Mom and Mind

Dr. Katayune Kaeni -- "Dr. Kat" to her listeners -- is a perinatal mental health certified psychologist, and Mom and Mind is the podcast she built to tackle the stuff nobody wants to say out loud about becoming a mother. With 470 episodes over nearly a decade, this is one of the most established and comprehensive maternal mental health resources anywhere in the podcast world. The format is interview-driven. Dr. Kat brings on moms, dads, therapists, researchers, and advocates for conversations that run 30 to 55 minutes. She describes her approach as putting on "stigma-crushing boots," and that's accurate -- episodes cover postpartum depression and anxiety, yes, but also OCD, psychosis, fertility grief, ADHD in perimenopause, relationship fractures after baby, and the identity crisis that comes with losing yourself to parenthood. What makes Mom and Mind essential for first-time mothers is the normalization factor. Hearing hundreds of stories from parents who struggled helps you recognize warning signs in yourself and gives you language for what you're experiencing. Dr. Kat brings clinical expertise without clinical coldness. She asks hard questions gently and lets guests sit with uncomfortable answers. The show maintains a 4.8-star rating from 211 reviews, and it releases weekly with no signs of slowing down. Recent episodes have explored acceptance and commitment therapy for new parents, parenting children with disabilities, and navigating holiday-season mental health crashes. If you're a first-time mom worried about your mental health -- or even if you're not worried yet -- this podcast should be on your playlist as a preventive measure.