In our series finale, we have the honor to discuss motherhood through a holistic lends with Asha Bailey and Taylor Banks.

Asha is a wife, mother, daughter and sister. She is a lover of the earth, and she channels that through nourishing mothers and families. She believes that local, delicious, and nutrient dense food is vital to healing, especially from preconception to postpartum. She has trained with The Center for Sacred Window Studies as an Ayurvedic postpartum caregiver. She has also trained with Raeanne Madison’s Postpartum Healing Lodge where she learned postpartum healing from Anishinaabe and Mexika traditions.

Taylor is a wife and a mother of four. She discovered my love of birth work through the birth of my first son; however, nothing could have prepared her for the racial biases that she would experience during her first two births. Before her second child, she became certified as a lactation specialist to ensure her own personal success with breastfeeding which also became a tool to assist others. The birth of her second child was also severely traumatic - lacking appropriate support. When she became pregnant with her third and fourth children, she intentionally chose to give birth at home in my safe space. This birth was so healing and beautiful because, as she says, "it utilized my knowledge and intentional about every detail of what my birth would be." As a result of these experiences, she has become a full spectrum doula to be able to support other mothers and families so that they can be supported in ways that she had not been in previous births.

Together, their mission is for all mothers to be well cared for, well informed, and safe. Anything less is simply not good enough.

Asha and Taylor formed their friendship first as mothers and then as entrepreneurs and collaborators in The Village Birth Workers Collective and most recently, The Steamy Womb. Their holistic approach to pregnancy and postpartum is changing the conversation in the birthing community locally. It's an honor to have them join us for a look behind the scenes.

In this episode, we hear from the father's perspective. Wade Griffin is joined by Derek Mann, Justin Beal, and Mike Weber as they discuss early days of fatherhood, navigating blended families, and what they would tell their younger selves if they had the chance. Rarely do we get to hear about fatherhood from the fathers themselves and this is a conversation not to be missed. We're so proud to share this often humorous and beautiful perspective on fatherhood...behind the scenes.

On this episode, we speak with Christie Sprunger.

She is a mother of 2 under 4, works full-time while her husband is able to stay home and care for their youngest. Her journey through motherhood is becoming more and more normalized as more men and women are able to adjust their roles in the home and modern world.

While she has not experienced a perinatal mood and anxiety disorder firsthand, she can validate that being a mother to littles, while in the midst of building a career, is not for the faint of heart. As a self-identified "Type-A" personality, motherhood took her nice lists and threw them to the wind! :)

And for those of you who understand, if you know you know.

Christie shines light on the grey area of motherhood -- the complex, and often invisible, in-between.

Heather Gatson is a mama of two beautiful children who I crossed paths with during her 2nd postpartum period.

Our conversations on motherhood have left me speechless and empowered a multitude of times. The depth of her vulnerability is painted through the beauty of her words as she describes showing up for herself during some the darkest days a mama could possibly have.

It is an absolute honor to share our conversation for more mamas to hear and know that, without a doubt, they are not alone...and that there is an "after this," but first is admitting that "I am not okay."

Conversation summary:

The Four Points:

1. The STEPS

2. The Healing Process

3. Community & Language

4. After This

1. Reflecting on her postpartum experience, there were definitely STEPS that were significant.

First admission was:

• “I am not okay."

• “It’s okay to say that I’m not okay.”

• Learning to check-in on MYSELF “I’m not well today.”

• “I’m better but still recovering.”

2. The Healing Process:

Highlighting the necessary elements to heal properly to wholeness. Some wounds heal but they can be infected or there may be a deformity afterwards. “Time heals ALL wounds” if the only element you have is time, you will not heal to wholeness and be healthy I. Your next season. Healing is a process that involves a variable of elements that collaborate together to produce healing. Time alone does not possess healing properties. Although time and patience are essential’s components.

3. Community & Language

The importance of support, community and help before and after the birth. Highlighting preventative measures and available resources. Surrounding yourself with people who understand where you are. Who speak the language of postpartum fluently. Who can give direction, support, encouragement and the gift of presence. To dispel the internal lie that you are alone and failing. To speak a narrative of life and hope and offer a macro perspective.

4. After This

That although this season is real there is an after this. It’s important to know and remember as you journey through this valley that there is an after this. There are beautiful and perfect days that you have not even considered. There are relationships and opportunities that you can not even conceive. There is a joy and a love that will return but the focus has to be on the present but let “there is an after this” echo and offer hope.

Don’t die Mother.

Don’t give up.

Press forward and you do not have to do it alone.

There is a community of women who want to connect and rally around you.

You do have to show up.

You do have to do the work daily, but YOU are not alone.

You matter.

You are not forgotten.

You are seen, heard and cared for.

Don’t just survive postpartum Arise and Thrive.

The first step is admission “I am not okay”.

Kristin Giant has worn a lot of hats and struggles being caged in by a bio, but for the sake of the exercise: she recently wrapped up her first year as a part-time public high school teacher, proudly teaching business at Amp Lab at Electric Works. When she's not at Electric Works or championing the stories of her 350+ students in the community, she runs her strategic consulting firm Hyper Local Impact.

Through Hyper Local she works with various paid and pro bono clients including the McMillen Foundation, Utopian Coffee, Children's Health Collaborative, and Wildcat Baseball. Kristin proudly co-founded and serves as the administrator for the Family & Friends Fund for Southeast Fort Wayne which (she's proud to say) recently transitioned to being hosted at Urban Beginnings Choice Federal Credit Union -- a Black-run and community serving CDFI. FFF has deployed over $500,000 in capital and resources to businesses led by Black and BIPOC owners and leaders on the southeast side of Fort Wayne. Kristin is a "recovering attorney" graduating from University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, MN. She was awarded the Alumni of the Year Award from UST in 2021 for her work on the Family and Friends Fund.

Before attending law school, Kristin was a nonprofit administrator and a singer and bassist in a rock band. She received her bachelor of arts in music composition from the College of Charleston. She is the very proudest mom of two little boys and loves living in Fort Wayne, IN with her husband Joe.