Melissa Hurt is our guest this episode and she offers us an easy and rather fun and funny technique for “finding our voice” as new parents.
This little exercise, known as the Y-Buzz will warm up your vocal chords and open your voice and tickle your face. But it’s not just for fun– this technique is something you may find empowering as well as spirit-lifting.
How To Avoid Anemia (Before & After Pregnancy)
How to avoid anemia (and recover from anemia) using nutrition. Anemia is common during and after pregnancy. Esther talks about how to stave it off, and how to use nutrition and what you eat to help recover from mild to severe anemia.
The Dos & Don’ts Of Being A Respectful & HELPFUL Visitor To A New Parent
The Dos and Don’ts and Whys and Hows of being a respectful and HELPFUL visitor to your new-parent family and friends. This is some frank talk based on Esther’s decades of observation and cultural comparison. Everyone can learn from this episode, whether or not they are, themselves, or know new-parents-to-be
How To Handle Visitors When You Have A New Baby
Esther and Sarah return to the subject of visitors. A discussion of why visitors in the first two to six weeks aren’t always the right thing for new parents from a physical, emotional-social and spiritual perspective, as well as why our culture doesn’t foster appropriate support.
This episode of the Fourth Trimester Podcast is a playbook for handling visitors, including:
setting boundaries for yourself
communicating how you need visitation to work to your loved ones
the difference between visitors who help vs visitors who don’t know how to positively contribute
how to set up an appropriate ‘meet the baby’ event
why your birth story is a private experience you may or may not choose to share
Postpartum OCD Is A Thing
Wait, what is Postpartum OCD?
Yep. It’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that develops or is magnified as part of the postpartum experience. Women who don’t have OCD can develop it as part of their childbirth experience. Women who already have OCD can see their symptoms intensify during postpartum.
Most simply defined, OCD is when “intrusive thoughts” become fairly constant, and a person starts acting on those thoughts.
On episode 67 of Fourth Trimester Podcast we focus on postpartum OCD and speak with Megan Ellow who is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Delaware.
The episode covers:
Signs of Postpartum Anxiety and Postpartum OCD
How to find help if you think you may have symptoms of Postpartum Anxiety and Postpartum OCD (Hint: start by calling an anonymous helpline 800-944-4773)
Megan’s true story of postpartum OCD and her recovery
Afraid Of The Birth? Anxious About Being A Parent?
We talk with Leah Chalofsky about the New Parents Circle and Cesarean Birth Support Group, anxiety (as it relates to pregnancy and parenting), domestic violence, and teen pregnancy/parenting. Topics covered:
Hormones and their influence
Emotions prior to birth
Anxiety, Depression and “feeling bad about feeling bad”
First two years of child’s life – transitions physical and mental
Benefiting from being around other parents
Ruling out physical issues – how physical and emotional are intertwined
How Nethal Abdul-Mu’min Is Helping Muslim Families Find Their Reflection In The Parenting Community
We are so happy to introduce Nethal Abdul-Mu-Amin to our listeners. In this episode we also give our listeners an opportunity to learn a bit about Islamic cultural diversity and how Nethal is helping Muslim families find their reflection in the Parenting Community.
We discuss the following and more:
Homebirth Midwifery in the era before legalization and the current state of access
Nethal’s background and what led her to become a Birth and Postpartum Doula and Childbirth Educator
Resources Nethal has helped develop as a Childbirth Educator, specifically for the Muslim community
Perinatal Herbalism Can Provide Enjoyment, Rest & Recovery
Esther introduces Beth Rees and the topic of Perinatal Herbalism to our audience. On our show we like to hear about all sorts of supportive approaches to pregnancy, postpartum and parenting. Beth tells us about how herbs can nourish us and add enjoyment, rest and recovery to our intensive work growing our families.
We discuss:
How Beth became a doula/herbalist
Geeking out about Birth and Postpartum
Heart-opening
Herbal self-nourishment and caring for the new mom and baby
Herbalism/Acupuncture integration
Local approaches
Gentle Giants of the herb world
Internal and external nourishment and healing
Show notes for specific herbal supports for parents and children
How To Hire A Nanny
Trusting another person to care for your child can be challenging. Having a plan in place for hiring and employing a childcare provider will go a long way in alleviating some of the stress. Put your plan in place with episode 63, including:
when to start looking for a nanny / childcare provider (accounting for how long it can take to hire someone)
how to pre-screen candidates and conduct the interview process (because you need more than one interview with your final selections)
conducting a nanny trial period
how to develop and maintain a good line of communication between parents and care providers
what to expect for how to pay a nanny (over the table vs under the table) and having contracts
how to consider the nanny’s perspective, including pressure they may feel (e.g. if you don’t have any backup care)
how to set clear household expectations