Mental Health in Motherhood

The topic of this episode is rather specific. It’s something we haven’t addressed on the podcast until now and have only briefly explored elsewhere. It’s something that carries a heavy stigma and the weight of expectation. It’s something that impacts 20% of people who are pregnant or give birth. We’re talking about perinatal—that’s before, during, and after pregnancy—mood and anxiety disorders that include depression, irritability, and heightened anxiety.

To help us paint a picture of what these struggles can look like, we’ll be talking to Ceara Pertain, who will not only share her own difficult journey with a traumatic birth experience and a myriad of mood disturbances that followed—but will cast a net of compassion for those entering or facing motherhood. And to guide us in understanding these challenges and how treatment can range from therapy and medicine to movement and sunshine, we’ll be joined by counselor Leighya Richard.

Ceara Pertain, is an Air Force veteran, an Intuitive Life and Soul Coach, a Master Resiliency Trainer, a Yogi, an author, a blogger, and a poet. She lives with her mystical daughter and her black cat, and is a self-confessed book-and-crystal fanatic.

Leighya Richard is a licensed mental health counselor, wife, and toddler and “pandemic baby” mom. She works to support and advocate for women’s health and to empower those facing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.