Episode 26: Supporting New Parents’ Health with Catherine O’Brien, MA, LMFT

In this episode, we have the pleasure of dissecting maternal and paternal mental health with Catherine O’Brien, MA, LMFT. She shares the common issues that new parents experience which contribute to pelvic floor conditions like dyspareunia. While postpartum is a time of massive changes, we need to listen to our patients when they feel like something just isn’t right.

Catherine helps soon-to-be parents create a postpartum plan because “there’s usually a lot of prep for a birth plan… but nobody's like, well then what happens after we bring the baby home?... Your partner is not your plan. They’re in this with you. What is your plan together?” Catherine shares her approach to creating this plan from her book Happy With Baby. This is a great episode for anyone who works with parents or is about to be a parent!

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Catherine O’Brien, MA, LMFT is a licensed marriage and family therapist and the founder of HappyWithBaby.com. She created Happy With Baby in order for new parents to discover the advice she wished she had as a parent. Catherine lives in Sacramento, California, where she enjoys paddle boarding and rowing with her husband and two kids.

Highlights from our conversation in Episode 26

• (0:34) Catherine’s story & founding Happy With Baby
• (6:06) New parent psychosocial factors contributing to sexual dysfunction
• (10:00) Postpartum mood and anxiety disorders 
• (15:17) The importance of sleep for wellbeing 
• (19:14) The need for & how to create a postpartum plan
• (25:55) Catherine’s book Happy With Baby
• (29:12) Lightning Round

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Resources from Episode 26

• Visit Catherine’s website for more information www.happywithbaby.com
• (25:55) Read Catherine’s book Happy With Baby
• (29:50) The Power of Showing Up by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson

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