June 3, 2025 • 37 mins
Providers, let's challenge the standard 6-week checkup and the conversation around "default birth control".
What if it's not just "standard care" but a MAJOR factor in the rise of postpartum depression and anxiety we're seeing? Is hormonal birth control a silent driver of postpartum depression and anxiety? It's time to connect the dots. New research links hormonal birth control postpartum to increased maternal mental health risks. Understanding the biological reality of postpartum, including postpartum brain rewiring, shows why synthetic hormones disrupt a healing body. This is a call to action for anyone supporting new mothers. For postpartum providers and perinatal mental health professionals focused on holistic support and evidence-based care, this knowledge is essential for informed consent and optimizing postpartum recovery.
Check out this episode on the blog: https://postpartumu.com/podcast/the-link-between-hormonal-birth-control-and-postpartum-depression-ep-218/
Key Time Stamps:
- 2:37 hormonal birth control postpartum and mental health
- 3:34 Key finding: 49% increased postpartum depression risk linked to hormonal contraception
- 5:12 Highlighting birth control as default postpartum care.
- 6:48 Diving into the biological reasons behind the link.
- 7:52 The complex postpartum body state: hormones, nutrients, sleep, inflammation.
- 11:48 Synthetic hormones interfere with delicate postpartum healing.
- 13:11 Exploring postpartum brain rewiring and changes.
- 15:26 How hormonal birth control can alter brain structure/function.
- 17:14 The "neurological collision" of postpartum brain changes and birth control.
- 20:34 Lack of provider training in postpartum brain science and hormone impacts.
- 25:07 Systemic issue: medicating women through a sacred transformation.
- 27:56 What holistic postpartum care and informed consent should look like instead.
- 31:09 The need for ongoing postpartum support (recovery takes years!).
NEXT STEPS:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
The postpartum care system is failing, leaving
countless mothers strugglingwith depression, anxiety and
autoimmune conditions.
I'm Miranda Bauer and I'vehelped thousands of providers
use holistic care practices toheal their clients at the root.
Subscribe now and join us inaddressing what modern medicine
(00:22):
overlooks, so that you can giveyour clients real, lasting
solutions for lifelongwell-being.
Hey, welcome back to thePostpartum University Podcast,
miranda.
Here and in today's episode,I'm going to ruffle some
feathers, but I do want to startin a way that really grounds us
(00:45):
, because I am not here to stirthings up.
Honestly, the truth is that Ihave been sitting with this
episode for some time.
A few weeks ago, I shared theconversation in my newsletter.
If you're not in thatnewsletter, you want to get in
ASAP.
We've got the link in the shownotes.
But it was just a short articleon a brand new study that came
(01:09):
out about postpartum birthcontrol and depression and to
this day, weeks later, I amstill getting messages about it,
messages like wait, this makesso much sense.
Why did no one tell me thisbefore?
Or this happened to me?
I knew something was wrong, butno one believed me.
(01:30):
And it really struck a nervewith me, not like in a
sensational way it hit, becauseit's so true and that truth felt
both shocking and deeplyvalidating to so many of you.
And I'll be honest, I have beenstruggling with the balance of
both of these worlds because, onone hand, I really want to be
(01:53):
this calm presence, this peace,this grounded nervous system and
this sea of noise.
I want to do that for you.
And on the other hand, there'salso this revolution in
postpartum care that I am hereto lead, and revolutions are
rarely quiet.
They're bold, they challenge,they disrupt and they require
(02:13):
truth telling.
That doesn't always feelcomfortable, and so I feel like
I'm stuck between both of theseworlds.
I'm trying to be calm andcatalytic, but I've come to
believe.
Something really, reallyimportant here is that we cannot
get to the calm unless we firstface the truth.
(02:33):
So today, that is what we'regoing to do.
We're going to dive into a topicon birth control and postpartum
and how it is a leading problemand maternal health that we
must talk about.
This is not fear mongering,this is not about shame.
This is about informed choice.
It's about seeing the wholepicture, about advocating for
(02:58):
women in a system that is alltoo often forgetting women in
the first place.
So let's all take a very big,deep breath and let's stay
grounded and let's walk intothis conversation together,
because you deserve to know thetruth and this, this is where
(03:19):
healing begins.
So let's talk about the studythat I'm telling you about.
It is published in the JAMANetwork Open and it's a very
respected peer-reviewed journal.
I'm going to include the linkto that article as well.
And the research followed over610,000 first-time mothers in
(03:40):
Sweden.
Yes, 610,000.
It's a massive sample sizewhich gives the study weight and
validity.
And here's what they found inthis study when hormonal
contraceptives were introducedin the postpartum period,
especially in the first fewweeks after birth, there was a
(04:01):
49% increased risk of developingclinical depression within the
first year.
Let me say that again, hormonalbirth control in the postpartum
period was linked to nearly a50% higher risk of depression.
And it wasn't just one type.
(04:24):
The study looked at multipleforms of contraception combined
oral contraceptives you know,the classic pill with estrogen
and progesterone that had thestrongest association with
negative mental health outcomesProgesterone only pills.
Sometimes providers call thatthe safe pill for breastfeeding
(04:45):
had a lower risk early on, butthat risk increased later in the
postpartum year.
So not only do we see aconnection.
We see a pattern, one thatsuggests timing matters, type of
birth control matters andindividual context matters, but
you know what the kicker is?
Here's the kicker Postpartumand birth control go hand in
(05:11):
hand.
This is standard care, this isdefault care.
And postpartum, you walk intothe six week follow-up
appointment.
What's the number one thingthat you are going to likely
leave with?
It's not nourishment, it's notemotional support, it's not a
recovery plan, it's aprescription, a prescription for
(05:32):
birth control.
So let's pause here, because weneed to name what's happening.
We are layering synthetichormones which dramatically
alter brain chemistry andhormone feedback loops, on top
of a body that is deeplydepleted from pregnancy,
(05:53):
actively healing from birth,navigating intense hormonal
shifts, experiencing sleepdeprivation and often lacking in
emotional and physical support.
And we are medicating this body, a body that's already under
stress, and we are calling itcare.
(06:14):
And now, finally, science isstarting to catch up with what
thousands of women have beensaying for years.
I got on the pill and Ispiraled.
I was fine until I startedbirth control.
I kept telling my provider Ididn't feel right, but they said
it wasn't the pill.
So the question we have to askis this what are we actually
(06:34):
doing to women in postpartum,because it's not just a
prescription, this is adisruption, and now we have data
to actually back that up.
This is powerful.
So I want to dive a little bitdeeper, because I had so many
people ask me this question whyis this happening, right?
(06:55):
What's the biology behind thisbreakdown?
So I'm going to break it downjust a little bit for you on the
physiological level, becausethis is not just theory.
It's rooted in how female bodyoperates, especially in the
postpartum window.
And first we need to understandthat postpartum is one of the
most hormonally complex andsensitive time in a woman's life
(07:16):
.
After the placenta is delivered, hormone levels, particularly
estrogen and progesterone, theyplummet faster than at any other
point in a human lifespan andthey don't rebound quickly.
In fact, research shows that ittakes months, and sometimes
longer than a year, for thesehormones to return to any kind
(07:38):
of homeostasis, especially whilebreastfeeding, and at the same
time, nutrient stores aredepleted, sleep is fragmented or
non-existent, especially forthose who are getting very
little support, and the brain isrewiring.
We're going to get into this alittle bit more.
The actual structure changeswithin the brain and taking
(07:58):
place in a lot of differentregions of the brain.
There's a lot ofneuroplasticity happening.
It's a fascinating conversationand we have to dive into this
deeper.
There's also inflammation thatis elevated.
There is lingering medicationresidues or side effects from
birth interventions.
Then we have the nervous systemand a survival mode operating
(08:20):
from a state of hypervigilanceand exhaustion.
And now we just like throw inhormonal birth control and so
we're adding in the synthetichormone into the soup of
dysregulation.
And these aren't evenbioidentical Like for those of
you who are into the wholehormonal soup of things.
We're not even talking aboutbioidentical hormones.
(08:43):
They don't support what'salready happening.
They're basically trying tooverride what is happening
within the postpartum body.
And here's what happens when wedo that.
We have suppression of naturalhormone feedback loops.
So birth control shuts down thebody's communication with the
ovaries.
It prevents ovulation, not justpregnancy.
(09:06):
And when that comes,suppression of natural
progesterone, which is a keymood stabilizing, calming
hormone that postpartum womendesperately need to rebuild
their body right.
So it just completelysuppresses all of that.
Then we have the disruption ofserotonin and dopamine pathways.
(09:26):
Hormonal contraception is knownto alter neurotransmitters.
Estrogen, for instance, plays arole in serotonin regulation.
Progesterone influences GABA,which is essential for calm and
sleep.
The synthetic versions do notmimic these effects well.
This is scientifically provenover and over and over again.
(09:49):
And in postpartum, whereneurotransmitters are already
really fragile and shifting andchanging, this is a recipe for
instability.
Then we have inflammationInflammation increases.
Several studies link hormonalcontraceptive use with increased
systemic inflammation, and wealready know that inflammation
(10:12):
is a key driver in depression,particularly postpartum
depression and the fact that apostpartum body is biologically
normally inflamed.
We want that inflammation inearly postpartum because it's
helping our body heal.
That inflammation is supposedto be acute, it's supposed to be
something that is going to goaway in time and it's helping us
(10:36):
heal.
But when that inflammation isnot supported, when we're not
giving that body what it needs,that inflammation lingers longer
and then it causes long-termissues.
And then we throw in hormonalcontraception on top of it that
we already know causesinflammation and we're just
(10:56):
entering into this chronicinflammatory state which wreaks
disaster on our bodies.
Then we have to talk aboutnutrient depletion, because what
would be a conversation ofpostpartum care without it?
We have oral contraceptionsthat deplete several essential
(11:17):
nutrients B6, b12, folate,magnesium, zinc all of which are
critical for brain health,immune function and mood
regulation.
And we again, this is not new.
We knew that oralcontraceptions and
contraceptives can deplete thebody of these key nutrients, and
(11:41):
postpartum women are alreadydeficient in many of these.
And then the pill.
What we do is we basicallycreate a deeper hole.
So when we ask what is happening, the answer is really, really
simple we're interfering with analready delicate and deeply
transformative biologicalprocess.
Instead of supporting thebody's return to balance, we're
(12:03):
overriding it with medicationthat's designed to shut down
hormonal function.
And it's not because providersdon't care.
It's because the system is setup to prioritize convenience,
population control and medicalliability over individualized
healing.
But there's something else thatwe need to name here, and this
(12:25):
one cuts deep.
We're also prescribing birthcontrol and postpartum because
we don't trust women.
We don't trust women to tracktheir cycles.
We don't trust women to maketheir own choices.
We don't educate them onfertility, ovulation or their
own physiology.
We don't give them the fullpicture.
(12:47):
Instead, we hand them aprescription and we call it
empowerment.
But true empowerment requiresinformed consent, and if women
aren't being told that the pillcan increase the risk of
depression, along witheverything else that I've talked
about today, then we're notgiving informed consent, and
(13:08):
that has to change.
Okay, I want to go deeper intothe rewiring of the brain that
happens in postpartum.
Most people don't recognizethis, but the postpartum is.
It's not just physical recovery.
If you're listening to thispodcast, you already know this
right.
It's a complete neurologicaltransformation on top of that,
and we have brain imagingstudies confirming that after a
(13:31):
childbirth, a woman's brainundergoes permanent structural
changes right, permanentstructural changes.
And there was a researchactually that was published in
Nature Neuroscience that foundthat pregnancy significantly
reduces gray matter volume inregions of the brain associated
(13:51):
with social cognition, emotionalregulation, empathy.
And to restructure the maternalbrain for attunement and
caregiving is the goal.
So this is not a loss.
We are not losing gray matterand our brains are not changing
in postpartum to become lessthan it's actually a
(14:15):
specialization.
This is evolution in a veryshort window.
Okay, so this is such abeautiful thing.
It allows us to connect withour babies, it allows us to
sense danger faster.
It's allowing us to raise ourbabies in a way that feels
(14:35):
really, really good.
Again, evolution.
And we have a multitude of otherstudies that show that
increased connectivity betweenthe other parts of the brain and
amygdala enhance emotionalresponses and protection.
We have heightened sensitivityto threat cues.
(14:56):
Right, we have maternalvigilance that goes up
significantly.
Oftentimes this is what spiralsout of control and is perceived
as anxiety because, again,we're not taught about how the
brain functions or how tosupport it in those changes.
We have enhanced memory andreward system activity and
(15:17):
response to the baby's cues.
And then we have this brain,this mom's brain, that is
adapting in real time to bondand care and protect.
And then we enter hormonalcontraceptives and multiple
studies have shown that hormonalbirth control changes the brain
.
And let's be clear, this is nota conspiracy theory.
(15:38):
This is in the literature, okay.
A 2015 study out of UCLA usedMRI imaging to show that women
using oral contraceptives hassmaller hypothalamic and
amygdala volumes, both of whichare essential for regulating
mood, emotional stability andstress response.
(16:01):
There was a study fromFrontiers in Neuroscience in
2020 that found that oralcontraceptive users showed
significantly altered functionand connectivity patterns within
the brain's default modenetwork.
So the part of the braininvolved in self-reflection and
(16:21):
internal narrative and emotionalregulation and guess what else
we see?
Women who use hormonalcontraceptives have increased
reactivity to negative emotionalstimuli, especially during the
withdrawal phase of the pill.
So when we are getting off thatpill, we feel intense negative
(16:45):
reactions right, almost as if itis addicting.
When hormonals level drop, weface the consequences.
These are the same pathways,already heightened and
vulnerable in postpartum.
Okay.
So when we have postpartum plusbirth control, we have this
(17:06):
neurological collision.
And if we were to add it all up, it means that the postpartum
brain is already hyperreactive,especially to emotional input
and threat cues as a survivaladaptation, right.
And then we have increasedplasticity, meaning the brain is
(17:28):
literally more moldable, moresensitive, more vulnerable to
environmental and chemicalchanges.
Then we have hormonal birthcontrol that alters
neurotransmitter activity,shrinks certain brain regions
and changes connectivity betweencritical emotional regulation
regulatory areas right withinthe brain.
And so when we introducehormonal contraceptives into
(17:52):
this already rewiring of thebrain, we are manipulating a
system that is already stretchedto its edge, and we're doing it
with zero acknowledgement ofthe consequences.
And so this is why so manyreport that they feel
emotionally flat or disconnectedafter starting the pill, that
(18:16):
they have sudden unexplainedanxiety or rage.
They have increased intrusivethoughts, brain fog that doesn't
lift, mood shifts that theycan't trace.
I will tell you that there was abrief period of time that after
my first I went on hormonalbirth control, and it was right.
(18:37):
When I started seeing my nowhusband, I was.
I was wanting some level ofsupport and I went on hormonal
birth control for just a coupleof months and I could not take
it.
It was just the progesteronepill.
It was five milligrams.
It was something supposed to besmall that my body can handle,
because I am very sensitive toeverything.
(18:58):
You know the other pills thatmade me extremely, extremely
sick, and so this is the onethat I ended up settling on and
I tell you, it made me feel likea crazy person.
I would flip out over thelittlest things and I would
attack my partner and ask himlike what the hell are you doing
(19:21):
?
Why?
Why can't you do this?
Why aren't you calling me back?
And he's like it's been 15minutes, what are you okay?
Like what is going on?
You know, it was like theweirdest, craziest scenarios and
I would have to step back fromthat and be like and I would
have to step back from that andbe like oh my gosh, who am I?
Like this is, this is crazysauce.
I would never behave like thisin real life, like this is not
(19:43):
me.
It made me a different personand I quit it.
I was done.
I could not be that person.
I just flipped out on everybody.
I thought that people werealways attacking at me and that
people were always doingsomething bad to me and it was
weird.
It was just insane.
And I know that I'm not the onlyone in feeling that the
(20:06):
symptoms mimic postpartum mooddisorders.
Right, everything that I sharedwith you here women reporting
feeling emotionally flat,unexplained anxiety and rage,
increased intrusive thoughts.
Women reporting feelingemotionally flat, unexplained
anxiety and rage, increasedintrusive thoughts, brain fog
that doesn't live, mood shiftsthey can't trace right.
That's because these symptomsmimic postpartum mood disorders
and we often chalk it up topostpartum depression, when in
(20:30):
reality it just may beamplifying pharmacology.
It just may be amplifyingpharmacology.
And here's the worst part Mostproviders don't know this.
They're not taught about theneurological impact of
contraceptives in medical school.
They do not receive specializedtraining in postpartum brain
science, or hormones for thatmatter.
(20:50):
So again, this is not blame.
This is we're not blaming moms,we're not blaming providers.
This is not blame.
This is we're not blaming moms,we're not blaming providers.
This is about education and wemust stop treating the
postpartum brain like apregnancy or a pre-pregnancy
brain.
It's not the same.
It has different needs.
It requires reverence andpatience and, above all, support
(21:10):
, not suppression.
So the research right.
So we have this study by JAMANetwork Open that we've been
talking about, and it's thefirst of its kind, this first
large scale study to examine therelationship between hormonal
birth control, specifically inpostpartum, and the risk of
(21:30):
developing postpartum depression.
And that's a beautiful.
But also also, we've hadhormonal contraceptives on the
market for over 60 years.
We've been prescribing them atsix week checkups for decades,
routinely, casually, oftenwithout discussion.
(21:50):
Yet not one large scale studyor short scale study, whatever
you want a small scale study, Idon't care what you want to call
it.
No study until now has lookedat how these medications might
interact with the brain and bodyand deep recovery and hormonal
chaos and depletion.
(22:11):
We have long known thathormonal contraception can
impact mood.
That data exists.
But this the unique, tender andneurologically sensitive
postpartum season that has beencompletely ignored in research.
And let's be clear this onestudy is not the final word,
(22:31):
it's a starting point.
There is so many questions thatstudy was not able to answer
and so we have so much more workthat has to be done, a massive,
long overdue wake-up call.
That demands we look deeper,ask better questions and
challenge the assumption thatroutine care is always safe care
(22:54):
.
Because, when it comes to thepostpartum body, there is no one
size fits all there never wasand the fact that we're just now
beginning to ask thesequestions tells us so much.
Tells us a lot, not just aboutscience, but about who we
prioritize in the medical system.
(23:14):
We cannot wait another decadefor more studies while mothers
suffer in silence.
It's really time to rethinkpostpartum care.
Okay, maybe we just need totake a breath here, because I
really I wanted to zoom out.
This conversation isn't aboutone study.
(23:35):
It's about why this studymatters in the first place, why
it struck a nerve and why myinbox is still full from that
newsletter I sent weeks ago.
And it's because this birthcontrol at six weeks it's not a
personal choice most of the time, it's not a conversation rooted
in empowerment, it's a default,it's a box to check and at that
(23:58):
six week mark, what istypically the only postpartum
follow-up a woman receives?
She walks into her provider'soffice and she's met with a
singular focus Are you goingback on birth control?
Not.
How are you sleeping?
Not.
What's your support system like?
How's your bleeding, yourdigestion, your anxiety?
Do you feel like yourself?
(24:19):
Just birth control and an allclear.
And when you zoom out, yourealize this has nothing to do
with her readiness physically,sexually, emotionally,
hormonally, spiritually andeverything to do with system
efficiency.
(24:39):
And everything to do withsystem efficiency, liability
coverage and a deeply ingrainedcultural belief that mothers
need to bounce back and get backto being sexually available and
productive and manageable.
We are medicating women througha sacred transformation.
We're interrupting brainrewiring, gut healing, healing,
(25:00):
hormonal recalibration, nervoussystem repair and instead of
giving her the nourishment andsupport her body is demanding,
we overwrite it.
And we do it with no realunderstanding of what we're
interrupting, because mostproviders, again, are not
trained in postpartum hormonerecovery.
They don't learn about traumaor neuroplasticity or how
(25:23):
depletion affects brainchemistry.
They don't study howinflammation changes mood.
They just prescribe and again,not their fault.
And now that you know this, youknow we know better, we do
better.
That's the way it goes.
The system is what we're trainedin and that system is what's
(25:43):
failing moms.
It's the same system that asksa woman are you sad?
And if she says yes, she gets aprescription for Zoloft and
birth control, often on the sameday, without ever testing her
iron levels or her B12, orasking if she's eaten anything
(26:04):
besides granola bars and coldcoffee.
In six weeks, no question aboutwhat's your birth story.
Did you have trauma?
It's actually the same systemthat thinks trauma is only
physical, that cleared for sexquote unquote means cleared for
intimacy, that you are alive.
Hello, I'm here, I'm alive andtherefore you must be totally
(26:26):
fine.
But the hard truth of it all isthat if we're asking mothers to
protect the system fromconsequences instead of asking
the system to protect mothersfrom collapse, we're in a big
pickle here.
We've convinced women that themost important thing they can do
at six weeks postpartum is tonot get pregnant again, and
(26:47):
meanwhile they're still bleeding, their hair is falling out,
they haven't slept in a month,they're crying in the pantry and
we're handing them synthetichormones like it's the answer to
everything, like they reallywanna go have another baby right
now.
Anyway.
And again, not demonizing birthcontrol.
Right, there's a place for it.
If you want it and you havebeen informed of all of the
(27:10):
things, perfect, okay.
But this is really aboutdemanding informed consent.
It's about saying not now, notuntil we've asked better
questions, not until we'vesupported her fully or I'm
getting all of the rightinformation, and I feel like
this is my best choice, becausepostpartum recovery is not a
(27:31):
race to contraception.
It's a return to wholeness andwomen aren't failingain and
simple, the system is Okay.
So what do we do instead?
Right, what does that new pathforward look like?
Let's take a talk real quick.
Take a talk about what'spossible, because I don't just
(27:54):
wanna sit here and stir the pot.
I wanna show a better way and Iwanna be clear.
This isn't about want to beclear.
This isn't about fear mongering.
This isn't about reclaiming,you know, um, the.
This is about reclaiminginformed decision-making.
It's about knowing all thefacts, not just, uh, ones that
fit into, like this 10 minutecheckup at six weeks.
(28:15):
So if you're a provider andyou're listening into this and
you're feeling heavy, maybe evenfrustrated, because this isn't
what you were taught or that youdon't know what else to do, I
want you to please, please, hearthis.
You are not to blame, you care,you're here and that means
everything.
And there is a better way, onethat does not rely on defaults
(28:40):
or assumptions or prescriptions.
First, one that starts withpresence and observation,
education and nourishment.
And here's what that looks like.
Begin with listening, notprescribing.
Ask about her bleeding, heremotions, her bowel movements,
her meals, her relationships.
(29:01):
The baby blues are one thing,but so are nutrient deficiencies
and unspoken trauma and gutdysbiosis and nervous system
dysregulation.
What if we just listened firstand then we have nourishment
over management?
Instead of trying to managehormones with synthetics, what
(29:22):
if we focused on rebuilding thesystems that regulate them
naturally?
We're talking about iron andzinc and omega-3s and B12 and
magnesium.
We're talking about warm mealsand cooked vegetables, bone
broth, high quality protein thefoundational stuff that helps
every organ, every hormone,every cell function.
(29:43):
And then acknowledge the brainremodeling Postpartum isn't just
about the uterus, right, it'sabout the brain and the body.
And, poetic, it's science.
And we're putting a woman on asynthetic hormone while her
(30:08):
brain is literally rewiring, andthat's a really bold move and
that should not be taken lightly.
So let's educate, provideactual ongoing care, let's
normalize multiple check-ins,emotional support, nutritional
guidelines and guidance.
Ask how she's really doing, notjust once, not just at six
(30:31):
weeks, but regularly, becausepostpartum is not six weeks,
it's at least six years.
Seriously, that's how long in arecent study that it takes to
heal in postpartum and feel likeourselves again, feel safe in
our bodies again and really afull year of recovery and
(30:53):
reintegration would belife-changing.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe six years, it could be just a
full year of support Oof, whata difference.
And then educate on a fullspectrum of options, from
contraception that meanseverything from fertility
awareness methods to barriermethods to exploring what truly
(31:15):
is best for that woman in thatseason of her life, with her
unique biochemistry and stresslevels and healing timeline and
values in mind.
And this requires a new kind ofcare, a new way of thinking, a
level of slowness andattentiveness and reverence that
we aren't used to in modernmedicine, but it's what's
(31:37):
required if we want to stopfailing mothers.
This is the new era ofpostpartum care and it begins
with us.
And here we are at the moment.
That feels both heavy andhopeful.
And we've named the truth thehormonal birth control in
(31:59):
postpartum and this seasoncarries risks that deserve to be
understood.
We've laid out the research,the biological realities, the
systemic gaps, and we'veenvisioned a new way forward,
one that's led in informedconsent and deep nourishment and
radical respect respect for themother.
But here's what I want you tohear most we don't change a
(32:22):
broken system by yelling louder.
We change it by embodyingsomething different.
And you, as a provider, as amother, as an advocate, you are
the shift.
You are part of a globalcommunity of humans saying this
isn't good enough and we can dobetter.
You're the ones brave enough toslow down, to ask questions, to
(32:43):
stop assuming and startlistening, to start challenging
the norm, not with outragealthough you can be outraged but
with education and compassionand care.
And this is exactly whyPostpartum University exists to
help you rise, to give you theknowledge and tools to support
(33:05):
women at the depth.
They actually need not surfacelevel fixes, but whole body,
soul level healing.
Let's be the generation thatsays we will no longer sacrifice
the well-being of mothers forthe sake of convenience.
We will no longer silencesymptoms or shortcut healing.
(33:27):
Let's hold a vision ofpostpartum that is wise and
reverent and evidence-informedand radically human, because
mothers deserve it, becausemothers deserve it, babies
deserve it.
Providers deserve a part to bea part of this and something
meaningful, and every family'sfuture depends on it.
(33:49):
Our communities depend on it.
If this episode sparkedsomething for you, come be a
part of the conversation.
Message me on IG.
I handle everything on my ownInstagram account, so when you
connect in, I guarantee you 95%of the time you are connecting
in with me personally, I love tohave conversations there, so
(34:13):
connect in with me there.
And, of course, if you are notgetting our weekly postpartum
provider press newsletter, wherewe dive deeper into topics like
this and give you tools toapply in real practice, you are
so missing out.
Go to postpartumu the letter udot com slash press and we will
(34:35):
make sure that you get the nextnewsletter that comes out.
Okay, until next time, keepleading with art.
Thanks so much for being a partof this crucial conversation.
I know you're dedicated toadvancing postpartum care and if
(34:57):
you're ready to dig deeper,come and join us on our
newsletter, where I shareexclusive insights, resources
and the latest tools to help youmake a lasting impact on
postpartum health.
Sign up at postpartumu theletter ucom, which is in the
show notes, and if you foundtoday's episode valuable, please
(35:18):
leave a review to help us reachmore providers like you.
Together, we're building afuture where mothers are fully
supported and thriving.
The postpartum care system is failing, leaving
countless mothers strugglingwith depression, anxiety and
autoimmune conditions.
I'm Miranda Bauer and I'vehelped thousands of providers
use holistic care practices toheal their clients at the root.
Subscribe now and join us inaddressing what modern medicine
(00:22):
overlooks, so that you can giveyour clients real, lasting
solutions for lifelongwell-being.
Hey, welcome back to thePostpartum University Podcast,
miranda.
Here and in today's episode,I'm going to ruffle some
feathers, but I do want to startin a way that really grounds us
(00:45):
, because I am not here to stirthings up.
Honestly, the truth is that Ihave been sitting with this
episode for some time.
A few weeks ago, I shared theconversation in my newsletter.
If you're not in thatnewsletter, you want to get in
ASAP.
We've got the link in the shownotes.
But it was just a short articleon a brand new study that came
(01:09):
out about postpartum birthcontrol and depression and to
this day, weeks later, I amstill getting messages about it,
messages like wait, this makesso much sense.
Why did no one tell me thisbefore?
Or this happened to me?
I knew something was wrong, butno one believed me.
(01:30):
And it really struck a nervewith me, not like in a
sensational way it hit, becauseit's so true and that truth felt
both shocking and deeplyvalidating to so many of you.
And I'll be honest, I have beenstruggling with the balance of
both of these worlds because, onone hand, I really want to be
(01:53):
this calm presence, this peace,this grounded nervous system and
this sea of noise.
I want to do that for you.
And on the other hand, there'salso this revolution in
postpartum care that I am hereto lead, and revolutions are
rarely quiet.
They're bold, they challenge,they disrupt and they require
(02:13):
truth telling.
That doesn't always feelcomfortable, and so I feel like
I'm stuck between both of theseworlds.
I'm trying to be calm andcatalytic, but I've come to
believe.
Something really, reallyimportant here is that we cannot
get to the calm unless we firstface the truth.
(02:33):
So today, that is what we'regoing to do.
We're going to dive into a topicon birth control and postpartum
and how it is a leading problemand maternal health that we
must talk about.
This is not fear mongering,this is not about shame.
This is about informed choice.
It's about seeing the wholepicture, about advocating for
(02:58):
women in a system that is alltoo often forgetting women in
the first place.
So let's all take a very big,deep breath and let's stay
grounded and let's walk intothis conversation together,
because you deserve to know thetruth and this, this is where
(03:19):
healing begins.
So let's talk about the studythat I'm telling you about.
It is published in the JAMANetwork Open and it's a very
respected peer-reviewed journal.
I'm going to include the linkto that article as well.
And the research followed over610,000 first-time mothers in
(03:40):
Sweden.
Yes, 610,000.
It's a massive sample sizewhich gives the study weight and
validity.
And here's what they found inthis study when hormonal
contraceptives were introducedin the postpartum period,
especially in the first fewweeks after birth, there was a
(04:01):
49% increased risk of developingclinical depression within the
first year.
Let me say that again, hormonalbirth control in the postpartum
period was linked to nearly a50% higher risk of depression.
And it wasn't just one type.
(04:24):
The study looked at multipleforms of contraception combined
oral contraceptives you know,the classic pill with estrogen
and progesterone that had thestrongest association with
negative mental health outcomesProgesterone only pills.
Sometimes providers call thatthe safe pill for breastfeeding
(04:45):
had a lower risk early on, butthat risk increased later in the
postpartum year.
So not only do we see aconnection.
We see a pattern, one thatsuggests timing matters, type of
birth control matters andindividual context matters, but
you know what the kicker is?
Here's the kicker Postpartumand birth control go hand in
(05:11):
hand.
This is standard care, this isdefault care.
And postpartum, you walk intothe six week follow-up
appointment.
What's the number one thingthat you are going to likely
leave with?
It's not nourishment, it's notemotional support, it's not a
recovery plan, it's aprescription, a prescription for
(05:32):
birth control.
So let's pause here, because weneed to name what's happening.
We are layering synthetichormones which dramatically
alter brain chemistry andhormone feedback loops, on top
of a body that is deeplydepleted from pregnancy,
(05:53):
actively healing from birth,navigating intense hormonal
shifts, experiencing sleepdeprivation and often lacking in
emotional and physical support.
And we are medicating this body, a body that's already under
stress, and we are calling itcare.
(06:14):
And now, finally, science isstarting to catch up with what
thousands of women have beensaying for years.
I got on the pill and Ispiraled.
I was fine until I startedbirth control.
I kept telling my provider Ididn't feel right, but they said
it wasn't the pill.
So the question we have to askis this what are we actually
(06:34):
doing to women in postpartum,because it's not just a
prescription, this is adisruption, and now we have data
to actually back that up.
This is powerful.
So I want to dive a little bitdeeper, because I had so many
people ask me this question whyis this happening, right?
(06:55):
What's the biology behind thisbreakdown?
So I'm going to break it downjust a little bit for you on the
physiological level, becausethis is not just theory.
It's rooted in how female bodyoperates, especially in the
postpartum window.
And first we need to understandthat postpartum is one of the
most hormonally complex andsensitive time in a woman's life
(07:16):
.
After the placenta is delivered, hormone levels, particularly
estrogen and progesterone, theyplummet faster than at any other
point in a human lifespan andthey don't rebound quickly.
In fact, research shows that ittakes months, and sometimes
longer than a year, for thesehormones to return to any kind
(07:38):
of homeostasis, especially whilebreastfeeding, and at the same
time, nutrient stores aredepleted, sleep is fragmented or
non-existent, especially forthose who are getting very
little support, and the brain isrewiring.
We're going to get into this alittle bit more.
The actual structure changeswithin the brain and taking
(07:58):
place in a lot of differentregions of the brain.
There's a lot ofneuroplasticity happening.
It's a fascinating conversationand we have to dive into this
deeper.
There's also inflammation thatis elevated.
There is lingering medicationresidues or side effects from
birth interventions.
Then we have the nervous systemand a survival mode operating
(08:20):
from a state of hypervigilanceand exhaustion.
And now we just like throw inhormonal birth control and so
we're adding in the synthetichormone into the soup of
dysregulation.
And these aren't evenbioidentical Like for those of
you who are into the wholehormonal soup of things.
We're not even talking aboutbioidentical hormones.
(08:43):
They don't support what'salready happening.
They're basically trying tooverride what is happening
within the postpartum body.
And here's what happens when wedo that.
We have suppression of naturalhormone feedback loops.
So birth control shuts down thebody's communication with the
ovaries.
It prevents ovulation, not justpregnancy.
(09:06):
And when that comes,suppression of natural
progesterone, which is a keymood stabilizing, calming
hormone that postpartum womendesperately need to rebuild
their body right.
So it just completelysuppresses all of that.
Then we have the disruption ofserotonin and dopamine pathways.
(09:26):
Hormonal contraception is knownto alter neurotransmitters.
Estrogen, for instance, plays arole in serotonin regulation.
Progesterone influences GABA,which is essential for calm and
sleep.
The synthetic versions do notmimic these effects well.
This is scientifically provenover and over and over again.
(09:49):
And in postpartum, whereneurotransmitters are already
really fragile and shifting andchanging, this is a recipe for
instability.
Then we have inflammationInflammation increases.
Several studies link hormonalcontraceptive use with increased
systemic inflammation, and wealready know that inflammation
(10:12):
is a key driver in depression,particularly postpartum
depression and the fact that apostpartum body is biologically
normally inflamed.
We want that inflammation inearly postpartum because it's
helping our body heal.
That inflammation is supposedto be acute, it's supposed to be
something that is going to goaway in time and it's helping us
(10:36):
heal.
But when that inflammation isnot supported, when we're not
giving that body what it needs,that inflammation lingers longer
and then it causes long-termissues.
And then we throw in hormonalcontraception on top of it that
we already know causesinflammation and we're just
(10:56):
entering into this chronicinflammatory state which wreaks
disaster on our bodies.
Then we have to talk aboutnutrient depletion, because what
would be a conversation ofpostpartum care without it?
We have oral contraceptionsthat deplete several essential
(11:17):
nutrients B6, b12, folate,magnesium, zinc all of which are
critical for brain health,immune function and mood
regulation.
And we again, this is not new.
We knew that oralcontraceptions and
contraceptives can deplete thebody of these key nutrients, and
(11:41):
postpartum women are alreadydeficient in many of these.
And then the pill.
What we do is we basicallycreate a deeper hole.
So when we ask what is happening, the answer is really, really
simple we're interfering with analready delicate and deeply
transformative biologicalprocess.
Instead of supporting thebody's return to balance, we're
(12:03):
overriding it with medicationthat's designed to shut down
hormonal function.
And it's not because providersdon't care.
It's because the system is setup to prioritize convenience,
population control and medicalliability over individualized
healing.
But there's something else thatwe need to name here, and this
(12:25):
one cuts deep.
We're also prescribing birthcontrol and postpartum because
we don't trust women.
We don't trust women to tracktheir cycles.
We don't trust women to maketheir own choices.
We don't educate them onfertility, ovulation or their
own physiology.
We don't give them the fullpicture.
(12:47):
Instead, we hand them aprescription and we call it
empowerment.
But true empowerment requiresinformed consent, and if women
aren't being told that the pillcan increase the risk of
depression, along witheverything else that I've talked
about today, then we're notgiving informed consent, and
(13:08):
that has to change.
Okay, I want to go deeper intothe rewiring of the brain that
happens in postpartum.
Most people don't recognizethis, but the postpartum is.
It's not just physical recovery.
If you're listening to thispodcast, you already know this
right.
It's a complete neurologicaltransformation on top of that,
and we have brain imagingstudies confirming that after a
(13:31):
childbirth, a woman's brainundergoes permanent structural
changes right, permanentstructural changes.
And there was a researchactually that was published in
Nature Neuroscience that foundthat pregnancy significantly
reduces gray matter volume inregions of the brain associated
(13:51):
with social cognition, emotionalregulation, empathy.
And to restructure the maternalbrain for attunement and
caregiving is the goal.
So this is not a loss.
We are not losing gray matterand our brains are not changing
in postpartum to become lessthan it's actually a
(14:15):
specialization.
This is evolution in a veryshort window.
Okay, so this is such abeautiful thing.
It allows us to connect withour babies, it allows us to
sense danger faster.
It's allowing us to raise ourbabies in a way that feels
(14:35):
really, really good.
Again, evolution.
And we have a multitude of otherstudies that show that
increased connectivity betweenthe other parts of the brain and
amygdala enhance emotionalresponses and protection.
We have heightened sensitivityto threat cues.
(14:56):
Right, we have maternalvigilance that goes up
significantly.
Oftentimes this is what spiralsout of control and is perceived
as anxiety because, again,we're not taught about how the
brain functions or how tosupport it in those changes.
We have enhanced memory andreward system activity and
(15:17):
response to the baby's cues.
And then we have this brain,this mom's brain, that is
adapting in real time to bondand care and protect.
And then we enter hormonalcontraceptives and multiple
studies have shown that hormonalbirth control changes the brain
.
And let's be clear, this is nota conspiracy theory.
(15:38):
This is in the literature, okay.
A 2015 study out of UCLA usedMRI imaging to show that women
using oral contraceptives hassmaller hypothalamic and
amygdala volumes, both of whichare essential for regulating
mood, emotional stability andstress response.
(16:01):
There was a study fromFrontiers in Neuroscience in
2020 that found that oralcontraceptive users showed
significantly altered functionand connectivity patterns within
the brain's default modenetwork.
So the part of the braininvolved in self-reflection and
(16:21):
internal narrative and emotionalregulation and guess what else
we see?
Women who use hormonalcontraceptives have increased
reactivity to negative emotionalstimuli, especially during the
withdrawal phase of the pill.
So when we are getting off thatpill, we feel intense negative
(16:45):
reactions right, almost as if itis addicting.
When hormonals level drop, weface the consequences.
These are the same pathways,already heightened and
vulnerable in postpartum.
Okay.
So when we have postpartum plusbirth control, we have this
(17:06):
neurological collision.
And if we were to add it all up, it means that the postpartum
brain is already hyperreactive,especially to emotional input
and threat cues as a survivaladaptation, right.
And then we have increasedplasticity, meaning the brain is
(17:28):
literally more moldable, moresensitive, more vulnerable to
environmental and chemicalchanges.
Then we have hormonal birthcontrol that alters
neurotransmitter activity,shrinks certain brain regions
and changes connectivity betweencritical emotional regulation
regulatory areas right withinthe brain.
And so when we introducehormonal contraceptives into
(17:52):
this already rewiring of thebrain, we are manipulating a
system that is already stretchedto its edge, and we're doing it
with zero acknowledgement ofthe consequences.
And so this is why so manyreport that they feel
emotionally flat or disconnectedafter starting the pill, that
(18:16):
they have sudden unexplainedanxiety or rage.
They have increased intrusivethoughts, brain fog that doesn't
lift, mood shifts that theycan't trace.
I will tell you that there was abrief period of time that after
my first I went on hormonalbirth control, and it was right.
(18:37):
When I started seeing my nowhusband, I was.
I was wanting some level ofsupport and I went on hormonal
birth control for just a coupleof months and I could not take
it.
It was just the progesteronepill.
It was five milligrams.
It was something supposed to besmall that my body can handle,
because I am very sensitive toeverything.
(18:58):
You know the other pills thatmade me extremely, extremely
sick, and so this is the onethat I ended up settling on and
I tell you, it made me feel likea crazy person.
I would flip out over thelittlest things and I would
attack my partner and ask himlike what the hell are you doing
(19:21):
?
Why?
Why can't you do this?
Why aren't you calling me back?
And he's like it's been 15minutes, what are you okay?
Like what is going on?
You know, it was like theweirdest, craziest scenarios and
I would have to step back fromthat and be like and I would
have to step back from that andbe like oh my gosh, who am I?
Like this is, this is crazysauce.
I would never behave like thisin real life, like this is not
(19:43):
me.
It made me a different personand I quit it.
I was done.
I could not be that person.
I just flipped out on everybody.
I thought that people werealways attacking at me and that
people were always doingsomething bad to me and it was
weird.
It was just insane.
And I know that I'm not the onlyone in feeling that the
(20:06):
symptoms mimic postpartum mooddisorders.
Right, everything that I sharedwith you here women reporting
feeling emotionally flat,unexplained anxiety and rage,
increased intrusive thoughts.
Women reporting feelingemotionally flat, unexplained
anxiety and rage, increasedintrusive thoughts, brain fog
that doesn't live, mood shiftsthey can't trace right.
That's because these symptomsmimic postpartum mood disorders
and we often chalk it up topostpartum depression, when in
(20:30):
reality it just may beamplifying pharmacology.
It just may be amplifyingpharmacology.
And here's the worst part Mostproviders don't know this.
They're not taught about theneurological impact of
contraceptives in medical school.
They do not receive specializedtraining in postpartum brain
science, or hormones for thatmatter.
(20:50):
So again, this is not blame.
This is we're not blaming moms,we're not blaming providers.
This is not blame.
This is we're not blaming moms,we're not blaming providers.
This is about education and wemust stop treating the
postpartum brain like apregnancy or a pre-pregnancy
brain.
It's not the same.
It has different needs.
It requires reverence andpatience and, above all, support
(21:10):
, not suppression.
So the research right.
So we have this study by JAMANetwork Open that we've been
talking about, and it's thefirst of its kind, this first
large scale study to examine therelationship between hormonal
birth control, specifically inpostpartum, and the risk of
(21:30):
developing postpartum depression.
And that's a beautiful.
But also also, we've hadhormonal contraceptives on the
market for over 60 years.
We've been prescribing them atsix week checkups for decades,
routinely, casually, oftenwithout discussion.
(21:50):
Yet not one large scale studyor short scale study, whatever
you want a small scale study, Idon't care what you want to call
it.
No study until now has lookedat how these medications might
interact with the brain and bodyand deep recovery and hormonal
chaos and depletion.
(22:11):
We have long known thathormonal contraception can
impact mood.
That data exists.
But this the unique, tender andneurologically sensitive
postpartum season that has beencompletely ignored in research.
And let's be clear this onestudy is not the final word,
(22:31):
it's a starting point.
There is so many questions thatstudy was not able to answer
and so we have so much more workthat has to be done, a massive,
long overdue wake-up call.
That demands we look deeper,ask better questions and
challenge the assumption thatroutine care is always safe care
(22:54):
.
Because, when it comes to thepostpartum body, there is no one
size fits all there never wasand the fact that we're just now
beginning to ask thesequestions tells us so much.
Tells us a lot, not just aboutscience, but about who we
prioritize in the medical system.
(23:14):
We cannot wait another decadefor more studies while mothers
suffer in silence.
It's really time to rethinkpostpartum care.
Okay, maybe we just need totake a breath here, because I
really I wanted to zoom out.
This conversation isn't aboutone study.
(23:35):
It's about why this studymatters in the first place, why
it struck a nerve and why myinbox is still full from that
newsletter I sent weeks ago.
And it's because this birthcontrol at six weeks it's not a
personal choice most of the time, it's not a conversation rooted
in empowerment, it's a default,it's a box to check and at that
(23:58):
six week mark, what istypically the only postpartum
follow-up a woman receives?
She walks into her provider'soffice and she's met with a
singular focus Are you goingback on birth control?
Not.
How are you sleeping?
Not.
What's your support system like?
How's your bleeding, yourdigestion, your anxiety?
Do you feel like yourself?
(24:19):
Just birth control and an allclear.
And when you zoom out, yourealize this has nothing to do
with her readiness physically,sexually, emotionally,
hormonally, spiritually andeverything to do with system
efficiency.
(24:39):
And everything to do withsystem efficiency, liability
coverage and a deeply ingrainedcultural belief that mothers
need to bounce back and get backto being sexually available and
productive and manageable.
We are medicating women througha sacred transformation.
We're interrupting brainrewiring, gut healing, healing,
(25:00):
hormonal recalibration, nervoussystem repair and instead of
giving her the nourishment andsupport her body is demanding,
we overwrite it.
And we do it with no realunderstanding of what we're
interrupting, because mostproviders, again, are not
trained in postpartum hormonerecovery.
They don't learn about traumaor neuroplasticity or how
(25:23):
depletion affects brainchemistry.
They don't study howinflammation changes mood.
They just prescribe and again,not their fault.
And now that you know this, youknow we know better, we do
better.
That's the way it goes.
The system is what we're trainedin and that system is what's
(25:43):
failing moms.
It's the same system that asksa woman are you sad?
And if she says yes, she gets aprescription for Zoloft and
birth control, often on the sameday, without ever testing her
iron levels or her B12, orasking if she's eaten anything
(26:04):
besides granola bars and coldcoffee.
In six weeks, no question aboutwhat's your birth story.
Did you have trauma?
It's actually the same systemthat thinks trauma is only
physical, that cleared for sexquote unquote means cleared for
intimacy, that you are alive.
Hello, I'm here, I'm alive andtherefore you must be totally
(26:26):
fine.
But the hard truth of it all isthat if we're asking mothers to
protect the system fromconsequences instead of asking
the system to protect mothersfrom collapse, we're in a big
pickle here.
We've convinced women that themost important thing they can do
at six weeks postpartum is tonot get pregnant again, and
(26:47):
meanwhile they're still bleeding, their hair is falling out,
they haven't slept in a month,they're crying in the pantry and
we're handing them synthetichormones like it's the answer to
everything, like they reallywanna go have another baby right
now.
Anyway.
And again, not demonizing birthcontrol.
Right, there's a place for it.
If you want it and you havebeen informed of all of the
(27:10):
things, perfect, okay.
But this is really aboutdemanding informed consent.
It's about saying not now, notuntil we've asked better
questions, not until we'vesupported her fully or I'm
getting all of the rightinformation, and I feel like
this is my best choice, becausepostpartum recovery is not a
(27:31):
race to contraception.
It's a return to wholeness andwomen aren't failingain and
simple, the system is Okay.
So what do we do instead?
Right, what does that new pathforward look like?
Let's take a talk real quick.
Take a talk about what'spossible, because I don't just
(27:54):
wanna sit here and stir the pot.
I wanna show a better way and Iwanna be clear.
This isn't about want to beclear.
This isn't about fear mongering.
This isn't about reclaiming,you know, um, the.
This is about reclaiminginformed decision-making.
It's about knowing all thefacts, not just, uh, ones that
fit into, like this 10 minutecheckup at six weeks.
(28:15):
So if you're a provider andyou're listening into this and
you're feeling heavy, maybe evenfrustrated, because this isn't
what you were taught or that youdon't know what else to do, I
want you to please, please, hearthis.
You are not to blame, you care,you're here and that means
everything.
And there is a better way, onethat does not rely on defaults
(28:40):
or assumptions or prescriptions.
First, one that starts withpresence and observation,
education and nourishment.
And here's what that looks like.
Begin with listening, notprescribing.
Ask about her bleeding, heremotions, her bowel movements,
her meals, her relationships.
(29:01):
The baby blues are one thing,but so are nutrient deficiencies
and unspoken trauma and gutdysbiosis and nervous system
dysregulation.
What if we just listened firstand then we have nourishment
over management?
Instead of trying to managehormones with synthetics, what
(29:22):
if we focused on rebuilding thesystems that regulate them
naturally?
We're talking about iron andzinc and omega-3s and B12 and
magnesium.
We're talking about warm mealsand cooked vegetables, bone
broth, high quality protein thefoundational stuff that helps
every organ, every hormone,every cell function.
(29:43):
And then acknowledge the brainremodeling Postpartum isn't just
about the uterus, right, it'sabout the brain and the body.
And, poetic, it's science.
And we're putting a woman on asynthetic hormone while her
(30:08):
brain is literally rewiring, andthat's a really bold move and
that should not be taken lightly.
So let's educate, provideactual ongoing care, let's
normalize multiple check-ins,emotional support, nutritional
guidelines and guidance.
Ask how she's really doing, notjust once, not just at six
(30:31):
weeks, but regularly, becausepostpartum is not six weeks,
it's at least six years.
Seriously, that's how long in arecent study that it takes to
heal in postpartum and feel likeourselves again, feel safe in
our bodies again and really afull year of recovery and
(30:53):
reintegration would belife-changing.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe six years, it could be just a
full year of support Oof, whata difference.
And then educate on a fullspectrum of options, from
contraception that meanseverything from fertility
awareness methods to barriermethods to exploring what truly
(31:15):
is best for that woman in thatseason of her life, with her
unique biochemistry and stresslevels and healing timeline and
values in mind.
And this requires a new kind ofcare, a new way of thinking, a
level of slowness andattentiveness and reverence that
we aren't used to in modernmedicine, but it's what's
(31:37):
required if we want to stopfailing mothers.
This is the new era ofpostpartum care and it begins
with us.
And here we are at the moment.
That feels both heavy andhopeful.
And we've named the truth thehormonal birth control in
(31:59):
postpartum and this seasoncarries risks that deserve to be
understood.
We've laid out the research,the biological realities, the
systemic gaps, and we'veenvisioned a new way forward,
one that's led in informedconsent and deep nourishment and
radical respect respect for themother.
But here's what I want you tohear most we don't change a
(32:22):
broken system by yelling louder.
We change it by embodyingsomething different.
And you, as a provider, as amother, as an advocate, you are
the shift.
You are part of a globalcommunity of humans saying this
isn't good enough and we can dobetter.
You're the ones brave enough toslow down, to ask questions, to
(32:43):
stop assuming and startlistening, to start challenging
the norm, not with outragealthough you can be outraged but
with education and compassionand care.
And this is exactly whyPostpartum University exists to
help you rise, to give you theknowledge and tools to support
(33:05):
women at the depth.
They actually need not surfacelevel fixes, but whole body,
soul level healing.
Let's be the generation thatsays we will no longer sacrifice
the well-being of mothers forthe sake of convenience.
We will no longer silencesymptoms or shortcut healing.
(33:27):
Let's hold a vision ofpostpartum that is wise and
reverent and evidence-informedand radically human, because
mothers deserve it, becausemothers deserve it, babies
deserve it.
Providers deserve a part to bea part of this and something
meaningful, and every family'sfuture depends on it.
(33:49):
Our communities depend on it.
If this episode sparkedsomething for you, come be a
part of the conversation.
Message me on IG.
I handle everything on my ownInstagram account, so when you
connect in, I guarantee you 95%of the time you are connecting
in with me personally, I love tohave conversations there, so
(34:13):
connect in with me there.
And, of course, if you are notgetting our weekly postpartum
provider press newsletter, wherewe dive deeper into topics like
this and give you tools toapply in real practice, you are
so missing out.
Go to postpartumu the letter udot com slash press and we will
(34:35):
make sure that you get the nextnewsletter that comes out.
Okay, until next time, keepleading with art.
Thanks so much for being a partof this crucial conversation.
I know you're dedicated toadvancing postpartum care and if
(34:57):
you're ready to dig deeper,come and join us on our
newsletter, where I shareexclusive insights, resources
and the latest tools to help youmake a lasting impact on
postpartum health.
Sign up at postpartumu theletter ucom, which is in the
show notes, and if you foundtoday's episode valuable, please
(35:18):
leave a review to help us reachmore providers like you.
Together, we're building afuture where mothers are fully
supported and thriving.
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