In Today's Issue:
🧠Mom Brain Is Not Broken. It’s Rewiring.
⚠️ NEW STUDY: The Alarming Truth About Maternal Health (And Why It’s Getting Worse)
đź’¸ Did You Know? The True Cost of Postpartum Depression
📊 The Data Is Finally Catching Up to What We’ve Been Saying All Along
🧠Mom Brain Is Not Broken. It’s Rewiring.
We’ve all heard it.
"Ugh, I’ve got mom brain!"
We laugh. We worry. We even take pills.
But what if what we’re patholgicalizing is actually one of the most powerful neurological transformations a woman will ever go through?
In this week’s powerful podcast episode, we break open the science (and the soul) of what’s really happening in the postpartum brain. And spoiler: it’s not broken. It’s brilliant.
Postpartum isn’t a breakdown, it’s a biological rebuilding.
The maternal brain literally rewires itself. And the changes? They’re structural, hormonal, emotional, and deeply functional. Moms aren’t “crazy.” They’re becoming someone new. And every thought, every emotion, every struggle... makes sense when we finally understand what’s going on in the brain.
And if I’m being honest?
I’ve lived this.
I’ve sat on the edge of my bed, wondering if I was losing my mind because I couldn’t remember what I was doing or why I walked into the room.
I’ve cried over spilled breastmilk and felt rage at the sound of a baby cry, and then shame for feeling that rage.
And I’ve worked with thousands of mothers who say the exact same things — “I don’t feel like me,” “I can’t think straight,” “I feel like I’m failing.”
But the truth is, they weren’t broken.
And neither was I.
Our brains were doing exactly what they were designed to do — protect, attune, survive.
No one told us this was a transformation. No one told us this was sacred.
So I made it my life’s work to make sure you know.
So that you can be the person who tells a mother, “You’re not crazy — you’re rewiring.”
Because when a mother understands what’s really happening to her, that’s where healing begins.
This episode is for the mother who’s been told she’s too hormonal.
For the provider who sees the struggle but doesn’t know what to call it.
For the ones who have heard “you’re just tired” one too many times.
You’ll learn:
✨ Why “mom brain” is a real — and adaptive — neurological shift
🧬 The biological root of things like intrusive thoughts, rage, forgetfulness, and emotional overwhelm
⚠️ The danger of labeling this as pathology when it’s often depletion + dysregulation
đź› Tools for nervous system healing, trauma release, and nutrient repletion
đź“Ł Why validation and education are the most underused forms of clinical support
And most of all?
You’ll walk away with a new lens — one that finally names what mothers are going through and gives you the tools to meet them with reverence, not a prescription.
👉 Listen to the episode now: Postpartum Brain Rewiring: The Transformation No One Talks About
🧠Let’s stop calling it a problem.
This is sacred architecture — and mothers deserve support for every step of the rebuild.
⚠️ NEW STUDY: The Alarming Truth About Maternal Health (And Why It’s Getting Worse)
We talk often about the cracks in the system—but what if the whole foundation is collapsing?
A new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine paints a sobering picture: maternal health in the U.S. is not only struggling, it's deteriorating. Fast. And it's not just one area—it’s mental health, physical health, and the racial disparities that continue to widen.
This wasn’t a small data dive. We’re talking about over 350,000 mothers surveyed between 2016 and 2020, and here’s what they found:
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The percentage of mothers reporting fair or poor mental health nearly doubled.
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Self-rated physical health also declined, especially among Black and Hispanic mothers.
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Black and Hispanic women were 2-3 times more likely to report poor health outcomes compared to White women—and those disparities remained constant or worsened over time.
Let that sink in: More mothers are saying, “I don’t feel well,” and the system is still responding with silence.
This isn’t just about postpartum depression. This is about structural inequities, nutritional depletion, nervous system overload, lack of postpartum care, and a system that continues to expect mothers to carry the weight of everything—without support.
It validates what you and I have known for years: maternal wellness is collapsing under the pressure of a system built without mothers in mind.
But here's the good news: We’re changing that.
At Postpartum University®, we’ve built a model of care rooted in prevention, nutritional repletion, nervous system regulation, and evidence-based tools that address root causes—not just symptoms. This study? It confirms the urgency of this work. It underscores the need for you—a provider willing to lead the change.
We’ll be diving even deeper into what this means for clinical practice and what providers can do inside our upcoming cohorts and trainings. And trust me, the conversations are only getting more powerful.
Let’s stop talking about how bad it is.
Let’s change it.
MESSAGE ME: What do you need in your work/practice to address this better and more fully? What do you need in order to make a bigger difference? Respond to this email and let me know!
Read the journal article cited here.
đź’¸ Did You Know? The True Cost of Postpartum Depression
👉 Did you know untreated maternal mental health conditions cost the U.S. $14.2 billion annually?
👉 Did you know that’s about $32,000 per mother–child pair?
👉 Did you know most of that cost isn’t medical—it’s the long-term impact on the child’s development, education, and lifetime health?
👉 Did you know untreated maternal mental health conditions lead to lower breastfeeding rates, higher emergency room visits, increased chronic illness, and more missed workdays?
👉 Did you know babies of mothers with postpartum depression are more likely to experience developmental delays, behavioral challenges, and long-term emotional issues?
👉 Did you know when we invest in early care and prevention, we save money—and change lives?
This is why your work matters.
Because behind every statistic is a mother who’s unraveling while the system shrugs.
Because postpartum depression doesn’t just “go away”, it ripples through families, through generations.
Because the cost of not caring is measured in broken homes, missed milestones, and years of silent suffering.
And here you are — choosing to show up, to learn more, to do better.
That isn’t small. That’s revolutionary.
So if you’ve ever questioned your value, your impact, or your prices — let this be your reminder:
You are doing the work that changes the future. And it’s worth every damn penny.
Keep going. We need you.
Read the journal article cited here.
📊 The Data Is Finally Catching Up to What We’ve Been Saying All Along
"Postpartum depression isn’t just a hormone issue — it’s a systemic one. And guess what? The science is finally catching up."
For years, you've been saying what mothers have felt in their bones:
this isn’t just exhaustion. This isn’t weakness. This isn’t just “baby blues.”
It’s nutrient depletion.
It’s nervous system dysregulation.
It’s lack of support, lack of care, lack of cultural reverence.
And now? The evidence is undeniable:
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🧠Nervous system regulation is showing up in mental health literature as a key factor in maternal well-being.
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🛑 Prevention — once a taboo word in postpartum mental health — is finally being talked about (loudly!).
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🥣 Nutritional depletion is cited again and again as a driver of maternal mental health struggles, not just a side note.
We’ve been shouting into the void for years. Now the void is echoing back.
So if you’ve ever felt like the lone voice in the room…
If you’ve ever questioned whether your work “really” matters…
If you’ve ever felt dismissed for your holistic approach…
Let this be your reminder:
✨ You were right. You were early. You’re the future of this field. ✨
Keep going. We’re just getting started.
Stay fierce, stay rooted,
Maranda Bower
CEO & Founder of Postpartum University®
www.PostpartumU.com
Current Ways You Can Work With Postpartum University®
đź””Get on the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
📝Free Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool
🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training
đź’Ś Know someone who gets it?
This newsletter is basically a secret handshake for providers who are done with surface-level postpartum care and want something deeper, realer, and rooted in truth. Forward this to your people—the ones who need to be in on these conversations. 👉 They can join us here: www.postpartumu.com/newsletter
