In this episode I speak with Emily, bilingual/bicultural mamá of two, pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist, Clinical Assistant Professor and Supervisor of graduate speech-language students, and the author of "Unexpected: A Postpartum Memoir."

Emily shares the challenges she went through in becoming a mother of two, and the journey she went on with her mental health, construction of identity, and exploration of what it means to mother. Emily completed The Motherhood Studies Certification in 2021 and shares how the context and content of Motherhood Studies and supported and expanded her understanding of her own experience of motherhood, and how this work is now integrated within her career.

We talk about the socialization of mothers, examination of maternal expectations - particularly when transitioning from 1 to 2 children - and how to ‘speak back’ to the inner critique we’ve internalised from patriarchal motherhood that polices our feelings, thoughts, and behaviours.

From this conversation, you’ll hear about the ways that big life transitions can usher in both disorientation but also potential for immense growth, self-learning, and expansion as we ‘undo’ in order to ‘recreate’. Emily’s book and work encapsulate both the grief and love, vulnerability and power, breaking down and breaking through that can be part of our experience of motherhood.

Purchase Emily’s book: https://www.emilyadlermosqueda.com/book

Unexpected: A Postpartum Memoir

“Repeat mothers are assumed to know what to expect during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Unexpected: A Postpartum Memoir is the moving, raw account of a second-time mother who finds herself struggling for the first time with postpartum depression, anxiety and motherhood itself. Only as a mother of two does Emily find herself unable to ignore the impossible tempo of motherhood. At eight-months postpartum, Emily finds motherhood to be punctuated with unexpected sensations of irritability and feelings of rage all lathered in immobilizing guilt and shame. Readers witness the author’s personal evolution through her internal review and deconstruction of self and her examination of maternal expectations. It is through this journey of examining and feeling that truly opens up the unexpected possibilities of understanding and what it means to be content in motherhood."

https://www.emilyadlermosqueda.com/