freemom, conversations for modern mothers

I recently drenched myself in an article from NPR called, “The Period Talk You Never Got” which had me both hysterically reliving awkward after-school tutorials in my elementary school auditorium and feeling completely mortified by how little I actually knew about something that happens to my body every single month. What bothered me even more than my naivety was the fact that menstruation still seems to be this red veil of shame. Sure, we complain about the symptoms to our inner circle of girlfriends and our spouses may look to tread a bit more lightly at certain times of the month, but besides the obligatory “welcome to womanhood” chat during our pre-teen years and the exhaustive tracking that comes along with getting pregnant, menstruation really kind of flies under the radar - much like so many other vital components of women's health.So today we're going to do a deep dive on periods with a really cool expert who believe it or not, loves her time of the month. With me today is Heather Allmendinger, a former corporate administrative manager who hated her cycle and struggled with the pain that came with it every month. After earning her certifications as a Health Coach focused on conception and pregnancy, Heather saw the challenges others were experiencing and decided to go all in. She quit her corporate job and started her business, Vivydus, as a Menstrual Cycle Consultant, teaching workshops and coaching others on how to embrace the ovulatory cycle and use it as a tool for self-care, empowerment, fertility, productivity, and inclusive emotional leadership. From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

I had a conversation with another mom recently that inspired this episode today. I myself had a happy, normal childhood with supportive parents that put me on a stable path to adulthood. She sadly, wasn't so lucky, and we got to talking about how being the “rock” of the family felt so impossible to her. As mothers, we are so often portrayed as unflappable but in a flood of tiny tears, it's actually really easy to be derailed, especially if those emotions bring up unresolved issues from our past. Life is complicated and if we didn't grow up with the influences and support that we deserved, how can we possibly expect to know how to do it for others? What can we do if parenting brings up feelings that we've buried and hope to never resurrect? And how can we move past our own pasts to be great role models and emotional strongholds for our little people? Let's find out. Our guest today is Stacey Rowland, a licensed professional counselor and the owner of Strive Counseling based in Phoenix, Arizona. Stacey is very well-versed in trauma healing and has extensive clinical training and experience in public mental health agencies, including residential and outpatient settings. She is passionate about helping individuals and families address their mental health concerns and works collaboratively with her patients to identify and meet their goals. Stacey uses a trauma-informed, strength-based approach to lead people through the process of making positive changes in their lives.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

As you probably know, this season is all about uncomfortable conversations and today's topic might just take the cake. So let's jump right in. Have you ever imagined what it would feel like to have an affair? Have you ever suspected that your spouse might be cheating? Well, you're not alone. According to an article by the Institute for Family Studies approximately 20% of men and 13% of women reported that they've had sex with someone other than their spouse while married. But this data widely varies, most likely because people aren't really comfortable with admitting it. Just Google around and you'll see reports of more than half of married men engaging in extramarital sex during their marriage. That definitely doesn't paint of rosy picture of marriage, but more importantly, it gives us an idea of just how hard relationships really are.Cheating has admittedly been an odd topic for me. Why bother snooping and sneaking around? Why not just break up? Everyone deserves to be happy right, so why can't we just call a spade a spade and get on with our lives? Of course, we all know it's much more complicated than that, especially with kids in the mix. So let's talk about it. Why do people cheat? Is it ever possible to repair our relationship and find happiness together? Let's find out. With me today is a guest that we've had on the show before and who wow'ed me at such a fever pitch that I had to have her back. Becca Stone is a psychotherapist based in Brooklyn and Philly who works specifically in emotion-focused couple's therapy, an evidence-based approach to healing relationships grounded in the neuroscience of attachment. She is also a mother of two and works with her husband running their therapy practice.  Find our more about Becca right here and enjoy the show!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

As a mom, it can seem almost impossible to think about what would happen if you died. Even preparing for this episode, I started picturing my husband in his grief, searching aimlessly for passwords, digital photos, bank records, and everyday information that lives either online or in my head. Imagine a spouse who just lost their partner, spending hours, days, and months searching for everything. Rectifying bills, closing social media accounts, deleting subscriptions, changing “case of emergency” contacts. The list goes on and on.According to estimates, it takes 16 months to settle an estate on average. Combing through the digital components of a deceased person's life can take a lot longer and be much more stressful. Physical assets are one thing but finding, accessing, dissolving, or preserving a person's online life really is quite another. So that is what we are going to talk about today. Kate Hufnagel is a professional digital organizer, speaker, and educator who helps individuals and families do the important work that nobody likes to discuss. She is on a mission to normalize conversations about death planning, whether it be during family game night or out for brunch with friends. With a mindblowing background in big tech, Kate uses all of her know-how and experience to help people leave behind a well-organized digital estate.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

How many times have you said “YES” to something that you really just don't want to do? Maybe it's a work commitment or a social event, a school function for the kids, or your spouse's softball game. Whatever it is, you've found yourself pinned against the fence and the “yes” drops out your mouth faster than you can catch it. Immediately you might feel some dread, knowing that the commitment is going to mean giving up something you actually do want to do. But god forbid you say no, the guilt would eat away at you. Am I right?I'm actually a professional at saying no. I can remember getting fully dressed for New Year's Eve parties through most of my 20s, just to call friends and tell them I was bailing at the last minute. I've recently had to say no to houseguests for no reason other than my own lack of mental capacity, and this very weekend I sent my regrets to two kids birthday parties because, well, just no. It seems that my casual attitude towards committment is not the norm. In fact, too many women report saying yes out of guilt, shame, or a fear of retaliation. Women say yes to committees at school, party planning at work, and plenty of other unpaid jobs because they feel like they have to. So how do we stop the cycle and start prioritizing what actually makes us happy and fulfilled as women and mothers? Let's find out.With me today is Molly Vasa Bertolucci, a licensed clinical social worker and the founder of Poppy Therapy based in Los Alamitos, California. Molly works exclusively with moms and she is passionate about helping women develop and build the skills and social supports they need to cope with life's major transitions. She loves helping mothers feel empowered and her focus is how to make mental and emotional health a priority while caring for others. From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

When you were a teenager, do you remember how it felt when the latest issue of your favorite magazine arrived in the mail? I love pouring over the pages, ogling all the fashion and beauty that was so far beyond my reach. Compared to now, there was a kind of innocence about media back then - we used to worship untouchable celebrities and models, which is so different to how we carry influencers and content creators in our pockets today. Advertising has become so personal and so clearly instinctual that we're almost afraid to speak about it out loud. Hello Alexa. While I was looking up the history of women in advertising, I found a lot that made me chuckle. An exhibit at Duke University showcased ads with women being portrayed as essential workers while men went off to war in the 40s. That morphed into media showing women as the perfect housewife when the good ole boys came home. The explosion of feminism in the 70s made way for messages about freedom which quickly turned into women as sex symbols with the rise of the 1980s supermodel. What came from that is the idea that women can “do it all” - have a career, take care of the family, and be a stunning, sexy wife to boot. I feel like I can hear your eyes rolling.The advent of the internet and social media has most certainly revolutionized advertising, and where a trend may have once held up for a decade, things are now changing in what feels like the blink of an eye. As both women and moms of absorbent children, it's worth at least trying to keep up, right? So let's find out more about what we are in for. With me today is Katie Keating, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Fancy, a New York City-based ad agency that works to empower brands to create meaningful, motivating connections with women. Katie co-founded Fancy in 2011 to change the way advertising works for women but also to help businesses communicate in a way that's authentic to us as an audience.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

Here's a question. How do you and your spouse divide your household tasks? If you're a cisgender woman in a heterosexual relationship, you might already be groaning. Yes, for women, and especially mothers, it probably feels like the cards and the laundry are stacked against us, and you're not wrong. According to a 2021 Pew Research study, nearly 60% of women say they do more household chores than their spouse, while just 6% say their spouse or partner does more. If you ask the husbands, 46% say the responsibilities are shared about equally, while 20% say they do more and 34% say their spouse does more. Isn't that ironic? In another study, this time by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, women in the United States spend 37 percent more time on unpaid household and care work than men on an average day. Just google any term similar to “gender balance household chores” or “women unpaid labor” and you'll find plenty of data points to show that women do twice as much of the work in the home that men do, even while working full time jobs. The big question for me is why and more importantly, what the heck can we do about it?Our guest today is Lauren Tetenbaum, a Westchester, New York-based advocate and therapist certified in perinatal mental health who specializes in life transitions affecting millennial women. With an approach grounded in empathy and emotional intelligence, Lauren counsels clients on romantic relationships, career choices, pregnancy and parenting, anxiety, and family dynamics. She is a devoted mom of two and passionate about building connections and giving back to her community.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

A glass of wine while making dinner, a joint after the kids have gone to bed, micro-dosing on mushrooms while folding laundry - these are just a few of the ways that moms are getting through the day. The stress of parenting has never been more real and for a lot of women, a little help to let go, keep calm, and make it to bedtime is becoming increasingly common. It's certainly nothing new - the mommy martini of the 50s became so culturally iconic that you probably know someone with a depiction stuck to their refrigerator.In truth, moms absolutely need a break and the demands of work, parenting, and managing the household are more difficult and exhausting than they ever have been. But at what point does something that offers the occasional bit of breathing room start to become a real problem? Where do you draw the line between a release and an addiction? How can we strike a balance to ensure we're taking care of ourselves and our families in a way that's healthy and safe? And if we're feeling like we are getting a bit too substance dependent, what can we do about it? That's what we are going to talk about today. Back with us is one of my favorite guests. Jessica Vanderberg is the Co-Founder and Clinical Director of The Alliance Center, a Connecticut-based mental health center that's solely focused on supporting mothers through life's major transitions. As a full-spectrum doula, childbirth educator, social worker, and mom, Jessica has dedicated her life to the mental health of women as they navigate pregnancy, motherhood, and parenting.  From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

If you are a working mother, calling the past few years “demanding” is the understatement of the century. Even in this “post-COVID” era, women leaders left their companies at the highest rates ever and the gap between women and men quitting senior roles became bigger than ever.  As a working mom today, you've probably had to stay home more than once because your child is sick and you have no one else to care for them. You're of course not alone. 45 percent of mothers with children aged five and under left the workforce entirely during COVID because they had no one to look after their kids, compared to just 14 percent of fathers.But for many of us, our working lives form a major part of our identity. We want to be able to have meaningful careers and enjoy the satisfaction of participating in something bigger than ourselves. Work matters and but our families do too.  So that's what we are going to talk about today. How can we embrace both work and motherhood, find the flexibility to excel at both jobs, and have confident conversations about what we need to set ourselves up for success? Let's find out. With us today is Madeline Schwarz, a communication coach who helps quiet leaders speak up at work. What started as a career in window displays developed into a business about communication. As a window display designer, she learned how to get a message across in seconds. As a book publicist, she crafted stories that grabbed attention. Now she helps other people capture their audience's attention. Madeline has worked with founders to Fortune 500s and when she's not dreaming up ways to make communication more fun, you can find her visiting art museums and building cardboard forts with her son. Connect with her on Instagram or LinkedIn.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

Imagine landing a new job or a big promotion and finding out that the reason you got it is that you're a woman. Then you find out that because you're a woman, the company figured out that they could pay you less for the same job than they would pay a man to do the same work. Pretty infuriating right? It sounds insane, but it's very real and it's happening not only in the United States but all over the world. Known as the gender pay gap, women earn roughly 80 cents for every dollar that a man earns here in the U.S.  If you're in management, that widens to 77 cents on the dollar. And here's the kicker. If we keep moving at the rate we are now, it will take more than 250 years to close the gender pay gap globally. So how is this really affecting women at work, and what can we do about it? Let's find out. With me today this Katica Roy, a gender economist who sees the gender wage gap not only as a social issue but an economic one with the opportunity to create significant growth. As a breadwinner mom who fought to be paid equitably twice (and won), she spearheaded original breadwinner mom research in 2018. Kah-ti-kuh is a widely-recognized voice in the realm of gender equity and has been featured by Forbes, Fortune, NBC, and Bloomberg, to name a few. She is the CEO of Pipeline Equity, a company providing comprehensive analytics that quantifies unconscious bias within an organization.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

There's this reel that always pops up in Instagram feed, I'm not sure if you've seen it but people upload videos of their daughters along with a voiceover that says “to all the parents of stubborn little girls with fierce attitudes. Don't put out that fire, she's going to need it.”I chuckle to myself, picturing my own little dynamo - but at the same time, I feel conflicted. So much of me wants to raise children who are vocal activists, fierce advocates, and people who aren't afraid to stand up for what's right and call out what's wrong. But then of course, there is the other side of me who wants to make sure my kids are respectful, considerate, and open to the plain and simple fact that sometimes we do just have to take “it”. We are living in a time when people and especially females are finally getting comfortable with using their voice and that thrills me. Women are showing up and taking over in politics, climate change is being propelled by a teenage girl. The way it's always been isn't good enough anymore and I for one am here for it. So that's what we are going to talk about today. How can we as parents stoke the curiosity of our little people in a way that enables them to feel comfortable advocating for themselves and calling out injustice while still understanding the importance of respect and consideration for others? How can moms who maybe aren't comfortable shouting from the rooftops or putting themselves in front of a microphone raise kids who are and who can? Let's find out.With me today is Dr. Ashley Solomon, a licensed clinical psychologist, leadership coach, and founder of Galia Collaborative, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based mental health practice that works to provide women with the resources they need to overcome obstacles at home and at work to reclaim their power. From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

I'm not going to beat around the bush. Today's episode is about menopause. It seems a bit crazy to me, I mean menopause? That's for older, or rather “mature” women, right? We are young, we have little people to look after, and honestly we have enough going on. Menopause? Nope. No way. Well, yes way. The average woman begins to experience perimenopausal symptoms between the ages of 40-44, and for some women, it's even younger than that. For those of you who had babies a bit later in life, you could very well be clearing out those tampons and pads at the same time that you're getting the kids out of diapers. It's crazy to me that every woman experiences menopause and yet no one really talks about it. Yes, we know about the hot flashes but there has to be more to it than that. Funnily enough, if you type “average age” into Google, “of menopause” is the second most common response…. After “death”. Ugh. So what do we need to know? Why is menopause such a big secret? How can we prepare ourselves for this inevitable and honestly pretty uncomfortable change that's in the not-so-distant future? Let's find out. My guest today is Dr. Kate Zachau, Osteopathic Physician with Collaborative Natural Health Partners based in Connecticut. Dr. Kate works with patients to determine the root cause of their medical maladies in alignment with naturopathic and osteopathic philosophies. She specifically works with women as they move through menopause and her passion for integrative medicine is most notable in the modalities of mind-body medicine, nutrition, and osteopathic manipulation.  From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

Being a mother and raising kids while looking after a household is really tough right now. Throw in a full-time job, and life can seem pretty close to impossible some days. They say “the struggle is real” but so too is “the juggle” of being present as a mom and a working woman, especially when the cards are stacked against us in the corporate world. What exactly do I mean? According to a report by McKinsey & Company, women are promoted to manager at far lower rates than men, which creates a trickledown effect for formulating a gender-balanced foundation at the senior and executive levels. As of 2021, only a little more than 20% of women occupied C-suite roles, which is actually a 5% increase from 2016. Are we getting there? Maybe, but way too slowly. In fact, a recent study by The National Women's Law Center showed that full-time working mothers were paid 74 cents for every dollar dolled out to dads. That's $17,000 less just because of gender.So what's the deal? Why are women getting overlooked when it comes to that promotion, raise, or next step in their careers? If the corporate behemoth is still so fixated on the white male employee, what can we do to take matters into our own hands? Let's find out.My guest today is Anita Gatto, a mom of two and Co-Founder of The Board, a consultancy that connects C-Suite executives and entrepreneurs. Anita's goal is to support women founders and leaders while creating a stronger, equity-driven, and gender-balanced business world.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

I read an article recently that brought a lot of new mom insecurities flooding back to me and I'm honestly a bit ashamed to admit it. I was one of the last of my group of friends to have a baby and as helpful as their advice and wisdom were in so many aspects of pregnancy, I often found myself in the late-night company of Instagram, Amazon, and Google trying to decipher which gizmo, gadget, and “must-have” product I absolutely had to buy for the little human being that I felt completely underprepared to welcome into our family.Now I am a planner and a minimalist and I'm also a gosh darn marketing professional. And even with those to-the-core personality traits and a career of experience, I still found myself drenched in the anxiety of not having the right “stuff” for my bub. Luckily, I was able to fight off most of my impulses but it was so easy for me to flash back to those moments of the unknown, where having the best strollers, sleepers, and sound machines would somehow make me a better mom. So what is the deal with the consumer compulsion that grips us moms? Are we easy targets - hormonal, hapless, and armed with a financial treasure trove better known as the baby registry? How can we kick these insecurities and learn to trust our gut a bit more with regard to real needs versus wants or even worse - influencer projections? Let's find out. With me today is Annie Midori Atherton, a writer and mom based in Seattle, WA. Her work focuses on parenting, culture, and any question that seeks to explain why we are the way we are. You've probably stumbled across her work in Romper, The Everymom, Business Insider or The Atlantic, and if you haven't dialed into her stuff yet, you should. From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

I'm going to be really upfront here and tell you that I was never interested in politics until I became a mom. I'm embarrassed about it now but honestly, I found it all to be super boring. Mostly white, male candidates never spoke my language and it wasn't until Barack Obama came on the scene that I even bothered to vote. Shameful, yes, but true. Now that I have little people, I have become a whole heck of a lot more invested in what happens in this country, especially when it comes to healthcare, environmental protection, and women's and family issues. I started thinking about why so many political candidates are white males and why so many issues that are important to me as a mother - paid parental leave, universal preschool, safety in schools - never seem to make it “up the hill”. As I started looking into it, I found out that prior to this past election, 7 percent of representatives in Congress and only 5.3 percent of state legislators in the United States are mothers with children under the age of 18. What's being celebrated in the media is Congress's “unprecedented” diversity with 28% of the makeup being women and 23% identifying as non-white -  the most in history. Humph.So, are we doing something wrong here or are the increases in numbers actually encouraging? How can we help more women and mothers get into the political spectrum so we have a fighting chance at actually getting what we need for our families? Let's find out.My guest today is Liuba Grechen Shirley, Founder and CEO of Vote Mama. Liuba ran for Congress in 2018 as a mom of two toddlers with no salary to pay for childcare. She quickly figured out why moms with young children don't run for office and started the fight to change it. Liuba became the first woman in history to receive federal approval to spend Campaign Funds for childcare and she received the highest vote share of any Democrat to run against the incumbent in 25 years. After her campaign, she launched Vote Mama PAC, the nation's first Political Action Committee dedicated to electing Democratic moms up and down the ballot. Since 2019, Vote Mama PAC has helped more than 400 pro-choice, Democratic moms run for office in 31 states. In 2020, Liuba launched the Vote Mama Foundation to break down the barriers that keep moms out of office and make it easier for moms to run and serve. Just recently, Liuba launched the Vote Mama Lobby, a political empowerment app that mobilizes fed-up moms to become an organized civic and voting bloc, volunteer for mama candidates, and lobby for truly family-friendly policies. It just so happens to be the virtual mom group of my dreams. From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast orFrom mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

According to a study published in the Journal of Family Psychology, a whopping 67% of couples say they are discontented with their marriage after they have a baby. Are you surprised? Probably not. After all, many women take on the lion's share of both childcare and household chores, creating an imbalance in the home that stokes a serious resentment fire. As for the men, a loss of freedom and their position as the sole focus of their wife's attention is a huge change that can create frustration or detachment. One thing I read while preparing for this interview that intrigued me was the idea that couples get stuck in defensive positions of anger, sadness, and withdrawal - emotions that become cyclical especially as the stresses of parenting take their toll. Finding joy, laughter, and the commonalities that brought a couple together in the first place start to become a distant memory which creates further frustration for both partners. With such a huge change in household makeup, are there ways that we can tackle marriage after baby which will actually strengthen the bond between partners and create a more sound, loving relationship for years to come? Let's find out. With me today is Becca Stone, a Brooklyn and Philadephia-based psychotherapist, coach, and trainer, who works specifically in emotion-focused couple's therapy, an evidence-based approach to healing relationships grounded in the neuroscience of attachment. She is also a mother of two and works with her husband running their practice, so clearly, she knows what she is talking about. Check out her website or find her on TikTok @beccastone_therapist.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

It's no secret that corporate America kind of treats women like crap, with men earning roughly 16% more than us for doing the exact same jobs over the exact same time. If that doesn't sound like a lot, tell your friends that they'd have to work 42 more days a year to even the score. No thank you. What's even more shocking than the gender disparity in this country is what's known as the “motherhood penalty” which studies show accounts for 80% of the gender pay gap. So it's not just women who are being screwed, it's actually mothers. To make that perfectly clear, we are earning less and getting passed up for promotions more simply because we have children. There is some pretty scary research to support all of this. A Harvard study found that mothers were recommended an 8% lower starting salary than non-mothers which is more than 8% lower than the recommended starting salary for fathers. Oddly, the trend is reversed for dads when compared to childless men. According to a recent report by the World Economic Forum, it will take another 130 years to close the gender pay gap globally. Let's make this perfectly clear, we are talking about paying women, and disproportionately mothers, equal pay for equal work. That's it. So how can we fast-track that trajectory and start to build a foundation that will actually benefit our daughters in ways that we are unlikely to see in our lifetime? Let's find out. With me today is Lauren Smith Brody, founder of The Fifth Trimester an educational consulting platform that supports all working parents and caregivers to advance women's leadership and build gender equity in the workforce. Her book, The Fifth Trimester, is a must-read for parents looking to survive and thrive in the tumble dryer early days of balancing career and motherhood.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

One of the things I have found most amusing in my current stage of parenting is just how absorbent my little people are. My kids repeat nearly everything they hear, including the rogue f-bomb, a habit that my husband and I are now working a bit more diligently to break. Good, bad, happy, or sad, if we are talking about something, my children want to be a part of it. All the more so if their parrot-like chit-chat gets a reaction from mom and dad.Seeing how much young kids take cues from their parents got me wondering about other facets of their learning and developing brains. If kids say what we say, I wonder if they feel what we feel too. Parenting these past few years has been so hard, right? I started thinking, is our overall stress and worry causing our kids to stress and worry on a level that we don't realize and they don't understand? Is the weight of the world today going to have a long-term effect on our kids? Will the “wild and free” adolescence that we grew up with be lost on them, therefore creating a generation of anxious and fearful young people? Let's find out.On the show with us is Dr. Anisha Patel-Dunn, Chief Medical Officer at LifeStance Health based in San Francisco California. Anisha has nearly 20 years of experience as a practicing psychiatrist and holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Emory University and a medical degree from The College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific at Western University of Health Sciences. As a mother of two, Anisha is passionate about youth mental health and she loves working with families who are looking for ways to communicate more effectively with each other. From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

The thing I love most about hosting this podcast is getting to speak with women all over the country who have been transformed by motherhood. Many of my guests are experts in their field fighting for women's rights or professionals who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of our physical and mental health. Once in a while, I get to meet someone who does both - a person who has been radically changed by motherhood and who has used that experience to actually help other women lean into a role that they hadn't been able to imagine before. In my experience, having kids has always been at odds with professional success. As much as we want to advance in our careers, society tells us to “step aside ladies, go raise the kids. Money is the man's work now.” But the more I'm surrounded by inspiring women, the more I find myself in the company of people who, instead of letting their careers take a backseat, have actually used motherhood to catapult into a new way of working. The change is not without its challenges though, as the identity shift of being a mother while also balancing a professional life, navigating emotional changes in a partnership, and getting our heads around the world we're currently grappling with can absolutely take its toll. So, as mothers, where are we in terms of life, career, and taking care of ourselves? How can we set ourselves up for change that actually feeds our needs and supports us as we age? That's what we are going to talk about today.With me is Jessica Vanderberg, Co-Founder and Clinical Director of The Alliance Center, a Connecticut-based mental health center that's solely focused on supporting mothers through life's major transitions. As a full-spectrum doula, childbirth educator, social worker, and a mom, Jessica has dedicated her life to the mental health of women as they navigate pregnancy, motherhood, and parenting.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

Here on the show, we talk a lot about how tough it is to raise kids, but if we're being honest, sometimes it feels like the world is stacked against us from the moment we get that positive sign on a pregnancy test. Nearly all the women in my close circle of friends work full time and I would be lying if I told you that the thrill of their pregnancy news was met by an honest bit of fear. That seems normal right, who wouldn't be worried about becoming a mother? But parenthood wasn't the only thing eating them. It was actually how they would tell their employers the news and how a pregnancy, or several, would affect their careers. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act passed in 1978 technically protects a person's workplace rights, which means that women can't be discriminated against for being pregnant. But it happens every day. In fact, statistics show that in the last 10 years, more than 50,000 pregnancy discrimination claims were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Fair Employment Practices Agencies. That's nearly 14 women per day, every day who come forward. And that's just the start. Once a woman gets through the stress of “breaking the news” of a pregnancy to her powers that be, she then has to start a conversation about maternity leave. With no federal paid parental leave program available in the United States, these are very murky waters. Some companies have policies in place, some states even offer a level of job security, but rarely here in the U.S. can women access a program that allows them to feel financially secure enough to enjoy their first few months as a mother. So what gives? Let's find out.My guest today is Amy Beacom, a mom of two and the Founder and CEO of the Center for Parental Leave Leadership, the first consultancy in the US to focus exclusively on parental leave. Amy is recognized as the premiere expert on the personal and professional interplay around parental leave for employers and employees. She helps women advocate for themselves in order to fully experience motherhood without the burdens of wobbly job security or financial stress.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

Have you ever heard the phrase “mom guilt”? If you're responsible for any human beings and you also happen to work in some way, shape, or form, have a relationship that you'd like to keep, and live in a home that needs some form of maintenance, you will be all too familiar with it. The very definition of guilt is “the fact of having committed a breach of conduct especially violating law and involving a penalty.” Yikes. Let's look an alternative. “feelings of deserving blame especially for imagined offenses or from a sense of inadequacy.” Oh yes, yes, there it is. Welcome to motherhood.If you ask me, mom guilt is quite frankly the feeling of getting swallowed whole by a life that's pulling you in more directions than your body and mind are able to bear. From kids and spouses to work and career - all the needs of life chomp us to bits and we end up feeling like no matter how hard we try, it's not good enough. Failure becomes our constant companion. So how do change this internal narrative? What can moms do to let go, keep the faith, and give ourselves a bit more grace? Let's find out.With me today is Raena Boston, Co-Founder of Chamber of Mothers, an advocacy group that works to get mothers' and caregivers' rights front and center.  She also heads up “The Working Momtras”, an online community that builds connections between working moms and helps women dissolve the definition of “having it all” to create their own.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

I was thinking back to why I started this podcast, which for those of you who are new was because I wanted to create a community to discuss topics that modern moms should be paying attention to. I wasn't interested in parenting per se, but I was curious about politics, health, careers, and so many of the bigger picture issues that both offer opportunity and completely cripple parents, and specifically mothers, here in the United States. It wasn't until I had children of my own that I realized how underappreciated and underrepresented women and mothers are when it comes to government and policy. We live in a country that has never had a female president and where women only hold a bit more than a quarter of congressional seats. We are begging for paid parental leave, federally subsidized childcare, and equal wages to representatives who can't truly connect with those issues. It makes it easy to turn a blind eye, which is why support for so many of these fundamental resources has failed to make it up the hill. All of this begs the question: if females are so underrepresented in government, how are we ever going to get what we need as parents, and as a society, to thrive? That's the topic of conversation for today. Please help me give a warm welcome to Dr. Katie Garner, a Chicago-based teacher, scholar, and the Executive Director of the International Association of Maternal Action and Scholarship, a non-profit organization that was created to promote empowered mothering with research and advocacy. Katie's work pushes the boundaries and gives a kick in the pants to the politicians, corporates, and societal influencers who aren't doing enough to recognize the impossible role of motherhood. She's currently speaking with moms across the country as part of a book on inequalities of work, childcare, and family. In addition to her amazing book, here is a list of her favorites to check out. From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

Welcome back freemoms! We are absolutely thrilled to have you with us for Season 2. This batch of episodes promises to get you motivated about motherhood with experts and everyday moms who are making major moves in their communities. From business bosses to political powerhouses, we promise to get you thinking about how you can create your own change and dig deep to build a better future for yourselves and those little people too. From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

When you host a podcast like this, one of the benefits is having really interesting conversations with people you barely know, and ones that have been in your life for ages. The latter happened recently when I got a call from an old college friend who is a listener and told me I had to absolutely have today's guest on the show. My friend, Nicolette, has two elementary-aged boys who are fun-loving football fanatics, but what I love most is their insatiable curiosity, stoked by two really great parents who instilled values in them that will last a lifetime. Nicolette's call was to tell me about another mom at school whose daughter has a disability and who decided to make sure that not just her family and close friends knew how to talk about it, but how her entire school system learned about, talked about, and thought about people with different abilities. Now as a parent of young children, I often wonder how I will address my children when they harmlessly blurt out a question about someone they see who maybe looks different than them. What impressed me so much about the education my friend's children received is that now, when her boys see someone with different abilities, is simply no big deal because EVERYONE is different. So without further ado, joining me on the show today is Ashley Matts, Director of Building Bridges, a classroom-based educational program that teaches kids about people with disabilities through immersive, hands-on experiences. Kids in grades K-5 get to understand, interact, and hear firsthand about what it's like to have a physical, mental, or learning disability in a way that's thought-provoking, honest, and educational. Wouldn't it be great to live in a world where people with disabilities are just people with different abilities? Ashley's program might just make that happen.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

So I had a thought. We get pregnant and we feel kind of crazy. Blame it on the hormones. Then we have our babies and we still feel pretty crazy. Blame it on the hormones. But then we hit that magical six-week mark when all is supposed to be back to normal but of course, it's not, so we blame it on the hormones. But then we really progress through motherhood. Six months, one year, toddlerhood. Sleep regressions, teething, worrying, and wondering if our little people are ok. We aren't sleeping, our hair is falling out, we have no energy, we're gaining weight, and we are freaking out! But we don't have babies anymore. So what should we be blaming for our womanly deterioration? Hormones?On top of this, I also started thinking about one of my favorite terms - “advanced maternal age” - a kick in the gut for a pregnant woman over the age of 35. Our generation is undoubtedly the first that can experience a one-two punch where giving birth and seeing the first wave of perimenopausal symptoms can almost co-exist, or at least feel like the too early delivery of dessert after a massive meal. Check, please! So what gives?We are joined today by Dr. Carolina Gonzalez, a Naturopath Physician with Collaborative Natural Health Partners. Dr. Gonzalez earned her Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine degree from The University of Bridgeport in Connecticut where she completed her thesis on mind-body connection and the impact of psychological stress on the body. Her patients see her for natural care with regard to hormones, gastrointestinal issues, and all the stuff that can make us feel like crap if not managed properly. Enjoy the show!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

I don't know about you, but back when I was in school, lunch was a bit of a free-for-all. I was lucky enough to have parents who educated us pretty diligently on making good food choices, but sometimes those crunchy, salty french fries with thick chocolate milk were just too good to pass up. There wasn't much thought put into nutrition in schools back then. I realize now that unless kids had parents who had instilled food wisdom into their brains early, they probably didn't think twice about eating junk for meals. In fact, the freedom was kind of fun.  Fast forward to 12 years ago when Michelle Obama spearheaded the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 which allowed the USDA to radically change the way school lunch (and breakfast) was considered for the first time in 30 years. By changing nutrition standards and making healthy food options more widely available, food in schools finally got some of the attention that it deserved. So what's happened since then and what's going on now? What can we as moms and teachers do to support these initiatives and bring them home? Let's find out.With me on today's episode is Karen Spangler, Policy Director, at National Farm to School Network, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit organization that works to increase access to local food and nutrition education across all 50 states. Their goal is to improve children's health, strengthen family farms, and cultivate vibrant communities through a unifying focus on food. We also wanted to include a few direct resources for you freemoms, so here you go:Benefits of Farm to School programs fact sheetMore information on a racially just food systemBenefits of Values-Aligned Universal School MealsFrom mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

Here is some food for thought. By the time your kids are your age, it's highly likely that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Picture your little ones, splashing on a beach, enjoying a beautiful summer's day. By the time you have grandchildren, the gorgeous ocean that brought your kids so much joy is going to look a lot different. Can you imagine?Our climate crisis is not new, but doing something about it has become much more urgent. The average American is responsible for five pounds of garbage every single day and our planet is paying for it. Now I know it's frustrating, especially since our own government is having such a hard time figuring out what to do to save our planet. But trust me, even as moms in our own households, we have the power to actually make a difference. Today I am very excited to introduce you to one such changemaker. After nearly two decades in the beauty business, Shannon Goldberg-Cruz founded her company, Izzy Beauty, with the goal of creating a zero-waste cosmetics brand that would contribute to a brighter future for her own children. Shannon's vision was to develop products that were clean, planet-friendly, and performance-driven and she has since created a brand that essentially eliminates waste altogether. Every product offering is 100% refillable, reusable and recyclable and the entire supply chain sits within a 400-mile radius, making it the beauty brand with the smallest carbon footprint in the world.Shannon is just one of a growing number of female eco-entrepreneurs who are changing the way we treat the planet and we are so grateful to have her on the show. From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

There is no denying the mental health crisis that is enveloping our kids today. Even before the pandemic, 13 percent of adolescents reported having a major depressive episode, which is 60 percent higher than it was in 2007. That's eight million children aged 3-17 suffering from anxiety, behavioral disorders, or depression. Remember back when we were young? Twenty or 30 years ago, our parents worried about us going out and drinking, smoking, dabbling in what we could get our hands on, and sex of course. But today, those common concerns have been replaced by issues that are a lot more difficult to understand and be in control of. Mental health disorders amongst young people have become so concerning that the Surgeon General issued a rare advisory to address the need for resources in schools and at home. Even before the pandemic, kids were spiraling. Post-pandemic, there is a lot of trauma to unpack and very little understanding of how to deal with it in a way to help our kids before it's too late. So where are we now and what can we do? Let's find out. On the show today is Jeff Vanderploeg, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Child Health and Development Institute, a non-profit that works to identify, support, and promote effective health and mental health innovations in partnership with doctors, government, schools, and state agencies. Jeff himself has a central role in developing the systems, practices, and policies for the prevention and treatment of mental health conditions among children and adolescents and their families and we are very grateful to have him on the show today.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

So here is the deal. Women live about five years longer than men on average, which doesn't seem like it's a bad thing, until you look at it from a financial perspective. It has long been documented that women have less saved for retirement than men and the reason for that is two-fold. Firstly we don't get paid to stay home and raise our children. Secondly, we don't get paid as much as men to work, period. In fact, the gender wage gap alone costs women $1.6 million in potential retirement savings over the course of their careers. Retirement savings is just one of the money gripes I have when it comes to women. Not having enough to live comfortably during those gorgeous golden years isn't cool, nor is having to depend on a partner's nest egg to live the life you want. That's of course assuming you're married. What about women who divorce or never get married in the first place? And how about the kids? Braces, cars, college - how do we save for the future if we don't know what's in store for us?One thing I do know is that a lot of women are freaked out by money and I understand why. It's scary, right? So how do we take care of ourselves, secure a smart financial future, and put some extra cash away for our little people? Let's find out. Brittan Leiser is a Financial Advisor and the founder of SavviHer based in Cleveland, Ohio. Brittan created SavviHer after recognizing that women often felt ignored or overwhelmed when it came to having a conversation about their own personal finances. When beginning her career, Brittan was on her own in an industry dominated by men with resources and prevailing attitudes that largely overlooked women, often leaving them out of the conversation. So she started asking questions, creating resources, and empowering women to take the first step.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

Having children means that you can always expect the unexpected. One of my first big surprises becoming a mother was just how confusing it was to have kids in the first place. There were decisions to make that I didn't quite understand, options that I didn't know I had, and ways of doing things that I look back and wish I knew. Here in the U.S., the vast majority of babies are delivered by an obstetrician, one of the hardest working doctors in the field. But it wasn't always that way. Babies used to be birthed without the need for medical intervention, in the company of other women. As healthcare became more sophisticated, midwives dominated the delivery scene. But now, obstetricians, who are trained surgeons, have become primarily responsible for bringing babies into the world - or into the United States at least. So why is that? What has changed that has led birth to become so medically focused and less about the force of nature that is giving birth? Let's find out. On the show today is Dr. Cara Delaney, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Practicing Physician with UCONN Health. Cara received her medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine and trained in Chicago and Boston.  She works as an academic OBGYN alongside residents, medical students, and patients, specializing in complex family planning, early pregnancy loss, and miscarriage management. She's passionate about reproductive justice and patient-centered care and we are thrilled to have her here on the freemom podcast this week.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

I don't know about you, but even as we've started adjusting to a life post-pandemic, a lot still feels off. As parents, there is an extra layer of worry we have to contend with, both for our physical health as well as what's happening inside the minds of our families. The big question that seems so hard to answer is: Are kids going to be ok after all of this?The truth is, some might not be. We don't yet know what the long-term mental health effects of the pandemic will be, but the short-term outcomes hit hard. According to CDC data, mental-health-related visits to the E.R. by people aged 12 to 27 were more than 30% higher in 2020 than in 2019. In the early days of the lockdown, hospitals saw a 24% increase in mental-health-related emergency visits for children aged five to 11, and a 31% increase for those aged 12 to 17. Add to this the rising pressures from social media, body image acceptance, and a news cycle teeming with doom and we can't help but wonder how young people can come out of this unscathed. Joining us on the show today is Julie Cipes, a Licensed Clinical Therapist who works with kids aged 6-19 that are suffering from mental health in a way that's impacting their day-to-day. Parents come to Julie when they see their children struggling with relationships, self-efficacy, and overall daily functioning, which is a bigger chunk of the kid population than any of us want to see right now. From anxiety to depression, social skills to self-esteem, Julie's work with young people is more valuable to the world right now than it probably has ever been, and we all need to take some notes. From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

I started freemom because I wanted to create a platform that gave women a chance to explore the big issues facing mothers today. I don't think there is an issue bigger than the hijacking of our reproductive rights, right here and right now. So what can we do about it? Donate to the ACLU or the Center for Reproductive Rights or your local Planned Parenthood. If you don't have the money, donate your time. If you don't have that either, put a sign in your yard or a post on your Instagram feed. There are so many ways to get behind the people fighting for this cause. Energy alone goes a long way.Call, email, and write to your local legislators - especially if you're in one of half of the United States that would either ban abortion or limit access to the procedure if Roe v. Wade is overturned. If you live in a pro-choice state, say thank you to the people who are fighting for your neighbors and friends. Hit the streets. If you're in a city, join a rally. If you aren't, start your own. If a rally isn't your thing, find a way to make your voice heard your way.  Your local mom group or school is a great place to start brainstorming. Every single person in this country should have the ability to decide their own future, make their own decisions, and put themselves and their health first. If we can't teach our children these basic principles, who will? We will be back next week with another great conversation for you, but until then, if you're here, you're a freemom - and that is the only way it should ever be. From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

During the pandemic, women here in the United States lost more than five million jobs. Now, of course, many people faced layoffs and have since been re-employed but those who are back to “business as usual” are mostly men. Women became the ones to quit their careers in order to care for their families while schools and daycares around the country shuttered, and many haven't been able to return.The pandemic uncovered a pretty heinous underbelly of our government and systemic structure. It turns out that women are expected to do it all with very little support and the value that we place on working people all but disintegrates if it's not wrapped up in a revenue-producing bow. Which leads me to wonder, what kind of world do we live in if the people who are bearing and raising the next generation of changemakers don't really count? Here on the show with us today is Angela Garbes, author of the brand-new book Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change.  Essential Labor is one of those books that activate your brain in ways you never thought possible, bringing to light a multitude of social injustices faced by mothers and caregivers and especially those of color. Angela asks so many questions about how we value the most essential role on the planet and how much different our society and our culture would be if we supported people in roles of caregiving. From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

Being a parent today is more difficult and stressful than it has ever been. We have so many more external factors influencing how we bring up our children and a lot less help. But of all the unchartered territory we have had to navigate over the past few years, none was more challenging for parents than life without school. For over a year, we lost the foundation that we take for granted and our kids paid the price. Depending on where you are in the country, education is probably pretty close to “normal” now with the lift in mask mandates and children being back in classrooms full time. But what did that year at home, in isolation, learning from a screen, do to our kids? Are there long-term effects that we should be worried about? And the biggest question right now is, can it happen again?Joining me on this show is Anya Kamenetz, lead education correspondent for NPR. Anya is passionate about education and technology and we are super excited about her new book, The Stolen Year, How COVID Changed Children's Lives, and Where We Go Now which comes out in the summer of 2022. Anya has written several books including, The Art of Screen Time, which is a must-read for any parent who worries about how much is too much for both themselves and their young ones.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

I don't know about you, but the journey through motherhood often has me dreaming up business ideas and solutions to the everyday issues that make being a parent so gosh darn hard. From gadgets that I wish existed to support solutions that I've spent late-night hours scrolling the internet for, I have more than once found myself wondering, “why doesn't that exist yet?”I am in awe of the mamas who feel the same way and actually do something about it. It's incredible that there are women who take on a problem and create a solution while juggling kids and an existing career. They are real-life superheroes and I am excited to introduce you to one here today. Amanda Gorman was a mom like most of us. With two young ones, she struggled with breastfeeding and felt constantly frustrated by the non-existent support she received from her pediatrician. They say “breast is best” but what if it doesn't come as easy as we're led to believe it should? Was there no one else other than Doctor Google to offer help? Now I should mention that Amanda was at the time a Board-Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, so she found herself in a unique situation where the system that she was a part of was letting her down. Why couldn't women have on-call support - a lactation specialist who would be there to guide them through the impossible nights and exhaustive days of early motherhood? Where was that resource?Amanda is one of those women who couldn't ignore the problem and had to create a solution, even without any business experience. Her company, Nest Collaborative, is now a network of International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants who conduct online, video appointments to help guide moms through the breastfeeding process all over the country and around the world. When moms need breastfeeding support, the help is only a Zoom call away and it's almost always covered by insurance.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

Very early on in my first pregnancy, I was struck by how confusing it was to have a child. I felt like a number to my healthcare providers, which, let's be honest, was no fault of their own having to see anywhere from 20 to 30 pregnant women in a day. It seemed like everything from prenatal vitamins to preparing for labor and delivery was a bit “churn and burn” and that any deviation from the norm was a hassle. Now I was a lucky one. I was able to have a magical doula by my side which completely changed the game for me, but I realize that many women out there don't even know these birth angels exist. Fast forward to my six-week postpartum visit, a tick of approval that my bits were in order, whatever that means to a woman with a “this many days old” baby, and I couldn't help but think, what the heck is going on here? In more countries around the world than I can count, post-partum care means that a midwife comes to your home for checks and to make sure that you, the mom, are doing ok. I had more time with a doctor after a carpal tunnel surgery than I did after giving a human life. So what gives? And more importantly, what should we as moms be doing after that six-week visit to take care of ourselves if our broken system won't do it for us? Let's find out. For this week's episode, I am thrilled to be joined by Dr. Carissa Halas (Hal-ass) Fioritto, a Naturopathic Physician with Connecticut-based Collaborative Natural Health Partners. Carissa is a mom and she's also a doctor for moms, working with women who suffer from burnout, stress, digestive disorders, and all the mental and physical aches and pains that come with being a parent. As a naturopathic physician, Carissa helps patients get more energy, sleep better, and tackle everyday mom-related health issues using customized using targeted nutrients, herbal therapies, and IV therapy. *Please note that the content on this podcast should not be taken as medical advice and is for informational purposes only. Please consult your healthcare professional for questions regarding your personal circumstances and care.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

Hello There Mamas, my name is Chelsea and I am very excited to introduce freemom to the podcastiverse. We are so grateful to have you on this ride with us. freemom was created for moms who want more. More time, more balance, more opportunities, more wellbeing, more than just being a mom. Whether you're balancing work and kid-life or you've ditched a corporate career to raise your little ones full time, we are here creating a community that goes beyond the cheeky memes and salty social media posts. We want to talk about what matters to mothers and how we can all advocate for change. This podcast is not chit-chat about pop culture and poop color. From mental health issues to paid maternity leave, money matters to building a business, we are laser-focused on the modern mama who finds a way to balance it all but shouldn't have to. Best of all is that we are bringing some seriously brilliant and inspirational folks right into your ears in easy 30-minute episodes that you can listen to during your daily commute or stroller stroll. If you've made it this far, you might be wondering who the heck am I? I am a mom of two little humans and a wife to one big one. We occupy a quiet corner of Connecticut but before living here, I called Brooklyn, Sydney, and Los Angeles home. Prior to becoming a mom, I was a marketer and a publicist, but I've always been a storyteller, and that's what truly excites me about this podcast. As mothers, we become very good at putting ourselves last. As women, we are natural-born caretakers, but once children enter the picture, it gets easier to lose ourselves. The needs of those around us become seemingly greater than our own and we lose some of the fortitude reserved for OUR fight. Maybe that is why the system has let us down in such an epic fashion. The past few years have pushed moms past the breaking point, but in doing that, it has also empowered us to start pushing back. Rising from the ashes are women who are standing up, asking questions, and demanding more. Taking on the pay gap. Pushing for paid leave. Reimagining education for our kids. Fighting for our health and wellbeing. So that's freemom, my friends. Conversations with people who are on fire, inspired, and want to create better opportunities for OUR generation as well as the next one. So strap yourself in mama because this is going to be a ride and we're thrilled that you're with us for it. From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!