Content note: this episode includes discussion of postpartum depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. If you are struggling or recognizing yourself in this conversation, you are not alone, and support is available.

You can reach:

• Postpartum Support International call 1-800-944-4773 (EN) or 971-203-7773 (ES) text “help” to 800-944-4773 (EN) or 971-203-7773 (ES) https://postpartum.net/

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline call or text 988 chat via 988lifeline.org

Some of the most important friendships are forged in the hardest places. Jamie and I met at The Motherhood Center through their treatment program for postpartum depression.

In this episode Jamie shares her full story — from a traumatic hospital birth to postpartum depression to the treatment that brought her back to herself. She takes us through pregnancy, birth, and becoming a second time mom. And as a self-described Type A, she talks about something that will resonate with a lot of women in this community — learning to let go of control and perfectionism in motherhood in order to finally find the joy.

Jamie and I have the kind of friendship where we won’t talk for months then we’ll spend three hours on a walk and talk and this conversation is no different. We swap stories, we laugh, we sit with the hard parts together. It's intense in the way that real conversations about real experiences are intense. But it's also just two friends catching up on how far they've come.

If you've ever found yourself in a room with a stranger who immediately felt like a friend — you'll understand this one. And if you're in the hard part right now, we hope it helps to know the other side exists.

In this episode we cover:

• How postpartum depression can show up as symptoms

• The hospital failures and gaps in care that put Jamie and other mothers at risk

• How intrusive thoughts show up in postpartum mental health and why they're so misunderstood

• What advocacy looks like after surviving a broken system

• Why community and humanized care are essential to healing

• How to spot early warning signs and what to do when you see them

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/simon-folwar/its-summer

License code: ZOAGMC8HUJK9M7P9

Content note: this episode includes discussion of postpartum depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. If you are struggling or recognizing yourself in this conversation, you are not alone, and support is available.

You can reach:

• Postpartum Support International call 1-800-944-4773 (EN) or 971-203-7773 (ES) text “help” to 800-944-4773 (EN) or 971-203-7773 (ES) https://postpartum.net/

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline call or text 988 chat via 988lifeline.org

This May, every episode of The Catch Up with Claire is dedicated to Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month - and this is an important one.

Courtney and I met at Mom Congress, a three-day advocacy event in Washington DC where advocates travel to Capitol Hill to speak directly to lawmakers about creating and signing legislation to improve maternal mental health care in this country. We went because we lived it. And we went because we don't want another mother to go through what we did.

In this episode, Courtney shares her experience with postpartum depression and anxiety — including the moment she knew she needed help, going to the emergency room in crisis, and being sent home without the care she desperately needed. She talks about what it took to finally get treatment, what it means to use her voice now after everything she went through, and why telling this story out loud matters.

This episode is intense. It is also important. For every mother who has felt like something was wrong but couldn't get anyone to listen. For every partner, family member, or friend who didn't know what signs to look for. And for every woman who has been sent home when she needed to stay.

Treatment works. Recovery is real. And no mother should have to fight this hard to get there.

In this episode we cover:

• What postpartum depression and anxiety can look like in real life

• The gap in care that leaves birthing people without support at their most vulnerable moment

• Going to the ER in crisis and being sent home — and what it took to finally get help

• What it means to advocate for legislative change after surviving it PPD

• Why knowing the signs matters for mothers and the people who love them

• How treatment works and what recovery looks like on the other side

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/simon-folwar/its-summer

License code: ZOAGMC8HUJK9M7P9

Content note: this episode includes discussion of postpartum depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. If you are struggling or recognizing yourself in this conversation, you are not alone, and support is available.

You can reach:

• Postpartum Support International call 1-800-944-4773 (EN) or 971-203-7773 (ES) text “help” to 800-944-4773 (EN) or 971-203-7773 (ES) https://postpartum.net/

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline call or text 988 chat via 988lifeline.org

May is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month, and this is a conversation I’ve been wanting to have for a long time.

I’m joined by Paige Bellenbaum, a licensed social worker, advocate, and co-founder of The Motherhood Center in New York City. After experiencing postpartum depression herself, Paige built her career around supporting mothers through perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and pushing for systemic change in how we care for them.

This conversation is personal for me. I first met Paige in one of her new mom support groups almost eight years ago. At the time, I didn’t fully understand what I was going through, but that space led me to getting the help I needed.

In this episode, we talk about:

• what postpartum depression can look like

• why so many women don’t recognize it in themselves

• how support groups and treatment work

• the gaps in our current system of care

• what has changed (and what hasn’t) in maternal mental health

• what support can look like for moms right now

This is a conversation about a hard topic, but also a hopeful one. Treatment exists. Support exists. And no one should have to navigate this alone.

To learn more about Paige and her work, visit: https://www.paigebellenbaum.com/