It was a year ago this week, that the US shuttered by the force of COVID-19, leaving in it’s wake thousands of mothers who feel crushed by an unequal share of the pandemic burden. However, many mothers already felt massive burn out from daily life, the pandemic just highlighted the unrealistic expectations and pressures put on mothers.
“I’ll go to my grave fighting for mothers.” are the words of Motherly’s Director of Health and Wellness, author and certified nurse midwife, Diana Spalding.
In this week’s episode of Yoga|Birth|Babies, Diana and I talk about what sparked her passion to make changes on behalf of mothers and their overburdens. Diana shares her thoughts on how we can heal and elevate modern motherhood through individual, family and societal changes.
In this episode you will learn:
- About Diana and what led her to midwifery.
- What sparked Diana’s passion to make changes on behalf of mothers and their over burdens.
- Burnout, the definition now recognized by WHO (World Health Organization).
- The physical effects of burn out for the mom and the effects on the family.
- Thoughts on why the needs of a mother has become unimportant.
- Ways in which society has let mothers down.
- A discussion of Diana’s TED Talk.
- How the US supports (or doesn’t support!) new mothers thought out pregnancy and in the 4th trimester compared to that of other countries.
- When “self care” is not enough to mend “mom burnout”.
- How do we heal modern motherhood? Individual, family and societal changes we can make that help elevate the mother.
- The importance of camaraderie instead of judgment. Part of the mom burnout is also not judging others, not trying to be “the best mom”, the mom that can “do it all!” but to take the veil down and really support one another.
- Diana’s thoughts on taking the competition out of motherhood and allowing the struggles to be real and not something to be ashamed of or hide.
- One final tip/piece of advise for new and expectant parents.
- Where to find Diana’s work.
About Diana Spalding:
Diana Spalding Diana Spalding, MSN CNM is Motherly’s Director of Health and Wellness and wrote The Motherly Guide to Becoming Mama. She is a certified nurse midwife, pediatric nurse, TEDx speaker and mother of three.
Connect with Diana:
- Website: mother.ly
- New book: The Motherly Guide to Becoming Mama
- Listen to The Motherly Podcast
- Instagram: @mother.ly & @gatheredbirth
Support Our Sponsors:
- About 1 in 8 mothers have PPD and it can affect not only the mother but also the whole family. The Skylark Clinical trial is studying a potential medicine for women with PPD. For more information about the study and to see if you or a loved one might be eligible visit www.skylarkppdstudy.com
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Youtube: Prenatal Yoga Center
