Weeks before the birth of her second daughter, Leigh is counting down the time she still has alone with her firstborn. She's feeling guilty about how the arrival of a new baby will impact her relationship with her older daughter.CREDITSMotherhood Sessions is a production of Gimlet Media. It’s produced by Peter Bresnan, Molly Donahue, and Lauren Silverman. Our editors are Devon Taylor and Nazanin Rafsanjani. Engineering and music by Emma Munger.If you or someone you know is experiencing depression or anxiety during pregnancy, or in the postpartum period, contact <a href="https://www.postpartum.net/">Postpartum Support International</a> at (800) 944-4773. If you or a family member are worried about safety, get help right away by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or dialing 911.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a>

Parenting Through Trauma

Being a mom is hard—everybody knows that. But usually we only hear about sleepless nights and diaper changes, not the profound identity shift that accompanies becoming a mother. Motherhood is a psychological big bang. And yet it’s rare to find emotionally honest conversations about it. On Gimlet Media’s Motherhood Sessions, Dr. Alexandra Sacks, a renowned reproductive psychiatrist, sits down with mothers and lets us listen in on conversations that are hard to have outside of a therapist’s office. Each episode features a woman struggling with some problem or question—from career uncertainty to sex to ambivalence about even being a mother—and she and Dr. Sacks work it through together.