The Maternal Stress Project

“My interest in mental load came down to not being satisfied by the answers that are currently out there.” – Haley Swenson This point came up in a long discussion with Haley about mental load (the first part of that discussion linked below). The comment resonated with me deeply because it aligned with something I hadn’t been able to put my finger on as I have become interested in this topic. Mental load as a missing piece. Haley is starting to see mental load as a missing piece in the puzzle of gender equity issues in the home and workplace. I am starting to see mental load as a missing piece connecting the disproportionate stress load on mothers.  I think we both gravitate towards to “missing piece” of it all because it feels like an invisible force field standing in the way of progress: *If we can’t see and quantify and fix the disproportionate mental load that falls to women, how far can the needle actually move?* To flip that towards solutions -- how can we better see, quantify, and fix the disproportionate mental load that falls to women? https://lnkd.in/gYsjDvPP #MentalLoad #parentalstress (Leah Ruppanner, Lauren Berry, Eve Rodsky, Kate Mangino, Jodi Pawluski, Darby Saxbe, Jessica Calarco, Work Life Everything, The Fair Play Policy Institute) 

Another thing missing in the Surgeon General Advisory on parental stress and mental health…   Zero mention of MENTAL LOAD. (well, ok, there was one paragraph about “the significant mental labor involved with parenting” but… )  Perhaps this oversight relates to the disproportionate mental load on mothers and how the advisory completely avoided discussing the gender imbalance in parental stress? (Despite the fact that the citation for that paragraph on the “significant mental labor with parenting” came from a review article on the gender differences! 😒)  Or maybe it relates to the fact that research connecting the mental load of parenting with stress and mental health is still in very early stages? Either way, I wrestle with mental load as parental stressor too – the concept of carrying around a *constant to-do list* in your brain doesn’t fit neatly into my definitions of stress. That does not mean that mental load isn’t stressful. It just means that we have work to do to define it from a stress perspective. Here is where my thinking goes:   – When does mental load become stressful? Why would the brain perceive mental load as a stressor?     – Is the stress related to the emotional labor of mental load?  Or is it related to holding a range of cognitive tasks that add elements of lack of control and unpredictability that trigger the stress alarm?   – As it relates to our body, our brain, and our health, exactly *what IS the stress of mental load?* I seek granularity because I feel like the answers could directly relate to the effectiveness of solutions targeting mental load reduction, and, therefore, reduce parental stress (especially for mothers). To get there, I am starting to dissect all things mental load with Haley Swenson. Those discussions coming soon! In the meantime, I dug into what we know and what I’m hoping to learn more about when it comes to the mental load of parenting as it relates to stress: https://lnkd.in/gw4SvJEG (highlighting the important research from Leah Ruppanner, Liz Dean, Brendan Churchill, Allison Daminger, Richard Petts, Darby Saxbe, Eve Rodsky, Elizabeth Aviv, Jodi Pawluski) #MentalLoad #maternalhealth #parentalstress

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around how to interpret ‘emotional labor’ as a stressor in the context of mental load. And then, there I was, sitting in a movie theater with my ten-year-old and I felt it – my own parental anxiety and the emotional labor of worrying about something that is completely out of my control as a mother:  my child’s brain. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center report, the number one source of parental worry is their child's mental health. Which makes me think -- is it time to consider the effects of the teen mental health crisis on parent health? I also got to thinking -- how do we, as individuals, let in the *joy* of parenting to counterbalance the anxiety?  (ah, Pixar, and the introspective power of emotion personification) Be warned, this one has big time spoilers for those who haven't seen the movie and dives head on into some personal stuff. https://lnkd.in/gtwvVbSY #maternalmentalhealth #maternalstressproject #mentalhealth #mentalload

Our latest podcast is now available! For this discussion, I was thrilled to chat with the brilliant Molly Dickens, PhD. We tackle the intersection of #stress, #motherhood, #health, and #childcare. You don't want to miss this one. In brief, acute #stressors aren't what makes us sick; it's the constant, modern-day "lions" that are creating chronic stress, and thus the short-term and long-term health issues that stress creates. Join us as we discuss how child care in the U.S. is a big modern-day "lion" for parents — especially mothers — and how fixing the child care crisis will help diminish the #mentalhealth crisis. #maternalhealth #maternalmentalhealth https://lnkd.in/epSy5Mrv

Let's talk about the big S word: Stress. In today's episode of BEAM Stories, Molly Dickens, PhD - stress physiologist, mom, advocate, and founder of The Maternal Stress Project - joins Amy to explain more about the many factors of maternal stress and how it all intersects to paint a full picture of how we help moms and caregivers in this country in a more fulfilling, meaningful way. And why is this important now? You tell us - how stressed do you feel? (We're guessing it's pretty high, yeah?) Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gGJTb7FM Join us for this incredible convo about maternal stress and the map that will help us move forward.

When it comes to figuring out child care, parents weigh several key needs – affordability, accessibility, quality, stability, safety. Aligning all (or any) of these needs is often out of reach for parents in the US. As a result, parents (mostly mothers) end up sacrificing and dealing with the added day-to-day and long-term stress related to those sacrifices, compounded by the stress related to dependence on unreliable/unpredictable arrangements. But this stress can be relieved… by a better child care system. So, is child care both a problem and a solution when it comes to stress? YES. Given that child care is so deeply connected to a range of maternal stressors, fixing it seems like an easy target for stress reduction. Lighten the stress load related to child care, lessen the severity of all connected stressors. It’s a clear path to positively impact women’s health. But, of course, *fixing it* is easier said than done. So, how do we start addressing this source of stress today? Put another way — How do we eliminate or at least mitigate the key factors related to the stress load of child care? Here’s another deep dive into The Maternal Stress Project stressor map, with a focus on *child care issues*. And, while this dive is not nearly as comprehensive as it could be, it’s a first go at drawing out how key solutions – at levels of policy, community, and family – can mitigate the stress related to our current child care situation. https://lnkd.in/gZb6gRNe (Happily highlighting the important work of Elliot Haspel, Rebecca Gale, Julia Craven, Chamber of Mothers, Moms First, #CareCantWait #paidleaveforall, Chabeli Carrazana, The 19th, Gloria Riviera, Siran Cao, Lauren Birchfield Kennedy, Neighborhood Villages, Kate Mangino, Eve Rodsky, Brigid Schulte. Plus, big thanks to Chelsea Conaboy for editorial eye.)   #maternalhealth #maternalstressproject #ChildcareIsHealthcare

Anyone else getting agitated with Mother’s Day approaching?  It’s not exactly the holiday that bugs me (I actually love getting the random crap my kids make in school) but rather the feeling that dedicating a single day to acknowledging how much we love and appreciate mothers is so counter to the way this country treats mothers the other 364 days out of the year.  (Katherine Goldstein captured this sentiment far more eloquently in her latest newsletter, link in comments) After getting served far too many “Best Mother’s Gifts EVER” listicles, I decided to pop into one article, see just what qualified as a “best gift”, and offer alternatives that will actually impact mom’s stress load for more than just a single day each year. (Spoiler: it is *not* the “neck and shoulder heating pad”)  https://lnkd.in/gWv6Bbhy #MothersDay #maternalhealth

“Child care and housing have the steepest benefits cliff. Losing your child care benefit is a huge financial obstacle. It makes that step up in salary impossible…. If you're a family that relies on government subsidies [for child care], it is very common for those families to change their hours throughout the year to make sure they're staying under the income threshold. It’s that extra dollar-an-hour. You can't lose those government benefits. It’s devastating – close to a decade of your working life that you are forced to decrease your own earnings potential. And then it's exacerbating that cycle of poverty.” – Siran Cao, CEO and co-founder of Mirza. Child care has a complex and disproportionately impactful role when it comes to maternal stress. Child care precarity/insecurity is a powerful stressor but having access to good, affordable, accessible child care options is a stress buffer. This means the status of a child care system has the potential to negatively impact health or positively improve health for parents. Current structures around government subsidies for child care add additional layers to consider when it comes to the impacts of child care precarity and insecurity. Child care benefits are deeply intertwined with other stressors, especially financial instability/insecurity – a well-known, potent source of psychological stress. I am beyond appreciative of the perspective that Siran brings to this issue and the critical work she and her team are doing through Mirza. It was fascinating to learn more about how Mirza is bringing in other parties impacted – the Medicaid payers in our health system, the employers that rely on hourly workers – to provide innovation and services we want to see in the government sphere. Siran’s perspective on child care and child care benefits are beyond valuable to understanding the connections and layers of maternal stress.   https://lnkd.in/edv_CMEm #CareCantWait #ChildcareIsHealthcare #maternalhealth

Our brains do not like instability, insecurity, unreliability, or uncertainty. Unfortunately, these are all characteristics of the current American child care system. Recent studies have connected some important dots to contextualize the psychological stress related to child care instability and maternal health outcomes. The negative AND the positive! Recent study from Carol Duh-Leong, Caitlin Canfield and colleagues showed that: -- Greater child care precarity is associated with increased risk of maternal depression -- Child care precarity at 3 years old increased likelihood of poor health at least six years later BUT  -- Access to emergency child care support buffered the negative effects of childcare precarity and *decreased* the risk of maternal depression. In addition, a study from Alejandra Ros Pilarz and Heather Hill suggested another potential stress buffer: GOOD CHOICES in child care.   -- Mothers who reported having “good choices in child care” had a reduction in high depressive symptoms, even when they faced the same degree of child care instability as those without access to good choices. These studies not only emphasize the risk of child care instability for maternal mental health but also the long-term health benefits of stabilizing the child care system. Especially when stability = access to high quality, affordable child care for EVERYONE. https://lnkd.in/giYJzMbR #ChildcareIsHealthcare #CareCantWait #maternalmentalhealth