How the Healthcare System can fuel the Crunchy Mom Movement: Distrust, Trauma, and the Future of Maternal and Pediatric Care

Today I sat down to talk about something I think about a lot…the crunchy mom movement. Why are so many families walking away from traditional healthcare unheard? Caitlyn Shollmeier, a certified nurse midwife and founder of Lila Maternity, joins me to dig into why this is not really about essential oils or cloth diapers. When women do not feel like a person in the room any more they lose trust and feel like just another number on a chart.

Caitlyn shared her own birth story with twins that stuck with me. She felt dismissed by almost her entire care team, except for one nurse who took the time to listen. That relationship changed her birth story. It is a good reminder that as clinicians, the small stuff, like explaining what is happening and why, is never actually small.

We discuss:

• Why the crunchy mom movement is growing and what is usually underneath it

• How shame and lack of time in modern health care push families toward alternative spaces

• The difference between correcting misinformation and actually building trust

• Why compassion works better than fact checking when someone feels dismissed

• How to spot red flags in online parenting communities

• Caitlyn’s own birth story and that one nurse who changed everything

• What real informed consent should sound like in a room

To connect with Caitlyn Schollmeier follow her on TikTok @themodernmidwife and check out her laborwear line: https://www.wearlila.com

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