Previa Alliance Podcast
There are few experiences as universal to human existence as pregnancy and childbirth, and yet its most difficult parts — perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) — are still dealt with in the shadows, shrouded in stigma. The fact is 1 in 5 new and expecting birthing people will experience a PMAD, yet among those who do many are afraid to talk about it, some are not even aware they’re experiencing one, and others don’t know where to turn for help. The fact is, when someone suffers from a maternal mental health disorder it affects not only them, their babies, partners, and families - it impacts our communities.
In the Previa Alliance Podcast series, Sarah Parkhurst and Whitney Gay are giving air to a vastly untapped topic by creating a space for their guests — including survivors of PMADs and healthcare professionals in maternal mental health — to share their experiences and expertise openly. And in doing so, Sarah and Whitney make it easy to dig deep and get real about the facts of perinatal mental health, fostering discussions about the raw realities of motherhood. Not only will Previa Alliance Podcast listeners walk away from each episode with a sense of belonging, they’ll also be armed with evidence-based tools for healing, coping mechanisms, and the language to identify the signs and symptoms of PMADs — the necessary first steps in a path to treatment. The Previa Alliance Podcast series is intended for anyone considering pregnancy, currently pregnant, and postpartum as well as the families and communities who support them.
Sarah Parkhurst
Previa Alliance Podcast Co-host; Founder & CEO of Previa Alliance
A postpartum depression survivor and mom to two boys, Sarah is on a mission to destigmatize the experiences of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs), and to educate the world on the complex reality of being a mom. Sarah has been working tirelessly to bring to light the experiences of women who have not only suffered a maternal mental health crisis but who have survived it and rebuilt their lives. By empowering women to share their own experiences, by sharing expert advice and trusted resources, and by advocating for health care providers and employers to provide support for these women and their families, Sarah believes as a society we can minimize the impact of the current maternal mental health crisis, while staving off future ones.
Whitney Gay
Previa Alliance Podcast Co-host; licensed clinician and therapist
For the past ten years, Whitney has been committed to helping women heal from the trauma of a postpartum mental health crisis as well as process the grief of a miscarriage or the loss of a baby. She believes that the power of compassion paired with developing critical coping skills helps moms to heal, rebuild, and eventually thrive. In the Previa Alliance Podcast series, Whitney not only shares her professional expertise, but also her own personal experiences of motherhood and recovery from grief.
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Previa Alliance Podcast
Labor of a Mother
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We are bringing back your favorite L&D nurse, lactation consultant and Doula Jenny to shed light into what the L&D experience is like from a nurse perspective and how those first few weeks postpartum is like a uphill climb. We know laboring is only part of your journey and we are here to shine light on the rest.
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Keep the questions coming by sending them to info@previaalliance.com or DM us on Instagram!
The Challenges of Motherhood
Speaker 1Hey guys , welcome back to Freelance Podcast . This is Sarah and Whitney , and we have our favorite . Hi , jenny , we're Blacktation . You guys know our previous moms .
Speaker 1Jenny comes in clutch so many times to get us ready for baby , to get us how to feed baby , either which way you choose , how to take care of yourself and babies . So we brought Jenny back today , because a constant theme we have been hearing from our moms is okay , what's happened to me ? Where are we at ? We're tidying this episode . Labor of a mother and when you're thinking about labor of a mother , think of this , emotionally , physically , transformatively , and no one better to talk about it than I mean hello we're delivering nurse to Jenny .
Speaker 1So happy to be back . Jenny , let's talk to I know we talked about this the mom who's saying what have I done ? Yes , I told Jenny the other day . I said it . I remember specifically post baby J and will . But baby James the most okay , he was in his little strapped on carrier . I was walking in the neighborhood . I call him my best friend . She's in Boston , she's older kids , hysterical kind , what have I done ?
Speaker 3What have I done ?
Speaker 1Yeah , and I could only say to her but so many moms have that . What have I done ? Yes , oh yeah .
Speaker 2And I think there's so much shame with that because these moms think I'm the only one that feels this way , like how could I have these feelings with this new baby ? And you're not alone because this is something I hear on a weekly basis that I feel like I've ruined my life or what have I done my life was so great and now I've ruined it and I've wrecked it and that is a very common theme and thought that we hear and there should be no shame in that , because it's normal .
Speaker 3Yeah , it's normal , it makes you human , even if you went through infertility treatments to get your baby here and if you've experienced miscarriage and now you have this baby and you're like , oh , what have I done ? What have I done ? That's a really big point .
Speaker 1I've heard more previous moms who struggle with fertility and loss saying I don't think I can think anything other than gratefulness or like right , we shot . Every in the South we hear it . You're so blessed . You're highly favored .
Speaker 2At least you have a healthy baby . Exactly , I have to hear that Well , you didn't die .
Speaker 1Yeah , but if it's a baby and you're okay now like you know , or honey ? I had it this way . I walked up the hill and snow in the middle of July .
Speaker 2I know we've talked about that . It's like the grandma , well-meaning or not , who's like . Well , we didn't have any of that and no one cared about my mental health and we survived . And I just want to say like I feel so bad for you .
Speaker 1I'm so sorry .
Speaker 2That doesn't make it okay , though , no .
Speaker 1I've actually said that to a family member . I'm so sorry that that was your experience and you probably do feel some kind of jealousy that now our generation . We're getting validation . I mean hello , there's terms post-partum depression , post-partum anxiety , it's a thing .
Speaker 3It's recognized and we can do more than survive , we can actually thrive .
Speaker 1Thank you , so , and there's resources . So , yeah , I'm sure that is triggering to you and that is kind of like , why did I suffer ? And now this is an open platform . So what is some other things ? Now you know listeners , jenny's in the homes , okay , of fresh mamas and babies , what are some other things ? You're kind of like they're comfortable , they're crying , they're opening up to you . What are they saying ?
Speaker 2Yeah , a lot of new moms , the first like six weeks especially , I would say it's they feel like my baby is the only one .
Speaker 1Yes .
Speaker 2My baby's the only one not sleeping .
Speaker 3Like .
Speaker 2I'm looking at the internet and my baby should be taking an hour and a half long nap or whatever it says for that age , and it's like my baby doesn't do that , or my baby wants to eat 20 times a day instead of every three hours , and I think there's like that mom guilt and that mom shame that we're just programmed to feel for some reason that I failed somehow , that my baby's not doing the robot things it's supposed to be doing , and so I hear that a lot , that I think there's something wrong with me or that I'm feeling this way
Speaker 2or there's something wrong with my baby , that it's not doing the normal baby things quote unquote normal baby things or that they're the only one that feels the way that they do that . I think I made a big mistake when I had a baby and I feel so guilty admitting that . But that is a very , very common thing . A lot of isolation , like mom's feeling like they can't leave the house Because my baby might cry or have a blowout . Or I'm breastfeeding and I'm not comfortable breastfeeding in public or whatever Is . Or maybe I'm bottle feeding and I'm not comfortable like pulling a bottle out . At this new mom support group , but you are not the only one that's feeling the way you feel . I guarantee that every other mom in the room has had some yeah , absolutely .
Speaker 1I remember with will I I well anxiety here coming in play , but it felt impossible to go and do something alone with him .
Speaker 1Like I would worry even fixate like , am I gonna be able to carry the car seat right ? Can I ? Can I put this like I have a ? Now looking back , I'm just like , oh my gosh , I really needed some help . But I Mean I've worried about that , like I was like it's somebody gonna judge me if I do this wrong , or what did he cries in the middle to store it and I can't get him to stop . Then I think it's a me thing , right , I mean I would just get like hot and even think about it and sweating , right , I mean I would just get like hot and even think about it and sweating right .
Speaker 1And I didn't feel like I could tell anybody that and they'd be like , well , you know , I feel he like what you doing today and I'd be like , oh , I was going to . He's like , well , why not ? And I didn't want to say because I was already in my head , yeah , seeing how everything could go wrong right and me felling . That's how I felt . Yeah , I never said to anybody .
Speaker 2And it's like you see the baby and then you burp the baby and then you change them , and then they spit up and then you have to change and now they're hungry again and so you're like I'm caught in this cycle and I just yes , it is very daunting to feel like it is out the door yeah . That's me . I encourage new moms to do . What I tried to do with the newborn is get out of your house at least once a day , whether it's just walking around the block .
Speaker 2Yeah or going to the library , or going to get a cup of coffee to go . Yeah , just something that feels very attainable that I can make this quick trip with a baby . Yeah , I did it .
Speaker 3And he's like right , okay , it's not at the end of the world correct babies will cry right and it's they're supposed to .
Speaker 1Yeah it's what they remember having anxiety about being alone with will . For the first time , that is a very common oh yeah as well , and we've talked about this .
Speaker 2Lisa is going to be , doing CPR yeah , basic life support videos , which is amazing , because I think a lot of moms are just afraid that something bad is gonna happen .
Speaker 1And .
Speaker 2I'm the only one here with my baby and the chances of that happening are very small . It's very unlikely , but I think just empowering yourself to know right if , god forbid , something does happen . You know what to do in that right moment . You know what to do if babies not breathing or choking , and so that's me . I recommend , you know , take a BLS class , take a CPR class . Just so you know , watch a YouTube video . I mean , there's yeah , resources all there resources to see you feel comfortable to be alone with your baby .
Speaker 1Yeah , I think I felt uncomfortable looking back , I was like I'm bored , what do I do ? And like you don't want to say that . And then because then people like it's hard and people are like , well , but you feel bored and it's hard like it's contradicting right but sometimes you're just like , well , what am I gonna do ? Because the people every slept right like and you're just sitting there and your maternity leaves ticking down and you're kind of like you're overstimulated but you're not getting any intellectual stimulation .
Speaker 3I think that's why we need a community .
Speaker 2So yeah , just to have an adult conversation .
Speaker 1I forgot what it was like to have adult conversations for a while , or bill would get home and I just be like I couldn't speak . I was like uh-huh yeah no , I did that .
Speaker 2You're like , I was so busy today but I can't even put the words .
Speaker 1What I did exactly yeah and then you just , and then people call and they check in , how's the baby ? No one's saying how are you , and then , if they do , it's an afterthought , right , yeah ? And you're just like well , I had that . I had almost a panic attack over this and I fixated on their sleep schedule .
Speaker 3And then I'm really tired , I'm gonna bubble guppies 24 . Uh-huh .
Speaker 1Yep , and it felt like an act of God to walk outside right , and I'm here and I haven't showered yeah phone great .
Speaker 3It's doing . Great Thanks for asking Uh-huh .
Speaker 1And that is . I think it's the first child . That's like my hardest , oh yes but you've never done it before , like you're literally going blind into this yeah it's uncharted territory . It's your body , your mind , your relationship . Hello , here comes family . It's a whole thing , yeah , and I got a lot more comfortable , and Probably too comfortable , and baby James is post-farm period of just being like . This is how I feel right .
Speaker 1And I have been open about this I had rage with baby James . Mm-hmm , hello , that was wild , yeah . And so then I was just like I wasn't anxious , I was just angry , yeah , which now we know it's a subset of those frustrating depression anxiety . But the time I even didn't know that and then to even admit like I'm feeling angry because , like I want to sleep in the baby's Crying , like no one's gonna say that or no one said you know , we hope now you're hearing this and if that's you , you're going . Okay , I'm not alone . But I think another thing I'm hearing from moms that they're saying can we talk about is the monotonous days that run into nights and no one really prepares you for like Groundhog Day , and what that does to you mentally and like how do you take that ? Like ?
Speaker 1because I think pre-baby right . Unless you're super pregnant , you're uncomfortable . You like , get your day done right check mark , I'm gonna go to sleep . Yeah , check mark , new day . Right Like we have these like start stops . Yeah hello newborn period and all just together Twilight zone . So what do we tell these moms ? Yeah , how do we make this day a little bit better ?
Speaker 2I think just you know , having those realistic goals , that you're not gonna renovate your house right now , like always when people are pregnant they tell me when I'm a maternity leave . I'm gonna get all these projects done . I'm like honey . No , you're no you're not to rest and recover .
Speaker 2Yeah , take care of your baby , and that's yeah , yeah , if you do that , you're winning . Yeah , I think , just to have those realistic expectations that you may not have a lot done in those first few months .
The Importance of Mom Support Groups
Speaker 2And then also , just I always say , like , take those five minutes for yourself at the start of the day , feed your baby , lay them on their back . I think that's really hard as a first-time mom super . You don't want to hear your baby cry like you talking about sweating like I would hear my first baby cry and I would start sweating .
Speaker 1Like a body reaction .
Speaker 2stop , yeah , yeah real response , but just knowing you can lay them on their back in their crib for five minutes .
Speaker 3They will be okay .
Speaker 1Yes , they're they can't run away .
Speaker 2So it's actually the best time to just leave them there . I'm gonna take a big shower , get on some real clothes , whatever it is to make you feel like a person , have your cup of coffee and start your day , yeah , and then I think , just those little windows , that , okay , we'll try to have a nap today , we'll try to do your nap schedule , but it may not work out , we'll hold it very loosely right their routines , but just having I would do like a little checklist on my notes in my phone .
Speaker 2Yeah , made a video about this . That like for me something that was really important . I wanted to read my kids books every day and it's so silly to be like did I read to them today , or was it yesterday ?
Speaker 2I mean you right and so literally it's just like okay , so today is Friday or whatever day it is like we're gonna read three little baby books and these books are so like Two words on each page , like they're very short . It's very good . Yeah , and so we might read a little story in between each hour , sing a nursery rhyme or Go outside for ten minutes and look at the birds and .
Speaker 2I think just kind of having it sounds silly to say like a checklist . We're just saying like these are five things I would like to accomplish . Goals are great that I want to take a five minute shower and I want to have a cup of coffee and I want to read this little baby book and I want to go outside for ten minutes . And so then , at the end of your day , when your husband gets home or your partner , you can say I did all of these things and yes .
Speaker 2Maybe like together it was 30 minutes , but it is such an accomplishment . It builds up yes , it builds your confidence does and then you're like okay , now I can go out to baby store time at the library right here there's my support group , because look at all these things I can do .
Speaker 1And you do , I will say , with the mom support group . It took me a while to get control because I thought everybody's gonna be judging me and they're not , and they're not , no one's not . No one's caring .
Speaker 2They're all all bad Battles like when you're a teenager and you think everyone's looking at you like they're not . They're all thinking about , thinking about what they're going through and their baby , like no one's looking at you and judging you just lost all that , whateverness as I it's as I've become more of a veteran mom per se , you know , and .
Speaker 1I remember like will taking him swim lessons when he was little and I was like , oh my gosh , like so stressful . I want to do everything perfect . I didn't want a mom to think I was unprepared , like I probably had ten different outfits for him . Okay , we don't need that .
Speaker 3I've got 20 towels , like I was psychotic .
Speaker 1And then now I'm very fly on the seat and I saw this new mom at swim and now I've got both boys down because you have I mean feel by far like you have no choice . You have to figure it out and she was like oh , I'm so embarrassed , I didn't , I forgot a swim diaper and she was just .
Speaker 1You could just tell her , you could just tell she was starting a cave , yeah you know , like you know when you're fixing a car and you feel it , what you're trying to hold it . Yeah , I got you , yeah , and she was like , oh , thank you , and I'm like no , no , no .
Speaker 3This is not a big deal .
Speaker 2It's not a deal , and we're here for each other like this we're here .
Speaker 1You forget a diaper . I got you exactly your toddler's running . I'll watch with your seven-year-old for a second , we'll be okay .
Speaker 3It's like the woman come rottering , yeah , and it starts in middle school when we have our periods and we need an extra tampon and some like I got you . Don't you worry about that ? That carries into motherhood too .
Speaker 2When it's like I forget the swim diaper or I forgot wipes , or I forgot this or this I got you and I think that is , I mean this community , yeah so important and you need other moms and you need that support and we're just talking I mean I feel like we text all the time about yeah , it's like where is my village ?
Speaker 1like who do I call ? Yeah , they're not there .
Speaker 2You know we're talking about like showing up at your neighbor's house one day and I'm like that's actually like not that uncommon either . Yeah mom's tell me like I put out feelers in my neighborhood support group like hey , I need help breastfeeding . Can anyone help me ? Yeah , I love that yeah that is how we build communities , that's absolutely live this life . We were never awkward , right awkward , and it's like even they could be your best friends .
Speaker 1Yeah , it still could be awkward in the beginning , but you gotta let that go oh yeah and if they're judging you , you're not gonna want them on this motherhood .
Speaker 2I wouldn't tell you that real quick , no and I call those on bleacher friends , mmm .
Speaker 1Okay , they don't need to be on the field with me .
Speaker 3They're not in my inner huddle , they're not a teammate .
Speaker 1They can watch me from afar .
Speaker 3Yeah , I like that I want people in my huddle .
Speaker 1That's gonna be like we gotta do this and that and I got you . Mm-hmm , and that's okay . And I think people , when you have a baby , you think maybe all your friends are gonna be your huddle friends . There's sometimes not , yeah , and that hurts , I think that it does in motherhood like cuz . I just thought everybody would just like rally around me . Yeah , and be the same type of Mother as me , which you ? There's I friends who mother very differently , and that's fine .
Speaker 2But like we , support each other's choices Absolutely . Yeah , hard when you're not in the same stage together .
Speaker 1Oh yeah , you know now .
Speaker 2I feel like I'm kind of out of the thick of it because my baby is about the term to .
Speaker 1And so baby James's future . I like it set it up .
Speaker 2She's like I mean third baby , she's got two big brothers . She's literally potty , potty , training herself this week . So I feel like you know . I'm a new born stage . I'm kind of in the sweet spot .
Speaker 1You're getting there yeah .
Speaker 2I want to be that friend to my Friends of newborns , yeah , but also I'm just in a completely different stage now , like yeah swim team and dive team , and yeah , potty training and so it's very I get it . We're , you know you have , like you're , really close friends , but then when you're in different stages of life , it's hard to it is mutually support each other .
Speaker 3It is . But I also think when we are veteran moms we don't forget how hard the newborn stages and we kind of can meet those moms a little bit better where they're at , when we're like . This is what I'm doing for you . What time is better ?
Speaker 1Like you don't get an opt out it's .
Speaker 3you can tell me when ?
Speaker 2yes , my friend Elizabeth is really good at that . She's like I can drop off dinner either Monday night , wednesday night or Friday night , and would you prefer 5 pm or 6 pm ? Like there's , yeah . Yeah , there's no way to know . It's okay , it's like it's happening . Yeah , you're here , yeah .
Speaker 1That's what I mean . I think that is right , because it's like I think we're all traumatized from some point of our births or newborn stage . Yeah , that we are always gonna see ourselves , and I would say that's my mom will always remember who was there for her yes , and her most vulnerable periods .
Speaker 1Oh , absolutely which is pregnancy , newborn Mm-hmm . If you're having postpartum mental health struggles , yeah , and I think this is something too . It's like you in pregnancy . We talked about this all the time in previous have to find these people . You find your safe places . You find the people who are gonna educate about how are we supporting mom during postpartum . You're having the conversation . What is postpartum anxiety ? Look like , yeah . What is postpartum depression ? Thoughts sound like Mm-hmm . She may say she's fine , mm-hmm . When she's not , you're right . You may see a beautiful picture of Jenny and you have no idea what's going on in Jenny's mind .
Speaker 1Yeah , right . So how do we dig deeper ? How ? Do we have that conversation and how , when someone asks you that you're open and honest , to tell them .
Speaker 3Well , as far as like that asking thing because I've been which therapist had over here it's like whenever someone's like oh , I'm fine , I'm like , are you ? I'm like , are you sleeping at all , right , yes , are you eating ? Are you getting a shower ? At least once every 48 hours daily is great , but let's be real , newborn stage doesn't always lend to that .
Speaker 1So are you ?
Speaker 3getting one once every 48 hours . Okay , do you prefer Ashley , max or tzikis for dinner , because I'm coming to bring that to you kind of thing yeah you know it's one of those you can say I'm a safe space . So if you're ever not doing well , you can genuinely tell me that , and it's okay to tell me that . Yeah , now for the person on the receiving end of it , for you to feel comfortable with that person , it needs to be a huddle person .
Speaker 3Yes you said , sarah , it doesn't need to be a bleacher person that you don't feel super comfortable Confident with . Maybe you just get that little internal red flag saying Tread lightly here , but if it's somebody that you do have that comfort with . So if , sarah , you're asking me that , and . I know that You're in my huddle . I can say you know what ? It was a really hard night last night . Yeah or my baby is call a key , and so I have to hold them all the time for them to sleep .
Speaker 1But I can't sleep and hold them and I am telling you , those days when that baby's not sleeping , they're crying .
Speaker 3It's hard .
Speaker 1It's hard and you're gonna have some Thoughts and you're gonna have some feelings and you're gonna wonder and you won't saying it to someone who's like I get it , yeah , so so hard . They use it for terrorism .
Speaker 3I was about to say it's a torture tactic for a reason , and here we are , you feel , like there is no Light at the end of the tunnel , that's that I hear that from some of our moms .
Speaker 1I feel like it's never gonna get better . Sarah , I feel like this is my forever . I can't live like this
Joy and Overcoming Anxiety in Motherhood
Speaker 1forever .
Speaker 2Yes , and I remember for me like in the newborn stage , when I would feed them and put them down and then I would be like , okay , I need to go to sleep right now , because they could wake up at any minute .
Speaker 3And then we got out of the way right and then I'm like oh my god .
Speaker 2Yeah , counting down the minutes . Well , I've lost this many minutes .
Speaker 1I'm getting Sighty and I would just couldn't fall asleep and then I'd be fixated them . I feel like they're gonna cry or like I'd be like , as soon as I lay down there , gonna cry and know it .
Speaker 2Is it even work to go at rage ? Because yes , why are you awake now ?
Speaker 3Uh-huh I just fell asleep , or then the toddler wakes up with the baby .
Speaker 1finally , yes , and it makes the baby up , yeah , it's great . And then you're just crying and walking around your House like a zombie , right . And then your husband maybe snoring at that moment and you in your head think , can I smother him with a pillow ? Maybe , you don't , but you it pops .
Speaker 3It pops for a second . That's what we call it a passive , intrusive thought . We don't act on it .
Speaker 1Thoughts or thoughts Is that what you tell me , thoughts or thoughts , they'll still very much alive . I never try to kill him , but you know , did it did it think , you know , because he was very loud snoring at that moment .
Speaker 3I'm like it's like he's bragging about . Well , yeah .
Speaker 2He's very hands-on and if I wake him up he'll help . But you know , some nights it's just like I'm gonna feed him , put him down . It's just easier to just do it , and the next morning he would say Maybe slept so great last night .
Speaker 3Oh my god .
Speaker 2They did not right . You slept great .
Speaker 1Yeah , you're just like oh , oh wow .
Speaker 3Yeah you .
Speaker 1I feel like still like this room Now .
Speaker 3Let's call it for what it is . 100% of moms feel that way about their sign .
Speaker 1Uh-huh , oh yeah , easily , even now . When boys get sick , they have our nights , whatever .
Speaker 2Mm-hmm , it's the mental , it's the mental .
Speaker 1Jenny , can you share a photo ? As you found , jenny thought she had lost some really special what are probably all these pictures and thought I had lost them for years .
Speaker 2And they popped up all of us at the beach , so I Texted . Sarah , this picture of me and baby Charlie . So baby Charlie was my second baby . He was my really traumatic delivery that I've talked about it took me like a full nine months to recover and not be in terrible Pain every day from this delivery , and it was awful . So , anyway , my husband was traveling a lot during that time . I had a toddler at a newborn . I was also working . I had mastitis .
Speaker 2No four times in the first year . It was just a tough , tough time and I see this picture of me and baby Charlie and it's just pure joy and I don't even remember where we were or the context of it , but I can just like feel the joy looking at the picture . And that brought so much joy to my heart , because when I think of that time I just think like that was the hardest time of my life .
Speaker 1Yes .
Speaker 2Everything that we were going through was just very hard because physically I was in so much pain and postpartum recovering .
Speaker 2And then the anxiety I also share that we had had multiple losses , and so the whole time I was pregnant with baby Charlie and even during his delivery I was just waiting for that other shoe to drop . So going through all of that his first few months of life , it was physically hard , but mentally I was constantly thinking something was going to happen to him and going out of my way to prevent any bad thing that could possibly happen . And you can't prevent everything . That's just not how life works .
Speaker 2So , yeah , just talking about how , like , joy and anxiety can coexist like one doesn't have to outshine the other in both the room at the same time . Yeah , I love that picture . That picture , I just feel the joy in it .
Speaker 1It is We'll share it when we promote this episode . We'll share it with Jenny's words with it . I think it's a important reminder for moms . I think we're breaking this generational thought that , like you , can only feel X and you can't feel Y .
Speaker 1Yeah , you can feel both . So , jenny , leave our listeners . So what would you want to hear ? Let's go back to Jenny . First baby , second baby what would you wish you would have heard during that time ? What would have helped you that you're now telling these moms and it can be anything from pressure off for yourself to what the recovery is going to be like , to who you're going to become , or you know that it's kind of BS when they just sleep in the baby's sleep sometimes .
Speaker 2Yeah , I mean all the things , but you are the perfect mom for this baby and I think just having that confidence to know that you are a great mom , and you are exactly what this baby needs and to take care of yourself , put yourself first , and I think that's so counterintuitive .
Speaker 3Yeah .
Speaker 2But you have to . It's like putting on your oxygen mask first , because you can't take care of anyone else if you're not taking care of you , and that's very hard . It looks different for everyone in the newborn stage because it is so physically emotionally demanding , but just knowing there is that light at the end of the tunnel and you're an amazing mom and , I think , just prioritizing five minutes a day for yourself .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 2Hopefully more but five minutes and setting those small , attainable goals , because you are a great mom and you do have the capacity to go for a walk around the block and take five minutes for yourself and do a lot of things , and if you've done that and you survived the day , you are thriving . Yes , you are meeting your goals .
Speaker 1I love that . You're a great mom . You can always send in questions for Jenny and we love to live time , make content . These two know I will text them and say , hey , we need to make a video .
Speaker 2Hey , we need to talk about it so you guys can .
Speaker 1If you're a premium mom , you know how to access that . If you're a podcast listeners , shoot us a DM , shoot us a message and just say hey , let's talk about it .
Speaker 2We'll talk about it . Yeah , because if you're feeling a certain way , I guarantee you that there are multiple other moms doing the same way who may just not want to speak up because they're worried that they'll be judged for it . And there is no judgment here . This is your safe space . We want to be your safe people .
Speaker 1We're your online village . We wish we could be your neighbors . We do the food drop off , take the older kid for you when you need a break , all these things , but we're here , so tune into us every week , jenny , we love you , I love you , guys . You're not going anywhere . Bye , so until next time , guys , see ya , bye . Maternal mental health is as important as physical health . The previous podcast was created for and by moms dealing with postpartum depression and all its variables , like anxiety , anger and even athlete . Posted by CEO founder Sarah Parkers and licensed clinical social worker Whitney Gay . Each episode focus on specific issues relevant to pregnancy and postpartum . Join us and hear how other moms have overcome mental health challenges , as well as access to tips and suggestions on dealing with your own challenges as moms . You can also browse our podcast library and listen to previous episodes at any time . Please know you're not alone on this journey . We're here to help .