Melanie is not only one of our incredible volunteers, she is also a mom of two, doula, student-midwife, and ultra-marathon runner (yes, seriously!). In this episode, she shares how having supportive prenatal care helped her avoid PPD/A even though she had a history of depression, infertility, and chronic pain.
In this episode we talk about:
- How she became so passionate about midwifery care
- Becoming one of our volunteers and how sad we both are that she is leaving
- Her experience of depression prior to becoming a parent
- Struggling with depression as teen
- Having chronic pain and reproductive health issues and being told she may never have children – and how this resulted in a very deep depression
- One she finally got pregnant, finding midwifery care
- How midwifery care was a turning point in her journey and her life and led her to really take charge and control over her mental health
- The importance of feeling empowered and in control, in birth, and in mental health
- Building confidence through pregnancy and birth
- Parallels between labour and birth and parenting – namely, breathing through the hard moments
- Having a community of care and a community of people around you who can be real about their own experiences
- The impacts of Covid-19 on life, parenting, and our kids birthday parties
- How importance it is to normalize the struggle of early parenthood
- The advantage having a previous experience of depression and how this helped Melanie avoid PPD
- The work she did prenatally that helped her in the postpartum period
- Being ok with needing a break and knowing your own limits
- Finding space for yourself as a person not as a parent (and how hard this was for me!)
- Not comparing pain and suffering
- The pressure to be perfect that comes from social media
- How we are all stronger than we think
- What she would say to herself when she was struggling the most
Resources
- Finding a midwife in BC
- Circle of Security
- You can find Melanie at: Maple Seed Doula Facebook Page
