Up to 70 percent of new moms report feeling overwhelmed or sleep-deprived during their child’s first year. This silent crisis often goes unnoticed, but Maria Moreno, founder of Mindful Mother, is working to change that.
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As a featured guest on the Your Radical Truth podcast hosted by Margaret Mary O’Connor, Maria shared how her personal experience with postpartum depression and exhaustion sparked her mission to support other mothers. A former classroom teacher turned certified sleep consultant and motherhood life coach, Maria brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work.
Turning Pain into Purpose
Maria’s transformation began during her own postpartum journey. After giving birth to her first daughter, she found herself in a mental fog so intense that even reading a clock became difficult. Her doctor brushed off her concerns for months before casually suggesting she see a sleep specialist. By then, she was already facing dangerous levels of sleep deprivation.
Instead of staying in survival mode, Maria chose to take action. She became certified in infant and toddler sleep, special needs sleep, and life coaching. Today, she uses that training to help families create personalized routines that restore sleep, calm, and connection.
Debunking the Myths of Motherhood
One of the most important truths Maria shared on the podcast is that sleep training does not have to involve letting your baby cry alone for hours. She
emphasized that there are gentle, supportive methods that respect both the baby’s needs and the emotional well-being of the parent.
Many new parents carry guilt and fear based on what they see on social media. Influencers with no formal training use dramatic language that shames mothers for seeking help. Maria offers a different path. Her plans are customized for each family and often include voice or video guides to make implementation easier, especially for overwhelmed or neurodivergent parents.
The Real Danger of Sleep Deprivation
Maria explained how sleep deprivation impacts more than just mood. It compromises decision-making, reaction time, and even physical safety. She likens the effects to being intoxicated. This can lead to serious consequences, such as car accidents, relationship breakdowns, and emotional burnout.
She shared stories of clients who forgot their child in the car or became so overwhelmed they had to step away just to avoid losing control. These moments are terrifying, but they are also preventable with proper support and realistic routines.
Why Pediatricians Are Missing the Mark
A recurring theme in the conversation was the lack of support from medical professionals. Despite how common sleep challenges are, many pediatricians offer
little guidance. Parents are often told to “just wait it out” or “sleep when the baby sleeps,” which is rarely practical.
Maria believes that pediatricians and OBGYNs should be trained to recognize signs of postpartum sleep struggles and should refer patients to sleep consultants much earlier. She is working locally to raise awareness and has plans to present seminars and workshops for healthcare providers in the future.
More Than Coaching: A Full Support System
What sets Maria apart is how deeply she personalizes her services. She works with families who have children with special needs, parents with night-shift partners, and single moms without local support. Her team now includes a licensed marriage and family therapist to offer deeper mental health care alongside coaching.
Maria also co-created Tumago, a line of sensory-friendly comfort blankets made by her mother. These hypoallergenic, hand-crocheted blankets are designed for babies, toddlers, and children with autism or ADHD. The unique design allows for tactile stimulation that soothes the nervous system and promotes relaxation.
This unique line of comfort blankets can be found at https://www.etsy.com/shop/Tumago
Know the Signs and Ask for Help
Maria urges mothers to pay attention to early warning signs of emotional exhaustion. These can include unexplained crying, increased irritability, intrusive thoughts, or a sense of being completely disconnected. If a mother feels like she is no longer herself, that is a signal to reach out.
Motherhood is not supposed to feel like burnout. Rest is essential. When babies and parents sleep well, the entire household benefits.
Where to Find Help
Maria Moreno offers personalized sleep coaching, group support, and mental wellness tools through her website www.mindfulmother.biz. She wants every mother to know they are not alone and they are not failing. Sometimes, all it takes is the right plan, a little guidance, and permission to ask for help.
More than Qualifications
Maria brings something special to her clients. It is not just her qualifications. It is her empathy, experience, and unwavering belief that mothers deserve better. This episode of Your Radical Truth reminds us that truth-telling is a radical act, especially when it leads to healing.
About Maria
Maria Moreno is the founder of Mindful Mother, a coaching practice dedicated to supporting mothers through the challenges of early parenthood. Born in Colombia and raised in Broward County, Florida, Maria is a certified sleep consultant and motherhood life coach who specializes in helping families of newborns,
toddlers, and children with special needs achieve better sleep and emotional well-being.
After personally experiencing the effects of postpartum sleep deprivation and emotional burnout, Maria transitioned from classroom teaching to focus on filling a critical gap in maternal support. Her programs are designed to guide mothers through pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond—empowering them to prioritize self-care, set healthy boundaries, and parent with confidence.
Through one-on-one coaching, workshops, and her growing Mindful Mother community, Maria is committed to helping moms thrive—not just survive—by nurturing both their children’s needs and their own. www.mindfulmother.biz
About Margaret Mary O’Connor
Margaret Mary O’Connor, as a member of the Catholic Laity, thought she knew everything about the Catholic Church, at least until she came upon a centuries-old Scandal of lies and cover-up by the Hierarchy of that Church. Frankly, she was fed up being lied to by her own Church, about its own past Church’s History on Women priests. With that realization, she truly felt in that moment, the monumental feeling of betrayal by her own Church.
Follow Margaret, as she travels down this Highway of Radical Truth where lies and outright coverup will be disclosed. Millions of Catholics are unaware of that
past presence of Women Bishop’s, Women Deacons, as well as Women Priests, all there hiding in plain sight, in Early Church History.
As the complicity of this centuries-old Scandal continues, Margaret wants her fellow Catholics to learn the actual truth of this matter for themselves. She strongly believes, at minimal, any Catholic deserves the actual truth of this matter. To say that change is needed is hardly an understatement. She doesn’t let the Church’s betrayal stop her from uncovering some very fascinating Church Skeleton’s – one which very well might help solve our current priest shortage issue today.
Margaret Mary O’Connor has been called, “The Modern Day David” on many occasions. On a mission to reveal carefully guarded secrets of the Catholic Church, she unveils the truth through her well-researched writings.
Author of Scandal in the Shadows and Journey of a Celiac’s Soul, Margaret Mary is a force to be reckoned with.
