Birthing Outside the Box

Christina is a mom of 4 who wanted a peaceful home birth from the beginning. Her first (midwife attended home birth) attempt ended up in a transfer due to a "hemorrhage" (probably didnt need to transfer after all) Second birth was an automatic c-section for having a low lying placenta. Then, for her third and fourth, she took matters into her own hands and had wild pregnancies and freebirths. Ahhhh finally! 

Michelle is a canadian mama of 4 who had 3 hospital births before she finally decided to have a home birth. With each of Michelle's births she felt an increasing sense that there was more to Birth than what she was experiencing.  It wasn't until she was nearing the end of her fourth pregnancy that she really committed to having a home birth. She had started living a more wholistic, healthy life style and was learning about how incredible our bodies are and that we are designed to heal, be well and BIRTH! 

We had the honor of being interviewed by Sarah & Matthew Bivens on the Doing it at Home Podcast. It was such a great conversation, we hope you enjoy! 

In this episode we welcome back, Chelsea, from episode 9. She shares the similarities between her two home births and what she learned from the first that she took into the second. Make sure you go back and listen to episode 9 incase you haven't yet! 

We had the great honor of interviewing Sarah and Matthew Bivens from the Doing it at Home podcast. Our conversation was filled with topics like birth, life, business, philosophy and more! Everything from their own home birth story to the evolution of their podcast and how it turned into a business and also their "open to conceive" journey. They are very candid on their podcast but we hope you will listen and get to know them even better, enjoy! 

Courtney had been listening to our podcast, and when she realized she lived so close to our office she became a chiropractic patient and also took our birth class to prepare for her home birth. She had previously had two hard hospital births before having a quick, blissful home birth with her third. 

On top of being a wife and mom of two, Solange is an active member of the military, birth doula, crossfit coach and works for a non profit.  Her first attempt at a home birth ended in a transfer, largely due to a lack of support. She took full responsibility for her second pregancy and birth and had a beautiful, redemptive freebirth. 

Kristin, a fellow Chiropractor and one of Dr. V's best friends shares her experiences surrounding miscarriages and home birth. Kristin and her husband Sam's decision to birth at home was solidified after a traumatic miscarriage in the hospital. She walks us through some difficult yet beautiful moments all leading up to the moment she meets her baby boy, Milo.

Cayla, who's a patient of Dr. V's, explains how her scoliosis might have played a part in her long, on again off again 9 day labor. She was supported by her family and an amazing birth team as she gave birth to her baby in the birth pool. 

Winnie is a first time mom who is Dr. V's Chiropractic patient and a BOTB birth class graduate! Winnie shares in great detail how the birth of her son Titan unfolded. It started with "the midwives brew" and ended with a big, beautiful baby boy being born on the bed. 

Elisha, the woman behind @bringinguptheburns, joins us and shares her four daughters' birth stories - two of them in a birth center and two of them at home. For her first birth she was under the care of a "medwife" and vowed to never go that route again. Her second birth was a wonderful experience but still chose to birth her next two at home. Elisha also enlightens us with what kind of inner work she did to prepare for birth. 

A Raleigh local joins us "in studio" to disscuss the births of her three boys. One hospital, one birth center and one at home - all of which were uncomplicated. Her most recent baby was born in 1 hour, at home. 

BOTB hosts disscuss Jani's most recent freebirth, which did include some community support from women she cherishes. They each shared their perspectives and reminisced over the night Gabie was born. Jani shares the struggles she experienced postpartum, including breastfeeding and having covid. 

Brittany's first birth was a long one in the hospital. She endured verbal abuse from the hospital staff and was told she needed an emergency c-section - although when baby was born he had perfect apgar scores, which made her question the care she had received. For her second baby, another very long birth process, she advocated for herself and had a VBAC in the hospital. For her third baby she chose not only a home birth, but a freebirth. She educated herself well, and was confident that she and her husband could do this together. She finally got the beautiful, peaceful birth that she always wanted.

Jeanne is a birth doula who attended many hospital births before going on to have 4 home births herself. For her first three babies she used a midwife who she had chosen before even getting pregnant and for her last she chose to freebirth. Jeanne shares that while pregnant with her fourth, her mother was diagnosed with cancer and ultimately passed away shortly after giving birth. Her last baby shares her moms birthday - what a gift! 

Amanda had the shock of a lifetime when she unexpectedly found out she was pregnant. Being a nurse she chose to birth at a local hospital because that felt most comfortable for her. She did decide to switch OB's at 30 weeks due to the lack of care. Her now husband was a railroad engineer and for him to be present they opted to be induced a day before her due date. Although all of her births were less than 8 hours she felt this birth was intense, full of verbal insults and threats. She felt traumatized specifically from an episiotomy that was done without consent. She knew she wanted to do it differently the next time and focused not just on the physical aspect of birth but her mental state as well. She found a midwife she fully trusted and decided to birth at her house instead of her own because her husband still wanted to be close to the hospital. Ten days after her expected due date her second baby boy was born in the most loving and magical environment at her midwifes home. For her third pregnancy her midwife had retired so she had to find a new one all while dealing with the complications of birthing during a pandemic. At the time of her third birth they were fostering 7 kittens, had two small kids, and she just felt like their home was too cramped. She knew she would need peace and quiet to focus on working through the birth process so she decided to again birth at her midwifes home. During her third birth she took things slow during the pushing phase and waited until the fetal ejection reflex took over. Her third son was born en caul within two hours of arriving at her midwives home.

Dr. Emily was still a chiropractic student when she became pregnant. She explored a birth center but ended up choosing a home (on campus) birth with a midwife who she really connected with. She walks us through the beautiful (and sometimes challenging) moments of her birth and postpartum. Dr. Emily's practice, Chiro One, is located in Eauclaire, Wisconsin. 

Alyssa so beautifully shared about her pregnancy loss that she chose to experience at home at 12 weeks gestation. This birth happened in between a not so ideal birth center birth with a "medwife" and a very quick family birth at home. We were so honored to have had Alyssa on the podcast to share this very intimate and beautiful story. 

Amber had planned on having a natural hospital birth for her first baby but that unfortunately ended in a traumatic c-section. She had to seek out therapy for a year just to be able to talk about her son's birth. When she became pregnant with her second she knew she would be doing things completely different. She had the most redemptive, healing Free Birth. We also discuss what obstetrical violence looks like, gestational diabetes and preeclampsia.

Katelynn is a first time mom who decided to free birth at home. She experienced several different variations including her water breaking at 36.5 weeks and passing out multiple times after her daughter was born. 

In this episode we get a glimpse of what it is like to birth in Germany. Women's pregnancy and postpartum care is greatly different from what it is like here in the U.S. Aleksandra opted for a birth center for her first but ended up giving birth in the hospital. Her second was a fast home birth. She talks about how important her mindset was for getting pregnant the second time and how managing her stress  and seeking help from a therapist was what allowed her to become pregnant.

Shannon is fellow NC mom of six. Her first four hospital births were very traumatic which is what lead her to chose home birth for her most recent two. She thought home birth was "illegal" in NC so she opted for unassisted/freebirths. 

Dr. Rebecca is a classmate of Dr. V's from Chiropractic school and she shares about all of the extensive work, both mentally and physically, that she did to prepare for her home birth. She had a fairly long birth process with a 4 hour pushing phase before welcoming her son earth side. 

In this episode we interview another member of our MaxLiving family. We cover her four birth stories, a traumatic home birth experience, people you invite into your birth space, the innate power of the human body and much much more. This episode is packed with wisdom for all women, whether you're having your first baby or fifth. 

What an amazing conversation we had with Karen, who is the woman behind the very popular Instagram account Pain Free Birth. She has had 3 pain free home births and shares her birth stories as well as how she did it. Karen now teaches other women how to use their minds to achieve a pain free birth. 

Shelby is a first time mom who started her prenatal care in the medical system but switched gears and decided to birth at home after having one too many cold, sterile and impersonal appointments. Not to mention she wasn't about to give birth in a mask. 

Sara had an extremely traumatic first birth in the hospital. She was given an episiotomy and her baby was vaccinated, both without her consent. Her second birth was also an unpleasant hospital experience. Her third and fourth births were both at home (but in different countries) attended by an amazing midwife @angelamidwife. Sara's UK midwife came to the US to attend her last home birth! 

Lindsey shares with us how the birth of her first born was traumatic but didn't realize it until she "went down the rabbit hole" when her son was 8 months old. She learned that what she experienced was unnecessary and violated her as a woman. She decided to take back her power and went on to have a wild pregnancy (no medical care) and freebirth (no midwife) for her next baby. 

For Jena's first baby she decided to birth at a midwife center. It came very close to resulting in a hospital transfer, but with Jena's determination and support from her husband, her son was born without transfer. Her second and third were both born at home very quickly, simply and perfect. Jena also shares with us how she decided not to receive the RhoGam shot despite having a negative blood type.  

Emily was diagnosed with Hashimotos and was told she would never be able to have kids. She didn't accept this as her future and sought out a second opinion from a more holistic doctor. She quickly became pregnant and decided to birth at home with a midwife. 

Enjoy part 2 of Bree's home birth stories! Don't forget to check her out on instagram @birth_becomes_her and check out her books! 

In this 2 Part episode Bree shares with us her 6 birth stories, 5 of them being at home.  Bree Moore lives in Utah with her amazing husband and six children. When she's not busy homeschooling or folding laundry, she sneaks off to write more urban fantasy. Bree also has a passion for pregnancy and childbirth which has led her to write birth related books as well. Her birth books can be found on amazon. 

In this Episode we hear from Annie, a first time mom who switched from OB care to midwifery care in her third trimester and decided to have a home birth. She had an 11.8 lb baby in six hours and relied on her hypnobirthing techniques she had learned throughout her pregnancy! Follow her on Instagram @mom.mindfully - she provides great birth related content! 

Tori had planned a Birth Center birth with a midwife for her first baby, but when labor started and she got into a good groove at home, she decided she didn't want to leave. Her midwife came over to her house and agreed to attend her birth at home. While this birth wasn't planned for home, it ended up being such a beautiful, calming and perfect birth experience. Because she had such a great and positive experience with her first baby, she planned a home birth right from the beginning for her second. 

Jennifer vulnerably shares about her three birth experiences. Her first was a traumatic hospital birth.  Her second was a better hospital experience but it was followed by a 7 month long battle with postpartum anxiety. When she was pregnant with her third she started doing a lot of research into physiological birth. She tried to find a midwife but realized along the way that she still wasn't taking full responsibility and was relying on a provider and that led her to decide to freebirth at home. 

Kayla wanted a home birth but because she was living on base at the time of her first pregnancy, they told her she was not allowed to. She went on to have a long and difficult hospital birth. She knew as soon as that experience was over, she'd never give birth in a hospital again. With her second pregnancy she was back in the city and found a great team of home birth midwives to support her and had a perfect home birth! 

Danae explains how her first baby was born in the hospital and it was a traumatic experience for her. She went on to have her second in a Birth Center, which was redemptive and beautiful but still didn't feel 100% right. She went on to have her next two singletons and twins at home. We talk about how easy it is to go along with something your provider wants because they "know" better, even though your intuition in telling you something different. Never let your provider "trump" your intuition!

Dr. Jessica is a chiropractor who had a home birth as a first time mom. The birth itself didn't end up exactly how she had pictured it in her mind. After the birth she has some self reflection and processing to do. She walks us though how she prepared for birth during her pregnancy, her birth story as well as how she processed her birth in the days and weeks after it. 

Talise Xavier is a wife, mother of 6, author and a fulltime homemaker. Her book, entitled "Home is Where the Birth is: The Stories of my 6 Homebirths and How You Can Do It Too is based on her first-hand accounts with homebirth, breastfeeding, midwives, doulas, breech babies, twins, and unassisted labor. You can find her book on amazon and her website: www.talisehomebirthqueen.com 

On this episode we are sharing with you some updates about how our lives are going and we have a special announcement to make... :)

Shelby found our podcast because her chiropractor shared one of our instagram posts and through listening to our episodes, she was inspired to have her second baby at home. She had already been through so much with her first pregnancy and birth, because she was healing from tick illnesses. She describes the stark difference between giving birth in the hospital, which was full of interventions, and then a totally undisturbed home birth, which ended being unassisted since her midwife didn't make it on time. 

LeAnn is a mom of 9 whose had 6 hospital births and 3 home births in her RV. With the first six, her intuition was telling her something wasn't right. She wanted natural births but always ended up with lots of interventions and unsettling experiences. It wasn't until her 6th baby, which she gave birth to in a tub, that she realized it was possible to have the birth she always knew she could have. After starting to live full time in her RV, her next three births were done at home surrounded by her family. 

On this episode we interview fellow birth worker Brooke, aka Sister Birth. Brooke has attended births as a photographer, doula as well as midwife assistant. She now has so many different offerings on her website www.sisterbirth.com. Brooke has had 5 home births, 4 attended by midwives and 1 unassisted. We cover so many important topics, one of which includes how to explore death as it relates to birth. 

In the midst of starting a new Chiropractic practice, Dr. Hannah found out she was pregnant! She discusses with us all the ways she prepared physically and mentally for a home birth. Nothing could prepare her for her waters opening at 37 weeks and then having a very quick, 3 hour birth process. What an exciting birth story! 

Jenny and her husband had been married 12 years and weren't sure if they'd ever have kids. It was a shock of a lifetime when they found out at 17 weeks that they were having a baby! They just happen to have met a midwife the week before and contacted her immediately. At 39 weeks they welcomed Ira at home after a long, intense birth process. 

We cover a LOT in this episode! Everything from birth control, health care providers, birth center births, doula care, hands off midwifery care, siblings at birth and MUCH more! Grab a cup of coffee or tea and ENJOY!