3 out of 10 women who undergo infertility treatments are able to conceive naturally after their treatment. Pregnancy after IVF or other infertility treatments can often be more stressful, and expectant mothers need a solid support system as they grow their baby. April 24th marks the beginning of National Infertility Awareness Week, a week dedicated to erasing the stigmas and barriers surrounding how families are made.
Meditation expert, mindfulness coach, mother of 7 and author of 5-Minute Mindfulness for Pregnancy: Simple Practices to Feel Calm, Present, and Connected to Your Baby (Rockridge Press, May 3 2022) Josephine Atluri stresses the importance of both mindfulness practices and having a support system to fall back on when undergoing infertility treatments and carrying your baby.
“As a mother of seven children (I have been pregnant several times, adopted, and also partnered with two surrogates to carry four of our children), I remember how challenging it was to cherish the gestational experience,” says Atluri. “For my first three children, I was preoccupied with worries about my pregnancy and the future, so much so that I felt overwhelmed and unable to be present in my journey. Looking back, I wish I’d had the tools to care for myself so I could have enjoyed being pregnant, an unmatched experience that took several heartbreaking years of assisted reproductive therapy to finally come into fruition. Many years later, after discovering meditation and mindfulness for myself and then becoming certified to teach others these skills, I was able to apply mindfulness to our later pregnancies. As a result, I noticed marked differences in my pregnancy experiences. I finally savored the process! I also improved my overall state of being through reduced stress and increased positivity. These personal experiences fueled my passion to help other people on their path to parenthood by showing them how to incorporate mindfulness into their own journeys.”
Atluri is available for interviews, expert commentary, and contributed articles for National Infertility Awareness Week, including:
- Infertility trauma, managing stress, worry, and fear- when you’re the one pregnant and not
- Tools to help women suffering from perinatal depressions, which affects 10-20 percent of women in the United States during pregnancy, postpartum or both
- 4 ways to accept your body as it changes
- Waiting room toolkit for expectant parents: 6 ways to shift into a state of positivity
- Reframing how you look at assistance: 4 tips when asking for help
- 3 steps to establishing boundaries
- The 4th trimester and 5 things you need in your post-partum proposal
- 3 ways to find more time for yourself
- 3 must-haves for mindful nesting
- Mindfulness tips for labor and delivery
- Developing a present-moment connection with your baby in utero
Josephine Atluri is an expert in meditation and mindfulness, helping thousands of people overcome adversity to find joy. A graduate of the University of Chicago, Atluri coupled her consulting background with her passion for total wellness to become certified as a meditation coach and teach corporate mindfulness. Plus, her experience creating her modern-day family of seven children via in vitro fertilization (IVF), international adoption and surrogacy inspires her work as a highly sought-after fertility and parenting mindfulness coach.
Atluri hosts a popular podcast, “Responding to Life: Talking Health, Fertility, & Parenthood,” where she interviews guests on their inspiring responses to life’s challenges. Her parenting mindfulness expertise and fertility advocacy work has been featured in the L.A. Times, Motherly, MindBodyGreen, The Bump, Prevention, Well+Good, and Woman’s Day. She is the author of Mindfulness Journal for Parents, and the forthcoming 5-Minute Mindfulness for Pregnancy: Simple Practices to Feel Calm, Present, and Connected to Your Baby (Spring 2022).
