Pregnancy & Postpartum
Hotline & Helpline
Call or text either of these lines 24/7. If you are experiencing an emergency, scared you may harm yourself or a child, go to your nearest emergency room or call 9-1-1.
National Maternal Mental Health Hotline
1-833-852-6262 (1-833-TLC-MAMA)
Postpartum Support International Helpline
1-800-944-4773
Online
Disability
- California Maternity Leave: How to milk it "There are seven wonders of the world. Wrong! There are eight; the final one being the mysterious maternity leave."
- Maternity Leave 411 Maximize your maternity leave in California.
Employment/Career/Rights
- Center for Parental Leave Leadership is the first consulting and coaching company devoted exclusively to helping our nation’s families, employees, employers, and companies improve their parental leave policy and practice.
- The MAMAttorney is the nation’s FIRST law firm devoted entirely to helping women at work. Download the Employment Rights Guide for details on Pregnancy Rights, Maternity Leave Rights, Paternity Leave Rights, Rights After The Leave Ends, Working Mothers’ Rights, and Pumping At Work Rights.
Podcasts
- Mom & Mind Podcast Dr. Kat is amazing at normalizing topics and incorporating experts, advocates, and leaders.
- Women's Wellness Psychiatry Dr. Glezer is a reproductive and integrative psychiatrist that aims to help you make sense of the complex world of women's mental health. If your goal is to improve your emotional well-being, find fulfillment, and feel like your best self, you're in the right place.
- Evidence Based Birth The mission of EBB is to raise the quality of childbirth care globally, by putting accurate, evidence based research into the hands of families and communities, so they can make informed, empowered choices.
- Motherhood Sessions Dr. Sacks ran this podcast for a year and it pairs beautifully with her book What No One Tells You and TED Talk a new way to think about the transition to motherhood.
Websites
- Postpartum Support International Receive information, find a provider in your area, join a free support group, enroll in the free Postpartum Planning for Expectant Parents group, and so much more.
- Queer Birth Project LGBTQ+ childbirth prep classes, new and prospective parent group, and non-gestational parent group.
- Kelly Mom Parenting & Breastfeeding
- The Sterling Life Get support for pregnancy and postpartum from ObGyn and parent Dr. Sterling who built a program that provides comprehensive support for the physical and emotional challenges of pregnancy and postpartum.
Doula
If you are able, I highly recommend having a doula. The education and support were central to my ability to cope during pregnancy and birth. If you'd like to know more about how impactful it can be, check out my review of BEST Doula Service.
Although their program fills up fast I want to highlight Frontline Doulas for providing free doulas for black moms-to-be. Black women are 4x more likely to die from childbirth complications than white women. If you have the ability, please donate to this amazing organization. They also offer a non-emergent Frontline Doula Hotline.
DONA International is the world’s first, largest, and leading doula certifying organization. They also have a directory for you to find a doula in your area.
How to get your insurance company to pay for your doula. This article is from 2016, but has a lot of great information. Even in a surgical birth you can request reimbursement from insurance because of the many benefits of having a doula.
Books
Self-Help
- The Pregnancy Workbook: Managing Anxiety and Worry with CBT and Mindfulness Techniques A beautiful useful book for during pregnancy by Dr Kat, host of Mom & Mind podcast.
- Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts With realistic illustrations, accurate word bubbles, and easy to take in format, this book validates and normalizes new motherhood.
- Dear Mama, You Matter This book will help you feel seen and understood.
Couples/Parenting
- The Parental Leave Playbook: 10 Touchpoints to Transition Smoothly, Strengthen Your Family, and Continue Building your Career Take control of your leave and make the most of what's considered a career timeout. This is a vital "time-in" for your life.
- Baby Bomb A relationship survival guide for new parents. "This isn't a book about how to have a romantic candlelit dinner while your baby is screaming in the other room. It's a road map for staying connected in the face of, well, a baby bomb."
- Happy with Baby Therapist Catherine O’Brien and her husband lay out the communication skills and relationship strategies that new parents need during baby’s first year and beyond.
- The best books for couples on the rollercoaster of pregnancy and new parenthood
Support Groups
- Postpartum Support International 20+ FREE different support groups are offered using a peer-to-peer support model.
- Cedars-Sinai Reproductive Psychology offers ongoing groups.
- The Family Room offers in-person and online groups during pregnancy and in postpartum.
- Dancy Perinatal provides various nationwide groups.
Development
Many new parents worry about stages of development and meeting milestones. While I always encourage any concerns or questions be brought up with a pediatrician, here are some useful resources that can help with education and expectations.
- Zero to Three is on a mission to ensure all babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. Check out Ages and Stages under the Early Development and Wellbeing tab.
- Wonder Weeks offers a book, an app, website, and much more all about development.
- Healthy Parents Healthy Children by Alberta Health Services Canada. Click on the I'm a Parent to see age specific information from 0-12 months.
Disclaimer
I am not financially compensated for sharing these resources, nor under any obligation, financial or otherwise, to share them. Permission from individuals/businesses to share has been granted.