A Conversation with Jaely Chamberlain Turner
Jaely is mom to George and Allen , and wife to her husband, Chris. She’s also a Musician, Yoga Instructor, Doula, Birth Mentor, and the creator of Our Village Circle. Her mission for Our Village Circle is to create a space of authentic sharing, and elevate the voices of parents and professionals alike to demystify the realities of new parenthood.
LINKS
Our Village Circle
“Once they gave me my baby, they gave me a different brain, and I was like, I don’t want this brain, I want my old brain back, please.” -Meet Jenn Holmes
"I Googled Loss and Pregnancy and You Get a Different Google Search than What I Was Looking For." -Meet Katie Spencer
Katie Spencer is a mother of two beautiful children. She is also a passionate mental health advocate and has worked in the mental health field for over ten years. However, it was through her own personal journey where Katie’s passion shifted to helping moms. Katie is a two-time survivor of perinatal mood & anxiety disorders. It was during her first pregnancy that she suffered from perinatal depression and postpartum anxiety. Katie’s second child, a son, was born just hours after her mother passed away and just days before the pandemic shut down the country. Grief, lockdown, and changing hormones led to postpartum depression and anxiety. The lack of maternal mental health professionals led to an uphill fight for her life.
Katie believes in the power of peer support and strongly believes sharing stories saves lives. She enjoys writing and sharing her story so other moms know there is hope. Katie resides near Scranton, PA with her husband, Matt, daughter Riley, son Jack and their dog, Dakota.
"The Little Blue Rocket Ship" -Meet Children's Book Author Jessica Wendi-Abel
Having experienced postpartum depression herself, and when a second child was on the way, Jessica searched for a children’s book to read with her five-year old son about the changes their family could face. Unable to find a book like this, she decided to write one.
She has a background in working with children as a speech therapist and currently works in school administration.
The Little Blue Rocket Ship: A Story About Postpartum Depression is told by a boy who sees changes in his mom after she has a baby. As the boy explores his own feelings and questions, he is reassured by his mom’s continued love for him.
Blending together fiction storytelling with supportive communication strategies, The Little Blue Rocket Ship encourages open dialogue about postpartum depression between family members.
The Little Blue Rocket Ship Official Website
Buy the Book Now
"My Mind was Just Crumbling and the Doctor Didn't Piece It Together until after I left my Check Up Appointment." -Meet Tina Duepner
Christina is from a rural town in Missouri where she lives with her husband and eleven-year-old son. When her son was six days old, Christina experienced a mental health crisis when she was overcome with postpartum psychosis. Following a week stay in the hospital, Christina also experienced severe postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety, which led to two more hospital stays before she stabilized. Christina is a very passionate maternal mental health advocate and believes that shared experiences not only give hope to those currently struggling, but also provides invaluable insight to healthcare providers.
LINKS
Tina’s Blog
Loving Your Child Through Postpartum Psychosis and Postpartum Depression
Talking Sex After Baby with Linda Zaffram
The Mommy Planner: Meet Author and Eco-Postnatal Care Specialist, Postpartum Doula Valerie Lynn
Valerie Lynn is one of the leading New Motherhood Experts in the United States. She resided in Asia for 16 years with 12 years spent in Malaysia.
Valerie, known as The Mommy Planner, has been a major force in introducing and modernizing traditional after birth recovery practices, more specifically the Malay traditions, and treatments to women globally. She researched wrote and published her first book, The Mommy Plan, in Malaysia through the Malaysian Ministry of Health, Traditional Complementary Medicine department where she conducted interviews in hospitals and in the field. Her subsequent cookbook, The Mommy Plan Recipe Book: Healing Meals: Simple Recipes for New Moms are recipes based on the postnatal nutritional guidelines in her first book. The Mommy Plan is endorsed by several leading childbirth educational organizations in the U.S. and internationally with it being required reading for postpartum doula courses.
Valerie is Postpartum Support International Country (PSI) Co-coordinator for Malaysia and unofficially for APEC; an international organization in 138 countries. She is on the Board of Directors for YASNITA, 'Women's Path to Success' a Malaysian NGO that trains women entrepreneurs in several areas including 'postnatal care'. Valerie is also a Board Member of the International Maternity Institute and the After Birth Project in the U.S. She is also an approved speaker for Johnson & Johnson. Valerie resides in Brooklyn, New York and regularly travels to Malaysia.
Valerie worked in the corporate world for many years holding positions such as Executive Director of the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and Principal of VLM Consultancy where she was provided strategic consultancy services for foreign companies entering the Malaysian and APEC markets.
THE MOMMY PLAN RECIPE BOOK - HEALING MEALS: SIMPLE RECIPES FOR NEW MOMS
I help moms-to-be let go of anxiety and align with their soul’s path so they can enjoy the powerful gift of motherhood. -Meet Chiara Townley
In 2017, after a round-the-world trip, Chiara and her husband moved to Portland, OR, to start a family. They became parents in summer 2019. She didn’t like being pregnant. She never got the pregnancy glow many women talk about. What she got, instead, was morning sickness for the first three months and acid reflux throughout the pregnancy.
Her delivery was traumatic. The c-section was her worst-case scenario, which did indeed happen after four hours pushing because her son’s head got stuck. She could keep it together during the surgery, but had a panic attack right after. Her husband took time off to help her, but when he went back to work, she developed anxiety and depression.
She set up an appointment with a counselor, but as days went by, she realized that talking about her negative patterns made her feel worse. So she decided to listen to her body and connect with her intuition through meditation and other spiritual practices. This is how she found all the answers and healed.
After she healed from postpartum depression and anxiety, she felt a deep desire to help other women.
She's Always Down to Talk about the Taboo. -Meet Samantha Nenninger
Samantha is the mom of three kiddos. After the birth of her first son and again during the pregnancy with her second, she was riddled with anxiety, fear, obsessive and intrusive thoughts about any and all forms of harm coming to her children. Samantha began attending a newly formed PMAD support group and shortly thereafter became one of the groups facilitators. She is passionate about helping others not feel alone in navigating this journey and providing the best resources possible.
She's "Healing Out Loud". -Meet Courtney Ginder
Courtney Ginder resides in Fishers, Indiana with her husband and daughter. She is a passionate maternal mental health advocate after surviving postpartum depression after the birth of her daughter during the COVID-19 pandemic, and believes deeply in the power of sharing stories to let others know they are not alone. She blogs at beyondpostpartumdepression.com and can be found on Instagram and Facebook at @beyondppd. In addition to blogging, she is also the co-leader for the Hamilton County, Indiana Climb Out of the Darkness event, raising awareness and over $10,000 for families impacted by perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. She is also the Social Media Chair for the Postpartum Support International Indiana Chapter Board of Directors.
"I googled 'the Dark Side of Motherhood' and I found you Jennifer." -Meet Jenny Petrucci
Jenny Petrucci lives in Rome. She had her son in 2019, just before the COVID lockdown and suffered with severe postpartum depression. She’s now pregnant with her daughter, due February 2022, and searching for support in Italy. She reached out desperate to share her story for the very first time publicly.
Pregnancy, Postpartum and a Pandemic -Meet Linda Zaffram, LCSW
Linda Zaffram received her Master of Social Work degree in 2002 from Virginia Commonwealth University. She works in Richmond, VA as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has spent 15+ years developing community outreach programs as well as program development and coordination in non-profit, government and the private sector. She developed a mental health program where she was the program manager, supervisor and clinician for the program that served adults who were indigent and underserved. She serves as field instructor and mentor for Master's level social work students through Virginia Commonwealth University. She owns a private practice providing therapy for ages 16+ adults with specialties in depression, anxiety, PTSD, grief/bereavement, perinatal mood disorders, maternal mental health, emotional, physical & sexual abuse, trauma and birth trauma. She has a certificate of completion in birth story listening through Birthing from Within; perinatal mood disorders and maternal mental health through PSI. Linda became a Certified Compassionate Bereavement Care provider, through the MISS Foundation, because she was inspired to work with individuals and families affected by traumatic grief, specifically perinatal loss, after her own miscarriage, traumatic births due to NAIT, NAIT mothers who have experienced perinatal loss and working in the birth community. She is a professional birth doula through ToLabor, a breastfeeding counselor through the Elizabeth Project/Lamaze International and acupressure for labor trained. She is a 200 hr certified Integral Yoga Teacher and Certified Prenatal Yoga Teacher.
Let's Talk Medication! -Meet author Dr. Michelle Wiersgalla
Michelle Wiersgalla, MD is a reproductive psychiatrist and psychopharmacology consultant. She attended college and medical school at the University of Wisconsin and did her psychiatry residency at the Harvard Longwood Program. Michelle has repeatedly been recognized as a Top Doctor in psychiatry. She has been a featured speaker at local and national conferences on the topics of perinatal mental health and psychopharmacological approaches to treatment. She lives in Minnesota with her husband and two daughters.
She kept hearing mothers say, "I just don’t feel like myself” so she co-wrote a book, "Myself Again: The Parents Postpartum Survival Guide". -Meet author Dr. Gabrielle Mauren
Gabrielle Mauren, PhD, LP, PMH-C is a licensed psychologist and the lead of an award-winning (for innovation in clinical care) reproductive mental health program, which has a focus on helping parents who are struggling with mental health concerns related to pregnancy, postpartum, fertility issues and pregnancy loss. She is certified in perinatal mental health care.
Dr. Mauren completed her undergraduate studies, graduate training, and postgraduate fellowship at the University of Iowa, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Pennsylvania, respectively. She has been a featured speaker on topics of perinatal mental health at local, national, and international conferences. Gabrielle has been a contributor for articles in parenting and women’s interests’ magazines. Additionally, she has participated in radio and television stories and podcasts on postpartum mood disorders and other reproductive mental health topics. She lives in Minnesota with her husband and daughter.
*Explicit Language* She went from producing the film Dark Side of the Full Moon to becoming a story herself. -Meet Camille Getchel
Camille is a mom of two boys and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. She works in the film industry as a producer. Camille loves international travel, and documentary filmmaking. In 2005 Camille produced a feature-length documentary with Jennifer and Maureen, directors of the Dark Side of the Full Moon. After the birth of her second child and during the early stages of COVID pandemic, Camille was treated for severe postpartum depression. Now, as she heals and begins to cope with the new normal, Camille opens up about her experience and journey towards recovery.
"I cried as I planned my suicide; how I would make sure that it would look like an accident." Meet Lina Acosta Sandaal
Lina Acosta Sandaal, MA, LMFT is a psychotherapist, development expert, writer, and founder of Stop Parenting Alone, a parenting education and consulting program in Miami, FL. She is a writer on social emotional learning for Macmillan Education, the human development expert for Telemundo’s national broadcasts and consultant for MomsRising an advocacy group for family rights in our nation’s capital. Her mission is for all parents to fall in love with their parenting journey.
*Warning: Adult Language* An Honest and Explicit Conversation with My Girl Heidi Stamper
Heidi is a limited license clinical mental health counselor. A two-time survivor of perinatal mood disorders and has worked in the maternal mental health field for over eight years through. Heidi has training through Postpartum Support International, The Bloom Foundation, and Postpartum Progress focusing on postpartum mood disorders, treatment, and therapy. Heidi's personal experience as an adult child of an alcoholic gives her the knowledge and tools to help families through the transition of parenthood and complex family systems. Heidi is passionate about supporting and guiding clients with other mood disorders, including bipolar and borderline personality disorder. Additionally, she is also a patient advocate for Sage Therapeutics, the leading developer of Zulresso the first and only FDA-approved medicine specifically for postpartum depression.
Heidi is currently practicing counseling in the Metro Detroit area, for more information please contact Heidi directly at heidi@phoenixpathway.com .
She was told her breast milk was poisoning her baby, so she created the very first at-home test strip that allows moms to test their milk for the presence of allergens. -Meet Dr. Trill
Dr. Trill is the mother to two beautiful daughters who had severe infant food sensitivities. She also has her doctoral Degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology and is an Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran. After processing the fact that she could hurt her children through breastfeeding, she started researching how to produce breast milk they could properly digest. She discovered that many parents experience the same troubling situation, so she created a place for parents to find answers to their questions about infant food sensitivities and empower them to continue their breastfeeding journey. This is how Free to Feed™ was born.
She's Making Sure All Moms in Southeastern Wisconsin Are Supported -Meet Sarah Ornst Bloomquist
Sarah Ornst Bloomquist, CFLE, CLC is Moms Mental Health Initiative Co-Founder and Executive Director. She has been advocating for women’s maternal mental health since she experienced her own postpartum depression and anxiety after the birth of her first son. Sarah brings over 20 years of professional experience including her work as child advocacy program coordinator at Cottageview Children’s Center, life coach at Innermost Coaching, relationship specialist at Fathers and Families Center, and as a counselor at Women’s Care Center in Milwaukee. Sarah is a Certified Life Coach, Certified Family Life Educator, and speaker. She is committed to helping moms break down the obstacles to effective treatment and find hope in the process. Born and raised in the greater Milwaukee area, Sarah is a cheesehead at heart. She currently lives in Ozaukee County and is a proud mom of two. She enjoys spontaneous, mini-excursions with her family, hanging out with friends and neighbors, and taking her rescue dogs for walks.