The Mother Wit Podcast

My guest today is Star Lee. She had an easy time getting pregnant at 40. But after her first birth and 20 months of breastfeeding, when she didn't hit the "first ovulation jackpot" for the second time, she intuitively knew that time was of the essence if she and her partner were serious about having a second child.  This is a story of being proactive by someone with a strong sense of self and...

Kallista helps pregnant mamas get ready for their baby by preparing their self, space, and significant other. She does so through her podcast, The New Mom Boss Podcast, as well as coaching, and online course New Mom Prep School. Kallista is a Registered Nurse, a Certified Lactation Counselor, and is a mom of 3. Her dedication to helping first-time moms was born when she had her first 2 kids 1...

Sophie Strauss is a mom and a stylist. She is passionate about personal expression, inclusivity and sustainability AND she loves working with pregnant and postpartum people. She works with and for normal everyday people, not celebrities. She recommends things like buying second hand, hand me downs and even runs clothing swaps in her community. She is the real deal stylist for regular people! Want...

Today’s episode is about infant loss. If you are not prepared to listen to this story today, please skip it. Take care of yourself and reach out for help if you are in need. See resources below or on my website. This episode is dedicated to the Shenoy family and to all families who have survived the loss of a child. My guest today is Divya Shenoy. She was pregnant with twins when she came to me fo...

In this episode, Marielle and I discuss some of the things worth considering when trying to decide where to have your baby. We talk about how vague and ultimately unhelpful terms like "Low risk" and "High risk" are when it comes to sorting through this decision. We also get to hear some of Marielle's story of how she became a homebirth midwife and what its like working with the Amish community in...

On today’s episode, I have one of the most honest stories any new parent has ever told on this show. If you have been listening for a while, you know that each season, I feature clients who are willing to share. I invite people with all sorts of varied experiences and perspectives. But I do try to shine a light on topics for which people need more information, topics that people need to learn more...

Lo Nigrosh is a mom of two kids ages 8 and 4. She is a retired Paralympian who helped her team win a bronze medal in 2004 in Athens, but feels every bit as old as she is now at the age of 41. It was her intense first birth which made her feel even more disabled than she is, that made her consider a different way to birth her second, and insist that every person she encounters as a lactation consul...

Today we are closing out the season with a very special guest. My friend Carolina Murriel is a trauma-informed storyteller, teacher and artist. She is a longtime journalist and podcast producer who co-founded the award-winning podcast studio Pizza Shark. Through all of Season 3, Carolina has been helping me make improvements to the Mother Wit podcast behind the scenes. At the same time, she was tr...

Dr. Rosen has been a chiropractor since 1981. Over the past 4 decades he has taught pediatrics, craniopathy, primary healthcare management, practice management and chiropractic philosophy nationally and internationally to thousands of chiropractors, chiropractic students, healthcare providers and on public forums. He is a certified SOT® advance practitioner and craniopath, certified pediatric chir...

Support the show Dr. Karlie is the co-founder of a postpartum activewear brand called Jen & Keri . She is also a sports chiropractor and certified strength and conditioning coach who is passionate about providing practical tools to moms and moms-to-be, helping them restore their bodies and continue exercising after their babies are born. Dr. Karlie is offering our listeners a 15% off discount...

Support the show If you missed season 1 episode 12 , I recommend listening to this one first. But for those of you who are not going to do that. Most of the time when I find a new show, I just jump in right and don’t look back either so I get it.  In which case, here is a quick recap...  Rachel is a very talented athlete. She is a gymnast, a crossfitter and does jujitsu competitively. Sh...

Support the show Jessica Lynn is a Certified Nurse-Midwife, certified diabetes care and education specialist, and health coach in New York City. Jessica has a passion for supporting people with diabetes on their journeys from preconception, through pregnancy and beyond. Uniquely qualified for this work, Jessica has lived with Type 1 diabetes since childhood, has 2 children of her own, and has atte...

Gabi Rocha is the co-founder and COO of an impact organization called Laboratoria that runs tech boot camps for underserved women throughout Latin America. She is Brazilian and has lived all over the world, mostly in Latin America and the US. She had a "normal" postpartum yet found herself grateful for the extra layer of support we provide here at Mother Wit. Link to episode with Kim Wei...

Support the show Everyone's postpartum return to fitness is a personal journey and deserves to be a personalized experience. I also think it can be hard to understand how virtual fitness coaching works when it's anything other than a zoom exercise class. So today, Jessica and I revisit the unique way we worked together and how she learned to give herself kindness and grace in this transformational...

I think the title says it all but you will have to listen to get all the details. The biggest take away is the connection that you can literally hear and feel between these two women. Forming these real connections is one of the gifts that midwives give to our clients but it takes two and the people who choose home birth are open to and actively giving back to their midwives too. Im not trying to...

Nicole Deggins, CNM, MSN, MPH, is one of the country’s leading birth advocacy experts named “The Midwife Shifting the Narrative” by ESSENCE Magazine. She is a sought-after trainer, public speaker and community educator working to eliminate perinatal disparities and bring transparency to prenatal education and the medical obstetrical system. As the founder and CEO of Sista Midwife Productions. She...

My guest today is Andrea Kirschling, a Mother Wit mama who has grown increasingly passionate about "combo feeding" meaning the use of both breastmilk and formula. She's grown so passionate that she has recently become a Certified Lactation Consultant herself and you will soon find her using the handle/website of ComboFeedingSupport. Ill be sure to update our listeners as her local p...

My guest today is Rebecca Feldman. She is a Certified Nurse Midwife and a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. She is the founder and director of Brooklyn Parent Support and she specializes in medication management for pregnancy and lactation. She is passionate about group support for pregnant and postpartum people. In this episode we discuss: Baby blues Postpartum Depression (rage as a sign of overwhe...

Guest: Kristen Ross is a Mother Wit twin mama and also a postpartum doula in LA.  @twin.postpartum.doula or her website www.twinpostpartumdoula. com Kristen was so innovative and creative in her approach to feeding her babies and boy did it pay off. She has mastered the art of exclusive pumping like no other. She has also recently become a postpartum doula and hopes to focus on families with multi...

Anne is a mom to two boys- James and Charlie.  Before becoming a mom she was a Pastry Chef.  After experiencing serious burn out in the restaurant industry, she shifted to coaching Crossfit.  Then, while pregnant with her first son, she became certified as a Pregnancy and Postpartum Athleticism coach because she was not getting answers to her questions on exercise in pregnancy.  She had her first...

My guest today is Emily Wannenburg. She is a midwife who was trained in South Africa. She had her first baby there and her second in Baltimore, MD. She is the owner and founder of 4th Trimester Fitness Method which she will tell us more about as she shares her story. This is the 4th and final birth story for this season. I hope you enjoy it.  Resources Leopold’s Maneuver (Image) Cytomegalovirus (C...

Nurse Nikki is a Family Nurse Practitioner, trained doula, and IBCLC. She is the owner and founder of Bloom Maternal Health and is one of my heroes. Her mission is to improve maternal health outcomes and decrease disparities, especially for Black women. She inspires me to think outside the box in ways that are hard for me, and interestingly enough, she also encourages me to think inside the box in...

My guest today is Cheri Van Hoover. She has been an ardent advocate for women, families, and the profession of midwifery for more than 4 decades. She became a midwife in 1987. A native of Washington State, she lived in California for 32 years, where she received her midwifery education and provided full-scope care for widely diverse populations in varied settings, culminating as assistant clinical...

My guest today is Kaela Kajiyama. She is a pediatric sleep coach who I love to connect and collaborate with. She helped me see things differently when it came to this fairly new specialty because, in years past as I became more and more aware of sleep coaches, I got the impression that this was all about implementing cry it out but paying someone to do it for you. Then I started to see some nuance...

Guest: Robin Bradley A midwife who practiced in Westchester County for her entire 30+ year career. Robin and Kathy Herron, who you recently heard talking about painful sex in the postpartum period are the two most important midwives in my own professional journey. They took me under their wing and taught me everything they knew. Robin is here to tell her birth stories today. However, this is also...