Mom and Mind

Episode 310 | January 2024

Alison Hanson is a pediatric clinical pharmacist, wife, and the mother of two children. She loved with a passion her work in the NICU which lasted almost seven years. She was blindsided by severe postpartum anxiety and PTSD after her daughter was born prematurely and spent three weeks in the NICU. After working through a lot of healing, she was again caught by surprise by her son’s traumatic birth which resulted in a four-week NICU stay and more postpartum anxiety and PTSD. Alison hopes that sharing her story will help others who work in healthcare and struggle to return to work after facing postpartum anxiety and/or PTSD.

Unswaddled

Episode 149 | June 2024

This week’s episode features Alison, a mom of two and a NAPS client. She shares her journey of having two children in the NICU, in hopes that her story will help other parents who are navigating medical challenges with their own children. Alison joins Emily to share how she navigated the NICU with her two children, Abby and Caleb. Alison discusses staying in the hospital while pregnant to the emotional and medical hurdles of having premature and medically complex infants. She goes on to talk about her determination to breastfeed Caleb after not being able to do so with her daughter, the difficulties they faced, and the eventual decision to prioritize bottle and tube feeding in order to ensure Caleb’s health and bring him home from the hospital. Alison further explains the process of being discharged with a baby with a feeding tube and the unexpected obstacles that accompanied it. Emily and Alison touch upon resources available to parents with children in the NICU, emphasizing the importance of seeking support from therapists, as well as connecting to parents in similar situations through social media groups and organizations like Feeding Matters.