Mental Health in the Journey to Motherhood
Episode 57: Mental Health in the Journey to Motherhood with Dr. Sarah Oreck @sarahoreckmd
In this episode, Rachael has a great discussion with Dr. Sarah Oreck, a reproductive psychiatrist and founder of Mavita Health. They talk about the importance of mental health care support during the sometimes long, difficult journey to parenthood. Dr. Sarah highlights the different experiences and challenges that individuals face during pregnancy and postpartum, including pregnancy loss and infertility.
Inside this episode:
The stigma surrounding mental health in the perinatal period, including for those going through fertility treatments, going through secondary infertility and more
How each pregnancy and postpartum can pose different challenges
How lifestyle factors, such as movement, mindfulness, and nutrition, support mental health
The importance of destigmatizing medication use during pregnancy and postpartum when needed
How sleep deprivation affects mental health and how you can protect maternal sleep
Balancing the needs of your baby and yourself
How to tailor your social media feed to promote positive mental health.
Some of the best ways to support new parents in their postpartum period
The need for accessible and comprehensive care that includes therapy, medication management, & whole-body support.
And so much more!
Mentioned in this episode:
Dr. Sarah Oreck’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahoreckmd
Mavida Health website: https://www.mavidahealth.com/
Mavida Health Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mavidahealth/
If you enjoyed this episode, please rate 5⭐️ and write us a review! ⬇️
✨For sleep support and resources, visit heysleepybaby.com and follow @heysleepybaby on Instagram! 😴☁️🤎
Rachael is a mom of 3, founder of Hey, Sleepy Baby, and the host of this podcast.
Listen to the full episode
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Welcome to No One Told Us, the podcast that tells the truth about parenting and talks about all the stuff you wish you knew before having kids. I'm your host, Rachael, and today I'm speaking with Dr. Sarah Oreck, a mother of three and a reproductive psychiatrist trained at Columbia University. Dr. Sarah previously worked in private practice, but out of frustration with the status quo of maternal mental health, she founded Mavita Health.
Mavita Health is a digital health company focused on supporting the mental health journey on the path to parenthood. Their doctor -led reproductive mental health offerings cover everything from individualized therapy to medication management and Dr. Sarah believes in whole body care. And I'm so excited to welcome her to the podcast. Thank you so much for being here, Sarah.
I'm such a fan. So I'm really thrilled to be here.
Thank you so much. I know we were talking before we started recording and you just welcomed your third. And I would love to hear how that's going because it's only been a few months, right?
It's going, yes. I think what I'm just genuinely always surprised by how different each experience is, each pregnancy, each postpartum, you think you know exactly what you're getting and yet it's like this whole opportunity to grow in some ways. It's also, you know, I thought, oh, all of my matrescence is done. That's that transition to motherhood. And yet with every new experience, there's more changes. Before this baby, I actually had a loss and that too was incredibly impactful and changed me in so many ways.
And so I think that's what I'm always in awe about. And I actually started my career as a reproductive psychiatrist before ever having children. So it's also a very different perspective now that I'm kind of on the other side of it. And at the end of my reproductive journey as to when I was, you know, before I had children. And I still, you know, loved this population even then.
Wow, so you started in private practice then. What kind of prompted you to want to make this switch to kind of doing something totally different?
I loved my private practice and seeing patients one to one, but I think with private practice it was very inaccessible. It was out of network. It was high cost. Before when we weren't remote, it was anyone who was in Los Angeles, which is where I live. And it felt really limiting. And so for a really long time, I would get emails saying, "Hey, I really want this care. I can't afford this. Where can I go?" And my hands were kind of like, "I don't know where to send you."
There aren't very many places that have this very specialized care for mental health on the path to parenthood, where you can get specialized information about the safety of medications or that couples therapy, for example, that's really specialized to becoming a parent, example, right? Not just generalized. And so my mission was always, how do I get this care to more people?
And obviously, the virtual path is a great one to increase access, but also wanting to make it in network. Most people want to use insurance for their mental health and for their other physicians. But mental health, because of difficulty with reimbursement and all these other issues, so much of it is cash pay, and it's just, it's really inaccessible for a lot of people. So Mavida Health is really out of the passion to get this care to more people, and for them to have wraparound care, to not have to go to a prescriber in one place, a therapist in the other. Your couple's therapist is somewhere else, and no one talks to each other. So we really wanted to make this easier and sort of like holistic care right from your phone or your computer.
I'm so glad that you founded something like this for parents because, yeah, there are so many barriers to all of that type of care and a lot of people don't even know that they need it until it's too late, right?
I know, but child care is a huge barrier, right? So expensive, it's hard to access, and here, if your baby is nonverbal, they can be in the appointment.
Wow, that's amazing. Yeah, and I'm thinking of messages I've received from people who are just like, I would love to go to therapy, but I don't have time. Like I can't go, I don't have anyone to watch my baby for me or I can't get my partner to go and it's just there's so many different things that people struggle with to access. So just making it even a little bit easier is-- -
Lowering those barriers. It's still hard, right people? There's still stigma that we have to combat, but I think this makes it a lot easier to get into care.
I love that. So you mentioned before you had your most recent baby, you suffered a loss and I'm so sorry to hear that. And I know that so many people listening have gone through their own losses as well. Is that something that you see a lot in your practices, you know, having losses and secondary infertility and things like that. And people really needing that mental health support to guide them through that process.
Oh, Absolutely. I think so much of the focus and not in a bad way has been on the postpartum. People now talk about postpartum depression and anxiety and even postpartum OCD is becoming part of, you know, the conversation, which is so exciting. But we have to remember that a lot of these issues actually start before. So about a third of postpartum depression anxiety starts during pregnancy.
So pregnancy isn't all bliss, right? There can be a lot of rough patches there. But then we don't even talk about what happens in the loss population. You know, when you have a loss,
and I remember this, I saw my OBGYN once or twice, and then was kind of like, bye, out the door, right? The care really drops off, and people feel really isolated and alone.
Also, as the person that was carrying that baby, you're the only one that really knows them. To the people around you, it was kind of like an idea or this, you know, but it wasn't as, I think, potentially as you weren't as connected as, you know, as the parent or the carrying, or the person carrying the baby. So that can feel really isolating right. Like I just remember my husband and I had just totally different reactions. And, you know, everyone can react in any way, but it felt incredibly isolating.
And actually my co -founder of Mavida and I both had second trimester losses, which is really tough. You've seen a lot of ultrasounds, you've seen things sort of progressing. And then you have this idea of like, oh, this baby's coming and then it's not. And so we were really rallying around pregnancy loss, especially it feels like people are starting to talk more about it, but that there certainly needs to be more support and we know that a lot of people go through a variety of different grief issues that can then snowball into a depression or anxiety and certainly there can be a lot of anxiety than going into another pregnancy and that's very common and then when trying to conceive we know that people that have difficulty conceiving have rates of about 50 % of depression and anxiety.
We talk all about going to IVF clinics and doing this test and doing a transfer and egg retrieval, but we don't talk enough about how people are suffering through this. I mean,
There's been a study where the pain of infertility can be at the level or worse than when someone is going through cancer.
Wow.
Right, that that is, it's so traumatic in some ways.
Yeah. And so at Mavida Health, we're really dedicated to treating all of these different populations and making sure that everyone finds their group support, their individual support, and if they need the medication prescribing as well.
That is incredible. I didn't ever hear that before, even though I've had very, very close friends go through years and years of IVF, and you do your best to try to support them as a friend, but you don't always know the right thing to say, and you don't wanna recommend that they go to therapy 'cause it feels insensitive.
I know, I know, it's so hard. And I hope that we can change that, right? Like how we would recommend an acupuncturist or like I have this great person that does X, Y, and Z, that it could be a recommendation that isn't so, you know, I think people would be like offended, like what do you mean?
Right, right. And I was also thinking while you were talking about that is like there's a lot more awareness of postpartum mental health issues now which is so great still not where we need to be but it's it's definitely getting there right…. but then there's this part where you're trying to conceive or you're pregnant and you're dealing with your mental health and if there's a loss or if there's if you're going through something during your pregnancy you're not getting time off work for that in the same way right you're not getting any benefits or or anything and I mean postpartum it's also terrible in the US.
Yes I think you're in - California, I think California passed a law around loss and grief around that, but it's still, I can't forget the details of it, but it's like in the order of like three to five days or something.
Yeah, it's like nothing. I mean, it's a great start, but it's almost a slap in the face to assume that you should be over it in three to five days and ready to get back to work.
I know, people forget that they're postpartum after a loss.
Right, your body does all the same things.
Yes, if you have a loss after 15 weeks, milk even comes in. So I think we forget that or that's something that's not talked about enough and that those hormonal fluctuations still happen and we still see those what we call perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.
Can you talk a little bit about what the signs might be because I think a lot of people are kind of on high alert for, you know, after they have their baby and after they go home, they're like, Oh, you know, better watch out for postpartum depression. Hopefully it doesn't come. But but I don't think a lot of people are looking out for it in the pregnancy stage. And I think there's also probably some shame around it because you're supposed to be just so happy and excited during your pregnancy.
I know I especially see that with people who've had difficulty conceiving or use IVF and they're like, you're supposed to just be happy. Like why aren't you happy? You get you're You're getting all the positive signs, right? You have the great ultrasound. This should make me delighted. And so what I typically say and kind of see is if you're having difficulty with those times or enjoying that, right? With the joy parts. If you're having difficulty enjoying the things that you used to, you're feeling more isolated. Those are just little red flags of like, "Hmm, something might not be totally right.
If you have a history of depression or anxiety or other mental health issues, that certainly is a flag. You probably know best what the things are, but difficulty sleeping and during pregnancy it's hard because there are some biological reasons that you're not sleeping well,
but if it's sort of consistent, even after sleep hygiene issues, if you're having appetite issues, and again, this one's hard, and this is where I think people get very confused because, "Well,
I have nausea all day, how am I supposed to eat?"
But I will tell you, people who have that chronic morning sickness can be at risk for depression and anxiety, right? When you're taken out of your day because you are constantly sick, you can't eat, you can't see friends, you can't go out to dinner with your partner, that is a sure way to kind of set you up for having some mood or anxiety symptoms.
And so I think the things to think about are like, you're having difficulty seeing the end, right? Or being excited about, well, I'm going to have a baby after this. And I think when people start getting out of their routine and enjoying things that they've really used to, for me, those are signs that something's not totally right. And I want to be clear, we're not supposed to be joyful all the time.
Right. And I think this is sometimes what the Instagram Highlight reel makes it kind of hard, but there are those low times. There are those times, and that's okay, but when those become the overwhelming kind of situation and what we see, that can certainly be some flags that this isn't totally going the way, or that you might need a little bit more support, whether that's sort of help within your home, friend support, family, and then that next layer of of professional mental health support.
Okay, that's really helpful. We're gonna take a quick break and when we come back, I would love to chat a little bit more about some treatment options. We'll be right back.
Okay, so before the break, we were kind of talking about, you know, the signs and symptoms to look out for for mental health or mood issues during pregnancy and so then what's the next step? How do people know, okay, I actually need to get help for this and then how do they know maybe what treatment options are available to them or what treatment options are okay during pregnancy or postpartum?
Now those are great questions and I always think like the first step is to hopefully have that trusted partner or there's trusted friends where you can have those conversations and be like, hey, I'm feeling this way or you were pregnant last year. Did you have this kind of a feeling where you like totally dreading having the baby or like that kind of stuff is like get an impression of like what your community and what people around you kind of are experiencing.
And also if you want to get feedback of like have I been really irritable lately? Do you notice that I'm like really snappy? I mean I think that's something we don't talk about enough. We think about is like depression is, oh, you're weepy and sad, but it can often be really rageful and angry and irritable. And so asking those questions of your partner of, like, what have you noticed, you know, being curious about that.
And then once you're ready, you know, I think there's a lot of fantastic treatment options. A lot of people don't know that there are specialized therapists for this part of the journey,
for this transition to motherhood or parenthood in general. Mavida health has those practitioners, but they're also across the country, not as many I think as we would love, but that can be really helpful because it feels very specific to this time of life.
And so my thought is always for mild to moderate depression or anxiety, the first layer is always going to be therapy, whether that's individual or group therapy. But if it feels like maybe, oh, I'm having a lot of trouble with my partner and we can't get on the same page about how we're gonna parent or what this life is gonna look like when this baby comes. Maybe a couple's treatment is the best indication.
And so really figuring out and tailoring that to like what the main issues are in your life or what's going on I think is really important. And then there's the prescription medication. And I think it's really important to dispel some of those myths that we have that you can't take a medication during pregnancy or while you're breastfeeding because that's simply not true.
It is a risk assessment so we have to figure out what the sort of safest thing is or what the risk level is but ultimately what we find is that if you have moderate to severe depression or anxiety there are medications that are incredibly effective and have been actually tested more than any other medication.
So this is more than like insulin, more than hypertensive medications during pregnancy. And no one would bat an eye. If you tell me you have high blood pressure during pregnancy, I'm taking that medication.
Right, of course.
I don't want to preeclampsia. I don't want to get really sick. And no one bats an eye at that. But for some reason, when it comes to mental health, people kind of think about like, maybe that's an optional medicine.
Right, you should just suck it up.
Yeah. Right, exactly. But the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, the SSRIs, we actually have like the biggest number of studies sort of proving that there aren't significant risks involved with them.
Of course, there have some risks, but really we have to think about, well, what are the risks of untreated depression or anxiety? And those can actually be quite significant and we don't talk enough about higher risk of C-section, higher risk of preterm delivery, higher risk of behavioral issues in kids that are born with moms who have untreated symptoms.
I mean, we can get into it, but there's certainly also people who experience ADHD during pregnancy and postpartum, and we don't talk enough about that, but there are always treatment options. I think it's really important to go to a specialist so they can help you weigh what makes most sense for you and your lifestyle.
I mean, I even like some alternative medicines and and over -the -counter supplementation, but what's difficult about that during pregnancy and lactation is that we don't have enough safety information.
Right. Right. Yeah. And I love that you kind of talk about that and destigmatize it because I think most people, I mean, social media would have you believe that people are like very extreme, right? Either like anti -medicine, totally crunchy or, you know, give me all the pills, I don't care. But I think most of us are kind of like in this in between where we, where we are willing to take medications if they are safe and will help us. And we also would love some more holistic or alternative care. What are some other things that can kind of support mental health and things like that? I know you talk about nutrition. What are some other things?
Yeah, so a huge part of the Mavida platform isn't just the clinical care. It's also content that we have that's all evidence-based. And a lot of those pillars are, like before any medication is introduced. We want to make sure that you're moving, that you have some kind of mindfulness practice. And we can talk a little bit more about that. And food is medicine, right?
Before any pharmaceutical food is where it's at. And I think we're just starting to open up this conversation. But food really impacts our mood, right? Our sleep how so much. And so I think those are all super important, but we always talk about what can we do to help you move? And it doesn't have to be a fancy gym membership, it doesn't have to be classes every day obviously with kids that gets really complicated. But can you just walk outside and take one, you know, circle the block once, and just getting that sunshine and that movement can be so impactful for your mental health?
Mindfulness, you know, people think, well, I don't meditate, so I can't do that. Actually, you can mindfully brush your teeth. You can mindfully take a shower. It's just about kind of getting connected to your body. And often, right, that's the experience of being pregnant and postpartum. There's so many bodily changes. And so we really love for you to sort of go in and all of our content kind of has guided practices to help you do that. And it's very short, very low time commitment.
Can you talk a little bit more about what you mean by food is medicine 'cause I think, you know, some people really believe in that and really feel themselves well. But I think other times, you know, you go to a doctor and they just wanna prescribe something. And like you said, like there's a balance and there's a place for everything, but the nutrition piece I think, especially in pregnancy and postpartum is so important 'cause women are so depleted of nutrients.
So I think this is a hard one because this is where, Well, and I think what I'll say is eating the rainbow fruits and vegetables. We can get into the details, right? Lean proteins, those are all going to give you nutrients that you need. You are growing a human when you're pregnant. It is a big deal. It is, um, it takes a lot. And so nourishing yourself so you can kind of continue and do that is really important.
Similarly in the postpartum and if, and in your breastfeeding, but even if you're not, that's gonna be really significant. But I think what's hard is that, you know, it's this balance of convenience. And convenient food is often not the most nutritious, right? It might be the fried food or the packaged food, but I think more and more we can kind of stop and think we know processed food isn't the best for us. And it's like, how can we eat the most whole foods? foods, eat the rainbow, and those can start to really improve how we feel.
You mentioned partners too, and I was just kind of thinking about how partners really want to feel involved, and they want to be helpful mostly, we hope, right? And one thing that can really help is having them prep fruits and veggies, so it's just an easy thing for you to grab, so you know, grabbing for candy bars….
like a packaged bar, right, right. Even like a protein bar, people are like, it's a protein bar. Yeah.
Right. Not, not so it's better to eat that apple actually. Right. The real food. Right. The real whole food, I think is, is, is really significant. And I think more and more nutritional psychiatry is actually a space that's growing.
And more and more, I think we're going to have Hopefully, more medical doctors learn about this during their training and be able to kind of talk to their patients about like, "You know, those fried food is actually worsen your anxiety."
Yeah. Right. They might be delicious and they might be easy, but here's what happens, right? And I see so many postpartum patients who don't have the village necessarily and are like,
"You know what? I'm just getting fast food. I'm just eating like things that are processed and wrapped up because I have nothing else. And that to me is a real reflection of like, we need this village, this community who isn't, it's not about mom go make your meal from scratch. It's like who around her can kind of help support that? Like you said, a partner is a fantastic person, but can it be the sister, the friend, right? The mom, like we need that village.
Yeah, setting up a meal train, like, I mean, I always say, like the best gift you could give to someone who's having a baby, they don't need any more blankets, they don't need swaddles, they don't need little baby shoes, they don't need stuff, like, set up a meal train, it's really easy to do online, have, you know, whoever you have in your life sign up for a day to bring them dinner, I'll never forget, like we had our third baby and we weren't even living in our house, we were living in my in -laws house 'cause we were renovating, whatever, it's a long story, but we had these neighbors and they're neighbors that my husband happened to grow up with but I had, you know, I wasn't super close with them yet and we were home for like our second night I think and it was just chaos, right?
We had these two older kids, we were not living in our own home, we had a new baby and they brought over the most delicious home -cooked meal and I cried because I was just like this is so nice and I feel like I'm nourishing myself, it was like very, they're doctors so it was like So it was very healthy food and it was just so nice and my kids loved it, it was just, there would have been nothing else that I could have wanted and it was just, it meant everything. So if you know someone, if you're listening and you know someone who's gonna have a baby, make them a meal.
Please do that. I had a similar experience and I thought it was one of the most impactful things and I think again, with the gear, like people don't need more stuff, they need more support and ways to heal. And I think food, when you nourish a new mom, it goes a long way.
That's really powerful. Alright, we're going to be right back. We're going to take one more quick break.
A lot of my community is here because they have babies that don't sleep or that struggle with sleep, or maybe they even, yeah, of course haven't we all, or maybe they even struggle with sleep themselves. And this is kind of some pushback that I hear a lot and I completely get it.
You know, there's this idea of moms really needing sleep to function and really needing sleep for their mental health to be okay. I would love to kind of hear your perspective on that and how do we man needs of a newborn the needs of maybe older children as well or the needs of our body during a pregnancy and getting enough sleep but also you know kind of parenting and doing things that feel aligned with us and that that we want to do.
Yeah it's it's not easy that's for sure. I think what's important and first like maybe we can start the baseline of there are some conditions that are worsened by sleep deprivation and that's really important to kind of talk about and level set because for some of my patients for example who have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder not getting continuous sleep is not an option.
Right because that could lead to things like hospitalization etc. For people with anxiety and depression similarly sleep deprivation can lead to mental health effects but it's really really hard to find that balance.
And so even four hours of continuous sleep can be enough to actually recharge you and keep you from sort of having those mental health side effects. And four hours of continuous sleep isn't impossible. It's hard sometimes with some babies, but it's something that you can do. I also find, which is kind of interesting. This is different for single parents, of course, but for those that are in partnerships, And I think I've had other people observe this as well. There's typically one person that's more resilient with sleep deprivation and one that isn't, right? I don't know how we find one another.
Usually we get lucky and deal with that.
My husband is the more, right? My husband's like the slightly more resilient one. But anyway, it's a nice way to be like, look, for you, this isn't as impactful. So maybe you can take one for the team or take part of the night or kind of do it in shifts, or if that's the thing, the sleep deprivation is a thing that's really hard, then can you recruit someone in your family to help you with the nights? Or is this something that's worth budgeting for and having a night nurse for?
Because that is the most important thing over getting a trainer or getting other lovely things. Like maybe this is the thing to use your resources on because it can be such a game changer for people who have that issue with sleep deprivation.
Yeah, I love that you say that. I saw a TikTok recently that was like, we should be investing as much in our postpartum care as we do in like our weddings. And like imagine how-- -
Yes! - Imagine how-- - Oh my God. - If you had the money that you spent on your wedding or like on your honeymoon or whatever, and you put it towards postpartum care, like it would be a game changer, and I know most people are not gonna realistically do that but I do love it 'cause I think there are so many creative options.
There are postpartum doulas that are so amazing and can help you with household stuff 'cause a lot of moms say, oh, I don't want a night nurse, like I wanna hold my baby, I wanna feed my baby, but there are other things you can do too, like a postpartum doula will come take care of your house, take care of your older kids, do all the extra stuff so that you can just chill and hold your baby when you want to, right?
That's absolutely right. I love that. And I love that there's some registries that are kind of like changing the game where it's not about gear anymore, but it's about the types of services that we really need in the postpartum, right? That pelvic PT, that night nurse, right? All of those things are the doula, which is really exciting to hear about that change.
As far as sleep then, So there are those conditions that are, you know, a little more extreme that the majority of people aren't dealing with, but I bet a lot of people are. So then what do you think about how sleep affects mental health for most new parents? Like what are some things that you see from people who really are not coping well with lack of sleep?
This can be a mixed bag, right? Because we have some people that are a little bit more resilient to sleep issues and are able to kind of get through it and be like, yeah, I'm a little tired, but I'll make sense of it. But there are some people who become really irritable, edgy, right? Start to have depressive symptoms. And this is an example of like, if night after night of sleep deprivation, you start to have darker thoughts. You start to have, with those that are anxious, more intrusive thoughts. And those are those really weird thoughts that come up. I always say this example of like, I'm walking with my baby down the stairs and I imagine that I'm like dropping her. It's not something I want to do, but it just sort of pops into that there's biological reasons for it. Don't be alarmed. It's kind of your mind protecting your baby in this very kind of biological hunter -gatherer way of like all of the dangers.
But I see an increase in those. I see just like an increase in inability to function really in the way that they were, right? There may be more forgetful, all that sort of stuff. And so when that starts to happen, I do start to get concerned. And this is where I think the village is so important. Recruit the people around you, kind of open up about what may be happening.
But for patients that come into Mavida or, you know, with my private practice, I would always go down the list, right? What are your supports like? Tell me a little bit about who's around,
who's helping. And then I want to talk about the sleep, but those are so interconnected. And I think it's this dispelling this myth that as a mom, you have to do it all because you simply can't.
We're not meant, this isn't an individual sport, we're not meant to kind of raise these babies on their own, especially if you have a baby with colic or who's having a lot of trouble with sleep, please, please ask for that.
I think that's so hard for so many people too, partly because of just our lack of villages and our lack of community -based care in general in this country, but also social media. And social media can be so wonderful. And I obviously love it for so many reasons, but I think for postpartum moms, it can also be really, really hard because you see, like you said before, highlight reels and you see moms who do look like they're doing it all or who look like either they're getting three hours of sleep and still functioning great and they're totally fine and they're totally happy or, you know, the other extreme where they're, you know, sleep training, doing something a little more hardcore that is not something that you feel like doing or, or maybe you are doing it, but you're not getting the same results or it's just, it's hard because you never know somebody's whole story, right? So do you see that a lot with patients? I see that all the time. I see it with potty training, right?
There's like the three days they'll be potty trained. I'm sorry, but every child is absolutely different, right? It's like the lack of nuance in social media is really all over the place and it's hard 'cause when we're distilling information to like 20 second bites, of course it's not gonna be nuanced, but I think it's really important to step back and say everyone is different, you know? I don't know if you had a nanny, but often when you see these people with like having the time of their lives in Europe with their toddlers, typically there's other people there, right? They might not be in the pictures, but like there's more caretakers. And so I think that can't, that's really important to start to think about, you know, if this person's not sleep deprived, how great for her that that's not something she struggles with.
But the realities are that, you know, I think for the, you know, everyone has a village or I'm hoping that they can get that village and often what we see in social media is not a realistic depiction because again, that can't be summarized in 10 seconds.
Do you see it really kind of negatively impacting mental health for moms or do you see, yeah.
I see it a lot. I think so, you know, I think the studies have been for a while saying that it,
you know, social media in particular impacts women differently. It increases risk of depression or anxiety. We're certainly seeing it with young adults and adolescents, right? Worsening body image concerns, a lot of those issues. And unfortunately for all of the good, right? People doing education like us on those platforms, trying to normalize and universalize a lot of these experiences. I think for a lot of that, there's also these like really perfect looking moms and families And people like gallivanting across the globe or it just feeling like these different types of lives that are almost unattainable that make it really hard in these unrealistic expectations. So I see that a lot because that is the place people go to now to compare their lives to others.
I mean, it can be such a double -edged sword. There can be so much. I mean, like you said, our platforms hopefully are doing more good Then harm but yes!
But even like IVF warriors, you know Like I see so many people being real about their journeys and like the struggle and yet like You know for all of that then you have all of these like gender reveal part You know coach and all this other stuff that can be really challenging
What do you think about that because I know that that's been kind of like a hot -button topic over the maybe a couple of years is like this idea of putting trigger warnings over any content that has to do with pregnancy or trying to conceive or anything like that. What do you feel is appropriate there?
That's interesting. Like a part of me likes it because I think everyone should be warned about what they're about to consume and whether it can impact them. But I think as a human being that trigger warning elicits more I think curiosity and kind of like, you know, gets people in in some ways. And so that's where I'm not so sure.
I also think that building resilience is about being able to see sometimes things that are difficult and that in some ways makes us stronger, makes us human. So I worry that a lot of those trigger warnings, I'm like, I'm actually good with some discomfort and that's how we build resilience. And I think that's really, really important. I mean, I think that's where a lot of like censorship and stuff like that is challenging because I think it's important to have discourse, to know that someone disagrees with you, but there can still be civility. Yes. And I think a lot of that is missing, but sometimes I wonder if the social media ones are a little bit of like click bait.
Oh, for sure. If I see something that's like censored or something, I'm tapping at it every time like I need to know I'm just nosy I need to know what it says and yeah different trigger warnings for different types of content you know there's some some nuance there but yeah I agree with the resiliency piece and if you are following a creator who is repeatedly triggering you or you know a type of account that is just not good for you to be looking at in this season of life then just unfollow it mute it block it whatever you need to do to protect yourself but yeah it's a It's 100%.
I think that is so right. We have to like tailor what we are getting in our feeds, but I think sometimes it's okay to be challenged a little bit.
Yeah, I love that. Sarah, it's been so fun to talk to you, even though these were some tough topics, I really appreciate you sharing so openly and honestly with us, where can people find more from you and from Mavida Health?
Yes we have two instagrams mine, mine is at Sarah Oreck MD but also we are growing at Mavida Health so please check us out there and of course if you're interested in care with us we are at Mavidahealth .com.
Perfect thank you so much have a great rest of your day.
