"I've heard the expression that people are cracked open when they give birth, and for me, I think I just felt so jarred by this birth that happened in a way that I didn't understand and wanted to make sense of. I felt like there were a lot of things that happened in my personal life at the time that were a lot for me to hold inside. And since I was a young child and could write, that's been the way that I am able to make sense of what's happening in my life. And so it was just a therapeutic thing."

 ~ Jackie Leonard

In this episode, Kaitlin talks with Jackie Leonard, Founder of Motherscope and host of The Motherscope Podcast. Jackie is a lifelong writer and Southern California native now based in Oregon, whose early experiences of motherhood acted as a catalyst for the birth of Motherscope; a community of moms who inspire and uplift one another by writing and sharing their own stories.

Kaitlin and Jackie were first connected by a mutual friend for Motherscope’s Issue 4: Use Your Own Motherhood, where Kaitlin wrote Tandem – a piece about tandem nursing. Kaitlin is a regular contributor to the Motherscope Journal to this day.

We’re excited to see what you glean from Jackie’s insights on how she's navigated writing and motherhood, and how community is such a critical piece of that puzzle. 

Jackie and Kaitlin talk about:

• The genesis of Motherscope, how old Jackie’s kids were when it started, and how she’s navigated creativity and her postpartum journey.
• The juxtaposition between the relentless role of taking care of and feeding a low-birth newborn while her own battered body healed - without much help or support - AND and the busy-ness of an active mind that just wanted to be ‘productive’ and creative.
• The value of her earlier postpartum solitude, and what drove her to create community.
• Jackie’s perspective and definition of postpartum and creativity.

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