Mother’s Day is Sunday May 12. If you are planning to get pregnant or have just given birth, Life Kit is here to help.
Our archive of maternal and reproductive health episodes can help you understand your menstrual cycle, manage pregnancy complications like postpartum depression and miscarriage, and help you prepare for another pregnancy.
Find a link to all these episodes and more in The Life Kit guide for mothers and mothers-to-be.
Are you trying to get pregnant? Improve your knowledge about your menstrual cycle. The ovulation stage is when you are most likely to get pregnant – or when you are most fertile. This period of high fertility lasts approximately six days. You are most likely to get pregnant a few days before and after your body releases its egg. Read the story here.
An Introduction to Freezing Your Eggs. A typical exam will start with an ultrasound of the ovaries to see how many follicles you have. Follicles are the small sacs that surround the eggs. After this, a blood test will be taken to measure your anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) level. If the doctor decides that you are a good candidate for egg banking, he or she may want to start the process immediately. Read the story here.
How your brain changes when you’re pregnant. Pregnancy marks the beginning of a very distinct developmental stage of life that shapes our long-term physical and mental health, says Chelsea Conaboy, author of the book. Mother Brain: How neuroscience is rewriting the history of parenthood. “These dramatic changes that occur in our hormones during pregnancy prepare the brain to be more plastic, more malleable, more changeable and ready, essentially, to receive our babies.” Read the comic here.
Pregnant? It’s time to write your “birth plan”. The document outlines a person’s “wishes not only regarding labor and delivery, but also during postpartum,” says Tanya Smith-Johnson, a certified professional midwife. Share it with your birth team and anyone in your support system. Read the story here.
Grieving a miscarriage. Although this is common, many parents and families suffer in silence and do not receive the support they need. The first step, says Dr. Jamila Perritt, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Washington, D.C., is to acknowledge the loss and remember that the burden of shame is not theirs. “You did nothing to cause this, and there was nothing you could have done to prevent it.” Read the story here.
The emotional rollercoaster of being a new mom. Becoming a mother is a huge and complicated life transition that can shake up every fiber of a person’s being. The process even has its own name: matrescence. Psychologists explain how to manage expectations, get the support you need, and prioritize time for yourself. Read the story here.
Recognize the signs of postpartum depression. An estimated 80 percent of new mothers suffer from the “baby blues,” says Jennifer Payne, psychiatrist and director of the Women’s Mood Disorders Center at Johns Hopkins University. It is “a natural phenomenon that occurs immediately after childbirth.” Find out what the main symptoms are and how to fix them. Read the story here.
Navigating Another Pregnancy After a Complication. After economist Emily Oster wrote her bestselling book Expect better, she heard “thousands of women talk about their pregnancy complications.” Many people determine whether or not to try to get pregnant again based on previous pregnancy experience, she says. In a new book, The unexpectedshe presents research on how to minimize risks during the next pregnancy. Read the story here.
The digital story was written by Malaka Gharib and edited by Meghan Keane and Margaret Cirino. The visual editor is Beck Harlan. We would like to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823 or email us at LifeKit@npr.org.
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