SSRI Controversy, Spontaneous Healing, and my Manual Release!

In Today's Issue:

💊 SSRIs in Pregnancy: What No One Wants to Talk About
📘 I Wrote the Manual on Postpartum Nutrition (Literally)
💉 I Didn’t Want This to Be True — But It Is
🧠 What If Healing Has Less to Do with What You Eat… and More to Do with What You Believe?

💊 SSRIs in Pregnancy: What No One Wants to Talk About

There’s a heated debate happening right now — and it’s one we can no longer afford to ignore.

Recently, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. publicly raised alarms about the use of SSRIs during pregnancy, linking them to miscarriage, birth defects, and later childhood neurological and behavioral issues. The internet erupted. Some dismissed his claims as fearmongering. Others doubled down and pointed to decades of silencing and underreporting around these medications.

And then — an FDA public panel of experts was brought together to address it.

Yes, untreated perinatal depression is dangerous. But that doesn’t mean SSRIs are the answer for everyone.

Because here’s what’s really happening:

→ Women are being prescribed SSRIs for mild mood shifts — not just severe depression.
→ Informed consent is virtually nonexistent.
→ Providers are routinely telling women SSRIs are “perfectly safe” in pregnancy and postpartum — without disclosing the very real risks.
→ And the alternative? There isn’t one. Not really.

SSRIs are the only tool we’ve institutionalized in the system. And while they may help some women (truly), we’re not addressing the root causes:

🧠 Nervous system dysregulation
🍽️ Nutrient depletion
💥 Trauma
💤 Sleep collapse
🌪️ Hormonal + inflammatory chaos

So even when a woman does take the meds… the real issues remain.

📚 Want the research?
Here are just a few of the studies that deserve more attention:

• A 2016 JAMA Pediatrics cohort of 145,000+ found SSRI use in 2nd/3rd trimester linked to nearly double the risk of autism (adjusted HR ~ 2.17), even after accounting for maternal depression.
• A 2015 case-control study in the CHARGE cohort reported boys exposed prenatally had 3× odds of autism versus unexposed controls (especially first trimester).
• Conversely, a large Danish cohort found no increase in behavioral problems at age 7 after adjusting for maternal mood disorders. Untreated prenatal depression remained a stronger predictor than SSRI exposure.
• A major US multisite study (SEED) found no independent link between SSRI use and autism once adjusting for maternal psychiatric conditions—but psychiatric illness overall doubled odds of SSD and developmental delays.

So what’s really going on here?

🔍 The real risk: Untreated perinatal depression carries serious risks—for both mom and child. Only one expert in the recent panel you mentioned stood up for this crucial trade-off.

💊 The reality: SSRIs don’t work in isolation. They're part of a system that too often defaults to medication instead of root-cause care.

🥦 What we know: Nutrient depletion, dysregulated gut-brain axis, nervous system dysregulation—they are modifiable pathways that SSRI pills alone can’t address.

Now here’s the hard part:
There’s no clear answer. Just lots of assumptions and a broken model.

But maybe that’s the point. Maybe this moment, as uncomfortable as it is, is exactly the push we need to rethink postpartum care entirely.

Because let’s be honest: even in the “natural” and “holistic” world, we’ve mirrored the same system. We may not hand out pharmaceuticals, but we sure hand out protocols. And pills. And pressure. Just with a different label.

So what do we do?

We get louder about prevention.
We rebuild care models around nervous system repair, nutritional repletion, trauma resolution, and community-based support.
We stop saying “you’re fine” when she’s clearly not.
And we demand better tools — tools that support women, not sedate them.

💬 I want to know: What’s your take?

Do you think SSRIs are being overprescribed? Have you seen alternatives work in real time? Are you seeing a shift in your clinical world?

👉 Hit reply. I read every single message.
📢 Forward this to a colleague or client who needs to hear it.

Let’s not run from the controversy.

Let’s use it to rebuild something better.

📘 I Wrote the Manual on Postpartum Nutrition (Literally)

It still doesn’t feel real.

After 15 years of boots-on-the-ground work, thousands of mothers supported, and countless hours researching, writing, teaching, and rewriting again... it’s here.

The Postpartum Nutrition Certification Manual is done.

Over 330 pages of hard-earned wisdom, diagrams, research, protocols, case studies, and tools — all in one comprehensive resource.

For years, I’ve dreamed of creating a guide that would do more than scratch the surface. Something that wouldn't just educate, but transform. Something you could hold in your hands and say: Yes. This is what we’ve been missing.

And now, we’re at the final step: printing.

If you’re inside the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Program, this manual is yours — in both PDF and print. If you're not in the program yet… your time is coming.

✨ Registration for the next cohort opens in September.
✨ We open enrollment only twice a year.
✨ Only 50 seats available.
✨ And the waitlist gets first notification — and a discount.

📝 Add your name now: Join the Waitlist

I created this program and this manual because I couldn’t not. Because mothers deserve more. Because providers deserve better tools. Because the gap in postpartum care is still far too wide — and the consequences are far too great.

This manual is more than paper. It’s a movement. A blueprint for changing how we care for mothers from the inside out.

And I cannot wait for you to see it. Want a sneak peek? 

We’re building something revolutionary here.

Come be part of it, if you aren't already!

💉 I Didn’t Want This to Be True — But It Is

I said something bold online the other day, and people came for me:
That common birth meds — like Pitocin, epidurals, and antibiotics — are being directly linked to postpartum depression.

The backlash? Immediate.
Because no one wants to believe that what’s routine in birth could be causing harm.

But here’s the truth:
The science is catching up. And it’s undeniable.

New research shows that these meds don’t just manage birth -> they disrupt hormonal feedback loops, gut-brain function, and nervous system regulation… all of which are key to maternal mental health.

Moms are being handed interventions, sometimes without real informed consent, and then left to recover alone when the emotional spiral hits.

No one is saying these medications don’t have a place. But the lack of post-birth recovery support? The silence around risks? That’s what’s doing the damage.

I go deep into all of this in this week’s episode — including exactly how these drugs alter the brain and body, and what we should be doing instead.

🎧 Click to listen now → The Link Between Birth Medications + Postpartum Depression

If you’ve ever wondered why postpartum depression is so common… this episode explains it all.
It’s not a mystery. It’s a warning sign.

And we deserve to talk about it.

🧠 What If Healing Has Less to Do with What You Eat… and More to Do with What You Believe?

I’ve spent my entire summer at rodeos with my daughter.

(She’s a barrel racer — and let me tell you, these girls are gritty, fierce, and tender-hearted all at once.)

And between hauling horses and holding hats over hearts during the anthem, I’ve gotten to know some incredible people. The kind of people who’d give you the shirt off their back. The kind who show up fully, live loud, and love big.

And here’s what’s been on my mind:

Some of them eat all organic. Take the supplements. Do the saunas and exercise and live life outside. And they’re still struggling with autoimmune disease, burnout, depression, and chronic illness.

Others?

They eat Spam and Cheetos, chain-smoke like it’s 1972, sip whiskey at sunset… and they’re thriving. I mean, absolutely thriving. Sharp. Energized. Resilient.

And it’s made me question everything I thought I knew about healing.

Because it’s not bacon that’s killing us. (Let’s be honest — bacon is sacred.)

It’s stress.

And so, I did what I always do when the questions get loud: I went to the books.
📚 Mind Over Medicine by Lissa Rankin
📚 The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee
📚 The Body Heals Itself by Emily Francis

I devoured them. And here’s what hit me again and again:

💥 The body knows how to heal. But the mind decides whether it can. 💥

I’ve spent years helping mothers recover from postpartum depletion. I’ve poured myself into nutrition, nervous system repair, functional root-cause care.

But the truth is, you can be doing everything “right” and still not feel whole.
Why?

Because trauma, self-belief, shame, identity, spiritual disconnect — these live deep in the body.
And healing doesn’t just happen through a protocol.
It happens when the body feels safe enough to try.

🧠 Spontaneous healing isn’t magic.
It’s the moment the nervous system lets go of protection and chooses possibility.
It’s when the subconscious mind gets the message: “It’s safe now. You’re allowed to heal.”

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re one of the healers.

You work with moms.
You hold space for their stories.
You support bodies that are unraveling and trying to rebuild at the same time.

So let me ask you this:

🌀 Are you creating environments that feel safe enough for real healing?
🌀 Are you addressing the invisible wounds — the ones that aren’t on the lab work?
🌀 Are you reminding mothers that their bodies are not broken — they’re brilliant and wise and listening for permission to exhale?

You can have all the tools — and I want you to have them.
But your presence is the tool.
Your belief in her is the supplement.
Your nervous system is the invitation.

This is the next frontier of maternal care.
It’s not just about treating what’s wrong.
It’s about helping women remember what’s right within them.

So as you’re tending to others this week (and hopefully tending to yourself), I want to leave you with this:

🩵 Healing doesn’t always look like a checklist.
Sometimes it looks like a softening.
A permission.
A remembering.

Let’s start there.

And if this resonates — I’d love to hear your story.
What have you noticed about healing? About your clients? About yourself?
Reply to this email and let me know. I read every one.

We’re not just practitioners.
We’re catalysts.
Let’s keep leading like it.

Stay fierce, stay rooted,
Maranda Bower
CEO & Founder of Postpartum University®
www.PostpartumU.com

Current Ways You Can Work With Postpartum University®
🔔Get on the Postpartum Nutrition Certification Waitlist
📝Free Postpartum Restoration Method™ Assessment Tool
🧠Perinatal Mental Health Certificate Training

💌 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