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I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t have survived the first few years of motherhood without my partner-in-parenting—my fabulous husband—and the friends, family, babysitters, neighbours, and even strangers who helped along the way.

After decades of research on SSRI use in pregnancy we still have much to learn, but at its core, it's not about SSRIs, it's about supporting maternal mental health; something we often forget.

The maternal brain is not a never-ending reserve of power. Any brain will ‘dysfunction’ when it is overwhelmed and has too many to-dos. It can hit its limit, especially when it hasn’t been recharged.

I recently sat down with Emma Jane Unsworth, a bestselling author and mom of two, to talk about her memoir After the Storm: Postnatal Depression and the Utter Weirdness of New Motherhood (a must-read!), the stigma around maternal mental illness and ways to protect maternal health

There are many misconceptions about pregnancy and motherhood. Perhaps the biggest one is the idea that becoming a mother is an inherently happy time for a woman. It isn’t.

When I mention the brain and motherhood to people often the first thing that comes to mind for many, and maybe you too, is the forgetfulness or brain fog that comes with pregnancy and motherhood that so many women talk about - aka Mom Brain, Mommy Brain, Pregnancy Brain or Baby Brain. It’s a topic that comes up a lot on social media (#mombrain / #mumbrain) and I thought we could dig a little deeper here into what our Mom Brain really is. Stay with me, it’s pretty amazing!

I often think of my Grandma, my dad’s mom. I grew up in the same town as my grandparents in the Okanagan Valley of Western Canada , spent many Sunday dinners at their place, and learned much about my Ukrainian heritage (my grandparents were children of immigrants) from them. Grandma played a significant role in my life, not only for aspects related to my heritage, but also in terms of what it is to be a woman, partner, and mother — in the absence of social norms. Recently I’v

I’m often asked if the effects of motherhood on the brain will last forever. Short answer — yes! And this looks like a good thing.

Recently we’ve seen many more fathers talking about their struggles with mental illness and breaking the stigma of being “strong and silent” and becoming “brave and open” (a phrase I’ve stolen from author Elizabeth Lesser in Cassandra Speaks). This is impressive and I have faith this trend will continue — where we focus on the perinatal mental health of all parents.