Undefining Motherhood with Katy Huie Harrison, PhD

It’s essential to prioritize yourself, even when it’s hard. In this wrap-up episode to Season 1, Katy & Sarah get really personal. From conversations about fertility to being part of the sandwich generation, they reflect on Season 1, chat about recent struggles they’ve faced personally, and share how those struggles have impacted this season.  Plus, find out what’s to come next season, and how you...

Abortion—a loaded word we’re actually getting all wrong. Reproductive rights have become so hot button that we have protests, rallies, and entire political campaigns based on a word that doesn’t actually mean what we think it does. I’m a scholar of words who also happens to have “habitual aborter” written on her medical chart. (I’ve lost 4 wanted pregnancies, in case you were wondering.)  So it’s...

Ever felt like you’re not living up to the healthiest standards when deciding what to eat during pregnancy, preconception, or postpartum? Here’s the good news, friend. What’s best for me may not be best for you. It’s all individual, and today, we’re chatting with genetic nutritionist Cara Everett to learn how to find out what *you* need to make the best prenatal nutrition choices! Cara’s actionabl...

In this eye-opening episode, we're diving into a topic close to my heart: the impact of medical language on women's healthcare experiences. Have you ever noticed how some medical terms can make us feel less like individuals and more like a case study? It's a conversation we need to have. We're exploring how certain phrases and words in the medical world can unintentionally dehumanize and disempowe...

Postpartum is one of the hardest periods of many women’s lives. From the sleep deprivation to the massive identity shift, to the healing and hormonal changes for birthing mothers, there’s a reason most new moms find themselves feeling completely unprepared. So what happens when you’re in this already life-changing time, and then the world shatters from underneath you? We talk a lot at Undefining M...

If you’ve spent even 5 minutes looking at pregnancy accounts on social media, then you know there’s a firestorm of conflicting information about prenatal nutrition and supplementation. And, well, I had a lot of questions I wanted answered from an actual expert.  But who really is the expert? Is it the OBGYN who keeps up with research but doesn’t have much education about nutrition? The nutritionis...

There’s nothing one-size-fits-all about motherhood–either the path to it or through it. It's a messy, beautiful, and deeply individual journey. In this episode, we continue our conversation with Alex Kornsweit, talking about each of our unique struggles to find ourselves through the chaos of motherhood. We delve into heartfelt stories, quirky things we’ve found that really support us and our famil...

Walking through the fire of infertility, all you can hope for is to come out the other side with a baby in your arms. But we don’t often talk about struggles that come with motherhood after infertility–from the unexpected anxieties, unsupportive advice, and oh so much more. In this episode, we’re diving deep into these silent struggles Alex Kornsweit. From navigating societal expectations to findi...

Oh, the infamous "enjoy every moment" advice. If you’re a new mom, you’ve probably heard this more times than you can count. And if you’re anything like me, it might make you feel a bit . . .  well, inadequate. In this episode, we're unpacking the well-meaning but often misguided advice new moms get bombarded with, focusing on the classic—enjoy every moment. Here’s the deal: becoming a new parent...

In this episode, we’re tackling those well-intended but often hurtful words of comfort, like "just relax" that totally miss the mark for people navigating issues like infertility and miscarriage. But this episode isn’t just about reproductive struggles. In fact, it isn’t about that at all. It’s about language, history, culture, psychology, and why it’s so hard for us to look someone in the eye and...

Last week, New York Times Bestselling Author Eve Rodsky helped us understand how we can combat parental burnout by rebalancing domestic labor. I know the feeling of losing myself in motherhood all too well, and Eve’s systems have changed my life. Slowly, they’re helping me find more time and space to gift to myself–space she calls “Unicorn Space,” a mythical time for yourself that doesn’t exist, b...

Are you feeling the weight of the mental load and struggling with mom burnout? You're not alone. In a world where gender roles are shifting, yet the bulk of domestic responsibilities still fall on women, it's time to find a sustainable balance. This week on Undefining Motherhood, we delve into a transformative conversation with New York Times Bestselling Author Eve Rodsky, the mastermind behind th...

When we think of moms as default parents and dads as babysitters, everybody loses. And yet, the norm remains. When dads meet up for a golf day, no one asks who’s watching the kids. But when moms manage to leave the house without little ones in tow, it’s a question we hear constantly.  In this episode, we talk about: How we got here How sick of moms and dads BOTH are of this double standard Why it’...

For centuries, women have felt pressure to have a baby. Most adult women who don’t have children by their mid-late twenties have found themselves at parties, holidays, or family dinners where someone comments on their “biological clock” or asks that inevitable question–”When are you going to have a baby?”  In this episode, we dive deep into our own stories, those of the Undefining Motherhood commu...

What is a mother, really? There are so many different parenting types, books, and ideologies that tell us the definition of a good mother–or even a mother at all. After 15 years studying motherhood and 9 years as a mother myself, I have a very different perspective than most–and it’s the most empowering definition of motherhood you can imagine.  Talk to us about this episode on Instagram at https:...

Was your journey to motherhood harder than you thought it’d be? There are so many voices telling us how to be and become mothers, and for me, those voices set me up for feelings of failure when nothing went the way I planned. Here’s the story of my fertility and recurrent miscarriage journey – and why I think it’s time to undefine motherhood.  Talk to us about this episode on Instagram at https://...

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