EP5: The Weight We Carry: Secondary Traumatic Stress in Fetal Care
The Weight We Carry.
In fetal care, nurses walk families through life-changing diagnoses, impossible decisions, and sometimes unimaginable loss — and the weight of witnessing all of it can leave lasting marks on the caregivers themselves. In this episode, fetal care nurse Jen Anderson sits down with host Kris Rimbos and speaks with remarkable honesty about her own experience of secondary traumatic stress: the scream she'll never unhear, the breaking point, the single text message that became this podcast, and the slow work of learning to heal. An open, human conversation — and a call to action for real support inside healthcare.
The episode in five numbers
Meet the voices
Tap either card to flip for a full bio.
Host
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Kris Rimbos, MS, RNC-OB, C-EFM, NE-BC, FAWHONN
Host of The Fetal Frontline and a long-standing member of the Fetal Therapy Nurse Network. Kris helped build FTNN's web presence and social channels, served as Membership and Publications Chair, and spent her career in women and infant services, including at a major US fetal center.
Across this season of The Fetal Frontline, she sits down with the clinicians behind fetal care — nurses, social workers, and the wider team — drawing out the day-to-day realities of a specialty most listeners have never seen up close.
Guest · Fetal Care Nurse
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Jen Anderson, RN
Jen has been a nurse for nearly 20 years, all of it in women's healthcare. She started on a labor & delivery floor in a small rural area, then moved into the ambulatory side and maternal-fetal medicine — high-risk OB. Today she's a nurse coordinator for a fetal surgery and fetal intervention program, walking families through some of the most difficult diagnoses in medicine.
A self-described empath, Jen speaks openly in this episode about her own secondary traumatic stress — and how reaching out to the Fetal Therapy Nurse Network at her breaking point became the spark for this very podcast. Her message: caregivers have to learn to advocate for themselves the way they advocate for their patients.
What secondary traumatic stress is — and why fetal care carries it differently
Some grounding before the story. Four ideas that make this weight real — and different from the burnout it's so often mistaken for.
The weight we carry.
It rarely announces itself. It's the scream from the end of the hall you never unhear; the drive home when a bubbly, outspoken person goes quiet; the nights you can't turn your brain off. "We can really hold on to some of the really devastating things that we bear witness to." This episode is about naming that weight — and learning to set some of it down.
Chapter guide
Twenty chapters, each with a pull-quote and the three things worth walking away with. Tap "Open deep dive" to unpack the context — what secondary traumatic stress is, how it differs from burnout, and the single text message that became this podcast.
One nurse's journey to naming it
From a rural delivery floor to a breaking point and back — eight turning points in the story Jen tells.
Where the support comes from
Jen never carries this alone. Across the conversation, six sources of support come up again and again — the people and places that make the weight bearable.
What actually helps
Four things Jen comes back to again and again — the coping that works when the weight lands. Tap through each.
In a packed clinic you keep moving — but even a few seconds of acknowledgment changes everything.
The weight follows you across the threshold — so say so.
You are not the only one carrying this — so don't carry it alone.
Feel it fully — and then set some of it down.
A caregiver's playbook
"You get to be emotional — and you can't live there forever."
The balance Jen is still learning. Care deeply, feel it fully, then set some of it down. Seven principles that run through her story — for anyone carrying the weight of this work.
The people who catch you
"I've got all these people who know what I'm talking about." When Jen finally reached out, the network caught her — texts, calls, emails, all saying I've been there, you're not alone. No one heals this alone, and now the circle is widening: nurses across the country, joined by social workers, holding each other up.
Looking forward
Four threads from the close of the conversation — what gives Jen hope, and the belief at the center of it all. Tap through each.
On why she's optimistic. Asked what gives her hope that we can do better for nurses, Jen doesn't hesitate.
"Because we're nurses, and we can do anything"
- The mental-health side of this work is finally being talked about
- It's becoming more the norm — and that's the right track
- Caregivers are learning to care for each other and themselves
- "We still got a ways to go" — but the direction is finally right
The lesson that took her 20 years to learn.
Why this work matters so much — and why leaders can't forget it.
If listeners carry one thing forward.
From surviving to thriving
What keeps Jen going is the other side of the story. The families who come back to visit. The thank-you cards on the worst day of their lives. The kids who had in-utero repairs, "not using any devices — running and jumping and doing karate and gymnastics." A wall of fame of little friends doing well. "This is incredible. You are doing so many great things."
Share these moments
Three short clips from the conversation — tap to play, or download to post on Instagram, Facebook, or wherever you share. Passing one along might help another caregiver feel a little less alone.
Thanks for listening.
If Jen's story resonated with you, share it with a colleague, your care team, or a healthcare leader. Together we can build a culture where seeking support is a sign of strength — and where no caregiver feels they have to carry the weight of secondary traumatic stress alone. Subscribe so you don't miss the next conversation on The Fetal Frontline.
Chapter
How to subscribe
The FTNN Podcast publishes episodes roughly every month. You can subscribe wherever you listen:
- Apple Podcasts — search "The Fetal Frontline"
- Spotify — search "Fetal Therapy Nurse Network"
- Amazon Music & YouTube — direct RSS feed coming soon
Reviews genuinely help others discover the show — if this episode resonated, leave one. And if you'd like to suggest a future guest or topic, reach out via the FTNN website.
