maternal mortality. Listen as Aleks (a midwife) and Patti (a birth doula) discuss with Katy the importance of her work as a voice and advocate for birthing people and the people who care for them.

We're back! And what better way to launch our second season than with the lovely Paula Mallis, founder of WMN Space - a conscious space for women to gather in service to their own healing. Hosts Patti and Aleks dig into the power created when women gather together and share their life experiences. From the history of women's circles to the importance of sharing your birth story, even if it includes trauma and loss, the overarching theme of this episode is the essential nature of community.

Our roundtable is back for a chat about what it means to be 'on the fence' in choosing whether or not to have a child. Many of us are waiting longer and longer before starting our families, which in some ways makes the decision even more loaded. In this episode our roundtable unpacks the fear, hesitation, and transition into motherhood.