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Nobody Prepared Me for This Part of New Parenthood | Hannah Bronfman & Brendan Fallis

Hannah Bronfman thought getting pregnant would be easy. She'd spent a decade in wellness, she was healthy, she was young. Then came two and a half years of trying, a miscarriage, failed cycles, and eventually IVF. Ten days after finally giving birth to their son Preston — in the middle of a pandemic — she virtually interviewed Barack Obama. She was wearing an adult diaper. Hannah and her husband Brendan Fallis join Dr. Becky to talk about the parts of new parenthood that don't make the highlights reel: what fertility struggles actually feel like from the inside, the maternal health fears that don't go away even when you have the best care, and the specific kind of panic that hits the moment you leave the hospital with a baby and realize no one is coming with you. They also talk about a parenting philosophy they both arrived at early: their kids were going to live their life, not the other way around. Why that's not selfish. And why it might be one of the best things you can do for a child. 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 - LMNT: Get a free 8-count sample pack with your purchase at drinkLMNT.com/goodinside - Airbnb: Host your home or book your next stay on Airbnb

Hannah BronfmanguestDr. Becky KennedyhostBrendan Fallisguest
Jun 11, 202634mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Bringing your baby into your life—without losing yourself postpartum

  1. Hannah and Brendan describe a long, emotionally complex road to parenthood involving infertility treatment, miscarriage, and IVF, and why sharing their story publicly reduced shame for others.
  2. Hannah recounts returning to high-stakes work immediately postpartum—interviewing Barack Obama ten days after birth while still in adult diapers—highlighting the surreal collision of recovery and career.
  3. They contrast the panic and unpreparedness of the first days home from the hospital with the confidence that comes from experience and repeated exposure to real-life parenting situations.
  4. The couple explains their guiding philosophy: instead of reorganizing everything around the child, they often bring their kids into their existing routines (travel, events, work), building flexibility and confidence.
  5. Dr. Becky reframes “bringing your baby into your life” as a long-term foundation-setting choice and shares her own cautionary story about social isolation driven by rigid scheduling and nap anxiety.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Normalize the hard parts by telling the true stories.

They argue that silence around miscarriage/IVF makes people feel “broken,” while open storytelling removes isolation and helps others process their own experiences.

Postpartum can collide with career in ways no one plans for.

Hannah’s Obama interview ten days postpartum illustrates how self-employed parents may feel unable to take leave, and how momentum and opportunity can shorten recovery space.

A “healthy parent and healthy baby” goal can be more resilient than a rigid plan.

Hannah approached birth as outcome-focused rather than method-focused, which helped her stay adaptable after an already-unexpected fertility journey.

Advocacy and being believed in medical settings matters—especially for Black mothers.

Hannah explicitly voiced fears about maternal mortality statistics and emphasized the importance of trusted care teams and assertive communication during labor.

Leaving the hospital is an abrupt competence cliff—plan for the shock.

Brendan describes the sudden shift from constant professional support to being “on your own,” fueling anxiety about safety, sleep, and basic caregiving decisions.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

About three days after giving birth, I got a email saying that there was a really amazing opportunity to interview Barack Obama in seven days.

— Hannah Bronfman

I literally just had a baby. I was in an adult diaper.

— Hannah Bronfman

The thing that stands out to me most is how untrained you are to be parents.

— Brendan Fallis

We kind of agreed pre having a kid that I kinda think there's two schools of mentality-ish when you're having a baby. It's either your kid is gonna live your life, or you're gonna live your kid's life, and we both agreed, like, our kids are going to live our lives.

— Brendan Fallis

I wish I had said to myself, "Becky, you seeing your friends matters, and your baby can come into your life. That's not being selfish. That's not messing it all up. That's really important."

— Dr. Becky Kennedy

IVF, miscarriage, and infertility stigmaSharing vulnerable stories online to reduce shamePostpartum recovery realities (adult diapers, mental fog)Early parenthood panic and lack of “training”Integrating kids into adult life vs centering life around kidsMaternal health crisis and advocacy (especially for Black women)Identity, purpose, and modeling meaningful work for children

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