⚠️ Content note: This episode contains discussions of sexual assault, suicide, and depression.

If you've been through fertility treatment, you already know it's more than a medical process. It's months, sometimes years, of appointments and numbers and waiting, with very little space given to how you're actually doing.

There's research showing that nearly 50% of people in fertility treatment develop PTSD, regardless of whether they get pregnant. Not because they're fragile. Because the system they're moving through wasn't built with their nervous system in mind.

In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White chats with Nicole Lange, a trauma-informed acupuncturist who has spent 20 years working exclusively at the intersection of women's reproductive health and trauma. They explore why stress matters more than we've been told, why it matters less than we've been blamed for, and what whole-person fertility care actually looks like in practice.

You'll hear about:

• Why the stress of trying to conceive is on par with a cancer diagnosis
• How chronic stress affects every system involved in fertility
• What the 25/75 framework is and how it changes outcomes
• How acupuncture supports circulation, immunity, and nervous system regulation
• Why whole-person fertility care is the most evidence-based option available

You are not just a fertility outcome. And the care you receive shouldn't treat you like one.

If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone navigating their own fertility journey. And subscribe to The Science of Motherhood so you never miss an episode.

Resources & Links

📲 Connect with Renee on Instagram: @fillyourcup_

🌐 Learn more about Dr Renee White and explore Fill Your Cup Doula services

🍪 Treat yourself with our Chocolate + Goji lactation cookies

Connect with Nicole Lange

Nicole's website: www.lifehealinglife.com

Follow Nicole on Instagram @notafixer

Follow Nicole on YouTube @thebabyyouwant

This episode is proudly supported by Fill Your Cup, Australia's first doula village, with doulas available across Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Hobart and Perth.

Disclaimer: The information on this podcast presented by Fill Your Cup is not a substitute for independent professional advice. Nothing contained in this episode is intended to be used as medical advice and it is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, nor should it be used for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for your own health professional's advice.

Does it feel like your body hasn't quite come back together yet after you've had your baby? That clicking, that instability, that sense that your hips or knees might give way. It's not in your head, and it's not a sign that something is wrong.

So many mums are told that by six weeks, things should be settling. But if you're still breastfeeding and still feeling like your body doesn't quite belong to you yet, that timeline was never based on what your hormones are actually doing.

In this episode, Dr Renee White unpacks why so many postpartum women feel structurally unsound for months after birth, and why the answer has everything to do with a hormone your body is still responding to, whether anyone told you that or not.

You'll Hear About:

• Why relaxin affects every joint, not just your pelvis
• What happens to hormone levels when you're breastfeeding
• How the six-week clearance myth fails postpartum women
• When to seek support from a women's health physio
• Why your joint integrity will return, on its own timeline

Your body isn't broken. It's doing something hormonally complex on a timeline that was never going to fit neatly into six weeks. The integrity will come back. It just takes longer than anyone tells you.

If this episode helped something click for you, share it with a mum who's been told she should be fine by now. And subscribe so you don't miss an episode of The Science of Motherhood.

Resources & Links

📲 Connect with Renee on Instagram: @fillyourcup_ 🌐 Learn more about Dr Renee White and explore Fill Your Cup Doula services 🍪 Treat yourself with our Chocolate + Goji lactation cookies

This episode is proudly supported by Fill Your Cup, Australia's first doula village, with doulas available across Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Hobart and Perth.

Disclaimer The information on this podcast presented by Fill Your Cup is not a substitute for independent professional advice. Nothing contained in this episode is intended to be used as medical advice and it is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, nor should it be used for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for your own health professional's advice.

If you're neurodivergent, the maternity system wasn't built with your brain in mind. The appointments, the environments, the cognitive load of it all. Nobody tells you that's why it feels harder than it should. They just hand you the same pamphlet and send you on your way.

That gap matters even more when you're navigating pregnancy, birth and early parenting. It's not just your body being stretched. It's every system you've built to keep yourself functioning.

In this episode of The Science of Motherhood, Dr Renee White sits down with Jennifer Curtis, registered occupational therapist and registered midwife, to explore what occupational therapy actually offers pregnant and postpartum women, and why that support is so often invisible. Together, they unpack the very real cost of a health system designed for neurotypical brains, and what it looks like when care is finally built around the whole person.

This is the final episode of The Science of Motherhood's three-part autism series. If you missed Parts 1 and 2, head back to episodes 221 with Dr Abbey Love and 222 with Linda Hollenberg.

You'll hear about:

• Why autistic women face higher perinatal health risks
• What occupational therapy actually is and does
• How sensory processing intensifies throughout the perinatal period
• What to ask at your first midwifery appointment to get better support
• Why late autism diagnosis so often happens in pregnancy or motherhood

If this conversation opened something up for you, share it with a mum or healthcare provider who needs to hear it. And subscribe so you don't miss an episode of The Science of Motherhood.

Resources & Links

📲 Connect with Renee on Instagram: @fillyourcup_ 🌐 Learn more about Dr Renee White and explore Fill Your Cup Doula services 🍪 Treat yourself with our Chocolate + Goji lactation cookies

🔗 Explore the Aspect New Parents Hub: Autistic Pregnancy and Parenthood Hub 🔗 Connect with Aspect on Instagram: @aspect_aus 🔗 Occupational Therapy Australia directory — find an OT near you: https://www.otaus.com.au 🔗 COPE (Centre of Perinatal Excellence) service directory: https://www.cope.org.au

📚 Somatic Maternal Healing by Helena Vissing (Psychodynamic and Somatic Trauma Treatment for Perinatal Mental Health) 📚 Matrescence by Lucy Jones

This episode is proudly supported by Fill Your Cup, Australia's first doula village, with doulas available across Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Hobart and Perth.

Disclaimer

The information on this podcast presented by Fill Your Cup is not a substitute for independent professional advice. Nothing contained in this episode is intended to be used as medical advice and it is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, nor should it be used for therapeutic purposes or as a substitute for your own health professional's advice.