Postpartum Identity: Why You’re Not Supposed to Bounce Back | Andrea Ford, PhD

Postpartum identity can shift how you experience independence, equality, work, family, and your sense of self. In this episode, Sarah Trott and Esther Gallagher talk with cultural and medical anthropologist Andrea Ford about the pressures new parents absorb from the culture around them and why stepping back from those expectations can create useful perspective.

Andrea draws on her experience as a doula and her work as the author of Near Birth: Contested Values and the Work of Doulas. The conversation explores postpartum identity, autonomy and interdependence, asking for help, cultural differences in postpartum support, birth debriefing, and intuition as knowledge built through experience.

Full show notes fourthtrimesterpodcast.com

Connect with Andrea Ford University of Edinburgh research profile

Andrea's books Near Birth: Contested Values and the Work of Doulas | Hormonal Theory: A Rebellious Glossary (Theory in the New Humanities)

Resources Mentioned 51& | Matrescence: On Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood | FemTech Innovation | EUmetriosis | Endo1000 | WISH*

Learn more A Parent’s Guide to Building Self-Trust | The Birth Doula’s Guide to Navigating New Motherhood | Postpartum Bodies Change and That’s a Good Thing

Fourth Trimester Resources FREE DOWNLOAD Customizable Birth Plan | FREE DOWNLOAD Customizable Fourth Trimester Plan | Postpartum Soups and Stews Collection

Partners HIRO Diapers | GutPersonal Prenatal & Postnatal Vitamins | Every Mother

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