May 3, 2024 • 30 mins
Gabriela Gerhart is the founder of Motherhood Center. They offer education, support groups and access to experts and doulas for expecting mothers and fathers. The free Baby Bump Social is every 2nd Thursday of the month and just announced: every third Thursday of the month will be a new dad group. Go to www.motherhoodcenter.com for more information.
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(00:06):
Welcome to Houston, PA, Houston'sPublic Affairs show, an iHeartMedia broadcast.
Our disclaimer says that the opinions expresson the show do not necessarily reflect those
hell by this radio station, itsmanagement staff, or any of its advertisers.
My name is laurent I am theTexan from France, and my guest
(00:27):
today is here from Motherhood's Center,an organization unlike any in the country,
because it's the only one in thiscountry that exists like this. They offer
support to new moms through pregnancy witheducation programs that allow them to learn about
what their body is going through,and a massive amount of interesting support from
(00:47):
doula servicing to how teaching about breastfeedingand the healthy habits that that brings along.
They've got newborn care specialists, nightnannies, postpartum do We're gonna find
out what that would they do?They are an organization that has recognized that,
unfortunately, with the way America isset up to do business, moms
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are often required to go back towork a little early. After all,
moms are in charge of the mostimportant thing on the planet. Right.
They make the people, all ofthem. They make all the people,
and I think that we forget sometimesjust how important it is for a mom
to spend a lot of time withher baby with her I mean, the
baby is not independent right away,we know that right My guest is Gabriella
(01:33):
Gerhardt. She is the founder ofMotherhood's Center. You could check out their
website while you listen. It's beautifullydesigned and chock full of awesome information.
Motherhoodcenter dot com, Motherhoodcenter dot com. And every second Thursday of the month
they have what they call the BabyBump Social. The Baby Bump Social is
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every second Thursday of the month.It's open to everyone. I believe it
is free. Gabriella is going toexplain to us how it works. But
it's a place where young expecting mothersand their fathers are welcome to come in
and ask questions and come in andtouch some of these services. But before
we get into that, I wantto say that Gabrielle is from the Czech
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Republic and she wrote a book calledAfter the Fall, My Journey to Freedom
from Communism to Capitalism. Her beautifulface is on the cover. It's available
on Amazon. You can just orderit. We're talking about a very motivated
young woman here. How did youget here. You arrived to the US
(02:36):
in nineteen ninety eight, that's correct, And how did that happen? I
don't even know. No So Ithe whirlwind. Yep, yeah, I
just showed up here. So,no So. I came here as an
oupir, which is an exchange studentprogram, and essentially I wanted to learn
language. I wanted to learn English. And my background I'm a pediatric nurse
(03:01):
and a physical therapist back home inCzech Republic, and I had a job
lineup with this private hospital and Ijust checked with the doctor. I'm like,
can you wait for me for ayear, because you know, I
wanted to go learn English and Iwill come back. And clearly that did
not happen. And no, youit did. Your English is impeccable.
(03:22):
You did learn English, but youdidn't go back. I did not go
back. So yeah, So Icame here as an old pair and I
was opair for four boys. Soa pair, we need to explain that.
A pair, it's you basically comeand live with the family to take
care of the kids. Correct,that's right. Huh So yeah, so
you I mean essentially I was kindof like the older sisters. Yeah,
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because I was you know, kindof still in my very early twenties and
and so, yeah, so Iwas kind of providing the care and services
for the family, and of courseI was living with them. So it
was really just kind of like acultural exchange program. And yeah, I
was actually the family's seventh old pair. So every year they would have an
opera from different country to kind ofhelp children exposed, you know, to
(04:06):
different cultures and food. And wheredid you do this? Did you come
to Texas? Yes? M hm. At that time, I could not
choose, like where I'm going togo, and so I just signed up
with this Oh Pair program. Andbecause of my background, you know,
I was kind of a hot commodity. Everybody would want it to have a
pediatric nurse. Yeah, Oh Pair, and I sign up and six weeks
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later I was in America, landedin U in New York, and uh,
there was like a four day orientationfor all the old pairs from from
all over the the world. Wheredid you think of New York when you
saw it for the first time?You know, we were we were like
a station at a dorm and sowe had like one trip, kind of
a bus trip to to downtown Islandand uh, I had this this story
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because I was so you know,I had this pocket money and I was
like so excited, and I boughta camera from a disposable camera. Well
it was kind of like it wasnot supposed to be disposable. It became
disposable because it was not working.And I spent like half of my you
know, pocket money here on thatcamera. So it was just a you
know, anatic. It was afake camera. I bought from a street
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venl Oh No, that was myfirst experience. And some people buy a
camera and there's a brick in thebox. Oh yeah, I guess nobody
told you not to buy from astreet vendor. No, so that was
my one of my first learning lessons. Yep exposed to peanut butter, which
I never had before, and thatwas a for all the Europeans which are
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coming to America, it's usually ashocker. Do you like it? I
did not like it for fifteen yearswhen I tried it because I didn't know
that peanut what peanut butter was.And I was this hungry, you know,
check a girl at the dorm inNew York and uh, and so
we went like like a cafeteria setup, and so I thought it was
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some kind of a breeze or yeah, okay, you know, just some
kind of a cheese, you know. And so I put like really thick
layer, like two inch layer,you know, because I'm very hungry.
And so I had my first biteand I was like, what do I
do now? Because I could,I could not spit it out. I
was like, why wouldn't have youknow, anybody ate it? And so,
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yeah, I did not eat peanutbutter for like fifteen years. I
was like, I don't understand it. So, yeah, I love it,
but I guess I'm used to it. My mom, I lived in
France from my Texas mom would bringback some peanut butter. I think eventually
you can buy it in France.But yeah, So it's funny. I
asked you about how the city andyou went straight to the food. The
food felt more alien than the cityitself. Yeah, it was just kind
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of you know. I think itwas because I mean I literally like for
the first time I was flying onan airplane, I was it was like
everything was for the first time.And so and of course we have this
four day orientation to learn about Americanfamilies, and and I did not speak
I pretty much did not speak anyEnglish as really, I spoke few words.
(07:08):
I mean, that's why I wantedto come here. And I was
kind of like thrown in because whatI didn't realize that not that I'm going
to be just taking care of thebaby, but I'm taking care of the
boys as well. And I hadto do homework with them, and so
I had to like have a dictionaryto study what they are supposed to study,
and I had to do spelling wordsand all of the fun stuff.
(07:30):
So yeah, so that's how Igot really exposed to the American family and
kind of how things are here versusand maybe even in Europe. So you
were a pair in New York.No, no, no, So I
signed up with this family and sothey were from Houston, and so all
the Opias would fly to New Yorkand from New York, after that they
would fly to their perspective families.Did you how did you? What did
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you think of the heat and thehumidity of south south east Texas. So,
yeah, I landed. It wasend of September, oh boy,
And so it was pretty cool becauseyou know, I was sunbathing in November
and family is shoveling snow, soso that was kind of fun. But
once like the summer came around,you know, it was a shocker.
(08:16):
Yeah, coming from you a verydry climate in Czech Republic. Have you
gotten used to air conditioning? Istill feel cold when I go, like,
I have a fleece in the backof my car because as a French
guy, the the ac is usuallytoo cold, especially in movie theaters and
places like that. Matter of fact, you're wearing a jacket, prepared to
(08:37):
know. Yeah, I usually havea little jacket. Yeah were you were
you impressed by the technology and theluxuries accessible to Americans at such low prices.
That's one of my big memories isthat you could get so much for
your dollar, so much more thanin France. I imagine it's the same
kind of change for you. ButAmerica. Houston is such a modern city
(09:00):
New York as well. It comparedto the old World, which truly is
old. You probably grew up ina stone house, I mean a house
that was century okay, exactly,same thing with me. Americans don't really
have a sense of that kind ofhistory, and that's one of the really
interesting culture shocks that we experience.I think, yeah, so you have
(09:20):
a whole new appreciation for that.And you know, and obviously you kind
of mentioned the technology. So evenlike when I started my business, I
mean I had no idea. Imean because during Communism, like entrepreneurship is
not taught, right, there's likenothing like that. And so I was
coming here and when I initially youopen up my business, you know,
(09:43):
I mean it was first time Iwas writing a check, you know,
I was, and of course thatcomputers were kind of around, but you
know, I never had a computerbefore. Yeah, you know, so
even like building website and building upcurriculums. That's right, the end of
the nineties is right when that wasst up. Yeah wow. So yeah,
so definitely the technology we have nowis like so different and and I
(10:07):
mean honestly, like right now,even going back to Czech Republic, I
mean they it just got caught upso quickly too. The conveniences, you
know, the modern convenience, yes, oh yeah, when you when I
go back to Europe, everything isvery inconvenient to me, and people move
slower so that they the service industryin America. Americans don't appreciate just how
(10:28):
awesome waiters are for instance, youdon't get that kind of service in France.
Uh. They're efficient, but they'renot always very friendly. That's not
that doesn't mean that they're being unfriendly. It's just that the French need a
reason to smile at you, whereasAmericans will smile at you because that's one
way we are polite to each other. And it's awesome. It's awesome.
It's one of my favorite things aboutthis country. Yeah. When my dad
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came for one of the visits,I think it was during the rodeo and
we were watching I think yeah anduh, and people were like, you
know, smiling and waving, andmy dad like sincerely because he grew up,
you know, during communism. He'slike, are people paid to smile?
Like no, Like they are likesincerely, like happy, yeah,
you know, and showing it.That's what capitalism does. That's what freedom
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does. You're free to smile,and a human being who is free to
smile and to prosper will smile becauseprospering is good. You are listening to
Houston, PA, Houston's Public Affairsshow. My name is Laurent, my
guest is Gabriella Gerthart. She isthe founder of Motherhood Center. They are
online at Motherhoodcenter dot com Motherhoodcenter dotcom. Gabriella, this is not the
(11:39):
business you founded at first, isit? So? Yes and no.
So because of my background being pediatricnurse, and you know, I realized
that there is a need for familiesto get get care while they are at
home with their baby and learning.So my initial business was Loving Infant Care
and so that was my you know, kind of an expression of like providing
(12:05):
services and care for my clients orkind of I guess new families. But
that kind of quickly evolve into seeingthat there's a need for more services,
and that's kind of where the MotherhoodCenter came came about. So basically,
the Loving in Front of Care becamethe Motherhood Center. Okay, so you
warped it into its modern incarnation.I should have mentioned just a moment ago
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that Gabriella has written a book calledAfter the Fall, My Journey to Freedom
from Communism to Capitalism. If you'vebeen interested in the conversation we've had thus
far about her coming to America,this is very much what this is about.
And you can buy it on Amazon, and it's a brief book,
which is often the best kind ofread but a chalk full of information.
(12:48):
And as you can tell, herpersonal experience is interesting. We're a nation
of immigrant and we completely we oftenignore the fact that we have incredible history,
especially the people who move here duringtheir lifetime as opposed to being the
first generation American. For instance,are you an American now? Yeah?
I actually became citizen last year.Nice, good job, welcome first first
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voting and second voting yesterday. Andand you have a blue passport? I
do? Yeah? You did youget to keep your European passport? I
did? Yeah, me too.The French, the French will not allow
you to give up your French citizenship, So you're French forever unless you committed
horror this crime and they like they'lltake it away from you. It's very
(13:31):
rare, but uh that that isone of the greatest gifts that you could
possibly have, to have free entryinto Europe and America, the two more
most prosperous sides of the planet isin itself. Well, so tell us
about the Motherhood Center. You whydid you decide to found this organization?
What do you do? So?So it really started. I saw the
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neat and so I was working withall these you know, new family and
I would be usually there overnight helpingthem. And so that's how I learned
that there is a terminology as ababy nurse, because I started helping these
families and they referred to me asa baby nurse, and so I'm like,
Okay, I guess I'll be ababy nurse. And so one family
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referred me to another and another yeah, And usually whenever the assignments would be
ending, usually moms a little bitof a tear and they're like, so,
what I'm supposed to do now?And of course I didn't really know,
but I would just say, well, there is some place for you
to go, and once I dida little bit more research, I realized
there was not, and so that'skind of where the idea of the Motherhood
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Center really started. You're the onlyorganization of its kind that is not tied
to a hospital system or a governmentsystem. Is that right correct? That's
impressive to me, and it's anotherdemonstration of the freedom of America. You
were naturally born in America because youcame over here as an immigrant and you
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became an entreerepreneur instantly, like youtook to capitalism like that yeah, I
guess it was somewhere in my genetics. Yeah, just kind of it's in
all our genetic freedom. Is we'resupposed to be free. You don't put
an animal in a cage. Humansare the same way. Yeah, but
I just I bet you're proud ofthat. It must be an extraordinary thing,
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are you? Is your family dothey come here? Sometimes? Not
very often, so yeah, wego mainly go back home to check,
which is nice to kind of likeslow down and kind of recharge and kind
of refuel, you know what kindof initially drove, you know, because
it's so when I started working withall these Houston families, you know,
I became kind of the extension oftheir family and a lot of times they
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did not have any other family supportor you know, a lot of clients
are international as well at the MotherhoodCenter, And so it was really because
of my background being pediatric nurse andphysical therapy physical therapists, I have kind
of an understanding and appreciation of kindof the holistic support for the for the
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mom and really the whole family.And so that's kind of where I realized
there is no prenatal yoga. Andit's like and again this is like back
twenty four years ago where women,pregnant women were not really encouraged to exercise.
It was like, honey, youare you know, you are pregnant,
just take it easy, you know. And I'm like, well,
they need to do prenatal yoga,and so we had prenatal classes and after
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that, mom and baby yoga classesand pregnancy massages were not really existent.
So again, why is that important? Why is a pregnant semis I know
that obviously as the baby grows,it squishes a women's organs back. I
mean they take up a lot ofplace and it is extremely uncomfortable sometimes,
right, yeah, I mean it'sit's just the overall, you know,
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just like a massage, there's justso many benefits, but for pregnant women,
especially because there is all these toxinswhich are naturally building up throughout pregnancy,
and so that's a good way tobe able to eliminate those but also
kind of a way to realign yourbody. You know, a lot of
time clients don't realize how much theyneeded it until they are like on the
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table realizing like, oh wow,I didn't do that sooner. So it's
really just kind of an even likethat hour hour and a half just being
so tuned with your body and usuallylike there's this baby movement and all this
you know happening and so yeah,so it's just kind of a you know,
tremendous benefits to pregnancy massage. Andone of the services that you offer
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is breastfeeding education. And I'm surprisedto hear that that is as necessary as
it is because as a you know, typical guy, it feels very natural
that a woman would do that.But it turns out that it's more difficult
to experience than it looks. Andalso it's the crucial point. The crucial
part of breastfeeding comes at a timewhen a woman may be experience in severe
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symptoms of postpartum depression. Right sure, so yeah, so kind of breastfeeding.
A lot of times clients like,oh do I take the class after
the baby is here? Is like, now, your breastfeeding journey basically starts
as soon as you give birth,right, and so you already wanted to
have that knowledge. And as Ikind of joke with clients, like,
there's three hours of information just onbreastfeeding, and we do have to your
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point, Dads, sometimes they arelike forced to come, you know,
but they are so appreciative to come, you know, because there is just
so much knowledge and so it reallyis I mean, if we think about
breastfeeding being kind of this natural thingand it comes naturally, but the baby
has to learn, the mom hasto learn, and for the dads out
there, I kind of relate thatto like a golf swing. Everything has
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to align properly or ligne up properlyin order for it to work. So,
you know, it can be amatter of like is mom drinking and
up water? You know, isthe baby position right? Is the mom
sitting in the right chair. Youknow. There's just so many aspects to
breastfeeding. So we are so kindof to breastfeeding and post on depression.
So sometimes, I mean not sometimesa lot of times breastfeeding can be pretty
(19:03):
overwhelming and kind of the timing ofit, and of course it's a you
know, your nurse every two hours, you know, and so kind of
the sleep deprivation and all of that, and of course if there are any
challenges you know from you know,don't want to be too graphic, but
it's like crack nipples and all thesethings. You know, that's just like
mom who is just like learning tobe a mom, you know. Yeah,
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so there's a lot of pain involvedin this comfort, right it should
not be but yeah, but andof course you know, once moms go
online, it's like they are hearingjust all the horror stories. And so
it is good to kind of learna lot kind of prior to given birth
about all these things, even likethe newborn care class. You know,
again, just so much information forparents to digest. Yeah, I mentioned
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postpartum depression. You should explain tous what that is. So it's it's
basically so sometimes people are like,well, is it postpartum depression or it's
a baby blues, and so babyblues it's kind of like the first you
know, two three weeks. Youknow, moms can be kind of theory.
I mean, there's like a sucha big transition right in. Yeah,
your hormones are ye are just completelyout of whack. There's just so
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many adjustments for your for your bodyand kind of physical, emotional and so
postpartum depression. You know, Ithink the understanding of the postpartum depression and
if it's a postpartum depression or postpartumanxiety, you know, there's all these
new terms. We are kind oflike learning and trying to understand kind of
what's happening. And so it isyou know, of course hormones, but
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also kind of like a lack ofsupport and uh and you know a lot
of our clients they are they canbe pretty driven women and you know,
they can be running to companies andyou know, and all of a sudden,
you know, they just gave birthand it could have been a traumatic,
traumatic birth or they didn't have likea healthy pregnancy, you know,
so it can kind of all buildup and piled up. And and if
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you don't have a good support systemand you are sleep deprived, and you
know, and your husband is youknow, going back to work and you
know he has to do one hundredpercent there because you know, he now
needs to be earning extra money,you know, because the babies are expensive.
You know. So there's just somany kind of a transitions. But
definitely like not having a support systemcan be a big factor. So you
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are able to bring people in andimmediately put them in contact with the resources
that they need, no matter whattheir need is. I guess to get
back to postpartum depression, my impressionis that it's a chemical reaction in a
way. Your hormones are changing soviolently and so fast that some women will
be affected more or less than others. And what if you are kind of
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learning now kind of if some newerstudies and kind of other ways to look
at things just kind of the postpartumbody, the transitions and how much the
gut is affecting the brain. Andso some people are kind of a little
bit still in denial how important itis, you know, to have and
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so if you think about it,like with the hormonal changes, and you
know, I was listening to thislady, she's has podcast on postpartum depression
and kind of the postpartum adjustment,and she said, you know a lot
of times moms they're like, okay, now I need to start losing weight
and you know, get it backin shape. And so they are eating
salads and you know, having allthese green juice drinks, and she's like,
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eat barbecue, like broth. Youknow, yeah, like postpartum women
really should be drinking broth almost breakfast, lunch, dinner. Oh yeah,
to restore their gut, you know, the whole digestive system. So even
now like mastitis, you know,a lot of it is you know,
mastitis, which is like a breastinfection. You know, it's all like
related to stomach issues, and youknow, all kinds of things. What
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we are still like you would think, you know, it's twenty twenty four,
like we should like know so muchmore about our bodies, but we
don't. We have forgotten that Backin the Middle Ages an eight hundred AC,
the fatality rate for a pregnant womangiving birth was fifty percent. Every
woman giving birth was tossing a coinfor survival. It's unimaginable these days,
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and I think that part of thereason that we were having to have all
these education courses, that technology hasmade it available to us to sort of
skip over those worries. But comesthe consequence of you know, like you
said, is a woman just wantsto get back in shape and she has
far more important things to do withthe baby that'll come later in Yeah,
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I guess it's kind of extraordinary howwe need this information to be out there,
even though we're you know, we'rean animal. We have instincts we
should be able to make it happened. But we've strayed from those traditions and
that knowledge, and you know,we kind of talked about the technology and
all of that earlier on. Imean that's kind of where it was so
(23:55):
interesting. I was doing a littlepresentation the other day and I was sharing
with them that, you know,when I was building the curriculums with my
educators and instructors back you know,twenty four years ago, Google, I
mean, Google was kind of rundbut there was yeah, you know,
I mean the information was not outthere. There were no Mommy groups,
there were no Facebook groups, therewas like no instagrammers and all of that,
(24:18):
and so clients were coming to usreally kind of like naive. They
didn't know like anything. They arekind of like give me all that information,
teach me. And now fast forward, you know, two decades later,
we have all these clients coming intothe same class, but they are
overwhelmed with the amount of information becausethey are like following all these experts and
it's like everybody's saying something different.So now they are coming like almost like
(24:42):
overstimulated with the information to our classes. So we have to kind of rechange
or kind of changing our curriculums becauseof that. So the clients are just
like, please help me sift throughall these information. Is this for real?
Or is this not? Like?Which way should I go? And
so we are like, okay,follow your instincts, right? Does that
(25:03):
feel good to you? You know? And so that's where even our new
mom's like, you need to trustyour instincts and let's just go. Yeah
they're good. Yeah, they're gonnabe good for ninety nine point ninety nine
percent. There's always a crazy personhere and there, mostly guys, though
mostly guys. Well, I don'tknow, actually, never mind, let's
say not anyway, you're listening toHouston PA, Houston's Public Affairs Show.
My name is Laurent and my guestis here from Motherhood Center. Gabriella Gerhardt
(25:29):
is the founder of Motherhood Center.They are online at motherhood center dot com
motherhoodcenter dot com. Gabriella Gerhardt isalso the author of After the Fall,
My Journey to Freedom from Communism toCapitalism. I was very interested in hearing
a little bit about her story ofimmigrating to the US. The book will
tell you more. If you heardthat and you were interested, and if
(25:51):
you didn't hear it, just goback to the beginning of the show.
Yo. Every second Thursday of themonth. Motherhood Center offers the Baby Bump
Social So it's free and it's opendoors. You just go if you feel
like it. It's every second Thursdayof the month. And what is that
like? So yeah, so wedo want clients to sign up, you
(26:14):
know, just to register just toknow that they are coming. But so
you have the right finger food,Yeah, exactly. Yeah, we do
have food. We have lots ofgood food there and really is a kind
of like a social gathering for expectingparents and it's a great way for them
to like be in the camaraderie ofother expecting parents being able to We have
a Q and a panel with ourexpert educators set up, so it's an
(26:38):
opportunity to ask questions. We havekind of a photo booths set up with
empathy belly so the dads can actuallyput the pregnancy belly which is like five
six months pregnancy belly. And yeah, and so we have them like do
little exercises from like picking up toriesor you know, and so they learn
(27:00):
very quickly. It is like ifyou're you know, significant other ask you
to tie her shoes, You're like, I'm on it, honey, because
you know the experience like how hardit is to bend and you know,
yea pregnant ladies. Is it harderto teach guys to teach dads. I
have to say, I'm so proudof all of our dads. I mean
they are so involved. I meana lot of times it's the dad who
is calling to you know, scheduleappointments. The dad is like, okay,
(27:23):
tell me more, or they arebringing you know, their their partners
to tour the Motherhood Center. Soso now dads are very very involved and
that's their job. Yeah, butto think about it that, you know,
their dad's never change the diaper.Yeah, every third Thursday of the
month. So it's a dad's group, and so it's really just a great
(27:44):
platform for dads to be surrounded byother dads. We do have a local
pediatrician who is going to be leadingthe group and I'm so very excited about
that. And new dads grow throughpostpartum depression really m m, and they
don't even talk about it. Imean I was unaware of why. It's
just it's just again major transition.I mean, I mean some hormonal changes,
(28:10):
but in general, I mean thereis like such a major transition in
their lifestyle, the responsibilities shift withtheir partner relationship. All of this for
dads, even if you think aboutit, like for dads to experience their
uh, you know, wife orpartner giving a birth, that's pretty traumatic,
(28:30):
right, and you are supposed tobe there, like be the guy,
you know, and it's like bethere to protect your wife or you
know, being there for her.And of course now you are coming home
with a newborn and completely overwhelmed andsleep deprived because those babies are waking up
every two hours basically walking along clockor crawling alarm clocks. So yeah,
(28:52):
so there's definitely a big transition fordads, and so for them to be
able to you know, ask questions, you know, and be surrounded by
other dudes, you know. Yeah, and so yeah, so we are
very excited about that. I wantto mention again if you've been interested in
what Gabrielle has been talking about.She is the author of a book called
After the Fall, My Journey toFreedom from Communism to Capitalism. It's available
(29:15):
online, you can just buy fromAmazon and you can hear her story.
It's a little bit different from whatwe've talked about most of this show,
but if you heard the beginning.You know how fascinating it is, and
it's another incredible story of an immigrantwho came to America and started a new
business out of thin air. You'vecreated this organization that serves thousands of people
(29:38):
in the Houston area. It's trulyimpressive, and folks, if you have
any questions related to Houston, PA, you can just send me an email,
Like, for instance, you wantto hear that first part of the
show where Gabriella talks about moving tothe US as a as a young o
pair and her journey into New Yorkand then to Houston. I'm happy to
send you a link to the podcast, or send you a link to Motherhoods.
(30:00):
If you're driving, you don't needto write this stuff down. You
can just remember that. My emailaddress is Texan from France at gmail dot
com. Texan from France at gmaildot com. You can expect to get
an answer within a day or two, for sure. And I'm happy to
speak to all my listeners and I'mvery thankful y'all are here listening every week
and caring about the issues I puton this show. My name is Laurence.
(30:22):
I am the Texan from France andThis has been Houston PA, Houston's
public affairs show, Houston Strong
Welcome to Houston, PA, Houston'sPublic Affairs show, an iHeartMedia broadcast.
Our disclaimer says that the opinions expresson the show do not necessarily reflect those
hell by this radio station, itsmanagement staff, or any of its advertisers.
My name is laurent I am theTexan from France, and my guest
(00:27):
today is here from Motherhood's Center,an organization unlike any in the country,
because it's the only one in thiscountry that exists like this. They offer
support to new moms through pregnancy witheducation programs that allow them to learn about
what their body is going through,and a massive amount of interesting support from
(00:47):
doula servicing to how teaching about breastfeedingand the healthy habits that that brings along.
They've got newborn care specialists, nightnannies, postpartum do We're gonna find
out what that would they do?They are an organization that has recognized that,
unfortunately, with the way America isset up to do business, moms
(01:11):
are often required to go back towork a little early. After all,
moms are in charge of the mostimportant thing on the planet. Right.
They make the people, all ofthem. They make all the people,
and I think that we forget sometimesjust how important it is for a mom
to spend a lot of time withher baby with her I mean, the
baby is not independent right away,we know that right My guest is Gabriella
(01:33):
Gerhardt. She is the founder ofMotherhood's Center. You could check out their
website while you listen. It's beautifullydesigned and chock full of awesome information.
Motherhoodcenter dot com, Motherhoodcenter dot com. And every second Thursday of the month
they have what they call the BabyBump Social. The Baby Bump Social is
(01:55):
every second Thursday of the month.It's open to everyone. I believe it
is free. Gabriella is going toexplain to us how it works. But
it's a place where young expecting mothersand their fathers are welcome to come in
and ask questions and come in andtouch some of these services. But before
we get into that, I wantto say that Gabrielle is from the Czech
(02:15):
Republic and she wrote a book calledAfter the Fall, My Journey to Freedom
from Communism to Capitalism. Her beautifulface is on the cover. It's available
on Amazon. You can just orderit. We're talking about a very motivated
young woman here. How did youget here. You arrived to the US
(02:36):
in nineteen ninety eight, that's correct, And how did that happen? I
don't even know. No So Ithe whirlwind. Yep, yeah, I
just showed up here. So,no So. I came here as an
oupir, which is an exchange studentprogram, and essentially I wanted to learn
language. I wanted to learn English. And my background I'm a pediatric nurse
(03:01):
and a physical therapist back home inCzech Republic, and I had a job
lineup with this private hospital and Ijust checked with the doctor. I'm like,
can you wait for me for ayear, because you know, I
wanted to go learn English and Iwill come back. And clearly that did
not happen. And no, youit did. Your English is impeccable.
(03:22):
You did learn English, but youdidn't go back. I did not go
back. So yeah, So Icame here as an old pair and I
was opair for four boys. Soa pair, we need to explain that.
A pair, it's you basically comeand live with the family to take
care of the kids. Correct,that's right. Huh So yeah, so
you I mean essentially I was kindof like the older sisters. Yeah,
(03:45):
because I was you know, kindof still in my very early twenties and
and so, yeah, so Iwas kind of providing the care and services
for the family, and of courseI was living with them. So it
was really just kind of like acultural exchange program. And yeah, I
was actually the family's seventh old pair. So every year they would have an
opera from different country to kind ofhelp children exposed, you know, to
(04:06):
different cultures and food. And wheredid you do this? Did you come
to Texas? Yes? M hm. At that time, I could not
choose, like where I'm going togo, and so I just signed up
with this Oh Pair program. Andbecause of my background, you know,
I was kind of a hot commodity. Everybody would want it to have a
pediatric nurse. Yeah, Oh Pair, and I sign up and six weeks
(04:30):
later I was in America, landedin U in New York, and uh,
there was like a four day orientationfor all the old pairs from from
all over the the world. Wheredid you think of New York when you
saw it for the first time?You know, we were we were like
a station at a dorm and sowe had like one trip, kind of
a bus trip to to downtown Islandand uh, I had this this story
(04:56):
because I was so you know,I had this pocket money and I was
like so excited, and I boughta camera from a disposable camera. Well
it was kind of like it wasnot supposed to be disposable. It became
disposable because it was not working.And I spent like half of my you
know, pocket money here on thatcamera. So it was just a you
know, anatic. It was afake camera. I bought from a street
(05:19):
venl Oh No, that was myfirst experience. And some people buy a
camera and there's a brick in thebox. Oh yeah, I guess nobody
told you not to buy from astreet vendor. No, so that was
my one of my first learning lessons. Yep exposed to peanut butter, which
I never had before, and thatwas a for all the Europeans which are
(05:41):
coming to America, it's usually ashocker. Do you like it? I
did not like it for fifteen yearswhen I tried it because I didn't know
that peanut what peanut butter was.And I was this hungry, you know,
check a girl at the dorm inNew York and uh, and so
we went like like a cafeteria setup, and so I thought it was
(06:02):
some kind of a breeze or yeah, okay, you know, just some
kind of a cheese, you know. And so I put like really thick
layer, like two inch layer,you know, because I'm very hungry.
And so I had my first biteand I was like, what do I
do now? Because I could,I could not spit it out. I
was like, why wouldn't have youknow, anybody ate it? And so,
(06:23):
yeah, I did not eat peanutbutter for like fifteen years. I
was like, I don't understand it. So, yeah, I love it,
but I guess I'm used to it. My mom, I lived in
France from my Texas mom would bringback some peanut butter. I think eventually
you can buy it in France.But yeah, So it's funny. I
asked you about how the city andyou went straight to the food. The
food felt more alien than the cityitself. Yeah, it was just kind
(06:46):
of you know. I think itwas because I mean I literally like for
the first time I was flying onan airplane, I was it was like
everything was for the first time.And so and of course we have this
four day orientation to learn about Americanfamilies, and and I did not speak
I pretty much did not speak anyEnglish as really, I spoke few words.
(07:08):
I mean, that's why I wantedto come here. And I was
kind of like thrown in because whatI didn't realize that not that I'm going
to be just taking care of thebaby, but I'm taking care of the
boys as well. And I hadto do homework with them, and so
I had to like have a dictionaryto study what they are supposed to study,
and I had to do spelling wordsand all of the fun stuff.
(07:30):
So yeah, so that's how Igot really exposed to the American family and
kind of how things are here versusand maybe even in Europe. So you
were a pair in New York.No, no, no, So I
signed up with this family and sothey were from Houston, and so all
the Opias would fly to New Yorkand from New York, after that they
would fly to their perspective families.Did you how did you? What did
(07:55):
you think of the heat and thehumidity of south south east Texas. So,
yeah, I landed. It wasend of September, oh boy,
And so it was pretty cool becauseyou know, I was sunbathing in November
and family is shoveling snow, soso that was kind of fun. But
once like the summer came around,you know, it was a shocker.
(08:16):
Yeah, coming from you a verydry climate in Czech Republic. Have you
gotten used to air conditioning? Istill feel cold when I go, like,
I have a fleece in the backof my car because as a French
guy, the the ac is usuallytoo cold, especially in movie theaters and
places like that. Matter of fact, you're wearing a jacket, prepared to
(08:37):
know. Yeah, I usually havea little jacket. Yeah were you were
you impressed by the technology and theluxuries accessible to Americans at such low prices.
That's one of my big memories isthat you could get so much for
your dollar, so much more thanin France. I imagine it's the same
kind of change for you. ButAmerica. Houston is such a modern city
(09:00):
New York as well. It comparedto the old World, which truly is
old. You probably grew up ina stone house, I mean a house
that was century okay, exactly,same thing with me. Americans don't really
have a sense of that kind ofhistory, and that's one of the really
interesting culture shocks that we experience.I think, yeah, so you have
(09:20):
a whole new appreciation for that.And you know, and obviously you kind
of mentioned the technology. So evenlike when I started my business, I
mean I had no idea. Imean because during Communism, like entrepreneurship is
not taught, right, there's likenothing like that. And so I was
coming here and when I initially youopen up my business, you know,
(09:43):
I mean it was first time Iwas writing a check, you know,
I was, and of course thatcomputers were kind of around, but you
know, I never had a computerbefore. Yeah, you know, so
even like building website and building upcurriculums. That's right, the end of
the nineties is right when that wasst up. Yeah wow. So yeah,
so definitely the technology we have nowis like so different and and I
(10:07):
mean honestly, like right now,even going back to Czech Republic, I
mean they it just got caught upso quickly too. The conveniences, you
know, the modern convenience, yes, oh yeah, when you when I
go back to Europe, everything isvery inconvenient to me, and people move
slower so that they the service industryin America. Americans don't appreciate just how
(10:28):
awesome waiters are for instance, youdon't get that kind of service in France.
Uh. They're efficient, but they'renot always very friendly. That's not
that doesn't mean that they're being unfriendly. It's just that the French need a
reason to smile at you, whereasAmericans will smile at you because that's one
way we are polite to each other. And it's awesome. It's awesome.
It's one of my favorite things aboutthis country. Yeah. When my dad
(10:50):
came for one of the visits,I think it was during the rodeo and
we were watching I think yeah anduh, and people were like, you
know, smiling and waving, andmy dad like sincerely because he grew up,
you know, during communism. He'slike, are people paid to smile?
Like no, Like they are likesincerely, like happy, yeah,
you know, and showing it.That's what capitalism does. That's what freedom
(11:13):
does. You're free to smile,and a human being who is free to
smile and to prosper will smile becauseprospering is good. You are listening to
Houston, PA, Houston's Public Affairsshow. My name is Laurent, my
guest is Gabriella Gerthart. She isthe founder of Motherhood Center. They are
online at Motherhoodcenter dot com Motherhoodcenter dotcom. Gabriella, this is not the
(11:39):
business you founded at first, isit? So? Yes and no.
So because of my background being pediatricnurse, and you know, I realized
that there is a need for familiesto get get care while they are at
home with their baby and learning.So my initial business was Loving Infant Care
and so that was my you know, kind of an expression of like providing
(12:05):
services and care for my clients orkind of I guess new families. But
that kind of quickly evolve into seeingthat there's a need for more services,
and that's kind of where the MotherhoodCenter came came about. So basically,
the Loving in Front of Care becamethe Motherhood Center. Okay, so you
warped it into its modern incarnation.I should have mentioned just a moment ago
(12:28):
that Gabriella has written a book calledAfter the Fall, My Journey to Freedom
from Communism to Capitalism. If you'vebeen interested in the conversation we've had thus
far about her coming to America,this is very much what this is about.
And you can buy it on Amazon, and it's a brief book,
which is often the best kind ofread but a chalk full of information.
(12:48):
And as you can tell, herpersonal experience is interesting. We're a nation
of immigrant and we completely we oftenignore the fact that we have incredible history,
especially the people who move here duringtheir lifetime as opposed to being the
first generation American. For instance,are you an American now? Yeah?
I actually became citizen last year.Nice, good job, welcome first first
(13:09):
voting and second voting yesterday. Andand you have a blue passport? I
do? Yeah? You did youget to keep your European passport? I
did? Yeah, me too.The French, the French will not allow
you to give up your French citizenship, So you're French forever unless you committed
horror this crime and they like they'lltake it away from you. It's very
(13:31):
rare, but uh that that isone of the greatest gifts that you could
possibly have, to have free entryinto Europe and America, the two more
most prosperous sides of the planet isin itself. Well, so tell us
about the Motherhood Center. You whydid you decide to found this organization?
What do you do? So?So it really started. I saw the
(13:54):
neat and so I was working withall these you know, new family and
I would be usually there overnight helpingthem. And so that's how I learned
that there is a terminology as ababy nurse, because I started helping these
families and they referred to me asa baby nurse, and so I'm like,
Okay, I guess I'll be ababy nurse. And so one family
(14:16):
referred me to another and another yeah, And usually whenever the assignments would be
ending, usually moms a little bitof a tear and they're like, so,
what I'm supposed to do now?And of course I didn't really know,
but I would just say, well, there is some place for you
to go, and once I dida little bit more research, I realized
there was not, and so that'skind of where the idea of the Motherhood
(14:37):
Center really started. You're the onlyorganization of its kind that is not tied
to a hospital system or a governmentsystem. Is that right correct? That's
impressive to me, and it's anotherdemonstration of the freedom of America. You
were naturally born in America because youcame over here as an immigrant and you
(14:58):
became an entreerepreneur instantly, like youtook to capitalism like that yeah, I
guess it was somewhere in my genetics. Yeah, just kind of it's in
all our genetic freedom. Is we'resupposed to be free. You don't put
an animal in a cage. Humansare the same way. Yeah, but
I just I bet you're proud ofthat. It must be an extraordinary thing,
(15:18):
are you? Is your family dothey come here? Sometimes? Not
very often, so yeah, wego mainly go back home to check,
which is nice to kind of likeslow down and kind of recharge and kind
of refuel, you know what kindof initially drove, you know, because
it's so when I started working withall these Houston families, you know,
I became kind of the extension oftheir family and a lot of times they
(15:41):
did not have any other family supportor you know, a lot of clients
are international as well at the MotherhoodCenter, And so it was really because
of my background being pediatric nurse andphysical therapy physical therapists, I have kind
of an understanding and appreciation of kindof the holistic support for the for the
(16:03):
mom and really the whole family.And so that's kind of where I realized
there is no prenatal yoga. Andit's like and again this is like back
twenty four years ago where women,pregnant women were not really encouraged to exercise.
It was like, honey, youare you know, you are pregnant,
just take it easy, you know. And I'm like, well,
they need to do prenatal yoga,and so we had prenatal classes and after
(16:25):
that, mom and baby yoga classesand pregnancy massages were not really existent.
So again, why is that important? Why is a pregnant semis I know
that obviously as the baby grows,it squishes a women's organs back. I
mean they take up a lot ofplace and it is extremely uncomfortable sometimes,
right, yeah, I mean it'sit's just the overall, you know,
(16:47):
just like a massage, there's justso many benefits, but for pregnant women,
especially because there is all these toxinswhich are naturally building up throughout pregnancy,
and so that's a good way tobe able to eliminate those but also
kind of a way to realign yourbody. You know, a lot of
time clients don't realize how much theyneeded it until they are like on the
(17:07):
table realizing like, oh wow,I didn't do that sooner. So it's
really just kind of an even likethat hour hour and a half just being
so tuned with your body and usuallylike there's this baby movement and all this
you know happening and so yeah,so it's just kind of a you know,
tremendous benefits to pregnancy massage. Andone of the services that you offer
(17:29):
is breastfeeding education. And I'm surprisedto hear that that is as necessary as
it is because as a you know, typical guy, it feels very natural
that a woman would do that.But it turns out that it's more difficult
to experience than it looks. Andalso it's the crucial point. The crucial
part of breastfeeding comes at a timewhen a woman may be experience in severe
(17:52):
symptoms of postpartum depression. Right sure, so yeah, so kind of breastfeeding.
A lot of times clients like,oh do I take the class after
the baby is here? Is like, now, your breastfeeding journey basically starts
as soon as you give birth,right, and so you already wanted to
have that knowledge. And as Ikind of joke with clients, like,
there's three hours of information just onbreastfeeding, and we do have to your
(18:17):
point, Dads, sometimes they arelike forced to come, you know,
but they are so appreciative to come, you know, because there is just
so much knowledge and so it reallyis I mean, if we think about
breastfeeding being kind of this natural thingand it comes naturally, but the baby
has to learn, the mom hasto learn, and for the dads out
there, I kind of relate thatto like a golf swing. Everything has
(18:41):
to align properly or ligne up properlyin order for it to work. So,
you know, it can be amatter of like is mom drinking and
up water? You know, isthe baby position right? Is the mom
sitting in the right chair. Youknow. There's just so many aspects to
breastfeeding. So we are so kindof to breastfeeding and post on depression.
So sometimes, I mean not sometimesa lot of times breastfeeding can be pretty
(19:03):
overwhelming and kind of the timing ofit, and of course it's a you
know, your nurse every two hours, you know, and so kind of
the sleep deprivation and all of that, and of course if there are any
challenges you know from you know,don't want to be too graphic, but
it's like crack nipples and all thesethings. You know, that's just like
mom who is just like learning tobe a mom, you know. Yeah,
(19:26):
so there's a lot of pain involvedin this comfort, right it should
not be but yeah, but andof course you know, once moms go
online, it's like they are hearingjust all the horror stories. And so
it is good to kind of learna lot kind of prior to given birth
about all these things, even likethe newborn care class. You know,
again, just so much information forparents to digest. Yeah, I mentioned
(19:49):
postpartum depression. You should explain tous what that is. So it's it's
basically so sometimes people are like,well, is it postpartum depression or it's
a baby blues, and so babyblues it's kind of like the first you
know, two three weeks. Youknow, moms can be kind of theory.
I mean, there's like a sucha big transition right in. Yeah,
your hormones are ye are just completelyout of whack. There's just so
(20:12):
many adjustments for your for your bodyand kind of physical, emotional and so
postpartum depression. You know, Ithink the understanding of the postpartum depression and
if it's a postpartum depression or postpartumanxiety, you know, there's all these
new terms. We are kind oflike learning and trying to understand kind of
what's happening. And so it isyou know, of course hormones, but
(20:34):
also kind of like a lack ofsupport and uh and you know a lot
of our clients they are they canbe pretty driven women and you know,
they can be running to companies andyou know, and all of a sudden,
you know, they just gave birthand it could have been a traumatic,
traumatic birth or they didn't have likea healthy pregnancy, you know,
so it can kind of all buildup and piled up. And and if
(20:56):
you don't have a good support systemand you are sleep deprived, and you
know, and your husband is youknow, going back to work and you
know he has to do one hundredpercent there because you know, he now
needs to be earning extra money,you know, because the babies are expensive.
You know. So there's just somany kind of a transitions. But
definitely like not having a support systemcan be a big factor. So you
(21:18):
are able to bring people in andimmediately put them in contact with the resources
that they need, no matter whattheir need is. I guess to get
back to postpartum depression, my impressionis that it's a chemical reaction in a
way. Your hormones are changing soviolently and so fast that some women will
be affected more or less than others. And what if you are kind of
(21:41):
learning now kind of if some newerstudies and kind of other ways to look
at things just kind of the postpartumbody, the transitions and how much the
gut is affecting the brain. Andso some people are kind of a little
bit still in denial how important itis, you know, to have and
(22:02):
so if you think about it,like with the hormonal changes, and you
know, I was listening to thislady, she's has podcast on postpartum depression
and kind of the postpartum adjustment,and she said, you know a lot
of times moms they're like, okay, now I need to start losing weight
and you know, get it backin shape. And so they are eating
salads and you know, having allthese green juice drinks, and she's like,
(22:22):
eat barbecue, like broth. Youknow, yeah, like postpartum women
really should be drinking broth almost breakfast, lunch, dinner. Oh yeah,
to restore their gut, you know, the whole digestive system. So even
now like mastitis, you know,a lot of it is you know,
mastitis, which is like a breastinfection. You know, it's all like
related to stomach issues, and youknow, all kinds of things. What
(22:48):
we are still like you would think, you know, it's twenty twenty four,
like we should like know so muchmore about our bodies, but we
don't. We have forgotten that Backin the Middle Ages an eight hundred AC,
the fatality rate for a pregnant womangiving birth was fifty percent. Every
woman giving birth was tossing a coinfor survival. It's unimaginable these days,
(23:11):
and I think that part of thereason that we were having to have all
these education courses, that technology hasmade it available to us to sort of
skip over those worries. But comesthe consequence of you know, like you
said, is a woman just wantsto get back in shape and she has
far more important things to do withthe baby that'll come later in Yeah,
(23:33):
I guess it's kind of extraordinary howwe need this information to be out there,
even though we're you know, we'rean animal. We have instincts we
should be able to make it happened. But we've strayed from those traditions and
that knowledge, and you know,we kind of talked about the technology and
all of that earlier on. Imean that's kind of where it was so
(23:55):
interesting. I was doing a littlepresentation the other day and I was sharing
with them that, you know,when I was building the curriculums with my
educators and instructors back you know,twenty four years ago, Google, I
mean, Google was kind of rundbut there was yeah, you know,
I mean the information was not outthere. There were no Mommy groups,
there were no Facebook groups, therewas like no instagrammers and all of that,
(24:18):
and so clients were coming to usreally kind of like naive. They
didn't know like anything. They arekind of like give me all that information,
teach me. And now fast forward, you know, two decades later,
we have all these clients coming intothe same class, but they are
overwhelmed with the amount of information becausethey are like following all these experts and
it's like everybody's saying something different.So now they are coming like almost like
(24:42):
overstimulated with the information to our classes. So we have to kind of rechange
or kind of changing our curriculums becauseof that. So the clients are just
like, please help me sift throughall these information. Is this for real?
Or is this not? Like?Which way should I go? And
so we are like, okay,follow your instincts, right? Does that
(25:03):
feel good to you? You know? And so that's where even our new
mom's like, you need to trustyour instincts and let's just go. Yeah
they're good. Yeah, they're gonnabe good for ninety nine point ninety nine
percent. There's always a crazy personhere and there, mostly guys, though
mostly guys. Well, I don'tknow, actually, never mind, let's
say not anyway, you're listening toHouston PA, Houston's Public Affairs Show.
My name is Laurent and my guestis here from Motherhood Center. Gabriella Gerhardt
(25:29):
is the founder of Motherhood Center.They are online at motherhood center dot com
motherhoodcenter dot com. Gabriella Gerhardt isalso the author of After the Fall,
My Journey to Freedom from Communism toCapitalism. I was very interested in hearing
a little bit about her story ofimmigrating to the US. The book will
tell you more. If you heardthat and you were interested, and if
(25:51):
you didn't hear it, just goback to the beginning of the show.
Yo. Every second Thursday of themonth. Motherhood Center offers the Baby Bump
Social So it's free and it's opendoors. You just go if you feel
like it. It's every second Thursdayof the month. And what is that
like? So yeah, so wedo want clients to sign up, you
(26:14):
know, just to register just toknow that they are coming. But so
you have the right finger food,Yeah, exactly. Yeah, we do
have food. We have lots ofgood food there and really is a kind
of like a social gathering for expectingparents and it's a great way for them
to like be in the camaraderie ofother expecting parents being able to We have
a Q and a panel with ourexpert educators set up, so it's an
(26:38):
opportunity to ask questions. We havekind of a photo booths set up with
empathy belly so the dads can actuallyput the pregnancy belly which is like five
six months pregnancy belly. And yeah, and so we have them like do
little exercises from like picking up toriesor you know, and so they learn
(27:00):
very quickly. It is like ifyou're you know, significant other ask you
to tie her shoes, You're like, I'm on it, honey, because
you know the experience like how hardit is to bend and you know,
yea pregnant ladies. Is it harderto teach guys to teach dads. I
have to say, I'm so proudof all of our dads. I mean
they are so involved. I meana lot of times it's the dad who
is calling to you know, scheduleappointments. The dad is like, okay,
(27:23):
tell me more, or they arebringing you know, their their partners
to tour the Motherhood Center. Soso now dads are very very involved and
that's their job. Yeah, butto think about it that, you know,
their dad's never change the diaper.Yeah, every third Thursday of the
month. So it's a dad's group, and so it's really just a great
(27:44):
platform for dads to be surrounded byother dads. We do have a local
pediatrician who is going to be leadingthe group and I'm so very excited about
that. And new dads grow throughpostpartum depression really m m, and they
don't even talk about it. Imean I was unaware of why. It's
just it's just again major transition.I mean, I mean some hormonal changes,
(28:10):
but in general, I mean thereis like such a major transition in
their lifestyle, the responsibilities shift withtheir partner relationship. All of this for
dads, even if you think aboutit, like for dads to experience their
uh, you know, wife orpartner giving a birth, that's pretty traumatic,
(28:30):
right, and you are supposed tobe there, like be the guy,
you know, and it's like bethere to protect your wife or you
know, being there for her.And of course now you are coming home
with a newborn and completely overwhelmed andsleep deprived because those babies are waking up
every two hours basically walking along clockor crawling alarm clocks. So yeah,
(28:52):
so there's definitely a big transition fordads, and so for them to be
able to you know, ask questions, you know, and be surrounded by
other dudes, you know. Yeah, and so yeah, so we are
very excited about that. I wantto mention again if you've been interested in
what Gabrielle has been talking about.She is the author of a book called
After the Fall, My Journey toFreedom from Communism to Capitalism. It's available
(29:15):
online, you can just buy fromAmazon and you can hear her story.
It's a little bit different from whatwe've talked about most of this show,
but if you heard the beginning.You know how fascinating it is, and
it's another incredible story of an immigrantwho came to America and started a new
business out of thin air. You'vecreated this organization that serves thousands of people
(29:38):
in the Houston area. It's trulyimpressive, and folks, if you have
any questions related to Houston, PA, you can just send me an email,
Like, for instance, you wantto hear that first part of the
show where Gabriella talks about moving tothe US as a as a young o
pair and her journey into New Yorkand then to Houston. I'm happy to
send you a link to the podcast, or send you a link to Motherhoods.
(30:00):
If you're driving, you don't needto write this stuff down. You
can just remember that. My emailaddress is Texan from France at gmail dot
com. Texan from France at gmaildot com. You can expect to get
an answer within a day or two, for sure. And I'm happy to
speak to all my listeners and I'mvery thankful y'all are here listening every week
and caring about the issues I puton this show. My name is Laurence.
(30:22):
I am the Texan from France andThis has been Houston PA, Houston's
public affairs show, Houston Strong
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