Raising Healthy Kids with Whitney & Alex of Plant Based Juniors

This week we sat down with Whitney English & Alex Caspero, the Founders of Plant Based Juniors to talk about everything from how to instill healthy eating habits in our children, navigating picky eaters, the truth about protein, and so much more! This was such an informative and fun conversation!

Whitney and Alex are Registered Dietitian Nutritionists and mothers who started Plant Based Juniors as a resource for families who want to raise their kids in a predominantly plant-based way; and feel confident about the many decisions that come with nourishing children. 

They know how confusing it all can be, so at PBJs they do the research for you. Whitney & Alex rely on evidence-based nutrition advice, so you know that the recommendations they make are based on research, not dogma. Their goal is to empower parents to make the best nutrition decisions for their families.

RESOURCES
Check out the Plant Based Juniors website to lear more HERE!

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Sarah & Stephanie are the Founders of LUNA Mother Co, the first all-in-one digital platform for motherhood. From their evidence based fitness method, to pelvic floor & core physical therapy programs, parenting classes, & community, LUNA Mother Co has it all. New subscribers, get your first month FREE using the code MOTHERLODE.

Subscribe to The MOTHERLODE Podcast so you never miss an episode, & catch up with us on Instagram! Interested in being on the show or know someone who would be a great fit? Email us online@lunamother.co Like this episode? Leave us a review and let us know your thoughts! 

This week we sat down with Shaina Kerrigan, mama of two and Founder of Molly J Life - handcrafted CBD confections, to learn more about some of the benefits of using CBD for things like stress, anxiety, and sleep. We learned so much about the ins and outs of cannabinoids, how to choose a high quality CBD product, how to get your dosage right for YOUR body, and so much more. It's such an interesting episode!

RESOURCES
Check out the MollyJ website HERE.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Sarah & Stephanie are the Founders of LUNA Mother Co, the first all-in-one digital platform for motherhood. From their evidence based fitness method, to pelvic floor & core physical therapy programs, parenting classes, & community, LUNA Mother Co has it all. New subscribers, get your first month FREE using the code MOTHERLODE.

Subscribe to The MOTHERLODE Podcast so you never miss an episode, & catch up with us on Instagram! Interested in being on the show or know someone who would be a great fit? Email us online@lunamother.co Like this episode? Leave us a review and let us know your thoughts! 

This week we sat down with Board Certified Clinical Sexologist, Dr. Claudia Six and took a deep dive into the subject of sexual health, relationships with partners as well as with ones self, why and how relationship dynamics may change after becoming parents, why so many mothers feel like their libido had up and left them for good(spoiler alert - it hasn't) as well as ways to reignite that flame. This was an interesting conversation that certainly opened our eyes and our minds!

MORE ABOUT DR. CLAUDIA SIX:
Dr. Claudia Six is the author of Erotic Integrity - in her book she leads readers through ten sexual themes including garden-variety performance anxiety, sexual boredom, newly dating, coming out, and more and reveals three simple steps to a more rewarding sex life: knowing who you truly are as a sexual being, embracing that knowledge, and living it authentically.

Dr Six has a Ph.D. in Clinical Sexology from the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, CA, USA, a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology, is certified by the American College of Sexologists, and is Board Certified Clinical Sexologist by the American Board of Sexology, which sets standards and maintains quality assurance based on academic achievement, dedication to the discipline and evidence of competence.  For more information on the scope of work she does in her private practice, please click here.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Sarah & Stephanie are the Founders of LUNA Mother Co, the first all-in-one digital platform for motherhood. From their evidence based fitness method, to pelvic floor & core physical therapy programs, parenting classes, & community, LUNA Mother Co has it all. New subscribers, get your first month FREE using the code MOTHERLODE.

Subscribe to The MOTHERLODE Podcast so you never miss an episode, & catch up with us on Instagram! Interested in being on the show or know someone who would be a great fit? Email us online@lunamother.co Like this episode? Leave us a review and let us know your thoughts! 

In this week's episode Sarah & Stephanie sit down with Molly Dickens, Co-Founder of &Mother to talk about everything from the effect of the pandemic on mothers, to the disparities in research on maternal and paternal care, to how high level female athletes are unsupported in their journeys to motherhood. Its a very interesting episode, and Molly is a wealth of knowledge so be sure to tune in!

Molly Dickens is a scientist, writer, advocate, and mother of two. After ten years as an academic researcher, Molly became a founding team member of a maternal health startup to follow her passion for aligning science and education with empowering mothers, called &Mother. &Mother is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to breaking the barriers that limit a woman’s choice to pursue and thrive in both career and motherhood.

As a stress physiologist, she has over 30 academic publications and has extended her work to include support for women during pregnancy, postpartum, and early motherhood. In science, academia, technology and startups, Molly has direct experience with the barriers that women face when they choose motherhood. She has witnessed the impact of a failure to support the needs of the modern family’s work/life balance and the repercussions of a working world that is not representative of women in society. She truly believes that improving the health of mothers is inextricably linked with representation across professions and that women, with all choices available to them, will lead the charge to change societal norms.

RESOURCES:
andmother.org
CNN op-ed -- health benefits of policy to better support caregivers
& Mother's Instagram community
COVID+stress+maternal health 

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Sarah & Stephanie are the Founders of LUNA Mother Co, the first all-in-one digital platform for motherhood. From their evidence based fitness method, to pelvic floor & core physical therapy programs, parenting classes, & community, LUNA Mother Co has it all!

Subscribe to The MOTHERLODE Podcast so you never miss an episode, & catch up with us on Instagram! Interested in being on the show or know someone who would be a great fit? Email us hello@lunamother.co Like this episode? Leave us a review and let us know your thoughts!

*TRIGGER WARNING* - this week's episode talk about pregnancy loss and may be triggering for some listeners.

1 in 4 people who become pregnant will experience loss. That is no small number. Yet our society tends to shy away from talking about it. We believe these stories deserve to be told, and that people who have experienced loss deserve more support. In this week's episode we talk with Lynea Wallace, a mother of two living children who has gone through three pregnancy losses. She bravely shares her story with us in a completely unedited, real, and raw conversation.

RESOURCES:
- LUNA Mother Co's CONNECT Program is a curated offering for those who have experienced pregnancy or infant loss to begin to connect to and heal your body through a 4 part core and pelvic floor connect series, restorative yoga practices, and guided meditations, process emotions with the help of mental health experts, and honor your loss with a community who stands with you and supports you. neutral, non-triggering language is used throughout this program. This program is offered on a sliding scale and grants are also available. Learn more about the program HERE or email us at hello@lunamother.co for financial assistance.
- Hand Online
- Birthwaves Doula Support for Pregnancy & Infant Loss
- Walk With Me
- March Of Dimes
- Return To Zero : HOPE

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Sarah & Stephanie are the Founders of LUNA Mother Co, a curated fitness and wellness app for MOTHERhood. Because we believe you deserve more from fitness. From evidence based fitness classes, core and pelvic floor programs, meditations, and nutritional guidance to parenting classes, LUNA has you covered.

Subscribe to The MOTHERLODE Podcast so you never miss an episode, & catch up with us on Instagram! Interested in being on the show or know someone who would be a great fit? Email us hello@lunamother.co Like this episode? Leave us a review and let us know your thoughts!

As natural a thing as it may be, breast/chestfeeding can be friggin’ hard! And many new parents aren’t prepared for that. Neither one of us were, that’s for sure! We both assumed it would feel natural and would just click into place. What we didn’t anticipate was the unbearable pain, the problems latching, the endless hours spent pumping, the undiagnosed lip tie, the many, many shed tears, or the feeling of defeat that would come along with it and we certainly weren’t prepared for any of that. Can we ever truly be prepared for what postpartum and new motherhood brings? We certainly don’t think so. We can have tools in our box but nothing can truly prepare you, since every experience is so unique.

️What we both wish we’d known then is that our babies would be OK. Whether exclusively breastfed or formula fed, they would be just fine. That they would grow strong, thrive, be healthy, and happy regardless of how they were fed. That our bonds with our first borns would be stronger than anything either of us could have ever imagined. That we didn’t need to be so hard on ourselves.

In this week's episode, Sarah & Stephanie share their own personal experiences with breastfeeding; their struggles and successes, and ways in which you can find support.

RESOURCES:
Nurture by Naps
La Leche League
Lactation Matters
Black Mothers Breastfeeding Association
United States Breastfeeding Committee
Milk Junkies
Milk Banking Association of America
MOBI Motherhood International
National Alliance For Breastfeeding Advocacy
Breastfeeding.com

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Sarah & Stephanie are the Founders of LUNA Mother Co, the first all-in-one digital platform for motherhood. From their evidence based fitness method, to pelvic floor & core physical therapy programs, parenting classes, & community, LUNA Mother Co has it all!

Subscribe to The MOTHERLODE Podcast so you never miss an episode, & catch up with us on Instagram! Interested in being on the show or know someone who would be a great fit? Email us hello@lunamother.co Like this episode? Leave us a review and let us know your thoughts!

During pregnancy there is an abundance of information out there about what we should (and shouldn't) eat, our weight and blood pressure is checked at every prenatal visit, and our wellbeing is closely monitored. Then the baby is born and we get one, maybe two (if you're lucky) postnatal visits. Mental health screenings for postnatal mood disorders are minimal at best, and there is a lack of guidance in terms of how to actually heal our bodies after birth. Nutrition is something that is rarely, if ever, discussed post-birth. But what we eat can help postpartum helps us replenish, nourish, and fuel our bodies for faster healing, healthy milk supply, and the energy needed to care for our new little human(s)!

In this week's episode we sat down with Registered Dietitian & International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) Jaren Soloff to discuss what we should be eating postpartum to help fuel and heal our bodies, what healthy postpartum weight loss looks like and cultivating a positive postpartum body image,  and much more! We also chat about Jaren's new book, the Postnatal Cookbook.

In addition to being a Registered Dietician and IBCLC, Jaren is also the Founder of FULL CRCL where she provides nutrition counseling and lactation consultations from a "Health at Every Size" perspective using an Intuitive Eating Framework. To learn more about Jaren, connect with her, and order her new book, visit her at https://www.fullcrcl.co/ and follow her on Instagram!

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Sarah & Stephanie are the Founders of LUNA Mother Co, the first all-in-one digital platform for motherhood. From their evidence based fitness method, to pelvic floor & core physical therapy programs, parenting classes, & community, LUNA Mother Co has it all.

Subscribe to The MOTHERLODE Podcast so you never miss an episode, & catch up with us on Instagram! Interested in being on the show or know someone who would be a great fit? Email us hello@lunamother.co Like this episode? Leave us a review and let us know your thoughts! 

We're back for season 2 of The MOTHERLODE Podcast and in our first episode of the season we dive into an incredibly important topic - postnatal mood disorders and maternal mental health with Dr.  Walker Ladd, Ph.D. (*Please note that in this episode we touch on subjects that are sensitive in nature such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts and may be upsetting or triggering for some listeners. )

Dr. Ladd has been a thought leader in the field of maternal mental health for nearly two decades. Her writing and research challenge paradigms of motherhood and mental illness, using women’s stories to reveal the hidden truths and extraordinary dimensions of the lived experience of motherhood. Dr. Ladd’s personal experience with traumatic childbirth, breast cancer, postpartum depression, and major depressive disorder drive her passion for her bold, soulful, and transformative work.

Previously a professional modern dancer with both a BA and MFA in dance from UCLA, Walker returned to school to receive an MA in clinical psychology from Antioch University Seattle and practicing as a Couples and Family Therapist. Following the traumatic childbirth and subsequent postpartum depression of her son in 2000, Walker dedicated herself to maternal mental health advocacy and research literacy, working as a certified birth doula (CD, DONA), and serving as the perinatal mental health editor for Lamaze International's Science and Sensibility, before returning to school to receive her Ph.D. in psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (Sofia University). She is currently working on a study regarding the experience of the postpartum anxiety for new mothers during COVID-19 and a study of the experience of a failed epidural during Cesarean birth.

Dr. Ladd is also the author of her new book, Transformed By Postpartum Depression: Women's Stories of Trauma and Growth

RESOURCES:
To learn more about Dr. Ladd, connect with her via her website, and follow her on Instagram
If you think you or someone you know may be suffering from a perinatal mood disorder, reach out to Dr. Ladd, or visit Postpartum Support International
For expert, confidential & no-cost information about medications and other
exposures during pregnancy and breastfeeding visit Mother to Baby.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Sarah & Stephanie are the Founders of LUNA Mother Co, the first all-in-one digital platform for motherhood. From their evidence based fitness method, to pelvic floor & core physical therapy programs, parenting classes, & community, LUNA Mother Co has it all!

Subscribe to The MOTHERLODE Podcast so you never miss an episode, & catch up with us on Instagram! Interested in being on the show or know someone who would be a great fit? Email us hello@lunamother.co Like this episode? Leave us a review and let us know your thoughts! 

This week we wrap up our first season of TheMOTHERLODE Podcast with special guest, Quiara Smith. Quiara is a pediatric pelvic health occupational therapist. If you’re like most people, you are probably wondering what that is! Pelvic floor considerations are not just reserved for pregnant people and those who have given birth. Anyone can be affected by them, including kids! Quiara talks to us about common pelvic floor considerations in children, how you can identify them in your own kids, when to seek help, why pediatric OT's and PT's aren't super common & why they should be, and much more insightful information! 

 Quiara founded Aloha Integrative Therapy in 2017 - a specialty pediatric pelvic health OT private practice that helps children and families achieve independence in bowel and bladder function with a holistic and integrative approach. This is such an interesting and insightful conversation!

RESOURCES:
To learn more about Quiara and her incredible services, visit www.alohaintegrativetherapy.com and follow her on Instagram. Quiara is currently taking on new clients both in person in her Northern California clinic, and virtually for families all over the globe. She can also help you find a pediatric pelvic health provider near you too. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Sarah & Stephanie are the Founders of LUNA Mother Co, the first all-in-one digital platform for motherhood. From their evidence based fitness method, to pelvic floor & core physical therapy programs, parenting classes, & community, LUNA Mother Co has it all!

Subscribe to The MOTHERLODE Podcast so you never miss an episode, & catch up with us on Instagram! Interested in being on the show or know someone who would be a great fit? Email us hello@lunamother.co Like this episode? Leave us a review and let us know your thoughts! 

On this week's episode we had the pleasure of sitting down with Becky Fawcett, the Founder & President of HelpUsAdopt.org. Help Us Adopt is a national 501(c)(3) adoption grant program that helps hard-working families overcome the financial obstacles of adoption so that children can join loving and permanent homes. 

Adoption is expensive. Typical costs include the home study; social worker visits; lawyers’ fees (for adoptive parent(s) and birthmother); birthmother's living expenses, medical expenses and counseling expenses; agency/orphanage fees; airline tickets (often last minute); hotel; car rental…. The average adoption costs approximately $40,000. The magnitude and uncertainty of these expenses is a significant obstacle to finding permanent homes for the millions of children around the world who need parents. Through the generous contributions of their donors, Help Us Adopt is able to knock down that obstacle, helping parents complete their families, and helping children find their forever homes. Since the organization’s launch in 2007, they have awarded 372 adoption grants totaling over $3.3 million!

Becky and her husband Kipp have two adopted children of their own, and have dedicated their lives to fighting for children around the globe who are in need of a safe, loving, permanent home.

RESOURCES:
To learn more about Help Us Adopt or to get involved by volunteering or donating, please visit https://www.helpusadopt.org/
If you or someone you know is thinking about adoption, Becky wants to support you! She is available as a shoulder to lean on, an  ear to listen, and an incredible resource. You can contact her directly by emailing her - becky.fawcett@helpusadopt.org or on Instagram @helpusadopt and @becky.fawcett

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Sarah & Stephanie are the Founders of LUNA Mother Co, the first all-in-one digital platform for motherhood. From their evidence based fitness method, to pelvic floor & core physical therapy programs, parenting classes, & community, LUNA Mother Co has it all!

Subscribe to The MOTHERLODE Podcast so you never miss an episode, & catch up with us on Instagram! Interested in being on the show or know someone who would be a great fit? Email us hello@lunamother.co Like this episode? Leave us a review and let us know your thoughts!