Mamas in Training: Preparing for Pregnancy & Motherhood

What is preeclampsia? It is one of the most common pregnancy complications. However, if diagnosed, it doesn't mean that there will be a severe case and can be treated very simply, but if it goes undetected, it could be fatal. So what are the symptoms, who is at risk? And what do we need to know if we get the diagnosis? Dr. Nicole Rankins is a board certified, practicing OBGYN and a mom of two who has dealt with many cases of preeclampsia over the last 15 years. She's helped more than 1000...

What if you could heal eczema & cradle cap with only 3 natural ingredients? Sensitive and irritated skin is very common for our little ones since their skin is still thin and developing. Typically when it happens, we're told to use products with a thousand ingredients that half the time we can't pronounce or worse, a steroid cream that thins the skin even more. After Shubhangini Prakash struggled to heal her son’s eczema, she decided to solve the problem on her own. She created a product...

How are you moving your body now, during pregnancy that will help prepare you to move your body postpartum? There are many questions surrounding fitness in pregnancy and postpartum... What we can/should do, When we can start, How should fitness look? It's overwhelming to navigate on your own, but we’re here to solve that problem. Kendra Fitzgerald & Nicole Coons are two sisters who created Devoted Mamas, with a mission to help moms minimize the impact of pregnancy & birth on their bodies....

If you have to have a C-section, are you prepared? …EVEN if you plan to have a natural birth? April is Cesarean Awareness Month, so it’s the perfect time to share a topic that is never discussed enough! Many of you have had a c-section (not by choice) and then find yourself saying… WHY didn’t I learn about what that experience would be like beforehand. Dr. George Mussalli from Village Obstetrics in Manhattan, has delivered an estimated 3,000 births by cesarean and is here to fill us in on...

Time is such a HOT commodity and when we become mothers, time becomes even more precious and fleeting. Anna Dearmon Kornick is Your Time Management Coach as well as a mom of 2. She has been there and knows first hand how hard it can be to manage time as you become a mother or when you’re adding a second child. She is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to managing time, especially when we talk about family life, self-care and our professional life. Today she goes through each of the five...

Are you ready for the pain of labor? Whether we want to admit it or not, there is going to be pain. Whether or not we end up with an epidural, there are ways that we can prepare our mind and our body for those waves of contractions. The way we are going to discuss today is using Hypnobabies! *I am re-sharing this episode from 2019 because there have been so many questions to learn about birth hypnosis! I hope you enjoy... Founder and Director of Hypnobabies, Kerry Tuschhoff, is here to...

Anxiety. It can come up at any time of your life, but it tends to increase significantly during pregnancy and postpartum and can become so intense, that it completely stops you in your tracks. It could prevent you from leaving the house, getting out of bed or even prevent you from connecting to your baby. For mama Chiara Townley, anxiety had always been present to some extent, but once she got pregnant it got worse and in postpartum, she experienced a panic attack. That was the final straw...

It is more common than you’d think to experience a condition such as Mastitis during postpartum. However, we are greatly uneducated about what it is and how we can heal from it if we suffer from it. Not only that, but there are also ways we can prevent it and look for early signs so we can catch it before it makes us severely ill, like it did to one of this week’s guests, Katie Willy! In learning from her experience, Katie and her business partner, Elise Fuller, created Your Two Jugs. A...

What if you really want to give birth in a hospital? But you also want minimally invasive treatment. Today's guest Dr. Jacqueline Worth is a mother of two girls and an MD who has been delivering babies for over 20 years! She admits that when she was pregnant, she did not get all of her questions answered and wishes that her doctors had explained more. Learning from her own experience, she opened up her own private practice in New York city called Village Obstetrics and she has made it her...

It can be very hard to stay positive when you receive information that your baby will be born with a birth defect. And while we never know what exactly to expect or how we’re going to feel, hearing Caity’s story will empower you to conquer whatever unfolds in your story with determination, strength, and the support of a strong community. In this episode, Caity Robertson shares her journey through pregnancy, how she handled the situation after receiving the news at 20 weeks, as well as their...

The fatherhood postpartum experience can be challenging, but it’s often overlooked. Men also feel stress and anxiety about the changes that happen with the arrival of a new baby in the family. In addition, they have to deal with challenges like getting time to bond with the baby, feeling like they are not needed and dealing with others who don't understand. As a mother, it can feel like way too much to worry about in postpartum to care about your partner's well-being. However, opening up to...

There is a strong correlation between the gut and hormones. The food we eat has a direct impact on the bacteria that reside in our gut. If this gut biome becomes unbalanced, it can lead to hormonal imbalances and fertility problems. In this episode, Lahana shares how our gut and hormones impact our fertility and how we can support them in and through motherhood. Listen and learn how to nip everything in the bud before an issue arises in this episode of the Mamas in Training Podcast with...

So many things can crop up during the postpartum period, but they are swept under the rug because we assume that they are part of the process, but they don’t have to be. Most women postpartum are more susceptible to nutritional depletion, anemia, osteopenia, depression, anxiety, and fatigue. Studies show that one in five women experience signs of postpartum depression. However, if you have more social support, you are less likely to be affected by mental health issues. This makes a...

Just because we are given that clearance from our doctor at the 6-week mark, does not mean that we should jump right into sexual activity and we might not even emotionally feel ready. In this episode with Cindy Scharkey, we are honing in on sex in postpartum. The fourth trimester is truly that, a FOURTH trimester and should be treated as such. Cindy discusses how that really is a societal change that we all need to make because it's sending the wrong message to new mothers. As an RN, who's...

Just because we are given that clearance from our doctor at the 6-week mark, does not mean that we should jump right into sexual activity and we might not even emotionally feel ready. In this episode with Cindy Scharkey, we are honing in on sex in postpartum. The fourth trimester is truly that, a FOURTH trimester and should be treated as such. Cindy discusses how that really is a societal change that we all need to make because it's sending the wrong message to new mothers. As an RN, who's...

“Let's talk about sex baby, let’s talk about you and me.” YUP! We're talking all things sex in pregnancy today. However, there is a relationship that we must explore first before we can begin to tackle any of the questions that come up about what is safe, normal or healthy and that is… your own, personal sexual relationship. Cindy Scharkey is an RN with a Bachelor of Science and Nursing, and has been a healthcare professional for over 35 years. She believes that with the right information...

Finding the right provider and asking the right questions can be very overwhelming when you first learn you are pregnant. Stephanie King, a childbirth educator and professional, joins us on today's episode to share her personal birth experiences, the drastic difference between her first and third births, and how she learned to advocate for herself. Stephanie is also the creator of a wonderful online birth course called My Essential Birth and the Pregnancy & Birth Made Easy Podcast host. As...

We have reached a milestone of 100 episodes!!! After interviewing over 100 women about their experience entering motherhood, there are 3 things that are always mentioned that we need to remember: Advocacy, Birth Preferences and Community. I have gathered together these 3 elements to share with you today, so we can start to implement them as mamas in training. Hear how to incorporate these three elements right away with actionable steps and examples. Find out how to incorporate these 3 most...

For most people, childbirth should be done in hospitals, but did you know that according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 35,000 deliveries are done at home every year? Even though its statistics of success increase, home birth remains frowned upon by many. If home birth fits your situation, how do you face the pushback and doubts? In this episode, Sarah & Matthew Bivens share their experience with home birth, how they rose above the unwanted feedback and comments,...

Of course, when our partners are sloppy around the house, we don't like that! But as normal as it sometimes can get, it just sends us in a spiral of very emotional thoughts and can greatly affect our relationship over time. Failing to bring ourselves out of that spiral can't mean good. We might end up souring how we see our partners more than we should. In this episode, Dr. Morgan Cutlip speaks about the responsibility we have on how we see our partners, how parenthood affects satisfaction,...