Trauma In Birth & Pregnancy: How, Why and What We Can Do with Emily Lapolice, LICSW, RYT, TCTSY-F Artwork

The Postpartum Revolution

Welcome to The Postpartum Revolution! This podcast was born because, as a pelvic health physical therapist, I’ve heard and seen the ways our system has failed postpartum people in America. Newly postpartum people have repeated the same questions to me, with fear in their eyes and fatigue written all over their bodies, and I’ve grown tired of soothing them with the reassurance that it’s “all a part of the process, it’s normal to feel like this”. I began to wonder - what the hell kind of “normal process” is this, that produces tired and scared mothers? While not everyone has a negative experience with childbirth and postpartum, many people do. A lot of factors influence our postpartum experience: understanding how your body recovers, how much community and financial support you have, and how well our society helps to support a new family. My goal is to provide education about the postpartum recovery process, so you can set yourself up for a successful return to the things that bring you joy. I also want to bring awareness to the larger, systemic challenges that pregnant and postpartum people face, so that collectively we can start to turn the tide of our culture, and our children won't be trapped in an unhealthy and unsupported birth and postpartum culture. We have lost our power in the birth and postpartum world, and our loss is directly linked to other people's gain. It's time to take back the power over our bodies, our births, and our postpartum health. We are the change we have been waiting for. Let's go.

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The Postpartum Revolution

Trauma In Birth & Pregnancy: How, Why and What We Can Do with Emily Lapolice, LICSW, RYT, TCTSY-F

February 19, 2021 • Annie Hopkins, Emily Lapolice • Season 2 • Episode 37

Trauma exists on a spectrum, so why do we only take the big “T” trauma seriously?

What about the little “t” trauma that happens to SO many mothers during pregnancy and childbirth?

If providers can’t recognize trauma, then how can it be treated?

Many of these questions and more were answered in today’s episode with Emily Lapolice, a clinical social worker and trauma center trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator (TCTSY).

We discuss HOW trauma so often occurs in pregnancy and birth experiences, WHY this is more common than not, and WHAT we can do to fix it.

Emily is a certified yoga instructor specializing in work with trauma, anxiety, and perinatal mental health and at 60:22 she offers a mini practice on being present and truly listening to your body’s needs.

Check out the book Emily contributed to here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/645679/embodied-healing-by-jennifer-turner/

Visit her website: https://www.iwtherapies.com

Learn more about TCTSY: https://www.traumasensitiveyoga.com/

Sign up for TCTSY trainings:
3-hour Intro Workshop in March

20-hour Training in April

Emily is currently involved in research projects studying TCTSY applications in the perinatal and Native American / Indigenous populations.

As always, follow the Postpartum Revolution Facebook Group!

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Want to be a guest on the show? Email me at thepostpartumrevolutionpodcast@gmail.com

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