What You Didn't Expect in Fertility, Pregnancy & Birth: Real Stories & Expert Insights

There are so many surprises each and every one of us meet in the course of  getting pregnant, being pregnant, the birth and postpartum.  Often times how we think about these major life events reflects the difference between what we expected and what we experienced.  For example, many people expect breastfeeding to be easy because it's natural.  If their experience is different from that expec...

In today's episode I speak with a woman about some of the specific challenges women of color experience when they get pregnant. We talk about:  her fears about being forced into an unnecessary C section, or having her pain ignored and  How she managed significant Issues with Breastfeeding.    I also include the insights of a surgeon who has authored research on breastfeeding.  This is a weekl...

In today's episode I finish my conversation with Leah Lax, author of the memoir Uncovered, which tells the story of her entrance and exit from an insular religious community. Her story illustrates some of the powerful ideas around what it means to be a mother and a women in society, and how those ideas shape our expectations and behavior. We talk about how the abortion she had saved and funda...

In todays episode my guest and I talk about both physical and emotional challenges of pregnancy. She wrote a memoir about living in and then leaving a highly structured religious environment. Her story is about many aspects of this difficult transition, but one aspect that was of the utmost importance with respect to her entry into motherhood was her bodily autonomy. I'd characterize her book...

In todays episode we hear about the pregnancy and birth experience of a pediatrician.  It’s always interesting to me to hear how medical pple experience this transition because they tend to enter it with different expectations than the rest of us. We talk about : *birth plans *if home deliveries are exclusively for pizzas, or can legitimately refer to birth as well *the challenges of being a paren...

Last week I interviewed a great sleep consultant, Mary Vaughn, and we talked about some sleep issues that Kelly was having with her newborn. Today we'll hear more of my conversation with Mary about: * the most common mistakes parents make with sleep training and * how to handle, and think about, the sleep needs of multiple children in the house. Mary is a certified PCI parent coach and sleep...

Today my guest shares her experiences of two births Although she'd hoped for a natural birth the first time:, she had an induced labor that turned into an emergency C section the second time she hoped for a VBAC, but ended up with another C section she shares tips for managing  *epidural headaches *her challenges with sleep issues with her newborn  which I discuss with a fabulous sleep consul...

In today's episode we hear from a fabulous lactation consultant who answers all kinds of questions * Is breastfeeding supposed to hurt? how much is too much? *What are the physical changes that have to happen to be able to breastfeed *Is there a genetic component to breastfeeding? You can find more about Jennifer Suffin at her website: Care in the Curve This is a weekly show that highlights r...

In today's episode Colleen shares some of her challenges with breastfeeding, including:  *managing tongue and lip tie  *not producing enough milk (And we hear insights about these issues from the fantastic lactation consultant, Katie Howser).  She also talks about how significant changes between her first and second pregnancy led to a much better experience. Basal Body Temperature Info How to...

Today we have a mini episode with a fantastic lactation consultant based in San francisco, Katie Howser. Katie offered insights on last weeks show, but some of what we talked about didn't fit in the episode. She talks about: * Signs that you ARE or ARE NOT producing "enough" breast milk * How to think about your breastfeeding journey relative to the experience of your Mother (or sis...

In today's episode my guest shares some of the things she learned from her first birth she talks about  *managing some of the physical struggles of pregnancy, including restless leg syndrome *all the things she encountered and learned on her breastfeeding journey We also hear from the fabulous lactation consultant, Katie Howser who has lots of useful information for anyone who is feeling the...

In this mini episode, I talk to a fantastic midwife, who gives us a care providers perspective on some common things that happen in births in medical settings. Today we talk about : * the tools doctors and midwives use to predict how a birth will turn out *  the medical care provided to the baby just after birth   Tune in and get her great tips! This is a weekly show that highlights real pregnancy...

In today's episode, I finish my conversation with Tanya, and we hear about what she learned from the last three births she shares about: *managing a shoulder dystocia *her husband's response to the birth trauma he witnessed *Her red tent experience--laboring surrounded by a team of women *one of her secrets to pain relief for an unmedicated birth We also hear from the fabulous midwife, A...

In this mini episode:  I talk to a fantastic midwife, Ann Richards, who gives us a care providers perspective on some common things that happen in births in medical settings.  Today we talk about  1. why doctors break your water in the course of a birth  2. why IVs are often inserted as soon as you cross the threshold of your labor and delivery room (and some good tips on how to manage the situati...

In this episode we hear from a woman who had five births , each one different in important ways from the one that preceded it. She shares insights about what she would've done differently in those early births: * how she would handle the induction *her experience with pitocin *what elements of a hospital birth she would change *what she learned about ovulation in postpartum I also include the...

Here, in EPISODE 100 of the podcast, it seems fitting that CHELSEA CONABOY shares so many insights about how parenting changes parent's brains. *She talks about how Maternal Instinct is a story , not based on science * She describes research on these brain changes and what they might mean for our health * She talks about how our repeated efforts to check on our newborns , even before we reall...

This is episode 99 of the podcast, and next week is the 100th episode. it seems a totally fitting tribute, for a podcast dedicated to changing the conversation about this transformation, to have a guest whose profound book is all about debunking our most socially potent beliefs about what defines a mother and where they came from (spoiler alert: they don't come from rigorous scientific examin...

In today's episode I finish my conversation with Kaitlin McGreyes, the CEO of BeHerVilliage. She shares her challenges in postpartum, which dramatically changed the course of her life--she left teaching to become a doula, and the combination of a birth that jumped the tracks, as they often do, and the difficulties of PP inspired her to try to change the way the rest of us experience PP--a tra...

We--ALL of US (in the US)--are doing Postpartum wrong. Once we experience it with our first born, we learn this, and all make plans to do something different the second time, if there is a second time. Today's guest wants to change Postpartum for all of us. In today's episode, my guest shares the birth and postpartum experience that propelled her out of her work as a special ed teacher i...

For the last two weeks we talked about shifting identities in motherhood that can bring up conflicting feelings. It's important to acknowledge how universal an experience this is.  The next question is: what do we DO with all of these feelings? What follows is a few more insights  from the fantastic therapist ,  ( Jessica Sourci ) , who spoke about these topics in the last two episodes, and w...

You love your kids, and it might be the case that you also, LOVED your life before kids. The sometimes conflicting emotions that women encounter as they find a new identity in motherhood and figure out how to integrate it with aspects of their life before kids is today's topic. In today's episode we hear the second half of my conversation with Anne. She shares the strategies she uses to...

When your interests are shifted to the back seat to make room for the baby's, you WILL have feelings about it, but most of us never talk about it because it doesn't fit our idea of motherhood. Today we discuss some of these challenges, and ways of making sense of them.  I talk to a writer who is also a mother of three about the ideas she brought with her into this giant transition and ho...

Conceiving, being pregnant, giving birth and then learning to be someone's parent by immediately being responsible for the survival of a new being are all challenging experiences that contain within them, an endless set of possibilities to grow. Today I finish my conversation with Molly. In this episode, she compares her expectations at the birth with her experience and learns that the expect...

When she was 18, a doctor told her that getting pregnant would be challenging, without offering any suggestions about how to improve her odds. She worked for ten years to prove this doctor wrong--and when she was on the brink of giving up, it happened--she got pregnant.  In today's episode my guest offers advice about what she would've done differently when pursuing the health issue that...

Scientists often study extreme cases to learn about the mechanics of a phenomenon. Many women found themselves running this kind of experiment in their own homes. How would the postpartum period--a time marked by isolation--feel when the whole world was isolating? In today's episode, author of the Upstairs House Julia Fine, reflects on her experience having her second child in the heart of th...