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In this deeply moving and empowering episode, we're joined by Dr. Jessica Zucker, the trailblazing psychologist and author behind the “I Had a Miscarriage” movement. Jessica shares the deeply personal story that reshaped her career and advocacy: experiencing a miscarriage at 16 weeks, alone at home, and the aftermath that followed. What began as a clinical interest became an urgent call to action as she confronted the silence, stigma, and shame surrounding pregnancy loss.

Together, we dive into the evolution of cultural conversations around miscarriage, the emotional aftermath of loss, and the healing that comes from speaking the truth. Jessica also opens up about her journey through breast cancer, how grief stays in our bones, and why it’s time to normalize every phase of womanhood—from menstruation to menopause. If you’ve ever felt alone in your experience, this episode is a reminder that you're not.

Check out her new book
Jessica Zucker, Ph.D.
Order NORMALIZE IT

Dr. Jessica Zucker’s book: I Had a Miscarriage: A Memoir, a Movement

Follow Jessica on Instagram: @ihadamiscarriage

miscarriage awareness, pregnancy loss support, women's reproductive health, maternal mental health, Dr. Jessica Zucker, #IHadAMiscarriage movement, grief after miscarriage, trauma and healing, perinatal anxiety, perimenopause and motherhood, breaking cultural taboos, pregnancy after loss, miscarriage therapy, reproductive trauma, parenting after loss, women's health advocacy, Normalize It book, community in motherhood, healing through storytelling, female mental health

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Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthastorms

Connect with Zara:

Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-hanawalt/

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@zarahanawalt

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/zarahanawalt/

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After 40 episodes, your co-host Sam Strom is sharing her birth story.

Sam flips the roles and sharing the deeply personal story of how she became a mom—despite being sure she never would. Growing up with financial instability and watching the emotional toll motherhood took on her own mom, Sam was convinced kids weren’t for her. But life had other plans. In this conversation with Zara, she opens up about what changed, the reality of a traumatic pregnancy with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), and a birth experience that ended with two (nearly three) blood tranfusions and her surgeon saying “she’d never experienced anything like it in her 35 years.”

We talk about everything—from my complicated feelings around motherhood and how a therapist’s words unexpectedly nudged her into parenthood (spoiler alert, her words were less than honest), to the brutal reality of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) and a traumatic birth during the pandemic. She talks about the guilt, the pressure to “bounce back,” and how lit took months to truly bond with her son.

If you’ve ever questioned motherhood, felt unseen in your journey, or realized your experience didn’t match the picture-perfect version the world sells us—this episode is for you.

⭐️ If something here spoke to you, follow, rate, review, or share it with someone who might need to hear an honest story about motherhood. It will help both them and us get our podcast to folks who it can help.

We’re just getting started.
🔗 Resources & Mentions:
Tone It Up fitness during pregnancy
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth (not an endorsement—listen for why)
Taking Cara Babies sleep program

Pregnancy with hyperemesis gravidarum, traumatic birth, and postpartum recovery

birth story podcast, traumatic birth story, hyperemesis gravidarum, postpartum recovery, first-time mom story, pregnancy complications, birth trauma, motherhood podcast, honest motherhood stories, C-section experience, postpartum anxiety

I didn’t want kids, unplanned motherhood journey, giving birth during the pandemic, bonding with baby, postpartum guilt, postpartum identity crisis, maternal mental health, pregnancy after 35, pandemic birth story, severe morning sickness, emergency C-section, blood transfusion birth story

Support the show

Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthastorms

Connect with Zara:

Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-hanawalt/

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@zarahanawalt

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/zarahanawalt/

Send us a text

In this special re-release, we are officially introducing a past guest as our new co-host. Learn more about Zara's story in this episode, and tune in next week for part two of her story.

Why does parenting in America feel so much harder than it should? Today, we’re joined by Zara Hanawalt, a freelance journalist who has spent nearly a decade covering parenting, motherhood, women’s health, and culture for outlets like Vogue, Parents, Glamour, and The Everymom. But even after years of writing about reproductive health, she was completely unprepared for her own journey into motherhood.

Zara gets real about her struggles with infertility, the challenges of carrying twins, and the prenatal and postpartum realities that no one warns you about (like PUPPP, Post Preeclampsia and so much more). She also shares her perspective on why the system—not mothers—is setting parents up to fail, how American parenting culture has evolved in the past decade, and what we can do to push back against unrealistic expectations.

Learn more about Zara here > https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com/our-guests/zara

Episode Highlights:
[02:00] Zara’s infertility journey & how she conceived twins via IUI
[09:30] The complications of a high-risk twin pregnancy
[18:45] Why postpartum hit harder than she ever expected
[25:10] Feeling completely unprepared for the overstimulation of motherhood
[33:40] The broken “village” and why moms today have less support
[40:15] Why parenting in America feels uniquely hard & how we can change the conversation
[52:00] The unexpected joy of realizing she’s her kids’ safe space

Links & Resources:
📖 Read Zara’s work in Vogue, Parents, Glamour, The Everymom, and more
📢 Follow Zara on Instagram & TikTok for more conversations on modern motherhood
👶 Learn more about fertility & postpartum resources at www.postpartum.net

Support the show

Website: https://www.doyouwantthetruthpod.com

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/samanthastrom

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthastorms

Connect with Zara:

Zara Hanawalt https://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-hanawalt/

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@zarahanawalt

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/zarahanawalt/