Women in All Cycles of Life with Dr. Rachel Smith, Founder of Aspect Wellness

Doula, Ann Morris on Motherhood and Beyond

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2470771/fan_mail/new] Host Elsa welcomes doula and doula mentor Ann Morris, a mom of three based in Lawrenceville, Georgia, to discuss motherhood, birth, and postpartum. Ann shares how her first fast, intense hospital birth in New York City—ending with an ambulance ride and a late-pregnancy doula hire—sparked her passion for birth work. After becoming a doula, she planned and had a peaceful home birth for her second baby in Florida and emphasizes learning from positive birth stories and preparing for postpartum, especially breastfeeding support. She describes postpartum anxiety, exclusive pumping, and relationship strain after her first, then recounts her third birth in Georgia: challenges accessing home birth care, a hospital pivot after her water broke days early, and a last-minute chiropractic adjustment that helped trigger labor, culminating in a rapid surprise baby girl. Ann highlights grace, informed choice, and trusting God-given intuition. 00:00 Meet Ann Morris 00:29 Podcast Intro 00:58 Motherhood Origins 02:40 Becoming a Doula 04:36 First Birth Story 11:12 Labor Coping Tools 12:46 Choosing Home Birth 15:06 Prep for Postpartum 17:01 Breastfeeding Support Team 20:40 Postpartum Anxiety Reality 23:36 Relationship Expectations Shift 26:46 Marriage Comparison Trap 27:42 Keeping Main Thing 29:05 Planning Baby Three 30:28 Georgia Homebirth Limits 32:48 Water Breaks Early 33:51 Waiting Out Labor 37:22 Chiro Sparks Labor 39:16 Hospital Pivot Birth 42:54 Third Postpartum Chaos 45:07 Grace and Asking Help 47:47 Doula Grace Philosophy 50:55 Trust Your Intuition 52:56 Daily Centering Rituals 55:19 Work With Ann 56:37 Podcast Closing Message Website www.annmorris-doula.com [http://www.annmorris-doula.com/] Socials Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annmorrisatldoula/ [https://www.instagram.com/annmorrisatldoula/]  Business FB: https://www.facebook.com/annmorrisatldoula/ [https://www.facebook.com/annmorrisatldoula/] Thanks for listening to It’s a Circus Podcast — Unfiltered stories of motherhood, identity, and the art of Self care These stories remind you that you’re not alone in the chaos. And if you’re ready to take the next step from conversation to transformation, explore Svea – The Beauty Edit. It’s my signature service that helps women edit the noise, simplify their routines, and reclaim confidence through radiant, effortless self-care.  🎙️ More stories: https://www.chernerbroscircus.com/podcast  💄 Your Edit awaits: https://www.chernerbroscircus.com/beauty-edit Embrace the chaos. Reclaim yourself.

Midyear Reflections: Has It Been Unhinged Enough?

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2470771/fan_mail/new] Host Elsa returns with a mid-year update on her three words—relentless, unhinged, and ascending—originally shared in January. She explains how “relentless” has shown up through committing to a new studio, creating beauty edits, and working toward fully setting up an in-person podcast recording space with a planned roster of guests. “Unhinged” has meant taking bold leaps, including joining a cabaret program led by Priscilla, which became a healing, confidence-building experience rooted in women in community and learning to say no to misaligned opportunities. “Ascending” reflects continued growth without slipping into toxic self-comparison, as she focuses on building the studio, expanding media and beauty work, and staying open to new opportunities. She shares that the next three weeks are booked and invites listeners to follow her updates, including on Instagram for Svea the Beauty Edit. 00:00 Welcome to the Circus 00:26 Life Update and Rewind 00:49 Three Words for 2026 01:37 Relentless Without Burnout 02:45 Building the Studio Vision 03:52 Unhinged Energy and Bold Moves 04:22 Cabaret as Healing Self Care 05:22 Saying No and Finding Confidence 08:20 Ascending Into the Back Half 10:17 What’s Next and Closing Thoughts 11:28 Podcast Outro and Community Invite Thanks for listening to It’s a Circus Podcast — Unfiltered stories of motherhood, identity, and the art of Self care These stories remind you that you’re not alone in the chaos. And if you’re ready to take the next step from conversation to transformation, explore Svea – The Beauty Edit. It’s my signature service that helps women edit the noise, simplify their routines, and reclaim confidence through radiant, effortless self-care.  🎙️ More stories: https://www.chernerbroscircus.com/podcast  💄 Your Edit awaits: https://www.chernerbroscircus.com/beauty-edit Embrace the chaos. Reclaim yourself.

Women in All Cycles of Life with Dr. Rachel Smith, Founder of Aspect Wellness

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2470771/fan_mail/new] Host Elsa welcomes Dr. Rachel Smith, founder of Aspect Wellness, who shares her path from early motherhood to a career delivering over a thousand babies as a nurse midwife, then transitioning through burnout and perimenopause into obesity medicine and a cardiometabolic longevity-focused practice. They discuss the joy of parenting adult children, how midwifery differs philosophically from traditional OB care, and why perimenopause can bring “hormone chaos” with symptoms like mood changes, sleep disruption, anxiety, decreased libido, brain fog, joint issues, weight gain, and hot flashes. Dr. Smith explains the evolving landscape of hormone replacement therapy, including recent FDA label changes, and emphasizes individualized care. They also cover GLP-1 medications’ benefits and safety concerns, skepticism about “microdosing” as marketing, cautious use of peptides, and considerations around postpartum depression, including hormone-related treatment options. 00:00 Welcome to the Circus 00:24 Meet Dr Rachel Smith 01:14 Motherhood With Adult Kids 05:09 Early Parenting Wake Up Call 09:31 Tornado Meets Midwife 12:37 Fast Track Through Training 17:40 Building a Midwife Career 20:26 Midwife vs OB GYN 24:43 Perimenopause Career Pivot 29:57 Hormone Therapy Updates 33:04 Hormone Chaos Symptoms 34:02 From Weight Clinic to Coaching 36:14 Private Practice and Lifelong Learning 38:21 Data Driven Longevity vs Biohacking 40:03 HRT as the Original Biohack 42:38 GLP Ones Benefits and Risks 44:55 Microdosing Myth Busting 48:43 Peptides Hype and Safety 51:43 Who She Helps in Practice 56:43 Postpartum Hormones and Depression 01:01:47 Personalized HRT and the Magic Window 01:05:02 Wrap Up and Final Thoughts IG: https://www.instagram.com/aspectwellness/ Website: https://aspect-wellness.com/ Rachel Smith, DNP, FNP-C, CNM is the founder of Aspect Wellness, a precision health and longevity practice focused on helping high-performing men and women optimize metabolism, hormones, recovery, and long-term vitality. With  20 years of clinical experience spanning women’s health, family medicine, and obesity medicine, Rachel combines evidence-based medicine with performance-focused coaching to help clients maintain the energy, clarity, resilience, and physical capacity needed to lead ambitious lives. Her work focuses on the intersection of longevity science, metabolic health, behavior change, strength, stress physiology, and hormone optimization—cutting through health industry noise to help people focus on what truly drives long-term outcomes. Rachel is known for translating complex medical science into practical, actionable strategies that help busy professionals protect their health before decline becomes their new normal. Through her clinical practice, speaking, and media appearances, she advocates for a modern approach to health optimization rooted in data, physiology, and sustainable performance—not trends, quick fixes, or fear-based wellness culture. Thanks for listening to It’s a Circus Podcast — Unfiltered stories of motherhood, identity, and the art of Self care These stories remind you that you’re not alone in the chaos. And if you’re ready to take the next step from conversation to transformation, explore Svea – The Beauty Edit. It’s my signature service that helps women edit the noise, simplify their routines, and reclaim confidence through radiant, effortless self-care.  🎙️ More stories: https://www.chernerbroscircus.com/podcast  💄 Your Edit awaits: https://www.chernerbroscircus.com/beauty-edit Embrace the chaos. Reclaim yourself.

Hope and Healing with Holly

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2470771/fan_mail/new] Host Elsa welcomes Holly, a craniosacral therapist and somatic practitioner devoted to helping people reconnect with their body’s wisdom, as they discuss motherhood as an initiation filled with grief, surrender, and honesty. Holly shares her unplanned pregnancy after leaving an engagement, an attempted home birth that became a long hospital labor ending in a vacuum attempt and C-section, and a difficult postpartum period marked by breastfeeding struggles, recovery challenges, and feeling unsupported and judged. She explains how these experiences later shaped her work with families and infants, especially around early signs like feeding difficulties, mouth breathing, airway issues, snoring, and sensory sensitivities. Holly also recounts her own health crisis after an HPV shot, which led her to craniosacral therapy, and describes how the modality supports the nervous system, fascia, and overall regulation for both children and parents. 00:00 Meet Holly 02:54 Podcast Mission 05:50 Holly Becomes Mom 07:10 Surprise Pregnancy 13:19 Pregnancy Plans 16:16 Home Birth Derails 19:40 Hospital C Section 25:46 Postpartum Struggles 29:48 Grief and Ego Death 33:39 Another Baby Question 38:52 Judgment and Meltdowns 42:41 Autonomy Over Obedience 44:33 Generational Trauma In Kids 49:55 Motherhood Without Martyrdom 51:48 HPV Shot Health Spiral 57:31 Finding Craniosacral Healing 01:01:47 Pandemic Reactions And Advocacy 01:04:47 Kids Airway And Oral Ties 01:11:53 How Craniosacral Works 01:19:57 Fascia Trauma And Breathwork 01:21:25 Care For The Caregiver 01:23:22 Closing And Community Invite www.hollysticalchemy.com [http://www.hollysticalchemy.com/] IG: https://www.instagram.com/hollystic_alchemist/ [https://www.instagram.com/hollystic_alchemist/] Holly Del Valle is a Craniosacral Therapist and somatic practitioner devoted to helping people reconnect with the wisdom of the body. After navigating her own health challenges, she became deeply passionate about showing others just how remarkable the body is at healing, adapting, and finding balance when given the right support. That journey transformed not only her health, but also the way she understood the body, nervous system, and healing itself. Then motherhood rocked her world. Becoming a mother shifted everything and had her viewing the body, regulation, development, and healing through an entirely new lens. Through her own experiences and challenges navigating infancy, feeding, airway concerns, regulation, and the things many parents are told are “normal,” she began seeing how many early signs and patterns often go unnoticed. That journey expanded her work beyond individuals and into supporting entire families, infants included. Today, her approach bridges science, fascia, the nervous system, and subtle energy, helping clients reconnect with safety, coherence, and embodied expansion while remembering that the body is always communicating. Business Info: Through Hollystic Alchemy, Holly offers private Craniosacral Therapy, lymphatic drainage, fascia focused therapies, workshops, and educational resources designed to empower individuals and families to better understand and support their nervous systems at home. Her mission is helping people move from survival mode into greater resilience, regulation, and embodied expansion. 2–3 Areas of discussion lighting me up: • Fascia and the incredible role it plays in health, compensation patterns, and whole body function • The connection between hypermobility, highly sensitive individuals, and what the body may be communicating through those patterns • Babies and early development, especially the subtle red flags we now recognize through airway, feeding, movement, fascia, and nervous system patterns Thanks for listening to It’s a Circus Podcast — Unfiltered stories of motherhood, identity, and the art of Self care These stories remind you that you’re not alone in the chaos. And if you’re ready to take the next step from conversation to transformation, explore Svea – The Beauty Edit. It’s my signature service that helps women edit the noise, simplify their routines, and reclaim confidence through radiant, effortless self-care.  🎙️ More stories: https://www.chernerbroscircus.com/podcast  💄 Your Edit awaits: https://www.chernerbroscircus.com/beauty-edit Embrace the chaos. Reclaim yourself.

The Big and Micro Moments in Motherhood, with Stacy

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2470771/fan_mail/new] Host Elsa welcomes her friend Stacey, mom of Brielle and Jamie, to discuss the micro-moments that shape motherhood, including Stacey’s planned first pregnancy and a traumatic, fast-unfolding birth marked by preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, placenta accreta, an emergency C-section, major blood loss, and a transfusion that left her unconscious and delayed meeting her baby. Stacey shares how therapy, family support, and a healing planned C-section with her second helped her process resentment, grief, and identity loss, and why community and accepting help matter. She also discusses the stress of trying to conceive, an early miscarriage, balancing work travel with motherhood, breastfeeding pressures, and modeling boundaries like taking quiet reset breaks. 00:00 Meet Stacey 01:23 Motherhood Origins 03:10 Planned Baby Surprise 04:22 Traumatic First Birth 07:34 HELLP And Emergency C 13:26 Recovery And Going Home 16:58 Losing Yourself 23:12 Returning To Work 29:26 Second Baby Timing 31:34 Trying To Conceive Stress 33:19 Considering Fertility Help 34:40 Paths to Parenthood 35:26 Pressure and Fertility Talk 37:03 Dont Ask About Pregnancy 38:51 High Risk Mindset Shift 41:25 Miscarriage and Heartbeat Fears 44:39 Motherhood Resilience and Community 49:29 Planning Birth and Postpartum 53:38 Breastfeeding Guilt and Formula 58:26 Learning to Ask for Help 01:03:38 Overstimulation and Reset Time 01:07:59 Work Life Balance and Priorities 01:13:50 Stay at Home Dad Season 01:17:54 Growth Reflections and Goodbye Thanks for listening to It’s a Circus Podcast — Unfiltered stories of motherhood, identity, and the art of Self care These stories remind you that you’re not alone in the chaos. And if you’re ready to take the next step from conversation to transformation, explore Svea – The Beauty Edit. It’s my signature service that helps women edit the noise, simplify their routines, and reclaim confidence through radiant, effortless self-care.  🎙️ More stories: https://www.chernerbroscircus.com/podcast  💄 Your Edit awaits: https://www.chernerbroscircus.com/beauty-edit Embrace the chaos. Reclaim yourself.