Mahaley Patel and Emily Souder are both perinatal mental health therapists. After Mahaley's daughter Saachi died in the NICU in 2023, she partnered with Emily to write Your NICU Story, a guided journal for families navigating NICU stays and loss, built to include the partner's experience too.
We talk about:
The gap in support for partners during a NICU stay
The shame so many parents carry over how their birth or feeding journey went
What it's like to recover physically from birth while living in the NICU
Why no one gets to be the hero of someone else's grief, and what to say instead
How Your NICU Story came to be, and who it's for
This episode is a reminder that grief doesn't end when a family leaves the NICU, and that the people supporting them deserve just as much care as the ones who carried the pregnancy.
Get to Know Mahaley and Emily:
Mahaley Patel, LMFT, PMH-C, is a licensed therapist specializing in perinatal mental health, grief, trauma, and infant and child loss, based in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a mother of four and a bereaved parent to her daughter Saachi.
Emily Souder, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker certified in perinatal mental health, based in Maryland. She is the author of Birth Story Brave, Reimagined and Birth Story Held for Loss.
Mahaley: www.mahaleypatel.com or @mahaleyhpatel
Emily: @the.magical.emily.souder
Book (Your NICU Story): www.mahaleypatel.com | https://www.amazon.com/Your-NICU-Story-Reflecting-Experience/dp/1734630930
