Motherhood Meets Medicine

With processed foods being so excessively available to us, how do we nourish our brains and fuel our bodies for longevity? Believe it or not, you can use nutrition for brainpower and to deter the effects of neurological dysfunction and disease.  Here to do a deep dive on what to eat to support your brain and body for life is Barbie Boules.  Barbie is a registered dietician, certified health coach...

If you’ve listened to the podcast for any amount of time, you know that one of our children has been diagnosed with dyslexia. Once she was finally diagnosed, an entire world of knowledge and resources opened up for us. But it took a LONG time to get to this point.  Because of our journey, it’s important to me to share expert information with you about this extremely common neurological condition....

When your child is being hurt emotionally or physically by other kids or hurting others themselves do you know how to talk to them? Gabriela Blanco shares some tips on talking to our kids in ways they will understand when something like this happens. She also discusses how to deal with the emotions and feelings this brings up and how to listen deeply to what our children are saying. Gabriela says...

If you’ve seen the news at all lately, you’ve likely heard that the Supreme Court of Alabama has ruled that all embryos are children. But what does that mean? What implications does this ruling have for the future of IVF?  Here to share more about what this could mean for hopeful families is Dr. Erica Bove.  Erica is a double board certified OB-GYN and Reproductive Endocrinologist (REI) physician...

Your postpartum brain is amazing. Not only is your body going through the physical changes that come with motherhood, but your brain is processing a ton of hormones and inputs that help you take care of your new baby.  Matrescence is essentially the process of becoming a mother. It’s a word that describes what your brain and body are going through as you leave the world of pre-motherhood and prepa...

What is your first thought when your child lies to you? Are you reactive? Or do you take a moment and think through what their lie is really telling you?  I’m sure you’re not thinking to yourself, this lie is a gift, but what if that’s exactly what it is? Amie Anger joins me to share what to do when your child lies and strategies for figuring out the root cause of their lying.  Amie is a child and...

“You deserve to be held just as much as your baby.” Just one of the many gems Stephanie Defilippis shares in our conversation about navigating motherhood and the quest for support in America. Because in America, we really fall behind in providing support to new moms, both in our communities and from a policy perspective. Stephanie is a perinatal mental health therapist in Illinois. She owns a grou...

Have you ever wondered why your child randomly loses their mind over the smallest things? You’re going along, everyone is happy and thriving, and then a pea touches the potatoes and it seems like the world has caught on fire.  Believe it or not, there’s nothing wrong with your peas or potatoes, and there’s also likely nothing wrong with your child.  Dr. Rebecca Hershberg is a Clinical Psychologist...

What do you do as a family medicine physician when more and more children and young adults are coming to you for anxiety and depression that isn’t made better by medications? You dig deeper. That’s exactly what Dr. Alison Yeung did and what her patients shared with her was astounding. Kids these days are spending an untold amount of time on their phones and its impacting their lives in severely de...

A couple weeks ago I had on Caitlin McLarnon to discuss how to navigate special education in schools. During that episode Caitlin shared how different these programs are from school to school, district to district, state to state. So what do you do if your child isn’t getting the attention and services they need?  That’s where people like Vickie Brett, Esq. come in.  Vickie is a Special Education...

In recent years there has been a lot of talk about co-regulating with your child. The benefits are clear and the science is sound, but how do you do it? How do you co-regulate with your child and what do you do when you’re struggling to regulate your own emotions?  Dr. Sarah Bren joins me to share more about what co-regulation is and strategies you can use to help your children develop healthy emo...

Do you hear the words “special education” and immediately have a negative thought or emotion about it? Me too! Not because there is anything wrong with our wonderful special education teachers or the programs as a whole, but because I wasn’t aware of all the fantastic resources these programs provide to students.  There is so much more to special education than what you remember from school.  Here...

It’s time for another listen to one of your favorite episodes. Due t0 the overturning of Roe v. Wade the abortion debate has only amplified. Which is why I thought it important to reshare the legal facts about abortion and its history. To note, some of what we discussed in this episode is no longer imminent, but the overall content is still absolutely relevant.  This entire episode will be focused...

Purposeful play is one of the keys to appropriate motor development and hitting those all-important milestones. But what does it mean to create a home for purposeful play? Listen as Dr. Marissa Aron shares her expertise and what to look out for if you’re concerned about your child’s development.  Dr. Aron is a doctor of physical therapy specializing in infant and toddler development. She founded M...

One of the most stress inducing parts of becoming a new mom is figuring out how to feed your baby. There’s so much rhetoric around the entire process that no matter what you choose to do it seems like you’re immediately failing at this super important job.  But you’re not! Fed is best, no matter how the feeding occurs. Here to share more about embracing diverse paths in infant nutrition is Erin Mo...

One of the most stressful things about being a new mom is worrying about your child meeting developmental milestones. I remember being so worried when it seemed like our first may or may not have been hitting each milestone right on time. But is it really as big a deal as we think?  Here to share more about supporting your child’s motor development from infancy and beyond is Meg Garhan. Meg is a p...

Human beings are meant to spend time in nature. There are countless studies documenting the benefits of spending time outdoors on the brain and the body no matter what age you are. Spending time with plants is vital to our health and wellness.  Joining me today is Laura Cochrane, a PA turned lifestyle medicine educator and health and wellness coach. She’s on a mission to help you find the health a...

  Trigger Warning: There are mentions of suicide and infant death in this episode.  Postpartum hormones are no joke, but sometimes the behavior a woman exhibits is due to much more than hormones. Our bodies and minds react to the magnificent and overwhelming process of growing and birthing life in many different ways, not all of them good. What happens when our minds start to crumble and we aren’t...

There are as many ways to parent as there are parents in the world, but is there a “right” way to parent. Of course that answer is no, but there are definitely ways to parent that help meet your children where they are. Both developmentally and emotionally. No matter what, parenting is hard, but sometimes it’s easier to navigate those challenges with responsive parenting. Liz Luize is an educator,...

Life is filled with roles that are neither made for men nor women. The household for instance, is a place that needs human labor. But how do we break the stereotypes that we’ve grown up with and knock down the walls of gender equity in the home and at work?  Joining me to talk about this important topic as well as her new book is Dr. Shelly Vaziri Flais. Shelly is a board-certified practicing pedi...

Your child is getting enough sleep. Most likely. Honestly, even as a mom of four, I still struggle with this whole sleep thing. How much should they be getting? When do you know that their sleep is impacting their health? Do children need significantly more sleep than adults?  Here to unlock the secrets of sleep is Dr. Laura Gainche, Ph. D. Laura is a Neuroscientist and a sleep scientist with a ba...

Ever wondered what attachment parenting is and how it impacts your child? Believe it or not, you are already your child’s primary attachment and have been teaching them about healthy, or unhealthy, attachment since they were born. Because your child requires attachments to learn, grow, and thrive.  Here to chat about parenting through attachment is Michelle Charriere. Michelle has her Bachelor's d...

What is human trafficking? You might be surprised to learn that there is so much more to it than what you see portrayed in the movies and media. Also, it isn’t only happening in the seedy underbelly of society. It’s happening in our communities much more often than you might think. Alexandra Ford joins me to share her own experience as a human trafficking victim and why she is now working to educa...

If you’ve been around for any amount of time, you’ll know that I’ve had a love-hate relationship with social media for a long time. For all intents and purposes, social media has brought me to where I am today, but at what cost? There are hidden costs when you’re using social media and slowly but surely they’re all coming to light.  Here to share more about the hidden costs of social media is Jenn...

Have you ever heard of the “hidden work” of women? Perhaps you’ve felt that hidden work? So many of us equate hidden work with the labors of running a household, but that’s not where it stops. The true hidden work is steeped in the emotional labor women take on as they manage a household and all that that entails. Join me as I chat with Regina Lark, Ph. D. about the true cost of emotional labor an...