AUTHOR CHAT: Ayana Lage's "Missing Me"

Author Ayana Lage joins the show to talk about Missing Me, her memoir of postpartum psychosis and the long road back.

We talk about perfectionism as a coping strategy, anxiety as a lifelong undercurrent, and the exhausting need to be seen as “good” while feeling like you’re failing inside. Ayana shares how she turned hospital journals and medical records into a tightly crafted, nonlinear memoir, how she handled the fear of reviews, and what it means to tell the truth when your story includes your partner and your parents. We also get honest about how faith can comfort you and still leave you carrying guilt when mental health doesn’t improve, and why therapy and medication are not character flaws.

Then we widen the lens to the realities that raise the stakes: Black maternal health disparities, being dismissed in medical settings, and why support like a doula can matter. We clarify what postpartum psychosis can look like, why it’s different from postpartum depression or postpartum OCD, and how stigma harms mothers, babies, and families when people don’t know the signs. Ayana closes with the aftermath: releasing shame, planning a second pregnancy with care, making feeding choices without guilt, and finding joy in the mundane.

Subscribe, share this conversation with a friend, and leave a review if it helps you see postpartum mental health with more clarity and compassion. Purchase Missing Me by Ayana Lage Support the show: On Patreon Buy us a book Buy cute merch Subscribe to the Babes in Bookland Substack Thank you for listening! Xx, Alex Connect with us and suggest a great memoir! Follow us on instagram! @babesinbooklandpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.