Beyond the Basics

 In the U.S., we are fortunate to have gained an increased awareness of mental health's importance. As I unpack the research and my own experiences, I hope to be sensitive to others who might be having difficulty with their mental health. My hope is not to make you feel inadequate but to empower you to make healthy changes for yourself and those in your life who love you. In a previous post, I shared that I used to joke about being born with anxiety. Later I learned that joke was partly true. My mother was experiencing some mental health challenges of her own before and after my birth. Post-partum depression was not yet treated with the level of care most mothers receive today. So for a long time, she did not have the outlet or ability to take care of her mental health in the way that she needed to. As research has shown, a mother's mental health can have an effect on a child even in the womb. Her story is not uncommon.  As a teacher, I see an increasing amount of children who...

 Childbirth is a mixed bag of emotions. It has differing value depending on the culture, values, and experiences of each individual. Regardless of emotions, there is universal respect and reverence for childbirth. For me, childbirth is a beautiful, messy, difficult, and miraculous event that I hope to experience someday (though not anytime soon). I've noticed that in the U.S., many mothers like to swap stories about the difficulty of their labor as if the increased difficulty were a badge of honor and strength amongst the other mothers. Although I have yet to experience childbirth, I am very familiar with my own birth story.  My mom would tell me the story whenever she was particularly frustrated with my behavior. She opted to go for a hospital birth and did not have a midwife or doula. She would remind me that she was in labor for 22 hours before they had to perform a c-section. My heart rate had risen to a dangerous level due to the stress of being born, and the doctors felt...