Postpartum Better | Postpartum Recovery, Breastfeeding, Mom Overwhelm, Returning to Work, Postpartum Identity

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She was a marketing manager. Leader of a team. She had the degree, the title, the career she dreamed of. And like so many of us, she walked into motherhood picturing a teammate and a maternity leave that felt like a vacation.

Then the first-week visitors and meals settled down, and she realized support doesn’t just keep showing up.

In this episode, Chelsea sits down with Olivia Misci, owner of Mom League Philly, to talk about postpartum identity, asking for help, and what it looks like when the woman everyone says is “doing great” learns to say, “I need help.”

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

Contact Olivia
IG: @momleague_philly
Email: philly@momleague.com
Website: https://mymomleague.com/pa/philadelphia

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Some people cheered. Some said it was unrealistic, even unhealthy. But almost nobody on either side was talking about the thing underneath it all.

Six weeks after giving birth, Barbara Palvin walked the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Sequin corset. Giant angel wings. And the internet had OPINIONS.

In this episode, Chelsea is sharing her take as a mom of two and a postpartum health coach on Barbara's runway return, what "six weeks postpartum" actually means, and the bounce-back culture behind the debate.

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

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Your body builds an entire organ during pregnancy. From scratch. So why are we so afraid to honor it, and ourselves after?

In this episode, Chelsea talks with Lindsey Hancock, cervical cancer survivor turned mom of 2, women’s health advocate, and founder of Raw Awakening.

Together, they explore how decades of being told what to do, who to trust, and how to do it have undermined women’s ability to mother in modern society.

You’ll learn:

• What placenta encapsulation is
• What to ask any specialist before you say yes (or no)
• Why Lindsey held her ground on placenta encapsulation after compromising on a home birth
• How a holistic provider can work right alongside your doctor

Placenta encapsulation isn’t for everyone. Speak with your medical provider and a certified encapsulation specialist to understand the process and how to monitor your body’s response. This is not medical advice. It’s education to feel anchored for your next conversation.

Connect with Lindsey:

Follow + DM on InstagramWebsite

Resources mentioned:

https://www.instagram.com/nathanrileyobgyn/

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

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"Never go to bed angry" is great marriage advice. Until you have a newborn.

Sleep is the second most important thing in your postpartum. For you, your baby, and your husband. So that 11:47pm whisper-fight about the dishwasher isn't a conversation. It's a drain from the battery you're near short circuiting on.

Going to bed angry isn't giving up on the fight. It's protecting the one thing that makes a good fight possible.

In this episode, I break down why "don't go to bed angry" should be a case-by-case call when there's a baby in the house, inspired by a post from sleep consultant and therapist Chrissy Lawler (@the.peaceful.sleeper).

You'll learn:

• What broken sleep does to your brain and your arguments
• Why the longest uninterrupted stretch of sleep matters more than your total hours
• The "pin" that lets you set a fight down tonight without the silent treatment or the slammed doors
• The 3 questions that tell you when to talk it out and when to go to bed angry

Send this one to your husband before tonight.

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

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"Bad sex leads to more bad sex."

That's the spiral Sex Therapist Erinn Hoel, LCSW, sees over and over with postpartum moms — push through it, it doesn't go well, push harder next time, still doesn't. So you decide the problem must be you. It's not. Your body's not broken, it just doesn't feel safe enough yet — and trying harder doesn't speed that up, it makes it worse.

In this episode Chelsea and Erinn cover:

• Why you never feel "in the mood"
• Why men always seem ready "to go"
• How to get the clinical feeling out of the bedroom when TTC
• The foreplay that actually works when you're easing back in postpartum
• The ultimate "go-to" spot to build confidence and connection

If you've ever pushed through, had it not go well, and quietly decided something must be wrong with you — this episode is going to change that story completely.

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

How to connect with Erinn:

• erinnhoel.lcsw@gmail.com
• Desire to Fire Method Overview (with application)
• Free Sex and Intimacy Resources

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Right before Chelsea went on maternity leave with her first, her VP said three words she’s never forgotten: "You'll be better."

She wasn't being kind. Every woman she'd ever hired, managed, or promoted came back sharper after having kids — not despite them, because of them.

In this episode:

• Why mothers see a 13% productivity increase after having kids, and are top performers in 76% of companies
• Why you're not about to become less capable — you're about to become more capable, in ways you haven't lived yet
• The belief Chelsea wants every pregnant woman to hold onto before she even goes on leave

If you're pregnant and quietly terrified this next chapter will cost you your career — this one's your permission to believe something different.

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

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If the most relationship you have is with yourself, why is it so hard to prioritize it?

Most moms skip straight past caring for themselves and go straight to surviving — more coffee, more scrolling, more pushing through. Then they hit a wall and can't figure out why they feel so disconnected from who they are. In this episode, Chelsea Barbine talks with Identity and Empowerment Coach Shannon Danielle, about the real difference between self-love, self-care, and actually caring for yourself. Together they share exactly how small, simple practices can change everything else in your life.

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

Connect with Shannon on http://purepossibilities.net/ or on Instagram at @pure_possibilities and listen to her podcast Pure Possibilities

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It's September. Everyone's back-to-school routine is all over your feed — the schedules, the sports, the "here's how we're staying on top of it all" energy.

But what if you're still on maternity leave or juggling pregnant life with a toddler home part-time?

In this episode you'll learn:

• The three steps for getting the mom mental load out of your head and off your to-do list
• What you might be missing to get the most done in the least amount of time
• The most important step to setting your calendar

If you've been craving a sense of order but didn't think it was possible until your kids are out of the house — this episode is your permission slip.

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

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Pregnant with your second and wondering how you're going to manage life with two?

In this episode, Chelsea talks with Emily Higgins, a web and app designer who had three babies back to back to back, which inspired her founding of the Mama Mode app and podcast.

Together they talk about:

• Postpartum rage and what's actually underneath it
• The one comment Emily received at her lowest point in motherhood that completely changed how she shows up for herself and every mom she meets
• How to build a support system out of the small things you already have
• How much intentional time kids actually need
• Why “me time” doesn't have to look like a 4am workout

This is the non-Pinterest version of preparing for life with two. If this episode hits home, follow @postpartumbetter on Instagram and join the waitlist for the postpartum prep mini course, designed specifically for the second-time pregnant mom wondering how she'll manage both kids.

Connect with Emily
Follow on IG
Listen to the Mama Mode podcast
Download the Mama Mode App

Research & Resources Mentioned:

• Journal of Marriage and Family Study: Does Maternal Time Matter? (Milkie et al., 2015)
• Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) & the 5-Minute "Special Time" Protocol

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

Next Steps:

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There’s no shortage of free postpartum advice. But is more information actually what moms need?

In this episode, Chelsea unpacks why you show up differently when you invest in something, why generic advice can’t account for your unique postpartum experience, and why having a real plan—and support to come back to when things fall apart—matters.

Join the waitlist: postpartumbetter.com/bootcamp

Find a mom walk near you: https://www.themomwalkcollective.com/walks

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.1

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"You get to do it when you make the time."

In this episode, Chelsea sits down with Rebecca — a nurse and a mom of two — to talk about something most people skip over in the postpartum fitness conversation: that getting stronger postpartum was never really about the body. It was about proving to herself, over and over, that she could do hard things.

Rebecca gets real about the difference between the hard of showing up for yourself and the hard of not — and how that choice, repeated daily, is what actually changed her life.

They also get into:

• What the "leisure gap" actually is, and why so many moms let their husbands take the golf trip while they never book the equivalent for themselves
• The concept of "toxic grace" — and how to tell the difference between rest you need and an excuse you're making
• Why physical strength turns into mental strength, and how that shows up in everyday moments as a mom
• Why waiting for the perfect time to start is the thing keeping most moms stuck — and the one small step that actually breaks the cycle

If you've ever felt like self-care is something you have to earn, or like taking time for yourself is selfish instead of necessary — this conversation is going to shift something for you.

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

Next Steps:

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Trigger Warning: This episode discusses maternal mental health crises, postpartum psychosis, and references the Lindsay Clancy case. Please listen with care.

Maternal mental health conditions have nearly doubled in the past decade. So why are we still only reacting after the fact?

In this episode, Chelsea shares her unfiltered response to the Lindsay Clancy trial — and what she believes it reveals about the gap between having access to resources and actually having support. She breaks down why information alone isn't care, why preparation for postpartum deserves the same attention we give to preparing for birth, and the exact steps she took to move through her own fear of birth by understanding it instead of avoiding it.

Moms deserve better. Families deserve better. This is your sign to start preparing instead of waiting until you're in it — join the Postpartum Better Bootcamp waitlist here: https://postpartumbetter.com/bootcamp

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

Next Steps:

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They say one day it'll matter who you marry.

In this episode, Chelsea Barbine sits down with Pauleanna Reid — a mom of two and founder of a wildly successful agency — to talk about something most conversations about motherhood underestimate or completely ignore: that the decisions you make before the baby even arrives are the ones that shape everything after.

Pauleanna breaks down the mom tax — the assumptions, the passed-over opportunities, the quiet ways people start treating you differently the moment they know you're expecting — and why she kept both of her pregnancies almost entirely private because of it.

They also get into:

• Why she says she didn't marry for love — and chose her husband almost like a business decision instead
• What it actually took to run a company through two C-sections and night shifts after bedtime
• The difference between hoping you'll have a village and actually building one
• Why being a little selfish might be the thing that makes you a better wife and mother, not the opposite

This isn't a highlight reel of "having it all." It's a conversation about what it really costs to protect a career while building a family — and what she did instead.

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

Next Steps:

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You "warned" for baby number one. The sleepless nights, the questioning of yourself, how your whole world rearranges overnight. What (almost) nobody warns you about is what happens when baby number two arrives — and it hits somewhere completely different.

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

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Don’t want to lose yourself after birth? Here are 4 tips on how not to and what to discuss with your husband about supporting you.

In this episode, Chelsea Barbine talks with Sheridan De La Cruz about the steps she took to “be both” a good mom and feel like herself. They dive into conversations she had with her husband when her pregnancy became high risk, how NICU visits impact your postpartum health and the realities of taking care of yourself while taking care of another human being.

Trigger warning: This episode talks about high-risk pregnancy, preterm labors, and a NICU stay. Please take care of yourself as you listen.

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

Connect with Sheridan: https://www.instagram.com/shergoodhealth/

Read Healthy Mom, Happy Family by Sheridan De La Cruz*:https://amzn.to/4yviNHU

*Host earns commission from sales

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You climbed the ladder. You proved yourself. You hit every milestone you were supposed to hit.

Then you had a baby — and going back to that same job, the one you were so good at, suddenly felt impossible.

That's not a career crisis. That's a postpartum identity crisis. In this episode, you’ll learn the chapter to steal from the Gen Z playbook before you quit your job and burn it all down.

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

Next Steps:

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Courtney kept losing her nipple shield — you know, the clear one that is impossible to find in your diaper bag — so she decided to make her own that was pretty and findable. That one idea turned into a whole company built on a simple belief: postpartum products can be functional AND beautiful, and moms deserve both. In this episode, you’ll hear from mom of 3 and Founder of Le Lolo Courtney Boylan. She shares about her own postpartum journey — the engorgement pain, the fear of leaving the hospital, the sister who told her to trust her gut — and how all of it built the confidence to leave a steady job and bet on herself.

Connect with Courtney:
Website: https://wearelelolo.com/
15% OFF DISCOUNT CODE: PBP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearelelolo

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

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You feel guilty spending money on yourself. You feel guilty when you don't. There's no version of this where you win — until you actually understand why.

In this bonus episode, I break down the budgeting trap almost every postpartum mom is stuck in, and how to finally end the vicious cycle.

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

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"You'll be fine. You'll figure it out. That's what we all did!"

Survivorship bias is real and it’s affecting postpartum moms every single day. If you’ve ever felt guilty, or “extra” or weak after someone told you that you’ll be fine because they were, this episode is for you.

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

Next Steps:

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You finally found your groove… and now it's time to go back to work. Diaper bag packed, hair and makeup done by 8am, and about 20 new things on your plate. If the end of your maternity leave is looming with a pit in your stomach — this one gets real about the "second wave of postpartum".

Disclaimer: The information and stories shared during this episode is intended to offer general guidance and support. However, every individual's health and circumstances are unique. Before making any significant changes, or if you have concerns about your health, it's essential to consult with your healthcare practitioner.

Next Steps:

• DM me on Instagram @postpartumbetter