More than Milestones
Hosted by pediatric physical therapist, wife and mom of three, Dr. KC Rickerd, More Than Milestones is the podcast that goes beyond baby checklists and dives deep into real motherhood, real development, real relationships, and everything in between.
Whether you’re supporting your baby’s motor development, navigating big kid emotions, or navigating a new stage of life & parenting, this show blends expert-backed education with the honest, unfiltered reality of motherhood.
Each week, KC brings you conversations with trusted professionals—pediatricians, therapists, sleep and feeding experts, mental health pros, and more—plus raw, relatable stories from fellow moms and caregivers. No pressure to be perfect. Just honest conversations, support, humor, and community for the journey you’re on.
If you're looking for clarity, connection, and a reminder that while supporting our children’s development is important, so is supporting ourselves - you’re in the right place, because it’s always more than milestones.
More than Milestones
15. Processing Your Birth Story with Perinatal Expert Illiyin Morrison: Birth Trauma, Postpartum Mental Health, Informed Consent, and Finding Your Voice Amidst It All
Perinatal trauma expert and midwife Illiyin Morrison joins me to talk about what birth trauma really is and how we can begin to make sense of our own stories. After her own difficult birth, Illiyin created a framework that helps mothers understand what happened during their birth experience, why they responded the way they did, and how to move forward with clarity and compassion. Her work now includes remote birth debriefs, her book The Birth Debrief, and a podcast by the same name.
We explore how trauma is an internal response to an external moment and why so many women don’t process what happened until long after the newborn stage. Illiyin shares how informed consent, communication, and understanding your options can shift the entire birth experience. She also explains how postpartum depression and anxiety can show up not only as disconnection, but as hypervigilance.
We discuss the tender decision of whether to try for another baby after a traumatic birth and the importance of giving yourself time to heal between pregnancies. And for the mothers who know something feels off but feel too overwhelmed to address it, Illiyin offers a comforting first step: simply acknowledging aloud that something is going on is meaningful. Every mother deserves support, understanding, and space to process both the hard moments and the good ones too.
Links & Resources
Follow Illiyin on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/illiyinmorrison/
Get your copy of Illiyin’s Book; The Birth Debrief: https://links.milestonesandmotherhood.com/amzn/the-birth-debrief
Listen to The Birth Debrief Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-birth-debrief-the-podcast/id1705643396
Illiyin’s Services: https://mixingupmotherhood.com/
💻 Website & Blog:
https://www.milestonesandmotherhood.com/
📱Follow KC for daily motor milestone tips & parenting support:
https://www.instagram.com/milestones.and.motherhood/
🎧 Follow podcast updates & new episode drops:
https://www.instagram.com/more.than.milestones/
🆓 Get my free tummy time training: Mastering Milestones with Confidence
https://www.milestonesandmotherhood.com/freetraining
📬 Join the email list for milestone tips + podcast updates
https://idyllic-hat-942.myflodesk.com/fwefz61097
🛒 Shop KC’s favorite mom & baby finds:
https://links.milestonesandmotherhood.com/amazon/amazonstorefrontmm
Go deeper with KC on Substack
More Than Milestones: Unfiltered is my subscription channel where I release 2 exclusive bonus episodes every month. Even more raw, unfiltered motherhood chats you won’t hear anywhere else.