Today I speak with Anna Downs, a specialist Pregnancy & Postpartum Movement Coach, Educator, Author and International Public Speaker. Her journey into this work began as a British Army Officer and an athlete with two tough pregnancies and deliveries, during which everything she knew about her body, health and fitness was challenged leaving her in the dark with how to manage to issues such as pelvic organ prolapse, incontinence and Diastasis Recti. Her career taught her how to ignore pain signals, a valuable skill in the military but not really conducive to effective self-care. This led her on a path of education, self-discovery and ultimately, to supporting other parents-to-be in their informed and empowered journey into parenthood. She now lives and works in Bangkok, Thailand with her husband and two children.  Anna shares how her transition into parenthood lead her to discover her vocation. Her goal is to support people to feel empowered and able to be advocate for themselves. She strongly believes that education is key and that no subject should be off limits.  We talk about: -experience in the British military -damage during delivery -mental shifts needed for pregnancy -data and opinions about activity in pregnancy -realistic motherhood movement patterns -differences in pregnancies -journey of self-healing -advice for first-time moms  Time Stamps 1:00 introduction 2:21 entering the military 8:30 her birth experience 12:01 navigating pregnancy as a military officer 17:35 advice from physicians going into birth 20:03 going from home birth to hospital 23:35 first weeks postpartum and second pregnancy 26:53 trying to heal leakage, diastasis recti, and prolapse 34:01 recovery from second birth 37:35 deciding to help others 40:46 things to share in early pregnancy 43:43 life in Thailand 51:35 advice for moms  CONNECT WITH CARRIE IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/ Website: https://carriepagliano.com  CONNECT WITH ANNA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/movewellwithanna/ Website: https://movewellwithanna.com  Pregnancy Journal: Prompts for a Mindful Connection & Reflection. This is a book of journalling prompts designed for two reasons, 1) to help support a calm and considered transition parenthood and 2) to create a beautiful record of your journey to share with your child in the futureThe Active Mom Postpartum Podcast is A Real Moms' Guide to Postpartum for active moms & the postpartum professionals who help them in their journey. This show has been a long time in the making! You can expect conversation with moms and postpartum professionals from all aspects of the industry. If you're like me, you don't have a lot of free time (heck, you're probably listening at 1.5x speed), so theses interviews will be quick hits to get your the pertinent information FAST! If you love what you hear, share the podcast with a friend and leave us a 5 start rating and review. It helps us become more visible in the search algorithm! (Helps us get seen by more moms that need to hear these stories!!!!)