Have you ever worried that you’re following in the footsteps of your own mother and drifting towards the same unpleasant habits? In today’s episode we dive deep into understanding patterns from our own parents and how they affect our own lives and the lives of our children. In this episode I talk with Amelia Mora Mars, mom of 10 and founder of Mom Connections where she works as a psychotherapist and mom coach to women raised by emotionally unavailable mothers. She empowers women to brea...

*Gains weight during pregnancy* People: Oh cute, you're eating for two! *Gains weight postpartum* People: Ew, you need to start losing the baby fat ASAP. Why do people think that our bodies are ready to start bouncing back to an intense exercise routine and restricted diet IMMEDIATELY after giving birth? Postpartum is the time that you need to rest, replenish, and recover! Childbirth and infant feeding demand a lot from our body, and when we deny those demands, our health can suf...

Welcome to episode 38, where I am STILL baffled about the knowledge gap, the misinformation, lack of information, contradictions, the high morbidity and mortality rates for pregnant and postpartum people, and all other failures in our healthcare system. We have to do better. Today, I talk with Tanya Tringali, another badass individual trying her best to provide real care and support to our postpartum and pregnant women. Tanya is the founder of Mother Wit Maternity Services. She is...

Trauma exists on a spectrum, so why do we only take the big “T” trauma seriously? What about the little “t” trauma that happens to SO many mothers during pregnancy and childbirth? If providers can’t recognize trauma, then how can it be treated? Many of these questions and more were answered in today’s episode with Emily Lapolice, a clinical social worker and trauma center trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator (TCTSY). We discuss HOW trauma so often occurs in pregnancy and birth ...

Warning friends, this episode is explicit. So hold on to your hats because today is all about truth bombs and real talk. Joining us we have, Melissa Cioffi, a pelvic health PT, whose story begins fresh out of school where she jumped into corporate healthcare and was ready to change some lives… only, that’s not what really happened. Four years later and Dr. Mel realized that the system was failing her patients, doctors, and herself. So, she said f*ck the system and set off on...

Are you ready to make some changes and take action with this revolution? Now is the time! And my friend, Joy Burkhard, is helping lead the way. “Joy is the founder and executive director of 2020 Mom a non-profit social change organization aggressively working to close gaps in maternal mental health through education, awareness, and advocacy.” We discuss some of Joy’s big projects happening in 2021, which include Mom Congress and TheBlueDot Project. Mom Congress endorses federal policies...

Part two of Rose Schieck’s episode is here! Last week, Rose shared her experience of motherhood and how she struggled to find herself in the chaos... if you haven't listened to it yet, make sure it's on your list! Rose starts this episode by reading a powerful message from Barbara Brennan’s book, Light Emerging. In part two, we dive a bit deeper into how our energies affect our children inside and out of the womb and how we can better recognize when we subconsciously act out from ...

Rose Schieck did all the right things to prepare for her pregnancy, but what she didn’t prepare for was motherhood and postpartum. Sleep deprivation, anxiety, and depression came full force once she jumped back into work 2 months after becoming a new mom. After a year of self-doubt, guilt, and way too little sleep, Rose decided she needed to do something for herself. She became a registered yoga teacher through the Yoga Alliance. With a new yogic lens, Rose was able to reevaluate her li...

The first 3 months after childbirth are a tricky time (understatement of the year, I know). You want to feel fit and strong again, but are also immensely tired. Your body is sore, squishy, stinky, sweaty... you feel anything but sexy. You hear conflicting advice - should I rest? Exercise more? What's the best, fastest, safest way to feel at home in my body again? Who can I trust to guide me? Enter Lindsay McCoy. Lindsay is a busy mom of 4, dog owner, wife, birth doula, personal trainer, an...

Welcome to week two of January and I am very excited to bring in Lindsey Vestal, who is just as passionate and excited to chat about pelvic health as I am. Lindsey is a Pelvic Health Occupational Therapist and also the founder of The Functional Pelvis, the first in-home pelvic health practice in New York City. Lindsey has a holistic approach for her clients and looks at the small, everyday changes that can really impact your pelvic health in a positive way. Lindsey has a touching ...

Friends, it’s January which means there’s still time to change your mindset for 2021. Who am I kidding, anytime is a great time to make positive changes but why not start now? Today’s episode dives deep into the mindset of starting small sparks with just one little action to transition into the journey of healing your pelvic health. Healing the physical body is just the beginning, the emotional body cannot be ignored any longer. This episode features Lauren Ohayon, who is an interna...

It's December, which means we're heading into the season of colder temps and less daylight, and it's a time I feel called to hibernate and store up some energy for these long winter months. I've already put up lights, candles, and a tree to create a cozy den for myself! It's something I've done for years, as an antidote to the bustling Holiday Season, where everyone is busy, over extended, and staying up late. That frantic energy during the darkest month of the year just doesn't sit well with...

Have you ever wondered what a Pelvic PT uses for treatment? Like, does everyone need a set of vaginal weights, or an insertable wand to release tight muscles? And electric stimulation for the pelvic floor... what the what?! In today’s episode, Blair and I talk about some common tools that you might find in a pelvic PT's toolbox, and who they might help and why. 1:39 Lube, knowing the differences between the three types of lube and the pros and cons of each. Brands we love: Good Clean Love,...

Alright, my Revolutionaries, grab your partner and give this episode a listen together. After you birth a child, you realize that your body needs to heal and get stronger to keep up with your kiddo, but what we don’t mention is that the non-birthing parent needs to get strong too! The typical “prepare for baby” talk involves car seats and changing diapers. But, were you ever asked, “Are you physically strong enough to carry a 20 lb kettlebell around all the dang time?” Probably not… the...

“After trying all the things, and being in talk therapy for years, I realized that I don’t have anything else to talk about… and I still had anxiety and panic attacks. I wondered, if the problem isn’t in my head, then where is it? And then it hit me - the issue was in my body.” Overwhelm, lack of control, constant stress, and anxiety - sounds a lot like being a new parent, right? So how can we find time to ground and heal ourselves when we have so many demands on our time, our bodies… a...

Today felt like a good day to talk about stress and the pelvic floor... so I had a good chat with myself about it. In this episode I talk about... The difference between a stressor and stress How our bodies change in response to stress How the pelvic floor responds to stress And how you can create and implement nourishing daily practices that either balance out the sympathetic stress response or discharge all that excess fight/flight energy so that your body can get back to balance. There’s a...

It's time the standards change for all birthing experiences. There's a whole lot of trauma in a person’s life that never gets the attention it deserves and is too easily brushed under the rug. How did we let this become the new norm? When it comes to birth, let's ask ourselves; is basic survival enough? NO! The patient's needs are not being heard. The providers don't have the time to really listen, nor are they taught how to empathize in medical school. The side effects of birth t...

First trimester: nausea Second trimester: eat all the things! (but don’t gain “too much” weight) Third trimester: heartburn, still eating all the things and watching the scale Fourth trimester: time to go on a diet to lose the baby weight! This old familiar pattern is so engrained in our lives.. it’s in movies, diet culture, blogs, memes... so this all must be normal right? Nothing we can do about it, it’s all just part of the sacrifice birthing people sign up for when they decide to be...

Female hormones are finally getting their time in the sun - and everyone wants to talk about "how to balance our hormones"... but is anyone asking WHY our hormones are out of balance? During early postpartum, a period of hormonal imbalance is just a part of the deal - childbirth changes our bodies and our hormones are no exception. Our systems are designed to find balance again, but the conditions must be right... this is why ancient wisdom teaches that rest and restoration durin...

Postpartum has it all - depression, anxiety, rage, joy, fear, love, frustration, happiness, grief... yep it's the full spectrum of emotions, sometimes all in one day. We hear about it sometimes, whispers of mental health struggles, but like the rest of the mental health world, it's not talked about openly. So how the heck do we deal with that? How do we know if we're okay? How do we ask for help? That's what I talked about with maternal mental health counselor, and new mom herself, Mar...