Postnatal Body Confidence

Your guide to the emotions of pregnancy and early motherhood, from two of America’s top reproductive psychiatrists. When you are pregnant, you get plenty of advice about your growing body and developing baby. Yet so much about motherhood happens in your head. What everyone really wants to know: Is this normal? -Even after months of trying, is it normal to panic after finding out you’re pregnant? -Is it normal not to feel love at first sight for your baby? -Is it normal to fight with your parents and partner? -Is it normal to feel like a breastfeeding failure? -Is it normal to be zonked by “mommy brain?” In What No One Tells You, two of America’s top reproductive psychiatrists reassure you that the answer is yes. With thirty years of combined experience counseling new and expectant mothers, they provide a psychological and hormonal backstory to the complicated emotions that women experience, and show why it’s natural for “matrescence”—the birth of a mother—to be as stressful and transformative a period as adolescence. Here, finally, is the first-ever practical guide to help new mothers feel less guilt and more self-esteem, less isolation and more kinship, less resentment and more intimacy, less exhaustion and more pleasure, and learn other tips to navigate the ups and downs of this exciting, demanding time

Everything you ever wanted to know about the embarrassing (and often unspoken) issues your body endures postpartum but didn't know who to ask! Beyond Nine Months will empower moms of all ages. It's time to reveal the real information and solutions behind the embarrassment and frustration of peeing your pants when you jump or sneeze, pelvic organ prolapse, back pain, abdominal separation, and painful sex. Once you are postpartum, you are always postpartum, and this book is going to take you beyond Kegel exercises to find a resolution once and for all to renew your confidence in your body again! Beyond Nine Months will: Reveal the missing links in the US Healthcare system facing women today, which are readily available to you! Challenge the belief that motherhood includes physical changes that are irreversible. Learn how to finally resolve embarrassing bladder control issues naturally without having to wear a pad or dark yoga pants with exercise, improve prolapse symptoms and diastasis recti without dangerous surgery, how to resume your active life without back pain stopping you... AND MUCH MORE! Learn the secrets to resolving common women's health issues naturally by seeing the doctor ALL women need in their life. Provide you with the exact tangible action steps (no matter what your age) to give you more energy, free of worry, and the active lifestyle you deserve! You train to get your body to look or perform a certain way, but do you train to restore, heal, and perform for the demands of motherhood following a nine-month period that has put a significant strain on your physical body? As you reach your 40s, 50s, and beyond and facing unnecessary surgeries and use of medications, there is available conservative and effective options, as noted in this book, to keep free from worrying about your future health. If you or someone you know has had a baby (whether weeks, months, or even YEARS ago!), this is a must-read so you are not left in the dark and you can feel like yourself again--no matter what your age! "Dr. Andalon highlights something in motherhood that is so important, that once you become a mother you are always postpartum. Women have been taught by society to not talk about how our bodies really change once we have babies, and therefore, important issues we face in regards to our female health are overlooked." --Lara Schulte Co- Founder, Generation.Mom About the Author: Dr. Dawn Andalon is a physical therapist, educator, author, and co-owner of LEVEL4 Physio in Encinitas, CA. She is known as a leading spine and postpartum women's health specialist in the San Diego area. Prior to living in Carlsbad, CA, she worked at Nike WHQ in Portland, OR, as a physical therapist. Dr. Dawn has also been a Pilates-based PT, which she has implemented with elite and Olympic athletes, surfers, and the weekend warrior to enhance their chosen sport and for rehab with spinal injuries. She is highly trained in pelvic floor rehab, holds a manual therapy certification from University of St. Augustine, and has special training with the female athlete population. Dr. Dawn has a passion for postnatal care, serving as an educator to bridge the gap between labor/delivery and return to exercise, which is evident in this book.

The standard reference for practitioners, researchers, and students, this acclaimed work brings together internationally recognized experts from diverse mental health, medical, and allied health care disciplines. Contributors review established and emerging theories and findings; probe questions of culture, gender, health, and disorder; and present evidence-based assessment, treatment, and prevention approaches for the full range of body image concerns. Capturing the richness and complexity of the field in a readily accessible format, each of the 53 concise chapters concludes with an informative annotated bibliography. New to This Edition *Addresses the most urgent current questions in the field. *Reflects significant advances in key areas: assessment, body image in boys and men, obesity, illness-related body image issues, and cross-cultural research. *Conceptual Foundations section now incorporates evolutionary, genetic, and positive psychology perspectives. *Increased coverage of prevention.

Mom in the Mirror: Body Image, Beauty, and Life after Pregnancy is for every woman who has ever doubted herself or her self-worth after the birth of a child. Because most women spend much of their lives attempting to change their bodies, it’s not surprising that the weight gain that comes along with pregnancy (and post-pregnancy), coupled with the challenges of parenting, only exacerbate issues with weight, body image, disordered eating, and self-esteem. Drawing on the wisdom of eating disorders expert Dr. Dena Cabrera, as well as the personal experiences of former anorexic Emily Wierenga, Mom in the Mirror is a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual response to a female generation seeking its true identity in an appearance-based world. With chapters that deal with bruises from the past, misconceptions about pregnancy, life before and after children, marriage and motherhood, spiritual and physical nourishment, relationships with friends and family, and the changing role of a mother as her children age, it is a holistic approach to the age-old questions: Who am I, and why am I here? Comprising personal stories, expert advice, reflection questions, and helpful tools, this book is an inspiring read intended for women everywhere who want to restore a positive body image and to overcome the insecurities that arise when pregnancy is over and child-rearing begins.