Birth Matters

In a bustling city teeming with ambition and dreams, Alexis - an actress, dreamer, and now mother takes us on her journey into motherhood. From the grand stages of New York City to the intimate confines of a 5-story Harlem walk-up, Alexis prepares for the role of a lifetime. As she immerses herself in prenatal yoga, pores over all the books, and engages in birth classes, her transition is magnified by music, art, and deep-rooted determination. Facing an accelerated birth amid apprehensive paramedics, the ties of sisterhood bring comfort as her doula holds the fort. In the midst of chaos, Alexis gives birth at home, keeping her resilience flowing like a quiet undercurrent and a new star, baby Anita, is born.  A tale of dreams, drama, and the divine journey into motherhood... This is the mesmerizing story of Alexis Field giving birth to baby Anita. Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

In this 2nd episode of a 2-parter, Kaitlin shares her 2nd and 3rd babies' birth stories. After having a traumatic first birth, Kaitlin finds her voice and makes every effort to help things go differently. This includes finding a VBAC-supportive provider since she was aiming to have a vaginal birth after cesarean, seeking out lots of education and hiring a doula for support. She contrasts the ways in which her 2nd baby's birth was redemptive and empowering, and then shares her very efficient homebirth with her 3rd. Kaitlin explains how her experiences were what not only drew her to becoming a birth doula but also motivated her to start Be Her Village as a way to help birthing families access the support they need whether they can afford it or not through a gift registry for support and education.  Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

Today's story is the 1st episode of a 2-parter. In it, the founder of Be Her Village, a baby registry that provides a way to give the gift of support instead of far less important baby gear, shares her first of 3 babies' birth stories. Kaitlin's 3 births couldn't be more different from each other. In this episode, Kaitlin shares planning for a birthing center birth with midwives that shifted to a hospital induction and, ultimately, an unplanned cesarean. She shares how it was traumatic not because of the mode of birth, but largely because of the way she was treated. This first story lays the foundation for both why she made different choices for births 2 and 3, which will be shared in the next episode, and why she started Be Her Village as a way to help folks access the support they need for a great birth and postpartum period. Sneak peek into the next episode: she has a transformative, healing 2nd vaginal birth after cesarean (or VBAC) in a hospital with an OB and doula, and with her third a much faster labor and birth at home.  Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

Melissa had her first baby as a teen but second baby 15 years later with a different partner and with an early pregnancy loss in between. Each journey was very different, and she shares in today's episode how and why she made quite different choices for her most recent birthing process. This included switching from obstetrical care to hospital midwifery care to, ultimately, have an unmedicated birth in a freestanding birthing center in Washington state. She shares feeling instant love for her firstborn, like she'd never known. She then details experiencing grief stemming from her previous early pregnancy loss during her 3rd pregnancy and shares how that loss created anxiety and hesitation to bond with baby during pregnancy. But then Melissa shares a reclamation of confidence in her body through birthing her second son. Melissa also shares a bit about how easy breastfeeding was with her first son, yet how much more challenging both breastfeeding and pumping was her second time around.And, just a quick content warning, though you probably already picked up on it in the description: pregnancy loss will be mentioned and detailed in this story. Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

In part 2 of this 2-episode birth story, Jessica shares the rest of her unmedicated birth story with midwives in an NYC hospital. She details the contrast of her very positive birth experience to the postpartum care experience, discusses some initial breastfeeding challenges in which an IBCLC provides stellar support and addresses a lip tie & tongue tie her son had. She also shares how important a postpartum virtual support group the our doula collective offered was for her as a new parent and the essential community of support she discovered there. Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

Jessica learned about midwives and doulas in a college class, which planted the seed for her desire once becoming pregnant for an unmedicated birth. As a runner, she made connections between how empowering and satisfying running a race can be to her desire to have an unmedicated birth. In this episode, Jessica shares her story of alternative conception while planning a wedding, switching care providers twice to find an ideal match with hospital midwives, hiring a doula and educating herself all with the goal of achieving the unmedicated birth she very much hoped for and was able to achieve. This is part 1 of a 2 part birth story, and fun sneak peek for the next episode: you'll hear details of how her son was born en caul (with the amniotic sac intact). Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

Bettina prides herself on being a thorough researcher. She carries that into pregnancy and  interviews 6 doulas before choosing one, switches from an OB to midwifery care when she doesn't feel aligned, gets prenatal breastfeeding support due to having inverted nipples, and more. At the end of pregnancy, talk of induction arises due to concerns of fetal growth restriction due to baby measuring small. Knowing that she and her partner are healthy but fairly petite people, she trusts her baby is healthy, advocates for more time, even signing an Against Medical Advice form to not be induced at 39 weeks, and meanwhile tries all the natural induction techniques. Her proactive measures pay off and help her have a respectful, well-supported, unmedicated hospital birth. Bettina also shares some about the breastfeeding challenges she faced and the expert support she received from both lactation consultants and a chiropractor who specializes in the Webster technique for newborns. Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

Following an early pregnancy scare, Taylor proceeds to have a healthy pregnancy. Feeling frustrated when she passes her due date and isn't showing much change toward going into labor, Taylor tries all the things to start labor and avoid induction. Once her water breaks, she has a super efficient unmedicated birth in which she labors at home for as long as possible until she starts feeling pressure and arrives at the hospital just in time to push and give birth. She and Joey share how educating themselves made a big difference in not feeling the need to rush to the hospital when her water broke, and how her empowering birth experience has awakened an interest in moving into birth work. Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

Sierra envisioned a waterbirth for her baby, but was disheartened to find it's hard to find a birthing location where that's possible and also hard to find birthing center options in NYC. With the help of her doula, she finds the one birthing center in all of NYC and switches her care. Working with midwives, Sierra immediately feels much more cared about, seen and heard than she ever did with her hospital OB. Listen to hear this exciting story of how Sierra's son had very different plans for where he wanted to be born at 39 weeks! Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

Despite the fact that EmJ has always had a self-professed low pain tolerance, she finds instinctive coping mechanisms that work for her to have the unmedicated birth that she had hoped to have in a Manhattan hospital. Part of what helps this happen was how EmJ receives uncommonly doula-like support from the nurses that helps her to manage well when things were at the most intense points. After the birth story, EmJ details navigating breastfeeding, and ultimately, exclusive pumping, in light of having had previous breast reduction surgery. She seeks out pelvic PT and finds it incredibly valuable to do an initial phone consult shortly after birth, particularly since she had experienced a fairly significant tear. Finally, EmJ gives some lesser known info on how she learned as a solo business owner that she could participate in the NY State Paid Parental Leave program and give us some tricks for small business owners.  Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

As a teenager, Crystal learned she has a bicornuate uterus which significantly affected her menstrual cycle. So it's no small miracle years later when she conceives naturally twice after being told she'd probably need to use IUI or IVF. When her son doesn't seem to have room to flip from breech to vertex (or head up to head down), and because doctors are rarely trained to deliver a breech baby vaginally, Crystal has a belly birth. She shares a few bumps along the way including an allergic reaction to the pre-op antibiotics, challenges with healing from major abdominal surgery and initial breastfeeding, but also shares how overall it was a positive experience. So much so that only 14 weeks into parenthood, she's already feeling ready to give it another go. She also shares some details about her son's hip dysplasia, which is more common in babies who are persistently breech. Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

Cally's hopes were high for an unmedicated birth. She gets thrown a curve ball when her membranes rupture as the first sign of labor. Knowing that an important strategy for a healthy birth is to labor at home for as long as possible, she doesn't rush to the hospital. When she does go many hours later, she bravely signs an AMA (“against medical advice”) form in order to go back home after learning she's barely dilated or effaced and baby is still high. When she later goes to the hospital and agrees to be induced, she's ultimately very happy to have a vaginal birth with shorter-than-average length of induction, epidural for just a couple of hours, and an efficient pushing stage. She also shares some about her experiences with clinical anxiety and strategies to manage it, challenges with breastfeeding, and experiencing tendonitis due to repetitive stress in holding baby. Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

As a doctor of physical therapy specializing in pelvic health, Nidhi is quite well-informed during her pregnancy, and had hoped to have an unmedicated birth with limited or no interventions. As her pregnancy develops, Nidhi learns she has gestational diabetes and goes on insulin and baby has an abnormal quad screen. In light of these things, her OB pushes to induce at 39 weeks, but she advocates to delay the induction until the fluid tests low a day before her estimated due date. She agrees to the induction at that point, but is thankful on the other side of birth to have bought more time because her son actually measured small at the time of birth, contrary to what often happens with gestational diabetes. Nidhi also shares about her severe tearing due to the use of the vacuum, and details her frustration with the lack of helpfulness of medical care in the postpartum period. Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

In today's episode, Jewish doula and mental health therapist Chana Diamond returns to share her 2nd and 3rd babies' birth stories. She shares the details of two more unmedicated, uncomplicated vaginal births in a hospital attended by the same midwife as her first. Her babies were born healthy, despite a bit of concern due to identifying the rare Kidd antibody for both her 2nd and 3rd pregnancies. Chana also reflects on and describes some of the meaningful Jewish customs and rituals she observed in her pregnancies. (If you missed her first birth story, you can find that in Episode 87.) Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

Millennials & die-hard Queens natives Suzanne & Edgar share the many smart things they did to prepare for the journey into parenthood and in hopes of having a healthy pregnancy & unmedicated birth: pre-conception couples therapy, going back on mental health meds in the journey to conceive, physical prep with exercise including yoga, nutritional support, chiropractic, acupuncture, meditation & mindfulness practices, hiring a doula, carefully choosing care provider, taking birth class, attending lactation support meetings during pregnancy, books, and more. Their birth story starts with being told they need an immediate induction due to low fluid. They decide to buy a bit of time by going to Suzanne's “lucky diner” for a good meal beforehand, and her labor starts spontaneously. Suzanne experiences a faster-than-average 1st stage of labor but longer-than-average pushing stage. When the doctor says a cesarean might be needed after 3 hours of pushing, Suzanne is determined to give birth vaginally. Going into parenthood, she experiences some breastfeeding challenges that hit her mental health and shares about the hard decisions she had to make along the way. This story powerfully demonstrates how strong self-advocacy is often a gamechanger in many hospitals to have a physiologic birth and avoid unnecessary interventions. It also highlights how important supporting our mental health is in the journey into parenthood - directly from a parent who works in the mental health field. Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

Hallie and Eric had a long 3-year journey to conceive their son. Along the way, previously undiagnosed conditions PCOS and Hashimoto's are identified. Hallie eventually decides to seek out complementary therapies in her pursuit to conceive such as acupuncture, which seems to make a big difference. She conceives on the first IVF transfer and immediately seeks out doula support and an OB who specializes in endocrinology. She also dives into research to develop her preferences. Though she desired an undisturbed, low-intervention birth, she ends up needing an immediate induction at 38 weeks due to preeclampsia. Despite this not being the preferred path, she still has a positive experience because of the birth team she so carefully chose. Hallie also shares about working with an infant care & feeding specialist as well as a mohel for their son's bris ceremony. Full show notes at: birthmattersnyc.com/blog/ep93 Subscribe for email updates Show notes (transcript, resources, photos) Connect: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | podcast@birthmattersnyc.com

Whenever Hannah tried to reconcile her background as a professional dancer with the idea of pregnancy and birth, it felt like the two were incompatible. Yet when she does get pregnant, she finds ways to beautifully integrate the two. While pregnant, Hannah obtains a grant to both create and perform a dance work that tells the story of her journey into parenthood and to hold dance & journaling classes to create a community of support for fellow pregnant people. Ultimately, she chooses to give birth at home. Today's birth story shares all the details of how Hannah hires a great midwife and doula birth team to support her and her husband in their Upper West Side home birth.

Kelly eagerly educated herself and prepared for giving birth in all the ways – prenatal yoga, hiring doulas and a midwife, taking birth class, strategic nutrition, acupuncture, seeing a pelvic floor therapist. Because she's a self-professed “jaded” professional working in the medical field, she made very intentional choices surrounding her care provider and support team. Kelly's surprised when, just before her due date, her water breaks during a prenatal visit with her midwife. From there, listen to hear how quickly Kelly's labor progresses after her midwife sends her home, how instinctively she labors, and how showing up just in time to push contributed to an easier-than-she-expected birthing process. Kelly also shares a bit about her early breastfeeding experience and how getting her daughter's tongue-tie oral restrictions released helped lead to gradual improvements.Read show notes/resources, transcript, see photos at birthmattersshow.com

Kaley did everything she could to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle throughout her pregnancy. She continued her running habit, then around 20 weeks she needed to shift to swimming and also did prenatal yoga. Toward the end of her healthy pregnancy, she's told that her cervix is already 4 centimeters dilated and 90% effaced, yet her labor wouldn't start for another 3 weeks.When she experiences some bleeding at nearly 40 weeks, she checks into the hospital to get checked out. They tell her they'd like to induce, but before they can start the induction, her water breaks with a big gush. She buys a bit of time, and is grateful that her contractions started on their own about an hour later. Kaley shares all of the details about how both fast and positive her labor was, but what very scary complications she experiences after the birth. She also explains how it has helped her to separate the birth from the 3rd stage into distinct events in order to protect the memory of her baby's birth as a positive one.She then shares a bit about the experience of being a bit disoriented in her postpartum physical body, as well as some of the breastfeeding challenges she faced due to low milk supply caused by having lost so much blood.Full show notes at: birthmattersshow.com

Mara & Dylan did lots of great prep for birth in pregnancy – acupuncture, massage, birth class, hiring a doula, yoga, and more. Having heard her stepmom share how beautiful her own home birth was, this planted a seed of trust in the birthing process. When the time comes for her own baby's birth, she feels most in her element laboring at home, using the shower for hydrotherapy almost nonstop. In fact, she was so in her element that she labored at home almost too long, and their doula diverts them to a different hospital when Mara starts getting the urge to push in the car. Listen to today's story to hear how things play out from there. This story carries some striking similarities to a story shared earlier this season in Episode 83 by Nadia. So while we have two last-minute detours in this season, please don't get it into your head that this is common because it's not common at all – it's quite an uncommon coincidence. She also shares a bit about some initial challenges she had with breastfeeding.Show notes (links to resources, transcript, photos, etc.): birthmattersshow.com

Lauren's first time giving birth was pre-pandemic in Australia in a very different healthcare system. So when she and her husband Shaun relocated to the NYC area to suburban New Jersey and wanted to conceive again, she began listening to this podcast as a way to get to know the local birth environment. Today she shares her experience of having an unmedicated birth for a second time but in a New Jersey hospital. Lauren tells us she gleaned wisdom from listening to some of the birth stories shared on this podcast that helped her to more confidently advocate for herself to have the unmedicated birth she hoped for when a nurse was pushing to start pitocin. Then you'll hear her compare and contrast the Australian birthing environment to that of the NYC area – particularly along the lines of lactation support.

Jewish doula and mental health therapist Chana decides to get off medications for depression and anxiety during her pregnancy. This results in a recurrence of both, including pretty severe insomnia and her family strongly encourages her to get back on medications. She gets back to feeling more well for the rest of her pregnancy, but then her beloved grandmother dies when Chana's 38 weeks pregnant, closely followed by Passover. Chana goes into labor at a large Seder family gathering and goes on to have a waterbirth at a Long Island hospital attended by a doula and Jewish midwife. Then she identifies her daughter's gender at birth and names  her after her grandmother.

Michelle knew all of her life that she experiences medical anxiety and convulsive syncope. So, when she started thinking about her deep desire to grow a family, she started educating herself and preparing strategically. Knowing herself and her anxiety challenges, she started planning for an unmedicated birth. Along the way, her strategies included eventually changing OBs who would be more supportive of her preferences and needs, hiring a doula, doing lots of research and taking birth class. This is a story of how this preparation contributed to her well-supported, uncomplicated, unmedicated hospital birth.

When Brooklynites Megan & Ted decide to try to get pregnant around the beginning of the pandemic, they're surprised to conceive immediately. After seeing an OB and desiring less rushed time and more holistic care, they eventually land on giving birth at Brooklyn Birthing Center with midwives and a doula. Megan's taken aback and challenged when she experiences 3 days of prodromal early labor with very little sleep. Eventually, labor kicks into gear once her water breaks. After pushing for 3+ hours and being told she may need to transfer to the hospital, their doula smartly encourages Megan to try an asymmetrical position that helps the baby get past the pelvic brim and finally be born. Megan & Ted also share about how well-supported they were not only in labor but after birth, too, and how important that was when Megan experienced some baby blues, surfacing in temporary anxiety and uncharacteristic irritability.

When Becky and her transgender husband decide to grow their family, it's a long, winding road to meeting their baby. First step: make very careful adjustments to her depression & anxiety meds in order to conceive as safely as possible. Next step: the tedious process of seeking out a sperm donor. Then they had to go through 7 emotional rounds of IUI and finally IVF before they could even start a viable pregnancy. Today Becky shares all of those details plus her baby's birth story, which starts with contractions in the middle of the night, being told she's not actually in labor when she clearly was, augmenting with pitocin, Becky advocating to have her preferences be honored, and an otherwise fairly uncomplicated birth. She also shares a bit about her breastfeeding journey and how postpartum anxiety started around 3 months out from birth when baby went on a nursing strike.Please always curate for yourself which episodes you feel will build your confidence and not your anxiety. This is one of the more challenging stories in that Becky was the unfortunate recipient of patient gaslighting, which could be upsetting or triggering for some listeners. However, you'll hear how smartly Becky advocates for her voice to be heard and her preferences to be respected, so this is one reason we feel this story could be very useful for expectant parents to hear.If you do choose to skip the story, I highly recommend tuning in to the teaching portion at the end because I'll go over some simple but powerful self-advocacy strategies that are a glimpse of what you'll also learn if you come to birth class.

As a person working in both the wellness and fashion fields, Nadia had intentionally pursued a healthy, fit lifestyle with an active meditation and breathwork practice. However, she discovered she had to ease up on those expectations in pregnancy and be gentle with herself. Early on in her pregnancy and at the recommendation of a friend, she hired both a doula and switched from working with an OB to a hospital midwife practice to feel more nurtured and heard. Soon after graduating from birth class and before her due date, she's surprised to go into labor. Everyone around her encourages her to rest and relax thinking she probably had a long time ahead of her. However, for Nadia labor progressed unusually quickly. She shares very specific ways that her doula helped keep her and her husband calm, how her doula pivoted and did some quick, smart thinking when it became necessary to switch hospital destinations, and how she strongly advocated for her and her husband to have the best birth possible, including being sure Nadia's partner didn't miss the birth!

Today, Bronx-based Dominican couple, Ana Rosario & Josmar Rojas, share their son's uncomplicated homebirth story. Ana's background as a social worker had opened her eyes to the challenges Black/BIPOC folks face giving birth in a hospital setting, so she'd decided previously in her first pregnancy, which unfortunately resulted in loss, to give birth at home. They detail specifics of the holistic, nurturing, very safe care their homebirth midwife provided through their journey of pregnancy loss and then through her 4th pregnancy, labor and birth, and share about the indispensable support their doula also provided. Ana also reflects on some of the very specific cultural, nutritional, and herbal aspects of that support and how those factors contributed to having the kind of healthy, empowering birth she preferred. 

Liza & Jon are surprised when they conceive much more quickly than expected. Toward the end of an uneventful, happy pregnancy, they learn their son is breech. They try almost everything to get their breech baby to flip, but baby was happy as a clam sitting on her bladder. With cesarean scheduled, Liza goes into labor spontaneously a week early and labors for a day and a half before heading to the hospital for the cesarean surgery. She shares about the beautifully respectful care they received throughout, ways that it felt like the beautiful birth it should feel like including holding hands during the surgery, playing music they wanted to hear and getting to hold their son almost immediately. Finally, Liza reflects on how grateful she is to have been able to nurse her son for a solid 2 months even though she had breast reduction surgery on one side and an implant on the other as a teen, and also describes how difficult a decision it was around 2 months to stop breastfeeding and shift to formula feeding. Liza & Jon are both quite charismatic; I think you'll love hearing the entertaining way they share their story and encourage expectant parents to go with the flow and embrace their unique weird.

After Amber experienced both a pregnancy loss and subsequent challenges conceiving a second time, she and her husband eventually conceive their rainbow baby on the first try with IUI. At 18 weeks, they learn their baby is breech, and she continues to be persistently breech, despite trying a number of things to help baby flip. Amber has to make a mental shift in expectations from desiring a physiologic birth to normalizing the necessary cesarean and comes to the realization that it can also be a beautiful way for a baby to be born. She also shares the importance of actively seeking out support through fellow expectant and new parents and some of the specific ways she found that support.

Today, Joanna & Tony share their son Felix's birth story. They were due after the Covid shutdown in NYC but, fortuitously, gave birth just shy of 37 weeks shortly before the shutdown. They show up to a prenatal visit almost 6 cm dilated (technically called “active labor”) yet not even feeling any labor sensations. Their doc tells them they need to go straight to the hospital, where they spend many hours in the waiting room and triage but then proceed to have an unmedicated labor and birth. Joanna & Tony are the only couple thus far to take Birth Matters class, give birth before graduating, and return to class with their newborn in tow to share the birth story with their own cohort!

As a pelvic PT, Helene started off pregnancy with unique and applicable skills that informed her decision to pursue an unmedicated delivery in a hospital. She shares about the various things that helped her have mostly the kind of labor and birth she had hoped for, including support from her husband and doula, breathwork, a peanut ball, hydrotherapy, and more. When it comes time for pushing, both the position and the technique she ends up using are not ones she ever would have guessed she'd do nor would she recommend to clients, but that felt necessary due to both exhaustion and a medical concern for the baby. Helene also shares about her early breastfeeding and healing challenges, and how going through this process personally inspired her to start a fully virtual pelvic PT and other perinatal care support service offering.

Jaymie started off her pregnancy under OB care but came to realize that the medical setting wasn't the right choice for her birth, so she transferred her care to a home birth midwifery team. She shares about what helped her prepare for her physically demanding labor at home and how her husband and team of midwives supported her throughout labor. She also shares about her experience breastfeeding and working with some lactation consultant friends.

Astoria resident Eileen chose her birth place on Long Island because it was where her Labor & Delivery nurse mother works and had relationships that would lend themselves to things going as well as possible and having her preferences honored. She also did all the things to prepare as best as possible for a healthy pregnancy and birthing experience. Today, she shares the details of a surprisingly long and intense 36-hour labor which included thinking her water broke early on, laboring a long time at home and at her mother's house, going to be checked and advocating to not be admitted too early. Eileen also shares how she managed to transition into postpartum after a less-than-seamless discharge from the hospital following what she calls “poop trauma”.

Lisa and Clint share the details of their unexpectedly fast first labor experience that results in Clint catching their baby on the sidewalk right outside Weill Cornell hospital in Manhattan in the dead of winter. They also discuss the realities of navigating postpartum at the start of a global pandemic and the importance of giving yourself lots of grace and flexibility when parenting in these challenging times.

Sophia's first birth was a planned homebirth that needed to transfer to the hospital for a cesarean due to baby's position. Today she shares how she was determined to try for a vaginal birth after cesarean, also known as VBAC, at home. Sophia details lots of smart insights based on both her own journey as well as her knowledge as a doula. We talk about kinds of things that can help both parent and baby thrive through the journey to, through and beyond birth such as acupuncture & moxibustion, chiropractic, cranial sacral therapy, pelvic physical therapy, Spinning Babies techniques, emotional support, and more.

Today's season 3 premiere episode shares a birth story with birth class students and podcast listeners, Lucy & Cam. They share how Lucy had hoped for a physiological birth and how surprised she was in coming to the U.S. from the UK that midwifery isn't the default standard of care. As she goes through her pregnancy working with an OB, over time she realizes she'd prefer more patient-centered care so she switches from OB care to a hospital midwifery practice. Once she has something to compare to, she breathes a huge sigh of relief and feels like she's found someone she can totally trust to hear and respect her birth choices and not intervene unnecessarily. When Lucy's told she needs to go to the hospital immediately to be induced for low fluids at 41 weeks, it becomes clear things won't fully go as she had hoped. However, you'll hear Lucy share how it was still a positive, empowering experience overall because of her careful choice of a care provider with whom she felt truly aligned and who helped her discern each step of the way when interventions were truly medically indicated.

In this final episode of Season 2, we'll hear a theme of gratitude. Laura communicates lots of it in today’s birth story as she shares the story of a well-supported metamorphosis into motherhood, her matrescence. Laura’s story is another pandemic birth story in which she equipped herself and her partner with birth doula support early in pregnancy and then also hired a great postpartum doula to support her for several weeks afterwards. She shares how, while the birth didn’t play out totally as she had hoped, it was still a positive experience largely because she had great support and received respectful care. Then in postpartum, only 9 days after birth, she and her husband start having Covid symptoms and find out he tested positive while their birth doula was visiting them. She describes some details of that challenging time. Finally, Laura shares how her eyes were opened to some of the terrible racial injustices and disparities that exist in our maternal health care system and how she wants to do her part to effect change.

When Evelyn & James conceive their baby, they have no idea they’ll be giving birth during a pandemic. As a dancer and trainer, she even keeps touring for a while with her dance company and teaching Pilates classes for part of pregnancy and just before Covid gets real. Once the pandemic hits, they decide to abruptly leave NYC to be closer to Evelyn’s family to give birth down in Houston, never thinking that it might just be a permanent move away from NYC. Ultimately, they decide to give birth at a freestanding birthing center, not wanting to give birth in a hospital given the risks of Covid-19, and then they have a postdates waterbirth supported by doulas, her husband and midwives. Evelyn and James share their son's birth story today but then Evelyn also shares a bit about her postpartum healing journey, and describes some of the work she’s doing now to virtually support pregnant and postpartum parents as a physical trainer.

Scharisse felt like she was getting lackluster care in her pregnancy at a hospital under Medicaid but thought she just had to deal. She was being told she should just schedule a cesarean because of her age and being overweight, and it didn’t sit right with her. Then one day, when she was around 30 weeks pregnant, she encountered a doula who encouraged her that she deserves to have respectful care and a great birth. This empowered her to switch to giving birth at home -- something she never thought someone on Medicaid could do, thanks to some flexibility on the part of her midwives and a community birth fund. She shares today about the radically better, deeply respectful care she received when she switched to working with homebirth midwives and doulas and details specific ways in which she felt heard and safe.

Actor-singer Aimée discovers she’s pregnant right after her and her husband’s honeymoon, which they returned from just before the pandemic shutdown and experiences both a healthy pregnancy but also sadness of not being seen by friends or family throughout her pregnancy. Today Aimée will share her baby's birth story in which she intentionally labors at home for a good, long time and then gives birth in a Manhattan hospital with the support of her husband and doula and without pain medications. Despite the fact that she had a great birth, you’ll hear how she began experiencing postpartum anxiety & depression around 4 weeks out from birth, how the anxiety skyrocketed around 6 weeks when her son became colicky and began having long crying spells, and how critically helpful it was when she sought out a therapist at the Motherhood Center who specializes in the perinatal period.

Sasha planned to give birth with a midwife and developed a birth plan for a peaceful, unmedicated birth. Some of her plans necessarily go out the window when, at 37 weeks Sasha is diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and has to immediately come to the hospital in the snow to be induced for the safety of her and her daughter. This story will help expectant parents think through their choices in care providers both in pregnancy as well as for baby, and also drives home the value of hiring a doula.

Today Emily shares her two pregnancy stories and a birth story. First, she describes experiencing pregnancy loss at 11 weeks. It surprises her when the grief was longer-lasting and more complex than she expected, but shares the essential support she discovered to help her through the journey of loss. Then Emily tells the story of conceiving her rainbow baby shortly after the Covid-19 shutdown and the many ways she and Scott prepared for giving birth, including hiring a team of 2 virtual doulas. She provides detailed strategies that helped her have the kind of birth she had hoped for (an unmedicated vaginal birth), including not only support from her husband, virtual doulas and nurses, but also laboring at home for most of labor, experimenting with a variety of positions, music, hydrotherapy, and more.

So it was a very stressful situation to be sent to the hospital and be told if you can't get your blood pressure down, you're being induced today. It's sort of the worst thing you could tell somebody who's trying to -- but what I found was I would put my headphones on, I would lie down on my left side and I would start to listen to my Hypnobirthing  tape and I would just really focus on the relaxation and my breathing. And my blood pressure numbers would just drop. And they would come in and sort of shake their heads and say, "Okay, I've never seen this work before, but I guess you can go home." And this actually happened a couple of times. It was really instructive to me to see how that kind of relaxation and breathing could affect my body in these really significant ways. And honestly it gave me a lot more practice too, for the hypnobirthing techniques.

What happens when you grow your family from an only child to two children? Today Danuta & Jacek share two birth stories -- one hospital birth with an obstetrician and one birthing center birth with a midwife, both so fast they barely make it to the birthplace in time. They compare and contrast the two birthing environments and care provider models, which will be helpful for anyone trying to make these choices before or during pregnancy. You’ll note that last week’s and this week’s episode titles both center on grief. Grief is a necessary process in any life change, and all kinds of grief can be challenging. Last week you heard about grief of losing a parent whereas this week you’ll hear a mother describe the surprising sadness she experienced toward the end of her second pregnancy as well as into postpartum in the transition from having just one child to focus on to having to divide attention between two. You’ll hear how important support was for Danuta as she expresses gratitude for the ways in which her doula and fellow moms normalized and validated her feelings of grief along the way.

Today Sarah & Steve share their daughter Molly’s birth story as a special way to celebrate and honor her on her 13th birthday, which is the day this story is airing. It’s a story of an unmedicated vaginal birth at home with a homebirth midwife in Brooklyn. Interesting, perhaps, to note that Molly has recently become interested in becoming a midwife and has listened to every single episode of this podcast! Sarah shares how giving birth and becoming a mother stirred up a new wave of grief over the loss of her mother, which was about 7 years before she became a mother. This sharing was also a special way to commemorate the 20th anniversary of losing her mother as it was recorded the day after it. She’ll mention a couple of things that happened during pregnancy that seemed like messages sent from her mother. As a professional in literacy as well as an anti-racist educator, Sarah provides a number of great book recommendations, including the recommendation to expose little ones to diversity and representation in books that you read to them as early as possible.

Today Simone Toomer joins us again to share her second baby’s birth story. Simone is a Black perinatal professional who serves birthing folks and families in a number of capacities, but at this point in time is mostly focusing on supporting nursing parents. In today’s story she shares how she again chose a Black support team and how her decision to give birth at home was a very logical choice following attending many births as a doula in various birth settings after her first baby’s birth. Simone had a quick first birth, and this one is even shorter, lasting only a couple of hours from her noticing the first labor contraction to meeting her son. She then shares being surprised by some of the breastfeeding challenges she experienced with her 2nd, since her first experience had been much easier. She explains how taking her son for bodywork and then getting his tongue tie released made all the difference. Simone also details some of how the challenges she experienced inform the professional lactation support she provides now, and talks again about the nursing support groups she’s doing for nursing parents who identify as Black through Chocolate Milk Cafe as well as for all nursing parents with La Leche League.

What happens when you’ve planned a peaceful, undisturbed birthing center birth but are diagnosed at 37 weeks with a rare form of preeclampsia called HELLP Syndrome? Jennifer shares how this unexpected news threw her for a loop but how she calmly drove herself to the hospital to check in for an induction in which she had the pressure of needing to give birth within a few limited hours or else a cesarean would be necessary. Tune in to hear how uncharacteristically efficient Jennifer’s labor was and how ready for giving birth her body and baby were. She also shares the number of ways she prepared for giving birth in light of her background as a clinical nutritionist, postpartum chef and yoga teacher with training as a doula.

In this last episode in our fertility journey series, we share a fertility journey story (2, actually), that may be particularly useful for folks who identify as queer and who are on the TTC path. Trigger alert: pregnancy loss is mentioned in this episode.Ashley tells her and her wife’s story of overlapping pregnancies via IVF using 1 anonymous sperm donor for both of them so their children could be genetically half-siblings. Ashley’s pregnancy followed enduring 6 failed IUI’s, a 7th IUI that resulted in an ectopic pregnancy as well as one IVF transfer that resulted in an early miscarriage at 5 weeks. Her wife conceived via IVF on the first try following 6 failed IUIs and in Ashley’s 3rd trimester of pregnancy. Ashley details some the research she needed to do in order to advocate for herself, the benefits of acupuncture, and the valuable community she discovered as well as family support she and her wife had. She also reflects on aspects of the emotional journey & mindset shifts she needed to make for this journey to meet their daughter, Ava, to feel like a successful and positive one.

In today’s episode, fertility coach Lisa Hendrickson-Jack joins us to explain how the fertility awareness method can be used for the TTC fertility journey as well as for postpartum and lifelong bodily awareness. Lisa is a certified Fertility Awareness Educator and Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner who teaches women to chart their menstrual cycles for natural birth control, conception, and monitoring overall health. In her book The Fifth Vital Sign, Lisa debunks the myth that regular ovulation is only important when you want children by recognizing the menstrual cycle as a vital sign. Drawing heavily from the current scientific literature, Lisa presents an evidence-based approach to fertility awareness and menstrual cycle optimization. She hosts the Fertility Friday Podcast, a weekly radio show devoted to helping women connect to their fifth vital sign by uncovering the connection between menstrual cycle health, fertility, and overall health.

We’re nearing the end of our fertility journey series before we return to birth stories; this week we have a bit of both. In the last couple of weeks of Jenn’s pregnancy and with the deadline set to induce labor, Jenn’s desperate to avoid induction and pulls out all the stops trying everything from bouncing on a yoga ball to red raspberry leaf tea because she had hoped for an unmedicated birth. Finally, sex seems to do the trick and her water breaks. When they show up to the hospital thinking they’d get to go home but instead get checked in, things play out in such a way that induction, epidural, and ultimately the assistance of a vacuum are needed for the over 24-hour labor. Also unexpected (and disappointing) twists were getting a different OB and different doula than planned. Jenn & Zach also share details about their fertility journey and about their son’s bris with a mohel. Heads up: this story is one of the more challenging stories shared on this podcast, but it’s one that’s educational in ways that haven’t been shared thus far. Please always check out the description here at the beginning of each episode or in the show notes over at birthmattersshow.com and decide for yourself which episodes you think will help you feel more confident and relaxed in the journey toward parenthood and leave the rest. Everyone’s preferences are different on this, so that’s why we're providing a fairly broad range of educational stories on this podcast.

Today you’ll hear the story of fertility warrior Jasmine Katatikarn, who struggled to have a child for six years. After multiple IUIs and her 2nd IVF, she was told that she had a less than 1% chance of having a baby and to stop trying. However, Jasmine didn’t give up.Using her background as an artist, she applied an artist’s mindset to overcome her roadblocks and design a life that gave control of her fertility journey and life moving forward. Using her designer point of view and tools, Jasmine shows you how to take control of your own fertility journey as well. As a result, she became pregnant within months of being told she had less than a 1% chance. Jasmine now has two kids, both through IVF. Today, you’ll hear details about her fertility journey, what led her into encouraging others along similar paths, and she’ll share a bit about the work she does to support parents who are on the TTC journey.