85. S7, Ep5: Autistic motherhood: working through the overwhelm of birth and parenting

Sanna Östergren is a writer and literary translator from Sweden. She lives in the countryside with her husband and their two-year-old son, where she also runs a small independent publishing company. 

She realised she was autistic about a year ago, when the overwhelm of new motherhood started turning her life-long shutdowns into meltdowns, and she was diagnosed in April this year, aged 32.

When we recorded this episode she was on a break from work, to allow her to focus on parenting, gardening and preparing for the imminent birth of her second child. 

In our conversation we talk about:

➡ The sensory and self regulatory overwhelm of becoming a parent 

➡ Shutdowns, meltdowns, burnouts and boundary setting

➡ Overcoming her fear of childbirth

➡ Depression, social anxiety, and seeking therapy

➡ How being self employed has made her life easier

Squarepeg is a podcast in which neurodivergent women, and trans and nonbinary people, explore navigating a neurotypical world and share their insights, challenges and successes.

I hope that these conversations will be inspiring and thought provoking, open you up to new ways of thinking about being neurodivergent, and help you feel more connected to a worldwide community of people with similar experiences.

I’m Amy Richards, and after being diagnosed autistic at the age of 37 I’m now on a mission to learn more about different perspectives and issues around being a neurodivergent adult in a world that feels like it doesn’t quite fit.

 

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