Arthritis Life Podcast; Episode 214
What does it really look like to navigate pregnancy, postpartum, and parenthood while living with rheumatoid arthritis?
Mamas Facing Forward founder, Mariah Leach, joins occupational therapist and fellow RA patient Cheryl Crow on the Arthritis Life Podcast to talk about the realities of building and raising a family with chronic illness.
In the episode, Mariah shares some of her own experiences through three pregnancies with RA, including making decisions about medications and preparing for postpartum flares. She also talks about why she created Mamas Facing Forward after struggling to find the information and community she needed when she first began considering pregnancy.
Their conversation goes beyond pregnancy to explore the everyday realities of parenting with chronic illness: adapting tasks when your body won’t cooperate, managing expectations, finding support from other parents who understand, and figuring out how to keep moving toward the life you want—even when the path looks different than you expected.
Mariah also shares a little about her work on a comprehensive guide to family planning, pregnancy, and postpartum for people living with chronic illness.
