The Transition into Parenthood, with Elly Taylor

Going from being an non-parent individual to being a parent duo is an immensely transformative process that rocks any couple’s world. In this episode of the Birthful podcast, Elly Taylor takes us through the 8 stages that you can expect to navigate, as you grow together as a family.

What we talked about:

• It’s never too late to start preparing… or too early
• What about if you’re a single mom?
• What does your birth have to do with this?
• What he said, what she said: sorting out your communication
• The importance of a postpartum plan
• Ripe and raw: it’s ok to be vulnerable and susceptible
• Setting realistic expectations
• Making room for the new you
• What if you start out late in the game?
• Negotiating the differences

Helpful resources & links*:

• Elly’s book: Becoming Us: 8 Steps to Grow a Family that Thrives
• The Truth About Becoming A Parent from Psychology Today
• 10 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Becoming a Parent from Life Hacker
• Postpartum Support International has a great many resources and useful links
• The Online PPD Support Group website
• Beyond Blue – about baby blues, depression and anxiety (Australian site)
• Postpartum Dads website
• Postpartum Men website
• 8 Types of Psychotherapy for Postpartum Depression Treatment article
• Feeling good: The New Mood Therapy and Ten Days to Self-Esteem by David Burns
• Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale: self assessment tool
• The California Maternal Mental Health Collaborative (soon to be 2020 Mom) is a non-profit doing great things to address the current lack of diagnosis and treatment.
• SolaceForMothers.org – healing after traumatic childbirth
• BirthTraumaCanada.org – organization of mothers who have had negative childbirth experiences
• PATTCh – Prevention and Treatment of Traumatic Childbirth

Related Birthful episodes:

• The Identity Shift of Becoming a Mom, with Sophie McEntee
• Postpartum Depression, with Kathleen Kendall-Tackett

Courtesy of Elly Taylor

About Elly Taylor

Elly Taylor is an Australian relationship counselor, independent parenthood researcher and author of the award winning book Becoming Us.

Elly began trying to get her head around the whole parenthood thing over 20 years ago when she and her husband were blindsided by the changes and challenges they experienced as new parents. For years, after she discovered most other parents were blindsided too, she wondered why they weren’t being prepared for this.

Fast forward to now and Elly is the founder of Becoming Us, an organization created to teach helping professionals her research and evidence-based approach to the transition into parenthood and to support mothers, fathers, partners and families to thrive.

When she’s not travelling and teaching the 8 Stages of Becoming Us to parents and professionals, Elly lives in Sydney with her firefighter husband, their three children and a bunch of pets.

Find out more at ellytaylor.com, or join the conversation on Facebook

Title music: “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, from the Free Music Archive / CC BY (edited for length).

Sponsorship music: “Air Hockey Saloon” by Chris Zabriskie, from the Free Music Archive / CC BY (edited for length).