The Postpartum Period Deserves More Than a Six-Week Checkup.
Functional Fourth Trimester is the podcast co-hosted by occupational therapists Lauren Zatezalo and Melissa O'Neal, OTR/L — helping new parents figure out how daily life actually works after a baby arrives.
Sleep. Feeding. Getting through a day. Feeling like yourself again. None of those things get addressed in a postpartum appointment. This show does.
You Know What OT Is in Theory. Here Is What It Does for You Right Now.
Occupational therapy helps people do the things that matter to them — the daily activities that make someone a person, not just a patient. Getting dressed. Cooking a meal. Going for a walk. Maintaining a friendship. Feeling like yourself enough to make it to tomorrow.
After a baby arrives, every single one of those activities changes. The routines that kept you functional vanish overnight. The identity that gave your days structure gets quietly replaced by a new one you did not ask for and were not prepared to inhabit. Sleeping, moving, eating, connecting with other people — all of it requires renegotiation, and there is no appointment for that.
That is what occupational therapy is equipped to address. Not just physical recovery. Not just mental health support. The functional daily living work — the rebuilding — that happens in the weeks and months after birth that the healthcare system does not see and most parenting content does not know how to talk about. This podcast is that conversation.
Recent Episodes
Three recent conversations — each built to give you something specific you can actually use.
Tummy Time and Milestones: What to Expect in the Early Months
Christine Hernandez and Haydee Medrano
27 min
Tummy time is one of the most asked-about topics in early parenting — and one of the most misunderstood. Christine Hernandez and Haydee Medrano join Lauren and Melissa to explain what tummy time is actually for, how to do it in a way that works for your baby, and what developmental milestones matter in the first months without turning you into someone who charts everything.
Listen NowBeyond Outnumbered: Practical Survival Strategies for Parents of Multiples
Kylie McClellan
29 min
Kylie McClellan is an occupational therapist who also raised triplets. That combination — the clinical training and the lived reality of three newborns at once — makes this a different kind of conversation. This episode does not offer inspiration. It offers a realistic, OT-grounded picture of what functional daily life actually looks like when the standard postpartum advice does not apply.
Listen NowThe Power of Touch: How Infant Massage Supports Regulation and Bonding
Dr. Kimberly Day
24 min
Touch is not a soft concept. There is specific neuroscience behind what happens when a parent holds, strokes, or massages a newborn — and the research on infant massage connects directly to regulation, bonding, and daily functional care. Dr. Kimberly Day explains what it is, why it matters, and how to begin.
Listen NowWhat Listeners Are Saying
Listener reviews coming soon. Check back after launch for real listener testimonials from Apple Podcasts.
Meet the Co-Hosts
Lauren Zatezalo
OT student and co-host
Lauren is completing her occupational therapy degree through her Capstone placement under Melissa O'Neal. She brings the learner's perspective to every episode — asking the questions that new parents are already asking, and translating the OT framework into language that does not require a clinical background to understand. Her investment in postpartum care is personal as much as academic. She started this podcast because new parents deserve more support, education, and resources than they are currently getting. The fourth trimester is hard enough without having to struggle to find help during it.
Melissa O'Neal, OTR/L
Licensed Occupational Therapist | Founder, The Postpartum OT
Melissa is a licensed occupational therapist with extensive clinical experience in postpartum care. She is the founder of The Postpartum OT and the clinical anchor for everything Lauren and Melissa discuss on this show. When Melissa says something, there is a decade of practice behind it.
- How to build a daily routine that holds when you are running on no sleep.
- What OT knows about the functional reality of feeding, moving, and recovering that does not make it into your postpartum appointment.
- The framework for returning to the activities that make you feel like yourself — at a pace that is actually sustainable.
The Fourth Trimester Functional Living Guide
What an occupational therapist wants every new parent to know about the first three months. Free.
Educational content only. Not a substitute for professional care.