Just Us: Before, Birth, and Beyond
Welcome to Just Us: Before, Birth, and Beyond. We invite you to tune in for a podcast focused on perinatal and community health. In an effort to raise awareness and start a conversation about perinatal health, our hosts have joined forces with doulas, midwives, nurses, lactation consultants, physicians and more from across North Carolina to share best practices, lived experiences, and lessons learned. Just Us explores real topics and dives into what has happened, what is happening, and what can happen next in the sexual and reproductive health and wellness space. Our goal is to learn and grow together in order to take care of ourselves and each other so that we can all live our healthiest lives. Thank you for being here. Let’s get started! This project was made possible thanks to the funding, guidance and support from North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services - Division of Public Health - Maternal Health Branch-Women, Infant and Community Wellness Section. This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $10,216,885 with 0% financed with nongovernmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.
Episodes
In this episode, our guest speaker Leah Donatelli, LCMHCA, explores the profound impact of eating disorders on various aspects of a person’s life, particularly during pregnancy and the postpartum period. We discuss misconceptions, the importance of nourishment, and the need for an interdisciplinary approach to treatment. Our guest emphasizes the role of self-compassion in recovery and the importance of focusing on behaviors rather ...
Substance Use Disorder can affect anyone at any time, even during pregnancy.. Our friends at Project CARA, Carriedelle Fusco, Nurse Practitioner, and Olivia Caron, Pharmacist Practitioner, sat down with Thomas Baker, a Davidson Impact Fellow at MAHEC, to dive into the ever-evolving field of addiction medicine, focusing on the complexities of opioid use disorder and emerging substances. They also reflect on how the landscape of add...
Breastfeeding can be an important part of a baby’s health and development. But what about families who are affected by substance use disorder? this episode, a partnership with Project CARA, Dr. Amy Marietta, MD, Family Medicine and Olivia Caron, Pharmacist Practitioner, and Georganna Cogburn IBCLC, will talk about how to support lactation and infant feeding in patients who use substances or are being treated for SUDs. Using the A...
Paid family leave is not only good for the health and the wellness of employees and their families, but it also benefits the employers who offer it. Tina Sherman from the national maternal advocacy group MomsRising, explains why in this episode. Learn about how more companies are realizing the positive impact this policy can have, and what is being done to help more workers have access to it when needed. You’ll also hear about th...
In this episode, our co-host Dr. Amy Santin interviews Family Medicine champions from around North Carolina. During this episode, they discuss the critical issue of improving maternal health outcomes across the state, particularly during the first postpartum year. Experts emphasize the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration in reducing maternal mortality, focusing on the transition from intrapartum care to the first postpar...
If you enjoyed our episode on Centering Pregnancy, you will want to listen to this episode. Our host Chama Woydak returns to interview Dr. MacNamara who shares insights into the Centering Parenting Program—a transformative approach to supporting new parents. We’ll explore how this group model of care fosters a supportive, educational, and inclusive environment for parents, helping them navigate the challenges of early parenthood.
R...
Have you ever thought about how families can benefit from receiving care alongside others going through the same stages of pregnancy? Our host Chama Woydak talks to Amanda Brickhouse Murphy, a Certified Nurse Midwife at MAHEC, and Kelley and Matt, new parents who participated in the Centering Pregnancy program. They will explain the Centering model and how it differs from traditional prenatal care. Kelley and Matt will share thei...
When Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina in the fall of 2024, many families were left without access to power and clean water for weeks or even months. This made commonplace tasks such as safely storing pumped breast milk nearly impossible. Brandi Harrison, a certified lactation consultant based in WNC, discusses her experience helping families navigate infant feeding during this crisis, and shares lessons learned to help ...
In this episode, Katlyn Moss talks to Emily Taylor from the AFE Foundation about the pregnancy complication of Amniotic Fluid Embolism, and how the AFE Foundation helps to support and educate medical professionals. Emily shares her own story about surviving AFE and how this experience inspired her to dedicate herself to raising awareness. You will learn what AFE is, why it is often difficult to diagnose, and how it affects the pati...
We are proud to kick off Season 4 of our podcast by featuring an amazing community organization, Babies Need Bottoms. Katlyn Moss talks to Megan Lyons Leimena, from Babies Need Bottoms, a nonprofit diaper bank that serves all of Western North Carolina. To address the problem of diaper needs, Babies Need Bottoms provides diapers and diapering supplies through community-based partner organizations throughout the region. They talk ab...
Tune in to this episode to hear all about the Interactive map and dashboard for Transitions, Access, and Continuity of Care
(ITACC). This resource provides an overview of reproductive healthcare and substance use treatment resources across the 18 westernmost counties of North Carolina. Use it to connect patients to providers or to find a service near you! Enjoy!
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On this episode of “Just Us: Before, Birth, and Beyond” we will hear from the team at the 4th Trimester Project about how they built their revolutionary postpartum toolkit. The team highlights how the tool came to be and what makes it so unique. Spoiler alert: one of those things is the input from real moms! Tune in to learn more and we hope you enjoy it!
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In this episode, we dive into Project CARA, a groundbreaking initiative based at MAHEC in Asheville, NC, designed to improve care for pregnant and parenting individuals with substance use disorders. We explore the innovative hub and spokes model of care that Project CARA employs to extend its reach and impact across multiple counties in WNC. We hope you enjoy this episode!
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Listen to this episode of Just Us: Before, Birth, and Beyond to understand more about intimate partner violence and the effects it can have on citizens right here in WNC. Join us in raising awareness of this tragic reality and learn about resources right here in the mountains. Podcast Survey:
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This week we are joined by 4 RNs across the state! Katlyn Moss, BSN, RN, one of the hosts of our podcast, is the Region I Perinatal Nurse Champion. This means her job is to provide equitable and evidence based maternal health information to the western part of the state through the MHI grant. She works with 5 other Perinatal Nurse Champions across the state and this podcast highlights their shared “I Gave Birth” bracelet project. T...
This week’s guest is Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody who is a reproductive psychiatrist and the director of the UNC Center for Women's Mood Disorders. She has been involved in the clinical trials for the new medications to treat postpartum depression. Take a listen to this episode to learn all about these medications and the possibilities they provide for postpartum depression treatment. We hope you enjoy!
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Did you know that government assistance for those below the poverty line does not include period products?This is where Project Dignity comes in! For this week’s episode we sit down with the team at Project Dignity and discuss what their program provides,the beautiful way it got started and more. Enjoy!
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Social Media
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Everyone needs some parenting help at some point in their parenting journey. In this episode Katlyn Moss, BSN, RN interviews Sarah Clark who is the program manager for the Positive Parenting Program, or Triple P at MAHEC. Sarah helps us to understand what kinds of services Triple P provides to their clients all over WNC and gives examples of the tangible ways they are assisting parents in their parenting journey and creating suppor...
Have you ever taken care of a patient who speaks a different language than you? This episode highlights the importance of caring for patients in the language that they speak through interpreter services, appropriate patient education, and more. Our guests, Jenny Jensen, MSN, MPH, RN, IBCLC and Dr. Kristin Tully, PhD share their work around language concordant service and why this is not only best practice, but a basic human right. ...
Ever had a patient with a newly diagnosed mental health disorder and you had no idea where to start? We have a solution. In this episode we will hear from the team at NC PALs, which stands for North Carolina Psychiatric Access Line. This hotline provides mental health consultation and education to North Carolina clinical and social service providers—building their mental health knowledge and capacity. And this is specifically for m...
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