Becoming a dad can bring up a surprising thought:

“What if I become my father?”

Dr. Becky talks with writer Aymann Ismail about the emotional reality of early fatherhood — the parts men are rarely encouraged to say out loud. Aymann opens up about wanting to be a different kind of dad than the one he grew up with, the panic and shame he felt during those first exhausting weeks with a newborn, and how quickly parenthood forced him to confront old patterns, identity shifts, and fears he didn’t expect.

Together, they explore partnership strain, emotional inheritance, and the complicated grief of losing parts of your old life while trying to build a new one.

Aymann Ismail is a staff writer at Slate and the author of Becoming Baba.

Dr. Becky put together a list of resources for non-birthing parents who want to feel helpful in the days and weeks following baby's arrival. You can read those on the Good Inside blog.

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Looking for more support navigating pregnancy, postpartum, and life with a new baby? Good Inside Baby gives you practical tools, scripts, and expert guidance for the moments that can feel most overwhelming in early parenthood.

Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible:

• Once Upon a Farm: Use the code GOODINSIDE for 40% off your first subscription
• Pipette: Get 15% off Pipette’s line of SPF products with the code GOODINSIDESPF at pipettebaby.com
• LMNT: Get a free 8-count sample pack with your purchase at LMNT.com/goodinside
• Airbnb: Host your home or book your next stay on Airbnb

Learn more about Good Inside.

Follow Dr. Becky on Instagram.

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You love your baby more than anything. So why does it sometimes feel like your baby… doesn’t like you?

In this episode, Dr. Becky talks with therapist, author, and mom of two Erin Schlozman about the moment early motherhood cracked open everything she thought she knew about competence, control, and what it means to be “good” at something.

Erin came into motherhood as someone who always hit the milestones: good grades, grad school, career, marriage. Then came a one-month milestone photo with her newborn son — and instead of the sweet picture she imagined, both she and her baby ended up crying on the nursery floor.

Together, Dr. Becky and Erin unpack the disorientation of new parenthood: the feeling that your baby’s crying is somehow a reflection of you, the pressure to “get it right,” and the clarifying realization that motherhood doesn’t follow a linear path.

Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible:

• Once Upon a Farm: Use the code GOODINSIDE for 40% off your first subscription
• Coterie: Get 20% off with the code GOODINSIDEBABY20
• Airbnb: Host your home or book your next stay on Airbnb

Looking for more support navigating pregnancy, postpartum, and life with a new baby? Good Inside Baby gives you practical tools, scripts, and expert guidance for the moments that can feel most overwhelming in early parenthood.

Learn more about Good Inside.

Follow Dr. Becky on Instagram.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Morgan Radford thought she knew herself before becoming a mom: adventurous, ambitious, always chasing novelty and new experiences. Then motherhood arrived — along with postpartum pain, brain fog, fear, comparison, and the shocking feeling that her body and mind no longer belonged to her.

In this deeply honest conversation NBC News anchor and author Morgan Radford talks with Dr. Becky about the parts of new motherhood nobody prepared her for: the physical recovery, the mental disorientation, the pressure to “bounce back,” and the panic that the hardest parts might last forever.

But this episode is also about what emerges on the other side: creativity, connection, healing, and the realization that the parts of ourselves we fear we’ve lost may still be alive underneath — just taking a different shape.

If you’ve ever wondered, “Will I ever feel like myself again?” this conversation is for you.

Learn more about Good Inside Baby.

Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible:

• Pipette: Get 15% off Pipette’s line of SPF products with the code GOODINSIDESPF at pipettebaby.com
• Airbnb: Host your home or book your next stay on Airbnb
• LMNT: Get a free 8-count sample pack with your purchase at LMNT.com/goodinside
• Once Upon a Farm: Use the code GOODINSIDE for 40% off your first subscription

Learn more about Good Inside.

Follow Dr. Becky on Instagram.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.