Postpartum University® Podcast · Maranda Bower, Postpartum Nutrition Specialist

Postpartum Anxiety: Why Traditional Screening Misses the Identity Crisis | Carley Schweet EP 247

·25 min·1 clip

Postpartum depression and anxiety can begin up to a year after birth or more.

1. Postpartum University® Podcast episode 247 focuses on postpartum anxiety, identity shift, and screening gaps for new mothers. 2. Miranda Bauer hosts Carly Schweet, founder of Hello Postpartum, and Carly matters because she built postpartum resources from her own experience with undiagnosed anxiety. 3. The episode asks what providers miss when they treat postpartum distress only as depression or anxiety instead of an identity and nervous-system change. 4. Carly says Hello Postpartum began in 2020 as a digital resource with ebooks and expert-written articles for new moms and parents. 5. She says the company later added curated gift boxes because babies get gifts while mothers usually get “a baby blanket.” 6. Carly describes her first postpartum period as feeling “constantly drowning” while spending hours researching every little thing and doubting herself. 7. She says that intense researching felt normal to her at the time, even though it was a sign she was struggling. 8. Miranda shares that she felt unable to tell anyone about her own depression and anxiety because she feared people would think she was unsafe. 9. Carly says new mothers need time to ask, “How am I really doing?” and to notice what feels off, what feels good, and what feels not like them. 10. She says birth and postpartum doulas can help create the space for that kind of honesty. 11. Carly points to the Edinburgh postnatal scale and says it does not touch what women are actually experiencing. 12. She says postpartum depression and anxiety can appear up to a year after birth or more, not just in the first weeks. 13. Carly notes that support often drops off around 12 weeks, when doctor visits are already few and far between. 14. She says her own self-care coaching background came from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City and from work on boundaries and people-pleasing. 15. Carly says her second baby, born 23 months after her first, was when she was finally officially diagnosed. 16. She says the biggest hormonal drop happens when the placenta detaches from the uterine wall, and she frames that as a reason for more grace in postpartum. 17. Carly says self-care can mean choosing differently than planned, even around birth plans, feeding, sleep, and nursery expectations. 18. The conversation stays conversational and personal, with Miranda relating examples from raising four kids and Carly responding with practical reflection. 19. Mothers, postpartum providers, and doula-supportive readers would get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting entertainment without postpartum health context may skip it.

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