Podcasts about Natural childbirth

Ep 150 Description:  “Pleasure is not a luxury. It is not a distraction. It is a human right. And reclaiming it—in childbirth, in healthcare, in life—is a path toward healing,  well-being, and activism.” —Debra Pascali Bonaro   Our bodies are intricate landscapes of sensation, where hormones dance, nerves communicate, and physiological responses intertwine in ways we're only beginning to understand. And these same pathways that create sexual pleasure are remarkably active during childbirth, challenging centuries of medical narratives that have reduced this transformative moment to a clinical, painful procedure.  This week, Debra discusses her landmark article, Orgasmic Birth: The Anatomy of Pleasure in Childbirth, published in Frontiers in Global Women's Health Journal, delving into the science of orgasmic birth, systemic obstetric violence, reproductive justice, hormonal landscapes of pleasure, the anatomy of childbirth, cultural narratives of pain, bodily autonomy, and the transformative potential of reclaiming women's birthing experiences. Don't miss this groundbreaking episode!  

In this empowering episode, I'm joined by Laura Young, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, educator, and author of Trial and Mostly Error, to dive into what it actually means to prepare for a natural birth — emotionally, mentally, and physically.Whether you're a first-time mom or navigating pregnancy again with more intention, Laura breaks down how to advocate for yourself, confidently navigate the medical system, and feel in control of your birth experience.We cover: What informed consent really means and how to use itCreating a birth plan that reflects your values — not hospital protocolThe role of your partner & how they can support youThe power of hypnobirthing, mindset, and meditation toolsLessons from her motherhood journey and what she wishes more women knewThis conversation is equal parts education and validation — and a must-listen if you're ready to birth from a place of clarity, calm, and power.Connect with Laura:

Ep 135 Description:  “Every birth is unique, so pleasure might look different for you than it does for someone else. The goal isn't to force a specific experience but to open yourself to the possibilities you.” —Debra Pascali-Bonaro   Birth and sex— two deeply intertwined experiences that hold the power to transform lives. Embracing their connection unlocks a world of possibilities, from joyful labors to empowered deliveries. Yet, the taboos surrounding this bond often leave us disconnected from our innate abilities to birth with pleasure. Hence, this episode aims to unpack the profound links between birth and sex, exploring the role of hormones, the significance of sexual organs, and the transformative potential of incorporating pleasure into the birthing journey.  Tune in as Debra invites us to rewrite the narrative of childbirth!  Connect with Debra! Website: https://www.orgasmicbirth.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orgasmicbirth X: https://twitter.com/OrgasmicBirth  YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/OrgasmicBirth1  Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@orgasmicbirth  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-pascali-bonaro-1093471  Episode Highlights: 02:28 The Role of Hormones in Birth and Sex 06:31 The Role of Sexual Organs in Birth  09:43 Bringing Pleasure into Birth 14:54 Understanding Orgasmic Birth 17:38 Advocating for a Positive Birth Experience 19:37 Rewrite the Narrative of Birth!   Are you an expectant parent or doula or birth provider? We have a special FREE gift for you! Visit OrgasmicBirth.com/More to learn more!”   Introducing The Movie That's Changing How We   About Debra: Debra Pascali-Bonaro is a world-renowned inspirational speaker, filmmaker, doula trainer, childbirth educator, and author. Debra's latest book, an Amazon #1 New Release, The Ultimate Guide to Sex After Baby: Secrets to Love and Intimacy brings together her passion for pleasure in every aspect of life with her Jersey-Girl attitude of talking about what no one is talking about! Debra is a mother, grandmother, and featured expert in parenting journals and media around the world. Debra Pascali-Bonaro is also Co-Chair of the International Childbirth Initiative and Chair of the International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative both of which promote safe, respectful childbirth maternity care. She is a Lamaze International childbirth educator, birth and postpartum doula trainer with DONA International, Director of the award-winning documentary Orgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept Secret, co-writer of “Orgasmic Birth: Your Guide to a Safe, Satisfying and Pleasurable Birth” and the Founder & President of the revolutionary online childbirth class Pain to Power, which prepares expectant mothers, fathers, and partners to be positively prepared for birth and focuses on the intimate and sacred nature of birth. Debra's passion comes from her over 30 years of working with women, men, midwives, doulas, physicians, and nurses in over 40 countries bringing comfort, love, and pleasure to birth and life! Debra Pascali Bonaro has been featured on ABC's 20/20, Good Morning Russia, The NBC Today Show, Discovery Health, in The New York Times, The LA Times, and The UK Times as well as numerous Parenting and Health Magazines around the world.    

Ep 134 Description:  “The more stories I heard of [birth] trauma, the more angry I became and I wanted to do something.” —Amanda Banks   Home birth is a powerful, intimate experience that challenges societal norms and reclaims the natural rhythms of childbirth. For many families, it represents a deeply empowering choice that honors the body's innate wisdom. Yet, misconceptions and lack of education often prevent parents from considering this option. Amanda Banks, an Australian health professional and documentary filmmaker, is on a mission to change that narrative. Her acclaimed film "Born at Home" explores the meaning, challenges, and magic of bringing life into the world outside the hospital setting. Tune in as Amanda shares her personal home birth journey, the inspiration behind her film, and the vital role of education and advocacy in transforming the birth experience.     Connect with Debra! Website: https://www.orgasmicbirth.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orgasmicbirth X: https://twitter.com/OrgasmicBirth  YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/OrgasmicBirth1  Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@orgasmicbirth  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-pascali-bonaro-1093471      Episode Highlights: 04:22 Amanda's First Home Birth Experience  11:32 Second Home Birth and Advocacy Journey 26:39 Creating the “Born at Home” Documentary 32:53 Overcoming Obstacles  36:58 A Focus in Education and Intuition   Are you an expectant parent or doula or birth provider? We have a special FREE gift for you! Visit OrgasmicBirth.com/More to learn more!”   Introducing The Movie That's Changing How We   About Amanda:  Amanda Banks is an Australian documentary filmmaker and health professional based in Brisbane. She is the producer of the acclaimed documentary "Born at Home," which explores the meaning, challenges, and magic of bringing life into the world at home.  With a background in health science, Amanda has a deep trust in the body's natural physiological processes. Her own experiences with home births, including the birth of her two children, inspired her to create "Born at Home" as a way to share the positive aspects of home birth and provide evidence-based information to help families make informed decisions about their birth choices. In addition to her filmmaking work, Amanda is an advocate for maternal health and home birth. She has been involved with the non-profit organization Home Birth Queensland, where she has helped organize educational events and support for families. Amanda's passion for advocacy and education shines through in her commitment to empowering parents and transforming the birth experience.   Website: https://bornathomefilm.com/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bornathomefilm/       

Stephanie discusses the importance of communication and preparation for childbirth with guest Morgan. Morgan shares her positive birth experiences, contrasting her induced first labor with a natural second one, emphasizing the significance of supportive partners, education, and a good birth plan.Links Mentioned:My Essential Birth CourseMy Essential Birth Postpartum CourseMy Essential Birth InstagramThe Fresh Test For 20% OFF use Coupon Code: MYESSENTIALBIRTH GET IN TOUCH!

Ep 130 Description:  “Rituals are related to pleasure.” —Alejandra Lozano   Rituals have the power to transform the childbirth experience, unlocking deeper layers of intimacy, pleasure, and connection. The journey from pregnancy to postpartum can become a profound rite of passage by honoring ancestral wisdom and incorporating sacred practices. In this episode, we explore how these time-honored traditions can reshape the way we approach one of life's most transformative events. Alejandra Lozano is a dedicated Mexican midwife with over 11 years of experience walking the sacred path of supporting women through pregnancy, birth, and beyond. Her own transformative home water birth ignited a deep calling to immerse herself in the richness of traditional Mexican midwifery practices. Tune in as Debra and Alejandra discuss the integration of ancestral rituals in childbirth and postpartum care, exploring the power of practices like Sobada, Herbal Baths, and Rebozo to foster intimacy, connection, and a holistic approach to this life-changing experience.   Connect with Debra! Website: https://www.orgasmicbirth.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orgasmicbirth X: https://twitter.com/OrgasmicBirth  YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/OrgasmicBirth1  Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@orgasmicbirth  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-pascali-bonaro-1093471      Episode Highlights: 04:15 Alejandra's Birth Experiences 11:12 Post-Birth Transformation 15:04 Connecting with Midwives 18:02 Integrating Rituals into Prenatal Care and Birth 24:44 Supporting Women in Labor with Sobada 28:42 The Role of Touch in Midwifery    

Ep 127 Description:  “The hospital can be very disempowering. It stops us from going into the role of mother because we seek outside ourselves what they believe is true, yet our body, our innate knowing, knows what's right.” —Amberlee Jay Galea    Pregnancy and birth are often shrouded in fear and misconceptions. Many women grow up hearing horror stories about childbirth, leading to a deep-seated anxiety about the process. However, the human body is designed to birth with power and pleasure, if we can overcome the societal taboos surrounding this natural experience. Amberlee Jay Galea is a Neuro-Linguistic Programming Master Practitioner and authentic personal brand coach who has rewritten her own birth story, embracing the innate power within her. Tune in to the first part of the interview with Amberlee as she shares her transformative journey from a disempowered first birth to an orgasmic home birth, where she discovered the pleasure and joy of welcoming her daughter into the world.     Connect with Debra! Website: https://www.orgasmicbirth.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orgasmicbirth X: https://twitter.com/OrgasmicBirth  YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/OrgasmicBirth1  Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@orgasmicbirth  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-pascali-bonaro-1093471      Episode Highlights: 03:15 Why Fear Surrounds Pregnancy and Amberlee's First Pregnancy 15:12 Discovering NLP  20:15 Preparing for Own Vision of a Home Birth 25:20 EnCaul Birth: Waiting for the Perfect Moment  29:54 Post-Birth Reflections  

Ep 126 Description:  “Being able to defend the space that we wanted was really powerful.” —Gowan Batist    Families come in all shapes and sizes, each with their own unique needs and preferences when it comes to childbirth. From the comfort of a hospital setting to the intimacy of a home birth, the journey to welcoming a new life is a deeply personal one. Regardless of the path chosen, each journey is unique and deserves to be honored. Gowan Batist is a queer Jewish parent, partner, and writer living in the remote wilderness of Northern California. As a passionate advocate for mountain lions and heritage breed sheep, Gowan's lyrical non-fiction essays and birth story inspire others to trust the natural process of childbirth. Tune in as Gowan discusses navigating rural healthcare as a queer family, creating a supportive birth environment, preparing for labor, the transformative experience of childbirth, and the arrival of their child.     Connect with Debra! Website: https://www.orgasmicbirth.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orgasmicbirth X: https://twitter.com/OrgasmicBirth  YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/OrgasmicBirth1  Tik Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@orgasmicbirth  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-pascali-bonaro-1093471      Episode Highlights: 02:06 Navigating Rural Healthcare as a Queer Family 05:54 Creating a Supportive Birth Environment  09:37 Preparing for Birth 13:12 The Experience of Labor  25:01 Making Decisions at Childbirth 29:14 The Importance of Healthcare Systems That Support Families   

Welcome to my natural birth story episode! I'm taking a break from motherhood to share my powerful story with all of you and the lessons I learned along the way.Most women have no idea what they are capable of…Or that they even have options when it comes to the interventions of their birth…Which is why I want to share my story with you here today. Let's dive in!******************➠ Discover the unique ROOT CAUSE that is keeping you stuck on the sugar rollercoaster every year. Take the QUIZ HERE NOW. ➠ Ready to finally kick your emotional eating habit and build a new healthy relationship with sugar from the inside out? Say goodbye to late night snacking and stress eating for good. Get immediate access to my exclusive and FREE Kick Emotional Eating 3 Part Training here. Natural Birth Resources:Mama Natural (book and website are great!): https://www.mamanatural.com/Ina May's Guide to Natural Childbirth: https://www.amazon.com/Ina-Mays-Guide-Childbirth-Gaskin/dp/0553381156Hypnobirthing books and podcasts******************Come hang out with me and keep the conversation going on social media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danielledaemcoachingInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielledaem/Join the Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/simplybalancedhealthYouTube (where you can watch all these episodes in video!) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLCqU7XE_KU1xPmjkpZyGPA******************Medical DisclaimerThe information provided in this podcast is for general purposes only and is not intended to be professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. My personal advice should NOT be taken as professional advice and you are always advised to consult with your own healthcare provider before making any changes to your health and wellness routine. This podcast is intended to inspire and offer alternative views to healing your relationship with food, mind and body. It is up to each listener to take responsibility for their own health and wellness decisions. I hold no liability or responsibility for your results or lack thereof.  

One of our team members, Paige, joins us today to share our first maternal assisted Cesarean story on the podcast! Our favorite Julie joins too sharing her perspective as Paige's birth photographer. Paige tried three times to have the vaginal birth of her dreams. Each time ended in emergency Cesareans due to nonreassuring fetal heart tones. Each time, she missed the golden hour that she so desperately craved. Each time, she learned more and more about birth.With her fourth baby, she exchanged her VBAC dream for a new one. After hearing about maternal assisted Cesareans, she decided to do all she could to pursue one fully knowing it may not happen. But when it did, it was everything she hoped it would be and more. Paige's Full Birth VideoHoum ClinicDayana Harrison Birth ServicesJulie Francom Birth PhotographyYouTube Video: Maternal Assisted Caesarean Section - The Birth of Betty MaeThe VBAC Link Podcast Episode 220: Dr. Natalie Elphinstone & MACsThe Birth Hour Episode 875: Nicole's Maternal Assisted Cesarean in MichiganBaby Baking & Kid Raising Podcast Episode 6: MACs with Lauren BrentonAustralian Birth Stories Podcast: All Maternal Assisted Cesarean EpisodesYouTube Video: Nottingham University Hospitals Maternity Gentle C-sectionCBAC Support Facebook Community How to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for ParentsFull Transcript under Episode Details Meagan: Oh my gosh, you guys. Today is a very special day. It's a very, very special day. We have our own team member, Paige. If you guys haven't already seen the video floating around, go to Instagram today and watch what we've got posted. We have Paige, and we have Julie, and they are actually in Korea. Now, Paige lives in Korea. Julie flew to Korea to be the photographer for Paige. I was over here in Utah having FOMO as they were Marco Poloing me when she was in labor. You guys, I am so excited. I can't explain to you the love that I have for Paige. She has been on our team for so many years. I'm getting emotional. I have seen this woman transform into the most amazing, strong individual. She has created something so special for her family, and I think, for Korea. This is our first official Maternal Assisted Cesarean story on the podcast. Seriously, my eyes are all watery. I just cannot wait to hear this story. Julie was just saying how she's been dying wanting to call me this week while she has been in Korea, but she didn't want to share her story because it is Paige's story, but I love that I get to have both of them on the show. So hello, you guys. I'm sorry. I just am rambling. Paige: Hi. Meagan: Oh my gosh. Okay. We have Paige. We have Julie. You guys know who they are. Julie, obviously, has been with The VBAC Link for a long time, and so has Paige.Julie: Been with The VBAC Link for a long time? Yeah.Meagan: Yeah, sorry. You created it. Julie: We created it. Meagan: Yeah, sorry. I'm thinking of Paige. Paige has been with The VBAC Link for a long time. If you didn't know, she actually heads the CBAC group, the CBAC Link Community on Facebook, and she transcribes all of these incredible episodes. So thank you, Paige, and welcome everybody.Paige: Thank you. So yeah, I'm just sitting here in my little corner of The VBAC Link team doing my transcribing which I feel like maybe is just a little drop in the birth world bucket until something more happens for me. I've been with The VBAC Link for the last 4 years, and I feel like it's my way of preserving these stories. Spending time with the women on the podcast is such an honor, and it's just one of my favorite things to do. I've learned so much, and truly, we'll get into it, but I wouldn't have had this birth experience in the same way if it were not for The VBAC Link and for being on the team. So truly, thank you to both of you. You've changed my life. All right, what's that?Meagan: I was going to say that you've made our life better. Paige: Aw, thank you.Julie: Yes, absolutely. It is so cool to see this. Me and Paige were just talking last night about this and how it's kind of a full-circle moment. We were going over her other births and how we got here and how she got here. It's just so cool. I am so thrilled about how everything played out. There were so many little miracles. I think miracles is not the right word. There were so many special blessings and things that led her to this point. I cannot wait to hear all of it from her perspective. It's so fun to be here and share on the podcast and really, this story is going to change lives. It's going to change lives. It's going to change birth. It is going to be something that people talk about and use as inspiration and hope as they prepare for their own births, no matter how they birth because there's a lot of advocacy involved. I think that's the biggest thing. There's a lot of advocacy. Paige did a lot of advocating for herself and what she wanted. It doesn't have to be literally the same way that she birthed for anybody to take inspiration from it, so I would just encourage everybody to listen because she is such a good example of fighting for what she wants, and shifting and rolling with the punches. I am just so inspired by Paige. You mentioned it too, Meagan. I am just so inspired by how she has approached all of this. Yeah, there are lots of life lessons. Lots of life lessons in this birth. Meagan: Yes.Julie: Stay tuned, everybody. It's a good one.Meagan: All right, Ms. Paige. We're turning the time over to you. Let's hear it because I cannot wait. Paige: Okay, so I'm going to start with a brief overview of my first three births. I'm a mom to four boys. I never thought that would be my story, with four C-sections. I never thought that would be my story, but it is, and it's beautiful. For my first birth, I got pregnant in September 2015. We were living in Hawaii at the time, but moved to Lawton, Oklahoma. I received prenatal care there at the Army hospital. It was pretty straightforward, just the What to Expect When You're Expecting type prep. They have this program called the New Parent Support Program which is really great for new families.  A nurse comes to your home, educates you, and gives you resources. I did that. That was really nice. I had a friend who was a doula. We took a hospital childbirth class and watched things like The Business of Being Born, but other than that, I was mostly just really afraid of childbirth in general. I was afraid of dying. I just wanted to survive. I didn't really have any specific birth preferences. I have struggled with anxiety and panic attacks throughout my life, so I thought that if I could just survive, that would be a big win. My OB was a family friend, and I felt very safe with him. He had a great bedside manner. I didn't really push any questions. I just trusted him fully and completely. At 34 and 6, I noticed that I started leaking fluids. My New Parent Support Program nurse had advised me that if I had noticed any kind of new discharge or anything like that– colorless, odorless fluid to go and get it checked out immediately. So I did. My husband drove me. I remember I had not eaten lunch, but it was lunchtime. I was like, “Oh, just drop me off. This will be fast, then we will go get lunch.” The midwife there tested the fluids and confirmed it was amniotic fluid. I remember my OB walked in. He said, “You are leaking amniotic fluid. We need to have this baby today. The baby will be fine at 35 weeks, and it's better for the baby to come than for you to stay pregnant basically and risk an infection.” So I was like, “Oh, okay. Yeah. I trust you.” I got a steroid shot for lung development at 35 weeks. Then they started me on an IV with antibiotics because I didn't have my GBS test back yet. Then he also told me that the Army hospital there did not have a NICU to support a 35-weeker and that I would need to be transferred to the civilian hospital in town. So I would have to be transferred. Since I was already on an IV, they were just going to do it via ambulance. It was my first time ever riding in an ambulance. He also said that he legally wouldn't be able to deliver me, but he would go with me and help me make decisions. That was really nice of him to go, but still just the sheer fact that I was going to be riding in an amublance for the first time, I was going to be having the baby that day, and then I was going to have a completely new doctor, was just sheer overload going into a birth that I was already afraid of. Yeah, it was not the best circumstances for a successful induction. I arrived at the hospital. I met the doctor very briefly. I called my doula friend. She came and helped me. We did what we could, but ultimately, my body was just not showing any signs of being ready. I had no contractions at all. I was completely closed and not even soft. No dilation. My cervix was just not showing any signs of progress. After about 14 hours on Pit, they came in. I remember I had the dull cramping from the Pit, but nothing really intense. I also just remember being so painfully hungry, and they wouldn't let me each. But since I hadn't had lunch, I was just so hungry where you get the body chills and stuff. Anyway, the doctor came in, said he was having decels. He recommended having a C-section because my water had been broken for over 12 hours. I consented. I was so afraid. I remember when they were putting in the spinal, I was just heaving sobs into this poor nurse. You go in and prep. The C-section itself was fine. My arms were strapped down. I didn't feel pain, but I remember it was like an elephant was sitting on my chest. It was like, “Oh, it just feels like somebody's sitting on my chest.” It wasn't horrible, and I was pleasantly surprised by that. But then, he was whisked away to the NICU. I briefly saw him swaddled with a hat on, then he was whisked away. No skin-to-skin for my husband or me, obviously. He was 4 pounds, 14 ounces at birth. They wouldn't let me go see him until I felt ready to go. I was just so swollen from all of the fluids. I was so nauseous anytime I would sit up. I just was not ready in any state to try to go walk or be wheeled to the NICU. Finally, 36 hours after delivery, I was able to meet him. We named him before that over FaceTime, but he was in the NICU for 7 days. I wasn't traumatized because I survived and that was my goal. I met my goal, and I was really proud of myself for facing the fear, but hoped for something different the next time. With the second birth, I got pregnant in July of 2017. I had a subchorionic hemorrhage early on that resolved. We were in Texas at the time. It was Fort Hood back then, but I met with many different OB providers at the Army hospital on base there. I felt okay with it because I had a neighbor who was going for a VBAC after two C-sections. She was really supported, and then she had a successful experience there. Because of my 35-week PPROM, they suggested that I go on the Makena progesterone shots once a week from 16 to 36 weeks. I did that. They worked very, very well. I switched to the midwife track because everything was going fine. The midwives were really great. They were really holistic. They supported inducing a VBAC if needed, but they also supported me going into spontaneous labor past 41 weeks. I made it to 41 and 5. The VBAC Link was not a thing back then yet, so I did not have that resource, but I did read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and the Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way. I read The Birth Partner. I kind of started dipping my toes into real birth education. I was learning about the physiological process of birth, learning how to do it without being afraid, and learning to trust my body. It was really empowering. It was the prep that I needed at that time. I didn't know about bodywork. I ended up having prodromal labor for about a week. It was pretty intense, but I didn't know anything about positioning, posterior, or Spinning Babies. I did find that out right at the end as I was going through it, but I didn't do chiro or any of that. I finally went in for an induction at 41+5 in April 2018. I ended up having to go with an OB on call because the midwife didn't feel comfortable with the NSTs that she saw, so she didn't want to take me on. I was like, “Oh, dangit.” The OB who was there was one who I wasn't really super comfortable with. But he was like, “Oh, well I know you really want a VBAC. We'll try to get that for you.” I was like, “Okay.”I got a Foley. I was barely a 1, but they got a Foley in and I progressed very quickly. I got to a 5 within a couple of hours. Things were going really great. They were very normal labor patterns. I felt like I was managing the contractions really well. I did consent to artificial rupture of membranes, then labored a little while longer. I got an epidural at 7 centimeters. I was told, “Oh, we just had a mom who got an epidural. She relaxed, and the baby came right away.” You hear that and you're like, “Oh, I want that. Yes.” So I did that. I got the epidural at about 6:30ish, and then between that half hour, his heart just wasn't doing well. They were flipping me. I got an amnioinfusion. I got a fetal scalp electrode. I got an IUPC, all the things. Then they gave me oxygen. It was probably about 7:00. He had a prolonged decel. I was lying flat and there were people all around me. The nurse was just like, “We need him now. Do you consent to a C-section?” I was like, “Yes.” Then I surrendered and let it go. I was like, “There goes the VBAC. This is just what needs to happen.” He was born at 7:09, and I was born under general anesthesia for that one. His APGARS were 8/9. My husband was left alone during that surgery. We do have pictures of him holding my son and doing skin-to-skin at 7:27, so about 20 minutes after he was born. I woke up and got to hold him at about 8:45, so about an hour and a half after he was born. I remember it was just really hard to talk after being intubated, but they let me breastfeed right away. I was disappointed, but I don't feel like I had a lot of trauma from that just because I was so empowered. I ended up ultimately making it to an 8. It was so fun for me to see what my body could do. I was like, “Oh, this just means that I was meant for a VBAC after two C-sections. That's what it meant.” Right then in the OR, or I guess it was the recovery room. I committed that that was going to be my story. I was like, “Oh yeah. That's just what it's meant to be. That's why it didn't work out.” I was so empowered. Then when I got pregnant for the third time in September 2019, we were in Germany. We had just moved there. I hit the ground running. I hired a doula right away and a backup doula. The prenatal care was at this small, tiny clinic in a town called Parsberg. I chose not to get progesterone shots. I was like, “I was 41+5. I think I'll be okay without them.” Yep, that's when I discovered The VBAC Link and all of the birth podcasts. I just became obsessed listening all the time, taking notes. I did the bodywork. I watched tons of birth videos. I did cranioscral therapy, chiropractic, and Spinning Babies. I took The VBAC Link Parents Course. I read lots of books. I switched my insurance. I took vitamins. I consumed it all, and I loved it. Every time I did something, I felt like my intuition was confirming that I was on the right path. I specifically would manifest, visualize, and pray, and I just was on this high every time. I feel like that's your intuition confirming to you that you're on the right path. If you feel those things, that's a good sign. You do want to follow that. Meagan: 100%. Paige: I did. Then, COVID. It was September 2019 when I got pregnant. Things were fine, fine, fine, and then COVID started happening. In March, I flew home to Denver to stay with my in-laws. We were supposed to move to Colorado in the spring anyway. My husband was not allowed to come with me. There was a travel ban for 90 days. I just did not want to get stuck in that, so I flew out very quickly with my boys– my two boys. I was 27 weeks pregnant and was living in my in-laws basement. That's a whole thing. COVID was a whole thing for everybody. But it was a scary time and stressful. I didn't know if my husband would be able to make it to the birth, but he was granted an exception to policy leave where he was able to come home. He would have to go back. That was the contingency. But I had rebuilt my team. I had found new bodyworkers. I found a new doula and a new backup doula. I found a team of midwives who were really VBA2C supportive. They were saying things like, “When you get your VBAC,” not if. They really supported all the things, so I felt really comfortable with them. I lost my mucus plug and had bloody show on June 8th. I was 40 weeks. That was my due date. My water broke that night at 11:00 PM. I had a small pop, so it was just a litte bit. I was laboring at home. Nothing really was picking up, but on June 9th, at 40+1, I went into the hospital around 3:00 PM. Labor started picking up pretty quickly after that. About an hour and a half later, my waters gushed everywhere which was really thrilling for me to experience the big gush. I was not very far along, though. My progress is just very slow, but they were not rushing me at all. They were like, “We'll stay patient. We will stay very patient. There is no rush. As long as baby is doing well, we'll just let you do your thing.” My doula was there. After my waters broke, my contractions started coupling on top of each other and getting very intense. They were quite long. I started feeling really lightheaded and dizzy. I tried to sit on the toilet and just felt like I was going to pass out. I threw up a few times. I knew it was time to get some pain relief. They offered the walking epidural option which I took at about 8:00 PM. Baby was doing great. I was really worried about getting the epidural again because I felt like that's what had caused the craziness before, but he was doing great. At 2:00 AM, he started not doing great. He wasn't tolerating the contractions well. I was like, “Oh, not again. What?” I was only 4 centimeters. I just knew that we needed to go in again. I didn't know why, but I was so sad. I didn't want another crash, so I did want to prevent another crash. I knew that if it was going to be a heart thing, I didn't want to mess with that. Especially knowing the signs of pain and coupling contractions and things like that, it just seemed like he was telling me that he needed to come. I consented to the OR and to the C-section. I was wheeled to the OR. I remember as I was being wheeled in, I was just thinking, “This is not what I want. This is not what I want. This is not what I want.” I was so sad. He was born about an hour later. I was so drowsy. I was so tired. I was not present at all. I did not feel strong enough to hold him. My husband held him. I briefly brushed his face. He was wearing his little hat and was swaddled, then they took him to the recovery room. The doula was not allowed in the OR. It was actually a miracle she was allowed at all because they had just lifted the doula ban the week before for COVID. I was like, “Okay, the baby will be in there with her.” I'm not sure why they wouldn't let the baby just stay with Sam, but it's okay. I needed his support. I was really happy that he was there. Closure took longer than usual. They said I had pretty thick adhesions, so I was just laying there trying everything to stay awake. I was fighting so hard. I remember reading words on the light and looking at the letters and just going over the letters in my mind and trying to stay awake. I was fighting so hard to stay awake. I finally got to hold him at 4:00 AM in the recovery room. It was still about an hour after he was born. I missed the golden hour again. I was so sad. I was so sad for a third time to miss it. That recovery was really hard. In the hospital, I was so heartbroken. The trauma this time really hit me emotionally and spiritually. It was physically a lot more traumatic on my body for whatever reason. I mean, just the sheer labor was so intense. My incision was black and blue and puffy. I couldn't walk normally and I didn't feel normal for 5 or 6 weeks, but I also feel like it's because I was so sad. I think how sad you are really does affect how you feel physically. Meagan: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Paige: I do remember specifically too, my first shower there. My husband had to really help me walk over. I was so sticky from all of the sensors and monitors. He was so tenderly trying to help me wash them off. I was just sobbing. I was so sad. I felt so broken and so vulnerable. It was a beautiful time for my husband to be there and carry me because he knew how badly I wanted the VBAC that time and for him to just carry me through that. But going home, I went home to my in-laws' basement. It was dark. I didn't have a support village because it was COVID. COVID moms know what that was like. Anyway, ultimately, I did reach out to Meagan and Julie. That's when the CBAC group was started. I was like, “Is there any way we could start a CBAC support group where CBAC moms can connect?” You guys were so warm and welcoming. Immediately you were like, “Yes! Why hadn't we thought of that?” Julie, you were so gung-ho about that. I was able to connect to other moms through there which was so healing. Anyway, that was the third story. Then the time between three and four was really, really pivotal for me. The healing that I felt I needed before even thinking about trying to get pregnant was where I feel like this all really starts. When you don't get the birth that you hoped for or when you don't get a VBAC, you just feel embarrassed. You feel ashamed. You feel broken. You feel like your intuition doubted you. You feel dumb. I've seen many women comment how family members would be like, “Oh, I knew it wasn't going to happen for you.” It's hard. It's really hard. You feel very, very broken.I knew that I had to show up for myself and still give myself grace. For this birth, it was good for me because I was able to face not failure, but being wrong. I was able to face being wrong and show myself that I could still be there. Anyway, I started physically diving into healing through pelvic PT and doing a lot of scar adhesion work. The dolphin neurostimulation tools if you haven't heard about those are fantastic. I feel like they worked much better for me than scar massage. I wish I had a provider here now who would do it. I think maybe that would have helped this pregnancy and birth, but it helped my recovery so much.I started having really bad panic attacks and postpartum anxiety, so I went to talk therapy. I got on medication. I went to a chiropractor again. The thing that really, really helped my healing was joining a gym and falling in love with exercise again. I got into all of the things, the yoga, running, learning how to lift, and started really pushing my body again and trusting my body again. I didn't expect exercise to heal that relationship with my body, but I feel like it really did. I learned again that I am physically strong which was really, really nice. I started signing up for some races. I ran my first half marathon. I had a lot of emotional releases during yoga. There was one song that came on one time during a yoga practice. It said, “You can't rush your healing. Darkness has its teaching.” I loved that so much. I just started crying. I was just like, “Let it out.”Part of healing is welcoming the grief when it comes, processing it, and taking it a little bit of a time. It's such a process. You get little glimmers of understanding, but as you keep committing yourself to looking for that and looking for the understanding, it does come. I truly believe that. Anyway, life went on. There is a four-year gap in between my third and my fourth which I really needed. We moved to Korea in that time. We moved to Korea last June, and it's just been lovely. We knew that we wanted one more. I knew I was so happy with the prep and how vigorously I did it. I was proud of myself for that and I knew that I wanted to do it the same way.I knew that after everything I learned, even if it was going to be a C-section, I couldn't just show up to the hospital and have them take my baby. I knew too much. I was like, “I know that there are better ways. I know that providers practice differently from place to place. I know it's not all equal. I know every provider does things differently, even with C-sections.” I started watching videos, and I saw that even the way they performed their C-sections was not the same. I wanted to be really actively involved in how they practiced, and how I was going to be a part of it. My goals for this time were not necessarily VBAC or C-section. I never closed the door completely. I was like, “You never know. Maybe VBA3C, maybe that's my story. Who knows?” However, I did find the episode by Dr. Natalie Elphinstone. As I was transcribing that one, my fire for birth that I held felt for VBAC was coming to life again. That intuition was speaking to me, and I had not felt that fire in a long time. That was the first whisperings of, “You should try this. You should go for this.” The goals that I had for this baby were to be very intentional. I wanted the golden hour. I had to have the golden hour. I had to hold my baby first or within an hour. Please, oh my gosh. I carried so much guilt for not having that three times over. I also wanted to be treated like I mattered. I did not want to be part of a rotation. I wanted continuity of care. I did not want to feel like I was just being shuffled through a system. Whether it was a hospital or not, I knew that I wanted to feel special. Lo and behold, did I know how special I would feel at my sweet birth center. Okay, so with the intention thing, just the pieces of this birth story with number four started falling into place so specifically. I can't deny that spirituality was a big part of this because with number three, my prayers had been very, very specific. I knew that God knew what I wanted. I knew it. I knew that because I didn't get it, there was a specific reason why. That's the only thing I could cling to. As things specifically started falling into place, it started to confirm to me that this was my path and these were the reasons why the other things happened the way they did. But anyway, I got pregnant very quickly with this baby. It was the first time that it wasn't a total surprise which was really fun. I had been taking tests since I knew the day that I ovulated, and then I was just taking tests watching, watching, and watching. I was able to see the first faint line which was so fun. I had always wanted that. I had wanted that moment of, “Oh my gosh, I'm pregnant,” where before it was like, “What? I'm not quite ready,” but I was still excited. That was really fun for that. The Korea birth culture here is very intense. The C-section rate is 50-60%. There are constantly stories being shared on these local pregnancy pages of women just having the most traumatic experiences and my heart aches for them. It's very routine for doctors to suggest first-time moms to, “Go have a C-section. Your baby is big,” and not even trying to labor. Most of it is because there is a doctor's strike going on here. There is a limited number of providers. They are stressed. They don't allow husbands typically in the OR, and very routinely, they are under anesthesia. Then after birth, babies are typically taken away to nurseries, and then postpartum recovery is in an open bay type thing. Meagan: Like, combined? Paige: Exactly, yeah. Your C-section stays are typically about 8 days. I wanted to explore options. We have an Army hospital here that is pretty big and does provide labor and delivery services, but they're often maxed out so you're referred off post. I did not feel comfortable going to any of the places that they typically referred to just from stories I had heard. That's all it takes for me now. I just hear one story and I'm like, “Nope, no thank you.” I know my red flags very quickly now. I went to a tour at this birth center called Houm. It's spelled H-O-U-M. At 8 weeks, I went to go tour it. I noticed a lot of green flags, not red ones where I was just like, “Oh, I'm just going to take a note of that.” Some of the green flags from my tour as I walked in were how I felt right when you stepped off the elevator. It's this calm energy. The lighting is so beautiful. It's such a lovely set up right when you walk in. You take off your shoes because you are in Korea. You take off your shoes, then multiple staff members greeted me with a hug. That's when I met Dayana Harrison who I later ended up hiring as my doula, but she also served as my midwife. She is a student midwife working there right now. She took me on the tour. They have queen-sized beds in their labor rooms. The whole floor was dim and so quiet. It did not have a hospital vibe at all, but they do have an OR on site. I was like, “Oh, this is lovely.” They offer epidural. They have huge birthing tubs with the rope attached from the ceiling. They are so beautiful. Yeah, it's in each room. Then the OR on site does not feel like a hospital OR. It's smaller. They keep it warmer. It feels like– I don't know. It just had such a homey feeling. That's the best way I can describe it. Then some of the things I asked about, in their routine gentle Cesareans, moms routinely get skin-to-skin immediately. They have a little cut open in the curtain where baby is slid through right on your chest. They routinely would keep the placenta attached to the baby in the OR which is–Meagan: Almost not heard of. Paige: Since posting that video, I can't believe how many messages of, “How did you do that?” That's revolutionary in itself. That was a huge green flag where I was like, “Oh my gosh, what?” Typically, what is it? Why do they say you can't do that? Is it because the incision is open too long?Meagan: Yeah. They don't even allow delayed cord clamping most of the time. They just milk it because it's a major surgery. The more time the mom is exposed and open, the higher chance they have of things like infection. Once baby is out, they really want to wrap it up and finish it to be complete. Yeah. To actually leave a placenta attached to a baby is unheard of. It really is unheard of in a Cesarean. Paige: Yeah. So that was super awesome. Then they let you keep the baby. He encourages C-sections past 39 weeks. That's not a routine hard and stop final date. He encourages going into labor before saying that it's good for the baby. He encourages breastfeeding in the OR. The head OB, his name is Dr. Chung. He is also an IBCLC which I thought was so awesome. So he supports breastfeeding.Julie: Wait, wait, wait. Time out. The more I learn about this man, the more I love him. Paige: Did you not know that?!Julie: Oh my gosh. Meagan: I want to meet him. Julie: I want to put him in my pocket and take him with me to deliver every birth I ever go to ever. I love him. Paige: I've literally said the exact same thing, Julie. I wish I could just keep him with me forever. That's the thing. Throughout this whole process, I kept taking note of these green flags. I'm thankful for my other experiences because I don't think a lot of people recognize how green these flags really are. I was like, “Okay, the shoe's going to drop. The shoe's going to drop. There's something.” I'll keep going.Meagan: Can I mention too? You had Marco Polo'd me, “I'm on my way,” then you would leave, and you were like, “This is amazing.” You were just like, “This is right,” every single time. The more you went, the more it verified that you were in the right place. Paige: Yep, yeah. You just know. When you know, you know. During that appointment, he came specifically and talked to me three times. Three times. He shook my hand. I'm like, “Are you not busy? What? Three times, you have time to see someone who is just touring?” He only sees 15 patients. He is very VBAMC supportive and experienced with it. He supports vaginal breech birth. They do ECVs on-site. I didn't even bring up VBAC after three. I just mentioned that I had three C-sections, and he said something like, “Oh, do you want a VBAC? Do you want to try again?” I was like, “Oh, I mean, I don't know. I'm thinking about it.” Then, he made me cry. This was at the tour. He made me cry because he said, “I'm a different doctor because I listen to moms. I listen. They tell me how they want to birth. If you want a VBAC after three C-sections, I will support you. You can do it. You choose how you want your birth to go and I will worry about the bad.” He was like, “You don't need to worry.” I was like, “Oh my gosh,” and I started crying. I was like, “Okay, I'm going to go now.” I was not composed, and then he hugged me. I was like, “What? Who is this guy?” I didn't just jump over there. I did give the Army hospital a chance. I went to a couple of appointments there, and that was kind of all I needed to know for what I wanted. I'm so thankful they are a resource there. I'm thankful that they are here. But I did ask about their routine Cesarean practices and their VBAC practices. It was important to me to find a doctor who supported VBAC even if that wasn't what I was planning to go for. I still love VBAC so much. I think it's so beautiful and such an important option for women to have. I'm so passionate about it. I always will be. They didn't even humor the idea at all of VBAC after three. They were like, “Oh, no. You're going to have a C-section. Of course.” The idea was laughable. The C-sections only allowed one support person, no breastfeeding in the OR, no photographers. Arms are strapped down. I just was like, “Okay.” I was very gently asking questions, but then was like, “Uh-uh. Red, red, red flags.” My biggest piece of advice, and we say this over and over again, is to find a provider whose natural practices align with the things that you want. Julie: That is it. That is it so much. Sorry, I don't want to interrupt again, but let's put bold, italics, emphasis, and exclamation points on what you just said. Say it again. Say it again for the people in the back. Paige: Find that provider whose routine practices align as closely as possible with what you want. Julie: Preach, girl. Preach, girl. I love it. Paige: Because we're not meant to fight. You do not want your birth experience to be a place of fighting or stress. Julie is learning that I am a people pleaser. I'm not anything special. I did not stand my ground. I'm going to do this. I did not come blazing in. I found a provider who I felt very, very safe with, who I felt safe asking for this from, and he said yes. I knew that because his practices were so close to the MAC, he would be the most receptive. But there's a chance that he wouldn't have been, and he was. That's why ultimately it worked out because he was receptive. I couldn't have forced him to do it, but because he practices closely to it already, it wasn't as much of a push. If I tried to go to that Army hospital and introduce this idea, they'd just shut it down. Meagan: You know, that's what is so heartbreaking to me. Providers all over the world really just shut that down if it doesn't match their normal routine and their everyday thing. It's like, well, hold on. Let's listen. Why are people requesting this? Just like Dr. Natalie, she saw this and was like, “This is something that means something to people. Why don't we change the norm and create something different?” Providers, if you are listening, please try and make change in your area because it matters, and it doesn't have to be exactly how it's been. Paige is living proof of this. It just doesn't have to be that. But we can't make change if no one puts forth the effort or allows it. Paige: Dr. Natalie said that exactly. She said, “Let's make every birth the best possible version of that birth that it can be.” Meagan: Yes. Yes. Paige: She said, “If there's a way to make it better, why not? Why not?”Meagan: Why not? Because like it or not, birth impacts us. It sticks with us. You're now explaining four different stories. It's not something we just forget. We don't just walk away from these experiences. They stay with us. Now, we might process and are able to move forward in a different direction, but it's not like we forget, so why can't we make this change? It actually baffles me. Julie: Well, and the mode of delivery is the same. I really want to emphasize that. She has had four C-sections, and they were all very different. But the only one where she left walking out of it really feeling empowered is the last one where she chose a provider who aligned with what she desired for her birth, she had a say in her care, and she felt loved and supported the whole way. She felt like the staff cared about her needs.But also, time out. She didn't just feel like the staff cared about her needs. They did. They did actually, genuinely care about her needs and her experience. I feel like that's such a big difference. Meagan: Mhmm. Mhmm. Yeah. Sorry, Paige. You can continue. We got on a little soapbox. Paige: You're good.Julie: I feel like we're starting to tell the story before the story is told. Paige: No, it's great. We're getting close. I switched to them officially at 20 weeks. My first appointment was the anatomy scan. That's when I also proposed the idea of the MAC officially. After every ultrasound, he comes in, talks to you, looks at it, then you go into his office area where you just chat and ask any questions. That's just the routine setup of the appointments. I had this video prepared, and I was really nervous. It's scary. It is scary to ask your provider for something new and different. I had this video. It's on YouTube. It's by Olive Juice Photography. Everybody should go look at it. It's the birth of Betty Mae. It's the video that I watched over and over and over again because it's the only video I could find of the process from the beginning to the end including all of the prep and including how it was done. I was like, “I saw this online. I was wondering if you could watch it and tell me what you think.” That's how I presented it. It's a long video. It was like, 5 minutes. He just sat there patiently and watched. Then after, actually one thing he did say was, “I don't like how he's using forceps.” I was like, “Oh, green flag.” Then, he asked, “Is this what you want?” I said, “Yeah. I think it would be really special if it could happen.” Then, he said, “Then, we can do that.” Then, he thanked me for giving him the opportunity to grow and try something different. He said, “Will you email that video to me and any other resources?” I emailed Dr. Natalie, and she sent over a MAC PowerPoint that she had prepared of the procedures because from the episode, she was like, “Anybody interested doing this, reach out to me.” She is true to her word. She will do that. If you are interested and you want to contact her, she is very responsive. She sent me also her MAC hospital policy which I forwarded to him. I have to share what he said. He's so cute. In the email response, he said, “I watched the video you sent again. If necessary, we will contact Dr. Natalie to prepare for your perfect Cesarean delivery. Thank you so much for this great opportunity to serve you. I am excited to help your birth and confident it will be a great opportunity for further growth for us.” I was like, oh my gosh. Meagan: That literally just gave me the chills. Paige: I could not believe it. Dayana, who is also a student midwife there at home, told me that she had been planting seeds for maternal assist for a while. They had just been waiting for a mom to ask for it. That was also the time that I hired Julie. I was like, “Julie, that would be so fun if you could come out.” Then Julie was like, “Okay, let's do it.” Then I'm like, “Okay.” Then it happened, and Julie was just so brave to have the gumption to come out. Fun fact, she was previously stationed out here with the Army. It does seem like it all kind of worked out that Korea wasn't so out of touch for her, maybe. Julie: Yeah, no. It was really cool. You had mentioned it briefly, then I was like, “Oh, I wish I could make that work.” Then, I remember I was in the CBAC group. I was like, “Oh, I'm so excited for you,” or something, then you said something like, “I really wish you could come and document it. We would cover your travel out here and everything.” Then I was like, “Oh my gosh, really?” So then I talked to my husband about it. I was going to be gone for a while. He would have to hold down the fort and everything. I talked to him and he was like, “Yeah, I think that would be okay.” I was like, “Oh my gosh, Paige. My husband is fine with it. Let's do this.” I remember the day that you booked my flights and officially signed my contract and locked in and everything, then I told my husband and he was like, “Oh, this is really happening then?” I was like, “Nick, I gave you the change. I gave you the chance to eject. It's too late now.” He's been doing really great. He's a really great dad. The on-call life means he has to just take over the house at random moments. We are set up to where we can do that. It was just really funny. I'm so excited that we could make it work. Paige: This is my public thanks to Nick and all of Julie's children for allowing her to be here because it did require sacrifice on their part, truly. I'm just so thankful. I also found out, Dayana told me that she had been asked to prepare a whole presentation for the staff on MAC which she did. She prepared it for nurses, midwives, and anesthesia walking them through. The fact that she had that connection to Houm and that experience, she served as my doula but so much more. She was so much more as my advocate having that inside access to the staff. We scheduled a surgical rehearsal for 35 weeks. At 35 weeks, this was one of my favorite things. He personally was there to walk me through every step of what it would look like for my security, but I don't feel like I really needed it because I was very, very familiar, but for the comfort of the staff and everybody else too. I got to the appointment. My husband was able to be there with me on that one. The way it's set up– we'll post our video then you can visualize more of what the layout looks like. There's the prep room, then literally 10 steps across is the OR right there. In the prep room, they had a gown ready for me. They had the washing bins ready. So the way that it works, you go in. You put the gown on. You have the IV. They showed me where they would place the IV. Then you scrub up your hands. You wash with the sterile solution, and then they put gloves on top. This was the way that they did it. Then they walked me into the OR. They showed me how I would go sit up on the table, how I would receive my spinal through anesthesia, then they practiced laying me back down. They did everything step by step. It wasn't new to me. I've had C-sections before, so I knew, but it was just so sweet that they were so thorough. They showed me how they would insert the catheter. He showed me exactly how he would lay the drapes over my body. He showed me when the curtain would go up. The way they do it, you're not just watching the whole thing the whole time. You could, I guess, opt for that if you wanted to. You have the drape up, they do the initial incision, get the baby out up to his head, and then they drop the curtain. That's when they pull your arms down. The other thing too, the reason why they do strap your arms down is in case you impulsively reach down and touch your incision and breach the sterile field. That's the reason why arms being strapped down is even a thing. But for MAC, your arms are not strapped down obviously. They have somebody holding their hand on your hands which I don't think I even had. Looking back, I don't remember anybody touching my hands or my arms. But that wasn't an issue. It wasn't something that I impulsively wanted to do, to reach down there. Anyway, then the drape goes down. They guide your hands up and over to put your hands under his armpits. Come up. Bring your baby to your chest. The curtain goes back up during closure, and then they talked about how I'd be transferred back to the recovery room– not the recovery room. No recovery room. You go to the postpartum room immediately. I felt on such a high after that. It was just so beautiful how he did that. At 38 weeks, I had an ultrasound. They do ultrasounds at every appointment. I don't know that there is a perfect practice out there that aligns with absolutely everything you want. But they do routine ultrasounds. I wasn't really concerned about that, but they did flag something called kidney hydronephrosis. It's basically the swelling of the kidney. They had been monitoring that. It had presented late in the third trimester, but it was severe enough that they were starting to get really concerned about it. Basically, it can mean that there is an obstruction, and if it's really severe, it can mean that the baby needs to be evaluated within 48 hours of birth by a pediatric urologist which clearly they don't have on site. It was a whole thing. If it really is severe and there is an obstruction, then they need to do surgery really promptly to prevent kidney damage early on. That was the thing. He did suggest that I could deliver somewhere else, and then the baby would be able to be there and we would be together in the same facility. That's when I felt like the shoe dropped. I was like, “Why would he suggest that? He knows that I would not want to deliver anywhere else. Why would he even bring that up?” I was all a mess. I was alone at that appointment. I felt a little bombarded and ambushed. I was like, “This isn't going to happen. I'm not going to get it.” That night, Dayana called me. I was getting ready to reach out to her, but she called me. She was like, “I just wanted to check in.” I had emailed Dr. Chung a clarification email. I think that's really important too. If something doesn't sit well with you in your appointment, it's okay to follow up in an email just to clarify what happened. Can you lay out these options? Can you lay out what we went through? Can I have a record of the ultrasound and what you saw? Because then you're not just swirling these things in your mind. You're actually looking, then you can do your own research. I dove into research. I dove into studies. I compared the numbers that he gave me versus what I saw, and it all did align. She called me and she was like, “No, don't worry. He is comfortable moving forward. He thought that you would be concerned, so he wanted to present you with more options to deliver somewhere else, but he is very happy to deliver you here still and sticking with our plan. He does want to see you at a follow-up ultrasound at 39 weeks,” which I was comfortable with. I was like, “Sam, you've got to come with me. I can't go alone.” She promised that she would be there. That's another thing. When you have a team that you trust, make sure that you are supported, and it's not just you and your doctor. If there's something that doesn't sit well, it really helps to field it with other people not just in labor, even in your prenatal appointments or anything like that. If you feel like you need some extra support, it does really help to bring some people with you who you trust. So at 39 weeks, we all met as a team and asked lots of questions. We felt comfortable with a care plan moving forward. We ultimately decided that we would move forward with the C-section at 39+5 which would be Monday. I'm trying to think what day that was. Meagan: The 7th. Paige: Monday, the 7th. Meagan: That's what I had in my calendar. Paige: Monday, the 7th was the day. We talked about moving it up. All his colleagues were like, “No, you should deliver this baby now. What are you doing? You're crazy keeping her pregnant.” I was like, “I am comfortable waiting, and I have to wait for Julie, so it can't be until Friday. It can't be until Friday.” She gets in on Thursday. That was Wednesday, at 39 weeks. Thursday was 39 and 1.Julie was on the plane, and then that morning on Thursday, I lost my mucus plug at about 8:00 AM. I was like, “Oh, no.” I wasn't really having contractions or anything, so I was like, “Okay. We'll still make it until Monday. It's fine.” Then, Julie got in at about 7:00 PM. I started having some baby contractions. We were sitting around my kitchen table, and Julie was like, “Are you contracting right now?” I was like, “A little.” She was like, “Go take a bath.” Then, we went to bed. I took a bath, and then I went to bed. I was for sure just contracting. I was like, “But what about these logistics? What is going to happen?” Anyway, my childcare plan was going to be turned upside down and all of the things. I was stressed about the logistics. But then, I was woken up at about 10:00 PM by contractions. They were about 6-7 minutes apart, but they were definitely real. I thought they were prodromal, so I was just waiting for them to just go away. They started getting closer. They were close enough to about 4 minutes and sometimes 3. I was having more bloody show, so I was like, “These are kind of doing something.” The intensity increased. It got to the point where I couldn't lie down. I was on my hands and knees. I was standing up, bracing myself against the wall. I was trying to do different positions. Maybe it was just a positional thing. “Let me try to do flying cowgirl. Let me try to do Walcher's”. I was trying to do different positions to try to stop them. I tried to take a bath at 3:00 AM, and they weren't going away. I was like, “Okay, I can't do this. I can't risk it. We've got to go.” I woke up my husband. I was like, “Today's the day. He's just telling me that it's the day. It's time. I don't know why, but it's Friday. It's supposed to be.” At 4:00 AM, he packed his bags. At 5:00 AM, I felt so bad because Julie had just gotten in from this huge international flight. It was a 12-hour flight plus some because you had a connection. I was like, “Julie, we're going to go,” she was like, “Okay!” She was so excited. “Okay, let's go!”Julie: I wake up to a knock on the door, and they're all dressed and ready to go. I'm like, “Why did she not wake me up sooner? I could have supported you.” Paige: I felt so bad. Julie: Yeah. It was wild. It was so wild. I was ready. It was awesome. Paige: So at 5:00 AM, we left for the birth center. At 6:00 AM, we got there. I messaged my team. Dayana said she was on her way. They led me to my room which is just a beautiful suite. It's right next to the OR. They led me to my room. They said that the anesthesiologist would be ready at about 10:00 AM, so between then, I would be laboring. Dr. Chung came in, and he said, “You need to be prepared for a VBAC to happen. You might have this baby just right here.” It was so funny that he was supportive of that idea even. It was so cute. I labored. It was getting intense, but they weren't super close together. Dayana came. She jumped in, and she immediately just respected the space which was so beautiful. She started doing all of her– she's a Body Ready Method practitioner. She's done some training with Lynn Schulte and the Institute for Birth Healing, so she's very familiar with the specific way to give you comfort measures. She was so great. I felt so safe. We labored, and my husband gave me a beautiful blessing. She said the more beautiful prayer that really invited heaven into the space and made it so spiritual and special. We were playing music, then at 9:00 AM, the head midwife, her name is Joy, came in. She started the IV.Dr. Chung came in and walked me to the prep room. In our rehearsal, I was going to be scrubbing myself, but he just picked up my hands, and he started washing my hands and scrubbing my hands for me. It felt like such a selfless act getting ready to go into this procedure. It felt like he was so respectful, and then I even had a contraction during the washing. He stopped what he was doing and was so respectful of the space. It just felt so Christlike having him wash my hands going into it. Then we walked into the OR, and they got me ready for anesthesia. They put in the spinal, and then they laid me down. They did the pinprick test. They gave me a new gown that was sterile. I'm trying to think of what else. They inserted the catheter. I could kind of feel a little bit with the pinprick test, but the catheter insertion was just pressure, so I felt comfortable moving forward. They got started. We played music. They had ice ready for me on my face because I told them when I get nauseous or anxious, I tend to get a little lightheaded. They had ice ready for me. That was something I had requested, and that was so nice. They started the surgery, and it was very, very intense. I do want to be candid that it was probably my most painful surgery. I had to work through it with labor-coping stuff. I was vocal. I did mention that I was feeling pain. It got pretty intense. I don't know if in Korea in general– I know that they are a little bit more stingy about anesthesia, but it was okay. I don't feel like I was traumatized from that. The baby came out at about 10:24. That's when they say he was born. We were listening to music. I was vocalizing, then Dr. Chung says– what did he say? “Let's meet your baby,” or “Come grab your baby”, or something like that. They lowered the drape, and it was so fast. I bring the baby up onto my chest, and everything just melted away, and this instinctual, primal– all of these emotions I didn't know I had just poured out of me. I lost any sense of composure that I had. I was shrieking. In any other situation, I would have been so mortified, but that moment of not having it three times over, it was this release and this justification or this validation of finally having it. I just got to hold my baby. I was a little nervous about seeing a new baby for the first time without being swaddled and how they would be wet and slippery, and if that would freak me out a little bit, but I wasn't worried about that at all. I was just so happy that I had him and so relieved. During closure, that was also intense too. They put the curtain up. They pulled out the placenta. They put it in a bowl, and then they put it in a bag, and they rest it right there next to you. The cord was so lovely and so beautiful. There is something about a fresh, new cord. It is so awesome to see. I thought it was the coolest. I had my husband. I was squeezing his hand. Honestly, I felt like having my baby in my arms and holding my husband's hand was the best pain relief. In that moment, it was keeping me calm, keeping me steady, and getting me through the closure and the rest of the surgery.Then they transferred me to my postpartum room, and they just let us be there. They didn't push cutting the cord. Dayana gave me a placenta tour. I was like, “When do we cut the cord?” She was like, “Whenever you want.” It ended up being about 2 hours of us just enjoying it and talking about how cool it was. Yeah. She gave us a tour. I was able to wear gloves and touch it and go through it, then Sam was able to cut the cord for the first time which was so awesome. That's the gist of it. Meagan: Oh my goodness. I started crying. I've gotten chills. I have so many emotions for you just watching your video. I've literally watched it 10, maybe 15 times, and I can't wait to see Julie's entire thing that she caught. But I am just so– there are no words. I'm so happy for you. I'm so proud of you, and I've talked to you about this. I've Marco Polo'd you crying before where I can't explain it. I am so insanely proud of you and happy for you that you got this experience. Thinking about, “I've never seen a gooey baby. I've never had that opportunity. My husband has never been able to cut the cord,” and you were able to have this beautiful experience where you got to have all of those things. It took four babies to get there, but you got there. You got there because you put forth the work. You learned. You grew, and you were determined. I think as listeners, as you're listening, sometimes that's what it takes. It's really diving in, putting forth that effort, and finding what's true for you. I know it's hard, and I know not every provider out there is like Dr. Chung. He is a diamond in the rough from what it sounds like on so many levels. But they do exist. Again, going back to what you were saying, sometimes it just talks about Paige going in and saying, “Try to have an open mind. Look at this video. I would like for you to view this. Just take a look at it,” and left it in his hands. Sometimes, it just takes something so simple. But, oh my gosh. I can't believe it. We were Marco Poloing about episodes, you guys, before she was in labor. We were also Marco Poloing about social media posts. She was like, “I just don't want to say anything until it happens.” I think sometimes even then, I wonder if that's where that ultrasound had come in and maybe there was doubt. I don't know. It seems like maybe that aligns pretty well with the time that we were messaging and that. Maybe we were Marco Poloing or texting. I don't know. It's like, could this happen? Is it really going to happen? You want it to happen so bad, and then to see it unfold and to have it unfold in such raw beauty, oh my goodness. I cannot believe it.So in the OR, they let Julie in there, right?Paige: Oh, yeah. Dr. Chung is a photographer himself. Julie had asked me to ask him if she could move around or if she had to be stationary. He was so open to her walking anywhere and having free range of movement and having multiple sources of video and photo. Julie: Yeah, it was really cool. I want to speak a little bit to that side of things if that's okay for a minute. Being a birth photographer is kind of complicated and sometimes logistically crazy especially as the baby is being born because everybody has a job to do. Not every provider and nurse is supportive– maybe not supportive. Not every provider and nurse is respectful of the fact that I also have a job to do and that these parents are paying me not a small amount of money to come in and do this job. That is very important to them to have this birth documented in a special way.It can be tricky navigating that especially times ten when it comes to being in the operating room. I have about a 50% success rate of getting in the OR back home. Some hospitals are easier than others. It's always an honor and a privilege, I feel, when providers create a way for me to go in the OR because Cesarean birth is just as important, maybe even more important to have documented because it comes as a healing tool and a way to process the birth especially when most Cesareans are not planned. It was really cool to hear ahead of time about how supportive Dr. Chung was and how amazing he was going to be to let this happen. When we were in there, I don't think I've ever moved around an OR as much as I have in that OR. Providers will tell you, “Oh, you're not allowed in because the operating room is so small. Oh, the sterile field, we want to make sure you don't pass out when you're in there.” I think all of these excuses that people give are just regurgitating things. They don't want another person in the OR. It's just kind of dumb because that was the smallest OR that I have ever been in. I still was able to document it beautifully. I respected the sterile field. I wasn't in anybody's way. People were in my way which is fine because they had a way more important job to do to make sure Paige didn't bleed out and that the baby was born and that Paige's needs were met and things like that. I'm okay. I'm used to navigating around people in the space. I'm perfectly comfortable with that. It was so beautiful. I was down at her feet. Paige, I've actually been going through your images and choosing ones to include in your final gallery while you've been talking. I cannot wait to show you this. I have images of Dr. Chung pulling his head out, still images, of the head being born through the incision. It's like crowning shots. It is this beautiful image of this baby's head being born. Obviously, you've seen the one of his head all the way out. I just think it's so beautiful. I consider it such a privilege and such and honor to have as much freedom in that room. I was literally at her feet, Meagan, documenting while he was cutting her open the adhesions and all of those things. There is video. There were images. I have chills right now. And then as baby was born, I was able to move up by her shoulders and document that and her reaching down for baby. I have all of that. I think that is such one more reason why Dr. Chung is amazing. It is such a rare gem, a diamond in the rough, because Paige now has the documentation for this beautiful story, and it's just one more thing where we have work to do. We have lots of work to do, lots of work to do, and lots of advocacy with people asking for this. I just think it's so important and so cool. It's such a rare thing. I don't even think I would have been able to do all of this back in the States. Meagan: No. Julie: I just think it was so cool. I'm determined to get these images to you before I leave so we can look at them together. I cannot wait for you to see them. I can't. I'm just so excited. Paige: Well, it just makes me think of how often you've said, “If you don't know your options, you don't have any.” The purpose behind this, and why I felt I really did want to go for this option, and what was pulling me to it, is because I want to create options for women and to show them what's possible. That's why I wanted Julie to come. I wanted her. I told her specifically, “Document every step of the process so that women have more resources to see the ways we do it.” I didn't do it exactly like the Olive Juice photography video. There are little variances between it, and that's okay. But it was still so beautiful, so wonderful, and then also, I asked her to document the surgery itself because so much of it is going back and trying to process it in your mind while you're going through it. I'm so glad she did. We walked through it last night, just the moment when I was in the most pain. It was actually really wonderful to see what he was doing which I wasn't in the space to see at that time, but to go back and see, “Okay, that makes sense because he was maneuvering so much,” and to connect it. The connection piece was so valuable. For every Cesarean, I'm so passionate now that you need a doula. You need a midwife in there. You need a birth photographer. You need everybody in there. I knew it, but now, I'm so passionate that we need to advocate for ourselves just as much for planned Cesareans. Meagan: Absolutely. I still can't believe it. I'm so happy. I love this story so much. I believe everyone should hear it because like you said, we need to be educated so we can apply what we need. We don't know what we don't know. This is what we've heard for so many years, but we can know. We can know our options, and it does take us doing it most of the time. The medical world out there is trying sometimes. Sometimes, they are not trying as well. But they are trying. They are also capped in a lot of ways with resources and with time. There's just a lot that goes into it. So, dive in, you guys. Learn. Follow what you need. Follow what your heart is saying. If your heart is saying, “I want a different experience, it's okay to push for that different experience.” Paige: Yeah, definitely. I'll attach a lot of the resources that I used to help me in my prep. But I did just want to cap off by saying that I don't feel like I'm anything special. I am not a birth worker. I am not a nurse. I don't have a history of medical stuff. Dr. Chung was so cute. He was joking that I was a surgeon and getting ready to go do the surgery, but I've always been squeamish at blood and things like that. Don't feel like you don't want to go for it because you're afraid that it will be a scary thing. It is such a natural, beautiful thing. It doesn't feel as medical as it might seem. And even if you are scared, I was scared. It's okay to do it scared if you think that it might be something beautiful and if your heart is, like Meagan said, calling you to it. We're just moms, and moms are powerful, and that's enough. Meagan: I love that. Julie: I love that. I think it's really important. Paige, first of all, you are special, and this is why. Not everybo

“Inhale peace, exhale tension.”Did you know that the cascade of interventions can not only contribute to a Cesarean but may cause one? Melanie believes that was the case with her first birth. Her difficult recovery included going to EMDR therapy to help with her PTSD. Her OB/GYN did mention that she would be a great VBAC candidate. Not knowing VBAC was a thing, Melanie's research began. Cue The VBAC Link!Melanie vigorously dove into VBAC prep before she was pregnant again. Her journey is one that shows just how powerful intuition and manifestation can be. Melanie went from having PROM with her first to arriving at the birth center at 7 centimeters and even being able to reach down to feel her bulging bag of waters as her baby began to emerge en caul!Other talking points in this episode include:Achieving a VBAC without a doulaHusband support Birth affirmationsRecommended podcasts and booksSpecific ways to avoid PROMHypnobirthing by Siobhan MillerThe VBAC Link Blog: 9 VBAC Books We RecommendThe Birth HourDown to BirthNeeded WebsiteHow to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for ParentsFull Transcript under Episode Details Meagan: Hello, everybody. Happy VBAC Link Podcast day, whatever day it is that you are listening. We are so happy that you are here. We have our friend, Melanie, from Texas. Texas, is that where you are? That's where my mind is thinking. Melanie: Yep. Yep. Wiley, Texas just outside Dallas. Meagan: Perfect and did you have your VBAC in Texas?Melanie: Yes. In Dallas. Meagan: In Dallas, okay. We have her sharing her stories with us today you guys. At the end, we're going to be talking about PROM. Right before we got recording, I was talking about how important I think talking about PROM is which if you haven't heard lately what PROM means, there are all of these acronyms all over the place when it comes to VBAC birth, but it's premature rupture of membranes. We are both PROM moms here and so we are very passionate about the topic. If you have had your water break before labor really started and got going in the past, definitely hang on in the end because we are going to be talking more about that and maybe some ways that could or maybe not, we are hoping these are the ways that helped us avoid premature rupture of membranes. We are going to be talking about that and of course, her beautiful VBAC story. I do have a Review of the Week and this is by milka. It says, “VBAC Podcast Review.” It says, “Hi. I love listening to your podcast. I had an unplanned C-section with my first birth and am preparing for my second birth now. I didn't know what to do to make sure I didn't end up with the same situation. Hearing so many women's stories and experiences validated mine but most importantly, I learned so many tips and ideas to help my VBAC. I had a successful VBAC and now recommend this podcast to all expecting moms. Just such a great no-pressure and enjoyable way to learn.” I love that she talked about no pressure because that is what this podcast is about. This is a place where people share their stories, where they share information both on VBAC and CBAC, and all topics when it comes to birth. We want you to just be here, be in this space, and have it connect with you how it connects with you and take these women's stories and these providers who are coming on and the information given and apply it however, it looks for your journey. Melanie and I were just talking a little bit before the episode about how it just feels so full circle. So many of these Women of Strength who have come on before Melanie here and have shared their experiences and people listening, it really is so impactful. Right, Melanie? You were saying that I was in your ear. We were in your ear and these people's stories were in your ear doing what? Empowering you. Melanie: Mhmm. Oh yeah, it's incredible. It feels very full circle to be here. Meagan: Yes. We are very excited that you are and you guys, we are going to jump right into her story in just a second. Okay. The table is yours. Melanie: Okay, so happy to be here. Meagan, like you said, you guys have been in my ear for over a year so it just feels incredible to be here. As I was listening to these stories, I was always hoping to find that birth story that was like mine just to find out what went wrong with mine and also on the flip side, what did people do? What were people seeing in things that went right and how they were able to get a successful VBAC? I was very motivated and inspired by the podcast. I listened to every episode so hopefully, my two stories out there can hit home with anyone. But yeah. I'll start with, of course, the C-section just briefly. I got pregnant in March 2021 so everybody remembers it was COVID times still. Meagan: Wild times. Melanie: Wild times. Actually, at the beginning of my pregnancy, my husband wasn't able to come to the appointments. But thankfully, it being 2021, by halfway he was able to come. That pregnancy, I was really healthy. I ran. I'm a big runner so I ran every day. I had no morning sickness. I was very active. I never even until the very end– I ran the day my water broke and I never had that feeling like I didn't want to be pregnant.Not the case the second time as we'll hear, but the first time—Meagan: And you do that competitively, right? Did you compete during pregnancy at all? Melanie: I've ran my whole life so I ran cross country and track division one in college. Now, I do more marathons. Yeah. I ran both pregnancies. Not anything too crazy. During the second pregnancy, I did run a half marathon. I was 16 weeks but then it went downhill after that. But yeah. I run pretty competitively. I take it really seriously and it's a passion of mine. Yeah, the only thing I got the first time and the second, but I did. I've heard it before on the podcast is SPD, symphysis pubic dysfunction. The first pregnancy, so the one I'm talking about, a prenatal chiropractor literally cured it. I had to go back a couple of times because it would get out of alignment again, but for anyone who is suffering from SPD like I was both times, it's amazing. I would just call them witches because they would literally cure it and it would get me back to running. It was amazing. So my birth education the first time around, I thought I was educated like so many women here. I read the typical What to Expect When You're Expecting. I did a podcast but it was more so of what size is your baby? What's going on in utero? I didn't listen to many birth stories and I became so obsessed with that the second time. And truly, I feel like you get the best birth education through birth stories because you just get the whole shebang. We did take a hospital birth class and now I know that a hospital birth class is really just the hospital policies. I remember there was a section that they had mentioned very quickly in passing, “If you're going to have a C-section, you should take this class. Okay, the next thing.” I thought like so many women, That's not going to be me. I'm not going to have a C-section. I'm healthy. I feel great. Most C-sections are not planned so I feel like it really did a disservice to not even mention anything about a C-section in that class, but anyway, I just assumed that you have a baby in the hospital. You get an epidural. You take a nap and then you wake up and you push out a baby. I was not against hospitals or anything. I was not against the epidural or anything like that. I mentioned that I ran the day my water broke. This was past 40 weeks. 40 weeks came and went. A couple of cervical checks I got I was not dilated at all. They had scheduled a 41-week induction date. When I was checking out at the front desk at the time, I just remember it feeling really, really wrong scheduling that date. Meagan: Your intuition was speaking right there. Melanie: 100%, yeah. Of course, I didn't realize it at the time. It was my first baby and everything but when I look back, that just felt so wrong. 41 weeks came and I was supposed to go in at 9:00 PM that night but the interesting thing is that my water broke actually 4 hours before I was supposed to go in. It was 5:00 PM and I was supposed to go in at 9:00. Like you mentioned Meagan, it was PROM so it was a trickle. I was like, Wait. Am I peeing? What is happening here? No contractions at all. And with the little education I did, I knew that just because your water breaks, it doesn't mean that you have to go in and you should labor at home as long as possible. However, because I was set to go in and I guess because I was 41 weeks, I called them and I just remember they were like, “No. You're in labor. Come in.”I was like, “Okay.” Meagan: This is labor? Melanie: Yeah, I was like, “Oh, okay.” So I got to the hospital literally not dilated at all. I was maybe half a centimeter and they inserted the Cervadil at 9:00 PM which hurt really bad because it turns out if you are not dilated, it really hurts to get Cervadil inserted. Meagan: And if your cervix is posterior, it's hard for them to get it into your cervix so that can also cause a lot of discomfort. Melanie: That's exactly what it was too because I think they had a hard time. I didn't even think about that. It was probably posterior. Man. Yeah, see? My body just wasn't ready for that. But contractions did come eventually. I don't know if Cervadil can cause it or if it was just time. I was going into labor but that was around 1:00 AM. The contractions started to get uncomfortable. I had not practiced coping with contractions at all because I was planning to get an epidural. I never had any inkling of going unmedicated or anything so this is where I think everything went south.This is where I just think it was the cascade of interventions. First I had fentanyl which I don't know why because I think I was trying to delay the epidural for whatever reason. I don't know why. I had fentanyl first. It was awful. It felt like I was so drunk. The room spun and it was terrible. Then an epidural, which has fentanyl in the epidural. That was fine. After the epidural, of course, you feel amazing, but you are stuck on your back forever. I just think this cascade of interventions, being stuck on my back, not moving, I never ever take medicine as it is. I think my body and my baby just hated all of this. So then eventually, terbutaline was given around 6:00 AM. Meagan: To stop the contractions. Melanie: Yep. I think that's when some decels started happening then they did pull the Cervadil to stop the contractions. There were some decels then yeah, eventually it's all a little bit fuzzy but at 6:45 AM the decision was made for a C-section. At 8:01, he was born. They called it an emergency C-section and now I look back and I'm like, yes. I do believe that it was needed. However, I'll never really know but I really think it was caused and also, if it's an emergency, I understand that they don't wait hours like they did for me and they usually put you under. I think it was more unplanned and I look back and I really think it was caused. Meagan: That is the hard thing to know. A lot of these Cesareans, I would agree with you that they are caused by the cascade of interventions and things like that and then a lot of providers will say “emergent” so there are emergent Cesareans where we need to get this baby out quick and then there is a crash where they do put people under with crash Cesareans. But if they are waiting for hours, it's almost like they gave the emergency title to make themselves feel better or make it look valid to justify that Cesarean. Melanie: Yeah, I definitely agree with that. That experience was really awful for me. I think for some women, I think it's awful for a lot of women and then I think for some, it's not that awful. For me, no skin-to-skin. I know that's not very common at all. It felt like it was forever for them to bring him to me. No one was talking to you in this moment and I just don't think these doctors realize in the moment that you're being robbed of something that you envisioned and a really important experience. It just felt like forever for them to give him to me. It was 30 minutes or so. He was fine. He came out completely fine with great APGARS. I was fine. It just ended up in the way I didn't want it to. I did have PTSD from that experience because I was having a lot of flashbacks to it. I went through some EMDR therapy. I had a great therapist and of course, I talked to her about it. She was there for my VBAC as well. But yes. That postpartum was just– the healing sucked. I just felt really awful and I think mentally, it took a really big toll on me. Breastfeeding was really hard. A lot of that I attributed to my C-section. It was not desired. It was just not great. So that was the first birth. I never knew VBAC was a thing or a big deal at all. I don't even think I knew the term VBAC. I went to the 6-week post-doctor's visit and I remember she was like, “Yeah, you'd be a great candidate for a VBAC. However, you have to go into spontaneous labor by 39 weeks.” I'm sitting here like, okay. He was just a 41-week baby. My mom has a history of going late. I don't think that's very likely that I'll go into spontaneous labor by 39 weeks so I already made up my mind that I wasn't going to go with her. I learned later that that is a very common thing that hospitals and OB/GYNs will say to you. Yeah, that was the first one. So then cue The VBAC Link. I started listening to The VBAC Link Podcast before I was pregnant. Maybe my son was a year old and I binged every episode. You and Julie were in my ear a ton. The thing that I heard from The VBAC Link was that the likelihood of a successful VBAC for many of these women did happen out of the hospital and like you yourself, Meagan. That's not to say that of course, you can be in the hospital. You can have an epidural and get induced and have a successful VBAC, but when I just heard the overwhelming thing was how much of a better chance you have. I should also mention that my husband works in medicine too. He's a physician assistant. I will talk about that. He had a little bit of a hard time just with the safety aspect of it. But once I let my mind go toward the possibility of an out-of-hospital birth– because I wanted a VBAC so badly. I was so motivated. Then I realized that it was something that I actually really desired, a physiologic birth and unmedicated. When I look back, I think that's why I had such a hard time mentally with my first birth because I think I didn't know that I cared how my babies come into the world and I wanted to experience that. I don't know and in some weird way too, it felt like doing an unmedicated out-of-hospital birth made me almost feel connected to my ancestors. It seems really weird, but I was like, this is what they did. I just think it's something really cool that our bodies do. I wanted to experience that. But I do. I recognize that it was a trauma response for me for sure to become obsessed with research. I binged all of the episodes. I would look for anything related to VBAC. I read so many books and I actually toured. I had a neighbor and a friend who was pregnant at the time and she was going with the birth center that I ended up going with. We would go on walks and she would talk about her experience and how amazing and wonderful it was. I was just like, man. I want that, especially knowing that we were planning to most likely have just one more child. I hated to have that thinking of, this is my last chance, but I did. Meagan: I understand that so much because my husband told me that too and I was like, “I really want this VBAC. I really want this VBAC.” Melanie: Yeah and that's okay. We're okay. It's okay if we have these desires and these wishes. You only get one life. It's okay to want what we want. I'll never forget. I toured the same birth center that my friend was at and again, I was not pregnant yet. It was an education class. I was like, let me just see what these midwives are all about and what birth centers are like. It just immediately– again, it's that intuition. It immediately felt so right. I remember I walked in and just before even finishing the class, before we even really heard them out, I just knew that this was where I wanted to give birth in my next pregnancy. It felt so right. And also, I'll never forget. I had asked questions about VBAC because unfortunately, not all birth centers support VBACs which I don't understand, but I had asked a lot of my questions related to VBACs and I remember the midwife saying, “Well, unfortunately and fortunately, we do a lot of VBACs.” I'm thinking, why would I not want to be with a provider who does the most VBACs? Hospitals don't do a lot of VBACs comparatively. A lot of people are like me. They go to a birth center because they really want a VBAC. That just was really calming to me. I felt like I was with experienced hands. I was safe and there also was not really anything different about a VBAC. I'm with people who understand and trust birth. I brought this up to my husband and I mentioned that he had his reservations because he's a physician assistant and he works in orthopedic trauma but he was in PA school, he had to do OB/GYN rotations. He unfortunately saw some bad birth outcomes so to him, the hospital was a safety net but I was so, so grateful that he was supportive of my desire to go out-of-hospital even though it seemed kind of crazy to him. He came to– we had one meeting with the midwife so he could ask questions and everything. She was so great and answered all of his questions and I actually was unknowingly pregnant at the time. I didn't know it.Meagan: No way. Melanie: It's really weird. I toured the birth center first by myself and it's almost like my body needed that to be like, boom. You found the place where you are going to give birth and then I got pregnant. It was really weird. We were trying but also, it takes my body after coming off birth control some time so it still was a shock. I was like, oh wow. So anyway, the second pregnancy was much harder as I mentioned. I was not able to be nearly as active. I ran that half marathon like I mentioned and then– it was the Dallas half– then my body just went downhill. It was much, much harder. My sleep was horrible. I have an Aura ring and it tracks your sleep and everything then at the end of the year, it will give you a summary of every month's sleep. I will never forget because I got pregnant in September and it's like, January, February, March, April everything is fine and you look at the bar graph time series and it plummets in September. It stayed that way. It was my deep sleep. My deep sleep really, really decreased a ton. Maybe that's normal and I just didn't know that the first time, but I did not tell many people I was going with a birth center. I lied about my due date which I learned from this podcast which is very smart to do. I highly recommend it just because I didn't want to let in any of that negative energy or anything. The couple people I did tell, I did get a couple of people who would be like, “Oh, they're going to let you do that,” like the “let you” language. Meagan: We both did the same thing at the same time with the air quotes. The “let you”. Melanie: Yeah, exactly. I don't blame them. I just think that a lot of people don't have that birth education. And in hospitals, it's very normal to do a repeat C-section even though we all know it's not evidence-based. So very briefly, I want to talk about the prep that I did in this pregnancy that made such a huge difference for me. Number one, all of the podcasts like I mentioned. This one, of course. The VBAC Link, I binged it. I found the Down to Birth podcast at the end and that's a really, really good one. I know everybody does The Birth Hour as well which is good but that one has everything. I loved the more VBAC-specific ones. Then also, they haven't produced any episodes in a while but the Home Birth After Cesarean Podcast was really good too because they were all unmedicated. I was hoping to do that and they were all VBACs. Then books– I read a lot but these were my favorites. Of course, Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. Emily Oscar's Expecting Better is really good. Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way is a little outdated but that one I really loved. It really taught me what productive contractions looked like because I didn't really experience labor the first time. I never made it past a 3 the first time. I didn't know what that meant. I didn't have coping mechanisms. They really focused on breathing. The best book I read and I hadn't heard this one on it. Maybe you know of it but I had never heard about it but it was Hypnobirthing by Siobhan Miller. There are a lot of books on Hypnobirthing but Hypnobirthing by Siobhan Miller. I was just thinking of Hypnobirthing as a possible way to cope. That book was the best book because I really like the science, the physiology, and what is actually happening in your body when you're getting contractions and how do you work with your body. It just had such a great way of explaining all of that.That was the last book I found. I was 3 weeks away from my guess date. That one was great. She also creates the Freya app if you've heard of that. The Freya app times contractions and it helps you with breathing. They give you a lot of mantras. Yeah. That book was amazing. I did get the Freya app too. I did not know I was going to rely on it so much in labor. Also, in that book, it was really big on affirmation cards. I would make affirmation cards then I would read them in the bath and sometimes practice my breathing through the app. I did some pelvic PT and then, of course, the prenatal chiropractor like I mentioned, I continued to do that. Like I mentioned, the care with the midwives was great. Very positive language. I noticed what was really important to me was not, “I hope I can do this,” because of course, I hope that. But my midwives were amazing because every time, they would just speak it. They would say, “You are going to have a beautiful, redemptive VBAC.” They would just say that. Of course, I know I am 50% of the birth story. The baby is the other 50%. Of course, I know that but it was so important for me to have that positive language. I really worked on my mindset this time around. I only followed accounts that served me. I unfollowed news accounts. I had to be very careful about what I watched and things like that. I don't think women realize how important our mental state is. I get very sensitive. Meagan: Yes. So talking about that, protecting your space, our bubble, or whatever it may be. Protecting our space is so important because mentally, like you were saying, I don't know if people really understand how precious our mental space is but mentally, if we are thrown off, it is sometimes really difficult to get back onto that rail. I had a situation on Facebook in a VBAC-supportive group. I've talked about it in the past. I was so excited to announce that I was going to birth outside of the hospital. I also wasn't telling people that I was birthing out of the hospital. I didn't really tell people my plan I thought I could in that group and I wasn't supported. I had to leave that. Sometimes it means leaving groups. Sometimes it means staying off social media. Sometimes it means muting people who may be sharing their opinions or telling people flat-out, “I appreciate you so much but unfortunately, I can't have you in my space,” because mentally, they are not serving you well. Melanie: 100%, yeah. I hate that that happened to you and I know that happens to so many women. It's just so unfortunate and I hate that there is such a stigma with VBAC because if you do the research which people who have really “easy” births don't have a reason to really do the research but if you are like us where we are all very motivated to have a VBAC because we already have this stigma going against us, it's all unwarranted. It's not evidence-based to not be supportive of a VBAC and if you really research and do the stats, you realize that it's not a big deal. The craziest thing that I heard on the Down to Birth Podcast was, “You have a chance of uterine rupture even as a first-time mom.” Meagan: Yes, you do. Melanie: It's not that much higher as a VBAC and first-time moms go their entire pregnancy never once hearing about uterine rupture but yet if you are a VBAC mom, that's all you hear about. So it's so crazy to me. Meagan: Yeah. Yeah. So mentally, you were unfollowing. You protected your space there. Is there anything else that you would give tip-wise to protect your mental space?Melanie: I think just believing in your body and believing that we are made to give birth. I think that's a really big one. Of course, like you said, unfollowing and maybe not talking about it with people, unfollowing accounts that do not serve you. I think the most important thing, I know we've heard it a million times on this podcast, but where you give birth and who you give birth with is the single most important thing because you want to be with a provider who believes that you can do it, whoever that is. Yeah, believing in yourself. I think that's going to look different for everybody of what they need. For me, I am a data person so I needed the stats. I needed to read the books and also listen to lots of women who have done it before me. Meagan: Mhmm, love that. Melanie: So okay, here we are. I was 40+5 so again, not 39 weeks with spontaneous labor but 40+5. I woke up at 5:00 AM to what I thought was contractions. I had some Braxton Hicks at the very end which I never experienced before. I didn't know if maybe it was prodromal labor but it didn't feel like Braxton Hicks because it was waking me up. I just tried to move through them a little bit. They were coming very, very sporadically. I would get a short contraction one time an hour and this went on for most of the day and they were not long at all, like 30 seconds. In my mind, I'm thinking, I'm a hopeful first-time vaginal birther. So I'm like, okay. This could be 24 hours. It could be 48 hours. Who knows? But I did not want to waste any energy timing the contractions so I was just guessing the whole day. It was a Sunday. I stayed home with my toddler. Yeah, I should mention that he is 2.5 so I waited about 2.5 years between the two births. So yeah. I just labored at home with my toddler and my husband. We are big track fans so it worked out perfectly. There was a Diamond League track meet on so I did the Miles Circuit while I was watching that. I texted my midwives and kept everybody updated but I think again, we all thought I still had a ton of time. Then I would say around 4:00 PM that day, I started to notice them a little bit more. They were still pretty inconsistent. I would say maybe 8-10 minutes apart and still only 30-45 seconds long. That was something I learned from again, that Bradley Method book I read is that productive contractions for most women– I will say not for me. We will get into that. But for most women, they are a minute plus. Those are the most productive contractions. I texted my midwife then that I felt like it would likely be that night. I felt pretty confident that they were coming but I was like, it could be the middle of the night. It could be tomorrow morning. Who knows. She texted back and she advised that I take some magnesium, take an Epsom salt bath and then go to bed and try to reserve my energy for when they are 4-1-1. We had a birth photographer this time so I texted the birth photographer. I texted our friends who I'm so grateful for. We had a neighbor and a friend who was going to come to our house and be with my toddler. So, so sweet. Yeah. I took the magnesium and then my husband, Brandon, drew me a bath and then disappeared with our toddler. I sat in the bath and I was reading my affirmation cards. This makes me so emotional but I discovered that my husband had snuck in his own affirmation cards into my pile and that's when I found them. Oh, it was so sweet. Meagan: That's adorable. Melanie: I know. It still makes me cry when I think about it because it just meant so much. It makes me so emotional. It was super sweet and one of the best things he's ever done for me. I found those and was reading through them in the bath and just trying to relax and really work with the contractions. I know from my research that you need to relax. To get them to be productive contractions, you have to relax. You have to get your body out of the way and it will go faster that way. They really started to ramp up when my husband was putting our toddler to bed around 7:30. I got in the bed and I put the pregnancy pillow in between my legs. I lay there and was trying to establish a pattern. Yeah. I know manifestation sounds pretty woo-woo but I want to say and this is where I'll start sprinkling these in because there were 10 things that I had manifested or really, really prayed would happen and I was very intentional that I really, really hoped that this happened. This was the first one. I don't know why I had envisioned laboring with my dog. You have a dog. You understand. My dog is my firstborn. She is my baby. I love her. You know, birth is so primal so I was just like, She's going to know. She's going to know when I'm in labor and she's going to know what to do. She did. She followed me. I didn't even realize it at the time. She followed me in my bed and I took a picture with her at 8:19. She was lying next to me on the bed as I was going through these contractions and it's a very, very special memory for me. I was already starting to get the labor shakes at this point. It's 7:30 and laying down in bed did really help to establish more of a pattern but they still were not a minute long. They were 40-50 seconds long. Then I moved to the toilet as many women do at this point, backward on the toilet. I lost more of my mucus plug because I had lost it sometime earlier in the day then at some point, I looked down and realized that I was having my bloody show. Again, none of this I had ever experienced before with my first. My husband was an absolute rockstar in this moment. He was so cute. He was running back and forth between the toilet and then packing up the car because I think he realized it was starting to get pretty serious. He brought me water and he put on the back of the toilet, cleaned it, gummy worms and things. That was not what I wanted at that moment but it was super cute. Oh, and I should mention that I did not have a doula so he was kind of like my doula. I was trying to prepare him as best as I could beforehand but he didn't need it. He did really well. I know the hip squeezes are great and I learned that from this show of course. As they were coming, I would scream at him, “Hip squeezes! Hip squeezes!” He would come over and do it and he did awesome. He was saying that I left my body in this moment and I was possessed because when I was having a contraction, again, I was trying to do the deep moans and really trying to relax but it's just funny. He was telling me about it after and he was like, “Yeah, it was like if you were looking at it from the outside, it's like you were possessed then you would scream at me and just moan.”Then by 9:24, they were coming. I mentioned they were not a minute long, but they were coming on top of each other. So every 2.5-3.5 minutes apart, but still not quite a minute long so my husband was calling the midwives and she still was like, “Well, they're not quite a minute. Just have her keep laboring at home until they are a minute.” Eventually, he called her back and I think he put it on speaker so she could hear me and that's what did it. Meagan: Uh-huh. She's like, “Load her up.” Melanie: Yes. Because we live outside of Dallas. The birth center was in downtown Dallas so it's pretty far. It's usually a 45-minute drive for us so I think my husband was just like, “I don't want to have a car baby.” Meagan: Sure. Melanie: Yeah. It was ramping up. So yeah. She called back. I mentioned the Freya app. I really relied heavily on the Freya app because when you are timing the contractions, it helps you with the breathing, in for 4, out for 8, and then one of the mantras I learned from that Hypnobirthing book that I did not know I was going to rely on so much– and I think you never really know when you're going into it and when you're in labor. You never know what's going to stick. My mantra that I must have repeated to myself 500 times was, Inhale peace, exhale tension. Every single contraction, I just repeated that over and over and over. I was trying to make it until 10:30 PM when we called them again, but that's when we got in the car and started heading there. He made it to the birth center in 33 minutes. The car ride was not fun like many women talk about. I think I hardly opened my eyes and I was just timing them, repeating my mantra, Inhale peace, exhale tension. I arrived at the birth center at 11:00 PM. I had a contraction on the step right there as I was trying to get out of the car and trying to make it. I eventually made it inside and I had my first cervical check of the whole pregnancy. I again, something I had manifested was that my two favorite midwives would be there and they were. One of them, she wasn't even on call but she came anyway. So many sweet things happened. I got on my back. She asked if she could check me and I was like, “Yes. I really want to know.” One thing again, I manifested that I really wanted to be at least a 6 when I showed up. The first thing she said was, “You are much farther along than you ever were with Rhett.” You are a 7 and you are very stretchy. I can feel your bulgy back of waters and the baby's head is right behind it. That's the other thing. We mentioned PROM. Here I am and my water still had not burst and it was amazing. Being on my back felt awful by the way. That's why I just don't understand. Being unmedicated in a hospital must be so, so hard because I know a lot of the times they want you to be on your back and I just can't imagine because that was the worst position ever. She started filling up the tub right away. Like many women, I was like, “I have to poop.” I get on the toilet and I was like, “I swear I do.” But no, I don't. Nothing was happening but it feels like I do. I got in the tub right away. I did a couple of contractions. They were still coming on top of each other. I was sitting down and eventually, I moved to hands and knees. Very shortly after, that was very fast. That was only about 5 minutes after getting checked. Very shortly after, my body was starting to push and I was like, “This can't.” I mentioned something. I don't really remember this but I mentioned something to my midwife about how it seemed to soon to push. I was like, “You just checked me and I was a 7-8. Why is my body pushing right now?” I was really wary of a cervical lip or a swollen lip which I learned from this podcast. I can't remember exactly but she said something to the nature of, “If your body is ready to push, let it push. This is your body getting ready to birth your baby,” which is again, something else I had really, really envisioned. I would have loved my body to do the pushing and it did which was amazing. My water had not broken still at this point and the really cool moment was that the baby was en caul for a while. I remember her saying something on the phone about baby being en caul. I was birthing the sac before I birthed the baby. It felt like a water balloon. She kept telling me, “Feel down. Feel the sac.” It felt like a water balloon coming out of you. It was so weird. Yeah, my midwife stayed behind me so quietly the whole time. I never knew she was there. My husband set up my birth playlist and music and he just was such a rockstar in this moment. He was getting a cold rag and putting it over my shoulders which felt amazing, getting water and electrolytes and continuing to help me with that. Yeah. My body pushed for about 30 minutes and I don't want to scare anybody, but truly, that was the worst part. I remember– I guess maybe it's the ring of fire, but I just remember feeling like my body was ripping in half. But then it goes away. Meagan: Yeah. It's intense. It's intense. Melanie: It's so intense. I don't think anything can really prepare you for that. I follow that account, Pain-Free Birth. I don't understand and I would watch videos of women who were smiling and they look great. I'm like, oh my gosh. That part was so, so painful. Handling and dealing with the contractions is one thing and I felt like I was really strong. I felt like I did a good job with that, but that pushing part is something else. His head was out. It was a boy. His head was out for a little while but nobody panicked and my husband was ready to catch him. His hand was right there. At some point, I remember my midwife was like, because again, my body was doing all of the pushing. I didn't do any of it. I guess after the head was out of a little bit, she was like, “You can try to push.” My husband told me because his hand was right there that my pushes were nothing. They were baby, tiny little pushes compared to the ones my body was doing. Then at some point, my midwife asked if she could help or something and I was like, “Yes, please.” I don't know what she did. My baby was kind of big which I'll say in a second, but I think maybe his shoulder was stuck or something. She did something that was pretty painful but then within a second–Meagan: A sweep. Melanie: Yeah, like a maneuver because I definitely felt more stretching then a second later, he shot out. He did have the cord wrapped around his neck one time but nobody freaked out and they just literally took it off then he pinked up right away, cried, and he ended up being 9 pounds, 5 ounces. My first was 6 pounds and 14 ounces. I'm like, “No wonder running felt awful. He was pretty big.” I look back and I just feel very proud. I was never once scared for myself. I never once thought about uterine rupture and I never was scared for my baby. I do have some memories of– they did the intermittent checking and I have this memory of the decels. That is why I ended up having the C-section so I was always very curious to see how he was doing during the check. He was always fine and I was never scared. Yeah. We got out of the tub quickly. They waited for me to deliver the placenta on the bed. It was about 30 minutes and yeah. My baby latched right away which was such a relief because I mentioned we had some struggles the first time. The crazy thing was– we sat there. We ate. We chatted for a little bit then once they did all of the newborn tests right there, we were home by 3:45 AM. My toddler went to bed as an only child and then he woke up to a little brother. And that's his story. The postpartum has been so different and it's been so much better. I can't help but think that a lot of that is because of such a smoother birth and the recovery has been so much better than a C-section. Different, but still so much better. Meagan: Yeah. Melanie: Yeah. I just thank this community so much. I also was on the Facebook page and I just got so much strength from all of the women before me. Meagan: Yes. Oh my gosh. Such an incredible story. I love– okay, a couple of things. One, we talk about it on the podcast. I love when people go and look for providers before they are pregnant. I absolutely love it. I think it's very powerful. But two, you were actually pregnant and you didn't know it. Melanie: I know. Meagan: That's so cool that you were doing that and it felt so right and not only was your intuition before pregnancy kicking in but you were actually pregnant and it felt right. You were like, this is the place. This is the place. Then you showed. You went past that 39-week date. You never had gone past 3 centimeters before. So much strength and power happened through all of this and then you pushed out a 9-pound baby. All of these things that a lot of the world doubts. Did you look at your op report? Melanie: I did and everything was normal. Then the main thing was the decels and that's why they said was the reason. Meagan: Decels. I just wondered if they said anything like CPD or failure to progress. Melanie: Yeah, no they didn't. I was looking for that specifically. I just barely made it. I was 2-3 centimeters before the decels started happening and then they called it. Meagan: Yeah. A lot of the time we are told and the world doubts us in so many ways so if you told a lot of people who are uneducated about VBAC the things that happened with the first and then the stats of your second, I bet people are like, “You did that?” But you guys, this is normal. This is beautiful. This is what you deserve. You deserve these experiences and these joyous moments. I'm just so proud of you. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of your husband. He sounds absolutely adorable. Shoutout to him. Melanie: He's so sweet. Meagan: Your midwives and everybody. You did it. Melanie: Aw, thank you. Meagan: I'm so happy for you. Melanie: Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm glad I didn't know how big he was before but also with my midwives, there was no pressure at all to even see how big he was. Meagan: Mhmm, yeah. Melanie: The second baby, I always say that he healed me because he really did. My first birth was really traumatic for me but then my friends all laugh because they say, “You're the only person who would say a 9-pound baby would heal you.”Meagan: Seriously, though. But how amazing. It's so amazing. Our bodies are incredible. Okay, we talked about PROM. This time, total opposite. Encaul for a little bit. I did some things. You did some things. Let's talk about if you've had PROM, premature rupture of membranes, there are things you could do to try to encourage no PROM next time. I am PROM, PROM, then with my third, I was contracting. My water did break way earlier than pushing but it still waited a little longer. I still feel like my efforts in a lot of ways helped. So anyway, tell us what you did. Melanie: Yes. So mainly two things. Again, being with providers who are more holistic, they are more likely to mention nutrition. We talked about nutrition a ton during the whole pregnancy. I think two main things. The first thing was collagen. They got me on collagen from the get-go. I know research shows that upping your collagen helps a strong sac. Then the second thing was Vitamin C. I didn't take any Vitamin C supplements or anything, but again, your body is amazing. I was craving oranges in my pregnancy so I think that's part of it. My body was craving oranges. I ate a lot of oranges so I think the combination of collagen and oranges really made my sac strong. And it was. It literally did not break until he came out. It was so different. Meagan: So incredible. I would echo that. Vitamin C and you can supplement with Vitamin C 100mg a day starting anywhere between 18-20 weeks. Some providers even say to do it from the very beginning as the placenta is forming and things like that. Collagen absolutely and protein. Protein and collagen. I know you guys have heard about Needed but I absolutely love their protein collagen. As pregnant women, we don't get enough collagen and we don't get enough protein in our daily eating habits so supplementing with that and getting more collagen really, really can create a healthier, thicker sac. Something that was interesting that I found out after my second– so back story. I had kidney stones. I don't know if you had any infections or anything like that with your first that made you be on antibiotics but antibiotics is what an OB told me can also weaken membrane sacs. I got UTIs and kidney stones and was put on antibiotics. The OB described to me that my OB was fighting in other areas so the nutrients that my body was getting was going to fighting and healing versus creating a stronger sac which is interesting. I've never seen any research about it but he was pretty adamant about avoiding antibiotics during pregnancy with my next one and I did. I didn't have what I had before. Melanie: That's interesting. I never heard that. Meagan: I know. I know. This is a doctor who doesn't even practice anymore. This was years ago but I was like, it kind of makes sense. It kind of makes sense. I haven't researched it. Melanie: Yeah. I can see that. Meagan: Antibiotics wipe our gut flora and things like that anyway so I can understand that but protein, collagen, Vitamin C, and possibly avoiding antibiotics. Nutrition is so huge with our bag of water. Then big babies. You guys, big babies come out of vaginas. I just have to say that. It happens. 9 pounds is a healthy, beautiful baby. Melanie: Yeah. When he came out, everybody was very shocked even before weighing him. He's thinned out now but he was swollen. Everybody was taking bets on how big he actually was. Meagan: I love it. I love it. I've seen so many babies when they come out and their cheeks are so squishy and you're like, that's a big baby. You can tell just by their face. Melanie: Yes. That's exactly it. Meagan: Oh my gosh. Well, thank you again so much for completing the circle, for helping other Women of Strength out there. I too believe that women listen to these podcasts and they want to find stories that are similar with theirs in so many ways. You didn't dilate past 3. An induction that didn't turn out to be a vaginal birth so an “unsuccessful” induction that turned VBAC. A lot of people, I think, do doubt their body in that way. They are like, “Well, I was induced. Not even medicine could get me there,” but there is a lot that goes into that. Sometimes our body is just not ready or our babies aren't ready or something is going on. It doesn't mean that's your fate for all future births. Melanie: 100%. Yeah. So well said. Meagan: Awesome. Well, thank you again so much and huge congrats. Melanie: Thank you so much, Meagan, and thank you to everybody. Everybody who has told their story, the community, and everything was so helpful for me. ClosingWould you like to be a guest on the podcast? Tell us about your experience at thevbaclink.com/share. For more information on all things VBAC including online and in-person VBAC classes, The VBAC Link blog, and Meagan's bio, head over to thevbaclink.com. Congratulations on starting your journey of learning and discovery with The VBAC Link.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vbac-link/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Dr.Sarah Buckley is a New-Zealand-trained GP/family physician with qualifications in GP-obstetrics and family planning. She is the mother of four home-born children, and currently combines motherhood with her work as a writer on pregnancy, birth, and parenting. Sarah's work critiques current practices in pregnancy, birth, and parenting from the widest possible perspectives, She encourages us to be fully informed in our decision-making; to listen to our hearts and our intuition; and to claim our rightful role as the real experts in our bodies and our children. Her bestselling book⁠ Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: A Doctor's Guide to Natural Childbirth and Gentle Early Parenting Choices,⁠ Sarah has presented workshops and conferences in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, the UK, the US and Canada, lecturing to midwives, nurses, physicians, obstetricians, doulas, and childbirth educators as well as mothers and fathers. So sit back and enjoy the wise words, we could have listened to Sarah for hours… To find out more about Dr.Sarah Buckley and all her research and about her books please see the following  ⁠https://sarahbuckley.com⁠ To read the latest research by Sarah: ⁠https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/health/maternity/hormonal-physiology-of-childbearing.html⁠ Sarah has suggested for up to date research and topics following her blog ⁠https://sarahbuckley.com/category/blog/⁠ To book into one of my Online or Face-to-Face Hypnobirthing Courses OR to book a Birth Debrief session visit ⁠www.belly2birth.com.au

Join Loren Sofia, Functional Fertility Coach and founder of Innate Fertility, Chloe and Keshia, from the Road to Wisdom podcast as they discuss their fertility and birthing journeys..In this episode, you'll learn about:How Chloe & Keshia birthed The Road to Wisdom podcastHow they're both preparing to each go from 4 kids to baby number 5How Chloe & Keshia are each preparing for their own birthsChloe's fertility journey and experience with the hormonal birth control pillKeshia's fertility journey and experience with trying to conceiveChloe's birth experiences, from good midwives to bad midwivesKeshia's birth experiences, from giving birth in a conventional hospital setting to freebirthingHow to choose the right birth setting for yourselfHow to create trust in yourself regardless of where you birthThe importance of re-evaluating the relationships in your life during pregnancy and howAnd so much more!Episode Links:Chloe's IG: @chloepaceyKeshia IG: @Keshia_tognazzini The Road to Wisdom Podcast IG: @theroadtowisdom.podcastThe Road to Wisdom Podcast available on all podcast platforms: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-road-to-wisdom-podcast/id1688912558The Road to Wisdom Podcast episode featuring Loren: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/full-circle-nourishment-loren-sofias-path-from-conception/id1688912558?i=1000631517751The Road to Wisdom Podcast Website: www.theroadtowisdompodcast.comThe Road to Wisdom Podcast Youtube: @TheRoadToWisdomPodcast/videosMore Resources

In this episode, Erin sits down with Kaleem Joy, Licensed Midwife, who has attended all 5 of her births. They talk about the journey of Farrah's birth, the model of midwifery care, and the beautiful transformation that happens in pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and motherhood. This episode is full of empowerment for mothers and Kaleem's wisdom from the past 26+ years of attending births.  Connect with Kaleem: Instagram Facebook Website Connect with me: Instagram Website Products Mentioned: The Gift of Giving Life About Kaleem: Kaleem Joy, a unique and seasoned midwife whose energetic and inspirational message empowers people during pregnancy, birth, parenthood, and life. As a mother, grandmother and lover of nature, Kaleem brings a wealth of experience and passion to the table. Her commitment to empowerment shines through in her role as educator, coach, and inspirational speaker specializing in guiding individuals through the transformative journey of pregnancy, birth, and parenting. With a background as a homebirth midwife and serving as former Clinical Director of the California Birth Center in Rocklin, California, Kaleem has been at the forefront of providing compassionate and personalized care to expectant parents. She is the founder of NATURAL CHILDBIRTH 101, an online education platform which empowers individuals with knowledge and confidence as they travel the transformative journey from pregnancy, through birth and on to parenthood. Beyond her clinical roles, Kaleem is a mentor to aspiring midwives, sharing her wisdom and expertise to shape the future of midwifery mentoring care. She captivates a global audience with her dynamic speaking style motivating them to embrace their unique journeys and become the best versions of themselves. Kaleem Joy, a passionate advocate for empowerment, growth, and the beautiful journey of bringing new life into the world. Get ready to be inspired and motivated by the words of a woman who is dedicated to empowering people to become their greatest selves and nurturing a new generation to do the same.

Join Kelly and Tiffany as they chat about some lesser known birth interventions and the importance of physiological birth experiences.00:00 Introduction21:32 Who You Invite to Your Birth30:20 The Power of Words33:22 Creating a Sacred SpaceLinks to all the extra good stuff:Beautiful One Free Resources: HERENatural Birth Foundations Freebie: HEREThings you can Decline Freebie: HEREJoin our email community: HERESubmit your answer-on-the-show questions: HERE

Sign up for the Free Birth Awareness Session:https://www.birthagni.com/contactus - Select 'upcoming free birth awareness' in the formDirect Registration: https://forms.gle/kYeTcRPMzZvWKcYA9Contrary to her previous experience (EP 102) of a quick birth at the birth center, Sanjana manifested a slower transition this time and knew instinctively that she wanted to give birth at home, with her daughter as a witness to the simplicity of life and birth.We are often presented with the narrative of a painless birth and today the 'option' of a painless birth with medical interventions at play. What if these narratives are carefully selected to create an image that suits the industrialized system, benefiting from the victimhood of women in their own bodies? What if the natural bliss of birth is being carefully shielded away from us?In this episode, we discuss:Experience of PregnancySanjana's preparation for birth and postpartumExperience of Labor and events leading up to birth—unmedicated, undisturbedEcstasy of Birth, when birth becomes painlessPostpartum ExperienceResources discussed: Book : Ten Moons: The Inner Journey of Pregnancy, Preparation for Natural BirthAbout Sanjana:Sanjana is a Political Scientist by profession focused on urban-rural linkages, urban studies, and inequalities in India. She is the co-founder of the Beejvan Biodiversity and Collaborative Research Foundation. A winner of the Erasmus scholarship, the German Chancellors' Fellowship, and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge. Her project, Beejvan, won the Lush Spring Prize 2023 in the UK.Sanjana is also a home-birthing mother of two daughters and very passionate about immunology, and enjoys learning about various indigenous healing modalities. Her quest for truth, led by her intuition, beyond what science and religion have attempted to understand and preach, is what led her to birth her daughters and raise them on her own terms. The journey of healing is non-linear and ongoing, and she trusts it is a beautiful one, even on the worst days.Support the Show.Sign up for Traverse the Labor Land and Own your birth programs! visit www.birthagni.com/contactusSupport the show: If you like what you hear, leave us a rating on Spotify app and answer the question at each episode! a review on Apple podcasts. Share on Whatsapp/Insta/FB Share on Instagram and tag us @divyakapoorvox Support the production by making a donation at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/birthagni. This ensures the continuity and quality and a good coffee on sleepless recording nights! Subscribe to the FREE newsletter at https://www.birthagni.com/#subscribe and receive DISCOUNTS, SALE updates and GIFTCARDS on our premium 'Own your Birth' program You can book a 20 min FREE Discovery call at https://www.birthagni.com/...

Episode 074: of the American Grown Podcast in the Colortech Creative Solutions studios with Gloria Lapp a Certified Birth Doula & Childbirth Educator.-In this episode Gloria talks about her first experience giving birth and how the system lead her down a path where the only outcome was a C-Section. After a rough first pregnancy Gloria started to learn all she could about natural childbirth & Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC). She's a certified birth doula with a few at home pregnancies under her belt. Gloria started an online course called Courageous VBAC to help women feel empowered and informed during the birthing process.⚠️Explicit Episode.-To learn more about Gloria Lapp & her VBAC online course click here: https://www.courageousvbac.com-#ad this episode is brought to you by these sponsors:Triggered 22. Support a local veteran and help spread awareness for PTSD & #22aday.Cleona Coffee Roasters. A small batch coffee roastery & coffee shop, veteran & first responder owned located inside 911 Rapid Response in Annville PA.Colortech Creative Solutions. Colortech Creative Solutions takes your creative projects from visualization to realization since 1980 while keeping your budget in mind.-To see photos of today's guest follow our Social media: IG- https://www.instagram.com/americangrownpodcast/ FB-https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077655465940 or visits us at https://rss.com/podcasts/americangrownpodcast/

In this episode we are diving into the power of your subconscious mind and how you can train your subconscious mind to move through painful and uncomfortable experiences in your life and business with strength and inner peace! Gianna shares 4 ways she is currently training her own subconscious mind to have an unmedicated and natural childbirth (any day now!) and how YOU can use these 4 tools in your business and life to overcome literally anything!The Rewired Podcast is your ultimate destination for entrepreneurs and high-achieving individuals ready to clear the path to their holy fuck dream life. Hosted by The Subconscious Success Coach, Gianna Badot, this electrifying show is your ticket to rewiring your brain for unstoppable success and inner alignment.Join us as we unravel the mysteries of the subconscious, debunking top mindset blocks, and sharing real-life stories that will leave you inspired and ready to take on the world through powerhouse teaching, dynamic conversations, and mind-bending hacks.We share short and powerful new episodes each week to equip you with everything you need to skyrocket to your next level of greatness.Want to dive deeper into subconscious work?The Rewired App is your on-the-go daily resources to shift your mindset, energy and emotional state - Click here to access 30 days FREE using code: PODCASTYou can learn more about Gianna, her private coaching, programs, and The Rewired App on her website:https://giannabadot.com/Connect with Gianna on Instagram: @giannabaot

In this quick listen episode Tiffany guides listeners through 23 essential questions to ask during a midwifery interview:Learn the importance of understanding the midwife's philosophy on birthUnderstand the nuances of a midwife's care practices by asking questionsFind out the logistical aspects like scheduling and the financial investment, upfrontHear about the significance of finding a care provider who aligns with your values and needs00:00 Introduction to the Episode00:24 Understanding Midwifery Interviews01:51 23 Questions to Ask in a Midwifery Interview14:43 Exploring the Role of a Midwife18:47 Next Steps After Choosing a Midwife20:08 Closing Remarks and Future OpportunitiesLinks to all the extra good stuff:CLICK HERE to Join the brand new Beautiful One Beta Birth Class!!! Free Download: Questions to Ask in a Midwifery InterviewJoin our email community + get instant access to our awesome Sleep Freebie: HEREBrowse all our favorite women's supplement recommendations: HERESubmit your answer-on-the-show questions: HERE

Finding the Right Midwife: A Comprehensive Guide for Expecting MothersKelly and Tiffany provide a detailed discussion about how to find the right midwife once you are pregnant . The conversation revolves around:Understanding what type of midwifery care you wantCollecting midwife referrals + researching midwivesInterviewing + consulting with midwives before you hire themAddressing the problematic aspects of the US maternity care system by normalizing midwifery care00:00 Introduction and Welcome00:21 Understanding the Need for a Midwife02:31 Exploring the Midwifery Model of Care04:09 Contrasting Midwifery and Medical Models of Care09:03 The Importance of Quality Prenatal Supplements13:42 Personal Experiences with Midwifery Care17:13 Getting Clear on Your Ideal Midwife21:27 Understanding Your Birth Preferences21:42 Collecting Midwife Referrals22:32 The Importance of Word of Mouth in Choosing a Midwife24:33 Researching Midwives Online25:38 Doing In-depth Research on Potential Midwives28:39 Interviewing and Consulting with Midwives29:41 The Importance of Mutual Fit in the Midwife-Client Relationship35:57 The Role of Midwives in Normalizing Birth38:07 Joining Our Beta Childbirth Education ClassLinks to all the extra good stuff:CLICK HERE to Join the brand new Beautiful One Beta Birth Class!!! 25% off Professional Grade Supplements at Fullscript: HEREJoin our email community + get instant access to our awesome Sleep Freebie: HEREBrowse all our favorite women's supplement recommendations: HERESubmit your answer-on-the-show questions: HERE

In this solo episode, hear a perspective on natural childbirth. Some of my personal story + current updates + couple really key and impactful paragraphs from Sunni Karll's book: Sacred Birthing: Birthing a New Humanity. Four parts in her book that stood out to me in a deep way and will be with me forever. I read these aloud to you.You'll hear her perspective on Natural Childbirth, a perspective and awareness that can really ring true and support women in Creation in the First Trimester ( a perspective on nausea and "morning sickness", what Sacred Guardian Sessions are, and more.Sunni Karll's websiteLinks to books mentioned in episode:Sacred Birthing by Sunni KarllIna May's Guide to ChildbirthJourney to Motherhood (Stories of Natural Childbirth)______Other books not mentioned but have had a lasting impact on me and may for you as well no matter how you plan to give birth:Unassisted ChildbirthIna May's Guide to Breastfeeding Birth on your Own Terms________If you are navigating pre-conception, fertility journey, pregnancy, fears, wanting to give natural childbirth, postpartum, motherhood and/or more, book a call with me where we can hop on the phone and we can dive in with what you may be experiencing and needing guidance on and I can help guide you and give direction towards your own personal knowing, wisdom and power.on call - donation based calls for women.Message me on IG to book your guidance callor email me:Nicoleshealth@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's episode we speak with Dr. Sarah Buckley on the science of natural and undisturbed birth. Dr. Sarah Buckley is the author of the best selling book Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering, the author the report Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing (January 2015), and all around natural childbirth expert.  We are honored and grateful to have Dr. Sarah Buckley join us on the Doing It At Home Podcast for many reasons. To start, her book "Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: A Doctor's Guide to Natural Childbirth and Gentle Early Parenting Choices" was a huge influence on us during our pregnancy. Sarah (our Sarah...Sarah Bivens that is) started reading Dr. Buckley's book while we were still planning for a birth with an OBGYN in a hospital. We learned about Dr. Buckley from her appearances in a DVD series called "Happy Healthy Child" (another resource we highly recommend and link to in the show notes.) Dr. Buckley's extensive research and evidence based information on pregnancy and birth, along with her own accounts of her 4 home births left quite the impression on us. It got the wheels turning and prompted us to think about the elements we wanted in our birth. Overtime we found that the best way to experience all of that would be at home. So we're very grateful to Dr. Buckley and the work that she does, because it's like she's been a part of our journey. Dr. Buckley integrates what would seem like differing philosophies at first glance: in the mindset of a medical background, training, practice and care, and natural, holistic, unassisted, physiological birth. Dr. Buckley talks about physiological birth as the type of birth that's in alignment with how the body is designed to work. And low tech models of care support this process. Home birth is an ideal situation to allow for this. We also talk about the core requirements for birth and what a woman needs to feel private, safe and unobserved. And if you didn't know or fully understand the hormonal cocktail that a woman experienced in natural birth, you will by the end of this episode. Want to know what ecstatic birth is? Listen to this episode. One of the key takeaways here is the potential to reclaim power in the experience of birth. That with a healing birth, we can heal the earth! Links From The Episode: SarahBuckley.com Sarah Buckley on Facebook HappyHealthyChild.com Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: A Doctor's Guide to Natural Childbirth and Gentle Early Parenting Choices by Sarah Buckley Hormonal Physiology Of Childbearing (report) Pain In Labor (ebook) Ecstatic Birth (ebook) Offers From Our Awesome Partners: Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order Splash Blanket: https://bit.ly/3JPe1g0 - use code DIAH for 10% off your order Esembly: https://bit.ly/3eanCSz - use code DIH20 to get 20% off your order More From Doing It At Home: Send us your birth story: https://bit.ly/3jOjCKl Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU DIAH Website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/ DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC DIAH Merch: www.diahpodcast.com/merch Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to 2024! & episode 17 of the podcast. In episode 17 we hear from Claudia, mum of 6, Muslim mum & birth worker located in Sydney. Claudia has had 3 births at home (#3, #5 & #6). It was super interesting to hear Claudia's diverse experiences with the Australian maternity system. Claudia and I also have some great discussion around birth culture in Australia and how even though birthing at home is an amazing birth place, the approach to homebirth often demands more work by the woman both physically and mentally. Links to people/business/resources for this episode:Leisa Masters https://www.leisamasters.com.au/Adventures in Natural Childbirth https://www.amazon.com.au/Adventures-Natural-Childbirth-Pleasures-Naturally/dp/1569243689Labour pauses episode  https://open.spotify.com/episode/7KfyfzmbDT7bsKdEeMZgxl?si=637d366b217e4781Fear Free Childbirth Podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/4ZXSstzpU3vVHpqIwon7Ee?si=712590800c0a413cHypnobirthing https://hypnobirthingaustralia.com.au/Wholistic approach to Nutrition in Pregnancy https://thewomenswellnesscollective.com/journal/2018/3/1/guide-to-fertility-prenatal-nutritionPostnatal Depletion https://thememo.com.au/blogs/news/lets-talk-about-postnatal-depletionFreebirth Society https://open.spotify.com/show/2IGK3JDmaHkVkjxQw0Q4ig?si=e577e21fe973421fNormal Boring Freebirth https://open.spotify.com/show/0TYdF3nKgDJuocYzh87nMg?si=3a0c21a5a93d4f44Amniotic Fluid Levels in Pregnancy https://midwifethinking.com/2013/08/14/amniotic-fluid-volume-too-much-too-little-or-who-knows/CHAPTERS 00:00Introduction01:28Claudia's Background and Birth Work05:41Claudia's First Birth and Second babies born in a birth center 24:22 Claudia's third baby born at home experience49:00 Claudia's fourth baby born in hospital 01:07:36Choosing Home Birth after coercian and meddling from the hospital 01:15Homebirth with fifth baby 01:16Releasing Fears and Prioritizing Self-Nourishment01:23Choosing a Free Birth01:31Trusting the Body and Embracing the Unknown01:37Preparing for birth01:42Unconventional Positioning and Fluid Levels01:46Reflecting on the Birth ExperiencesSupport the show

(Rebroadcast) You hear about physiological birth but do you really KNOW what it is that makes birth physiological? Have you ever wondered, "How does the baby know when to be born?" "How can I have a pain-free and peaceful birth?" "How do I bond with my baby?" Well friends... it all comes down to the hormonal cascade. Dr. Sarah has done a lot of research and really has dived into what physiological birth is an how to facilitate it. After having 4 home births herself and years of research she comes on the show to share her expertise and knowledge about hormones in labor and birth. About Dr. Sarah Buckley: Sarah Buckley is trained as a GP/family physician with qualifications in GP-obstetrics and family planning. She is the mother of four home-born children and lives in Brisbane, Australia, where she is a PhD candidate as well as writing and lecturing on pregnancy, birth, and parenting.  Dr Buckley's work critiques current practices in pregnancy, birth, and parenting from the widest possible perspectives, including scientific, anthropological, cross-cultural, psychological, and personal. She encourages us to be fully informed in our decision-making; to listen to our hearts and our intuition; and to claim our rightful role as the real experts in our bodies and our children. She is also a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland,, where her research is focused on oxytocin in labour and birth and the impacts of interventions. See her professional, peer-reviewed publications as part of her PhD here Her bestselling book Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: A Doctor's Guide to Natural Childbirth and Gentle Early Parenting Choices, published by Celestial Arts/PenguinRandomHouse (US, 2009), builds on her acclaimed first edition, published in Australia as Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: The Wisdom and Science of Gentle Choices in Pregnancy, Birth, and Parenting (One Moon Press, Brisbane, 2005, available as ebook here ). Dr Buckley has an ongoing interest in the hormones of labour and birth, and this has culminated in her groundbreaking report Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing (2015 Childbirth Connection, a program of the National Partnership for Women and Families). This report, available for free online,  has been described as “…one of the most revolutionary and influential publications on maternity and newborn care ever issued.”   Grab your free homebirth checklist: bit.ly/homebirthessentials      Join Our FB Community: Facebook.com/groups/peacefulhomebirth

#009: Ever wondered what labor really feels like?  Our very own Lane Lepow has given birth to a beautiful baby boy and is making a special return from maternity leave to share her story with us.    Join us as Lane recounts her rollercoaster journey - from three weeks of prodromal labor, to a mad dash to the hospital, and the unfiltered, raw details of the breathtaking moment her son made his arrival.    In this episode, Lane walks us through her birth plan, speaks to the invaluable support she received from her doula, and shares the impact of hypnobirthing on her unmedicated, hospital birth.   Tune in for a firsthand look at the beauty of natural childbirth in this honest, emotional, and uplifting birth story that will leave you in awe.   ----------------------------   In today's episode, we cover the following topics:   Baby Evan's Personal Best of the Week (4:39) Three Weeks of Prodromal Labor (5:27) Natural Childbirth (20:37) Lessons Learned (37:54)   ----------------------------   Additional links & resources:   Hypnobirthing: A Natural Approach To A Safe, Easier, More Comfortable Birthing by Marie F. Mongan Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin Hypnobirthing.com   ----------------------------   Connect with the Monday Through Sunday Podcast:   Web: MondayThroughSundayPod.com Email: Hello@MondayThroughSundayPod.com Instagram: @MondayThroughSundayPod TikTok: @MondayThroughSundayPod   ----------------------------   Copyright (c) Monday Through Sunday 2023.   The content presented in this podcast is intended to entertain, educate, inspire and support listeners in their personal and professional development and does not constitute business, financial, or legal advice. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services for which individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services related to the episode.   Produced by Blosm Brands LLC.  

The midwives answer frequently asked questions about waterbirth:The benefits of using water for coping with natural laborA few reasons women don't like or want to birth in a tubHow to birth safely in water and why baby's don't take a breath under waterSecond-best hydrotherapy options if a birth tub is not available to youLinks to all the extra good stuff:Click to check out the Beautiful One Membership experience! NOW OPEN!Waterbirth Supply List HEREWaterbirth Blog HEREJoin our email community + get instant access to our awesome Sleep Freebie: HEREBrowse all our favorite women's supplement recommendations: HERESubmit your answer-on-the-show questions: HERESubscribe to the podcast to catch every episode. Follow us on Instagram for all the extra education and antics in between episodes at  @beautifulonemidwifery

There is a tremendous gap in our culture when it comes to preparing women for motherhood, particularly when it comes to their microbiome and nourishment. “Every mother desires a healthy child, but in this world it is not enough to just hope and pray for that outcome. As Keepers of Birth and Life, we can help shepherd humanity through this turbulent time.”The roles are reversed in this episode. Tune in for an exclusive interview with my friend Alison Ritchie. She interviewed me for a module in her course “Of Marrow and Mother”. There is so much more that should be offered to help women prepare for motherhood.Click HERE for the full show notes.Links from this episode:Of Marrow and Mother CourseGut Rebalance KitsTake the Gut Health QuizThe Essentials of Gut Health CourseThanks for listening! I would love to connect with you ♡ Send me a DM on Instagram Join The Gutsy Woman Community Email me at customercare@onleorganics.com Click HERE to shop my gut balancing supplements.Sending love and wellness from my mama heart to yours,XO - Juniper BennettFounder of ōNLē ORGANICS

From Anthropology and social work background to being to providing doula services and educating others on (in her words) “having the experience you want and are worthy of.” Here is a sneak peak highlight reel:  Eyla's background in anthropology and social work, why she became a doula Doula training Holistic perspective on birth Myth: birthing in hospitals is the safest place to birth What a mother should do to prepare for birth Taking inventory of fear Awareness of the transformation the mom is going through Best birthing scenario Self-betrayal Benefits of natural birth (epidural example) How to research and plan for birth Questions to ask your provider as you are choosing a practitioner Benefits of a childbirth education classes A little about my births (Melisha) What to do if you didn't have a first birth that you really wanted Connect with Eyla Cuenca:  On Instagram Eyla's Blog/Journal: https://www.eylacuenca.com/journal Eyla's courses and training: https://www.uncoveringbirth.com/ Eyla's website: www.eylacuenca.com Freebie from Melisha: 30 Ways to Celebrate Without Junk Food Connect with the Daily Wellness Community  website: dailywellnesscommunity.com IG: @dailywellnesscommunity Facebook: Daily Wellness Community Leave a podcast review on Apple Podcasts Some products I mention may be affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission if you decide to make a purchase through one of my links. Our family greatly appreciates your support, it helps us keep creating the free resources we make for you all! DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website

Welcome to the start of Season 2! Where I take you on a journey through my life and who I am. In this episode, I share my story, from growing up in the entertainment industry to discovering my faith in God and my passion for natural childbirth options and reading food labels. I also discuss a mysterious medical condition that has been affecting me for the past two years, which I finally feel ready to talk about. This suggestion came from a listener, and I'm excited to share my story with all of you. Expect some surprises as I discuss who I am, why I'm so passionate about health, and the health journey that I'm currently on. As always, I appreciate your support and would love to connect with you on Instagram. Thank you for joining me on this adventure of learning, and let's dive into the episode!  **Stay informed by SUBSCRIBING to the 'Know Better | Do Better' Newsletter.  Receive exclusive guest notifications and special content available only to our subscribers. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE NOW!  Connect with Autumn on Instagram Facebook TikTok Discover the 'Know Better | Do Better' Storefront on Amazon!    

One of the hosts just had a baby! Nathan, Erin, and David piece together the clues as to which one of them recently popped out a baby. That person then recounts the birth, which was described by the new mother as “the Dark Night of My Soul”.  People think we just screw around when we're not recording our Podcast, but sometimes life happens, Bitch.  Other Topics Include: Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota, Natural Childbirth, Lamaze, Drug-free, doulas, Birth Centers, Hospitals, Afterbirth, Placenta, Blood, Ooze, Goop, Poop, and Lesbians, but nothing about Secret Documents. Who even uses paper anymore. Gross. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the most downloaded podcast in the world! The Unimaginary Friendcast! The Unimaginary Friendcast is hosted by David Monster, Erin Marie Bette Davis Jr. and Nathan Von Edmondson. https://unimaginaryfriend.com/podcast/ And find us on Facebook  

In this series, we will be hearing from women about their experience with birth. We will be hearing the in's and out's of how their births felt for them, what they chose and why they chose that, and experience it alongside them as they relive it for themselves! In this episode, we chat with Daesha about her three home births! Daesha is a mother of 3, ages 3 and under. Her youngest child was born less than a month ago. She is primarily a stay at home mom, but she also sets some time aside each week to support other mothers as a pre and postnatal fitness coach, and doula. Her own experiences with personal training, home births, and a lot of personal research have contributed towards her passion to help mothers become the fullest version of themselves in motherhood. In this episode, we chat through so many intricacies of home birth as we revisit each of her births! Join us for our newest episode in our series: Redemptive Birth Stories.  Resources Daesha mentions:  Ina May's Guide to Childbirth: Ina May Gaskin Gentle Birth/ Gentle Mothering: A Doctor's Guide to Natural Childbirth and Gentle Early Parenting Choices Documentary: Business of Being Born  Indie Birth Private Association

Nickita Starck is the founder of When Push Comes to Shove, the only alternative global maternity structure. Providing holistic maternity care in 10 countries, as well as training natural birth practitioners and providing education for expectant parents. They also provide an advocacy service for parents in childbirth and specialise in human rights of both parents and the child. As a singer song writer she also released the song “breathe again” to spread awareness of the movement and that there is an alternative to the over medicalised child birth system that currently exists. A must listen for all. About Doc Malik: Orthopaedic surgeon Ahmad Malik is on a journey of discovery when it comes to health and wellness. Through honest conversations with captivating individuals, Ahmad explores an array of topics that profoundly impact our well-being and health. ⁠Subscribe to the show⁠ and join our mailing list. ⁠Support the show⁠ and have access to exclusive contents and perks.  To sponsor the Doc Malik Podcast contact us at ⁠hello@docmalik.com⁠  You can follow us on social media, we are on the following platforms: ⁠Twitter Ahmad⁠ | ⁠Twitter Podcast⁠ | ⁠Instagram Ahmad⁠ | ⁠Instagram Podcast

Childbirth is a miraculous and transformative experience, marking the beginning of a new chapter in a woman's life. While many women choose to opt for pain relief measures like epidurals during labor, there is a growing movement of mothers who seek to embrace the raw intensity of childbirth without medical interventions. In this blog post, we explore the empowering journey of childbirth without an epidural, highlighting its benefits, challenges, and the profound strength it requires. There are several reasons why women would choose an unmedicated birth over birth with aqn epidrual.  Choosing to forego an epidural is a deeply personal decision. Women who opt for unmedicated childbirth often have a strong belief in the body's innate ability to give birth naturally. They embrace the beauty of the physiological process, trusting that their bodies are designed to navigate the journey of labor and delivery. By choosing a drug-free birth, women often find themselves more connected to their bodies and their babies. Without the numbing effects of an epidural, they remain fully present during the entire experience. This heightened awareness allows them to actively participate in the process, feeling each contraction, and working in harmony with their bodies to bring their little one into the world. Childbirth without an epidural requires coping mechanisms to manage the intensity of labor. Many women practice mindfulness and breathing techniques, learning to focus their minds and ride the waves of contractions. These techniques help them stay centered, calm, and in control, harnessing the power within themselves to navigate the peaks and valleys of labor. Unmedicated childbirth triggers the release of hormones such as oxytocin, endorphins, and adrenaline. These natural hormones not only help manage pain but also foster a sense of euphoria, promote bonding with the baby, and facilitate breastfeeding. Mothers who experience childbirth without an epidural often speak of the incredible rush of love and joy that accompanies the unmediated birth experience. Childbirth without an epidural can present unique challenges. The intensity of the pain requires mental and physical endurance. However, women who choose this path often find immense satisfaction in conquering these challenges. They emerge from the experience with a profound sense of accomplishment, knowing they have tapped into their inner strength and persevered through one of life's most transformative moments. Creating a supportive birth environment is crucial for women choosing unmedicated childbirth. Surrounding oneself with knowledgeable and empathetic healthcare providers, a loving birth partner, and a supportive birthing team can provide the encouragement and reassurance needed during labor. Birth plans, communication, and a clear understanding of one's options help ensure a positive and empowering birth experience. Childbirth without an epidural is a personal choice that demands courage, resilience, and a deep trust in the body's abilities. It allows women to tap into their inner power and experience the full spectrum of emotions during the miraculous journey of bringing a new life into the world. While this path is not without its challenges, the rewards are immeasurable. Each unmedicated birth represents a testament to the incredible strength and capabilities of women, leaving an indelible mark on both mother and child, forever cherished and celebrated.   Our practice can be found  at www.maternalresources.org Reach out to us at (201) 487-8600   As always, we'd love to hear from you! Connect with us on our website at www.truebirthpodcast.com or send us an email at info@maternalresources.org     Remember to subscribe wherever you listen and considering leaving us some feedback at info@maternalresoruces.org or writieng a review.  Our Social Channels are as follows Twitter: https://twitter.com/integrativeobYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/maternalresources IG: https://www.instagram.com/integrativeobgyn/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeOB https://www.truebirthpodcast.com

One of the leading voices on birthing and raising a baby naturally, along with plenty of other holistic principles for Ob-Gyn medicine, is my guest on this podcast: Dr. Nathan Riley, of Beloved Holistics. Nathan is a board-certified obstetrician in California advocating for autonomous birth. Through his experiences as a hospice care provider he learned that choices around end-of-life care are no different from choices in birth: What matters is that mothers feel in charge of their bodies during their birth experiences.  He argues that birth is much more than the standard metrics of vital signs, length of labor, fetal status, or any variable routinely measured in labor in the medical model of care. Nathan also recently launched his "Born Free Method," a course aimed at empowering expectant parents to take control of their birthing experience by making informed choices and advocating for themselves within the medical system. Joined by co-instructor Sara Rosser, CPM, Nathan's course provides guidance and support to help parents feel confident and supported as they navigate the transition into parenthood, emphasizing the importance of personal sovereignty and self-determination throughout the process (use code BEN10 to save 10% on the Born Free Method). Hear one courageous OB's perspective on his role in the birth process: Supporting your sovereignty and your choice without coercion or judgment. Finally, listen to the end of this podcast for a thought-provoking discussion on plant medicines and entheogens!   Full Show Notes: https://bengreenfieldlife.com/nathanriley   Episode Sponsors:   BiOptimizers Magnesium Breakthrough: The 7 essential forms of magnesium included in this full spectrum serving help you relax, unwind, and turn off your active brain after a long and stressful day so you can rest peacefully and wake up feeling refreshed, vibrant, and alert. Go to bioptimizers.com/ben and use code ben10 for 10% off any order. Timeline Nutrition: Timeline is offering 10% off your first order of Mitopure. Go to timelinenutrition.com/BEN and use code BEN to get 10% off your order.   Zero Acre. Zero Acre Cultured Oil is an all purpose cooking oil, with over 90% heart healthy and heat stable monounsaturated fat. Head over to zeroacre.com/GREENFIELD or use code GREENFIELD at checkout to claim this deal.   Organifi (Red): Recharge your mind and body with a delicious superfood berry blend of premium, organic superfoods that contain potent adaptogens, antioxidants, and a clinical dose of cordyceps. Increase energy and boost nitric oxide levels with zero caffeine and only 2 grams of sugar. Go to organifi.com/Ben for 20% off your order.   Ben Greenfield Coaching: Personally vetted and trained by Ben Greenfield, these coaches will personalize your diet and lifestyle, and get you looking and feeling your best. Visit BenGreenfieldCoaching.com to learn more about which plan might be right for you.   HUM2N EVENT. Don't miss this incredible opportunity to learn from the best in the field and take your biohacking journey to the next level. Head to bengreenfieldlife.com/hum2nlondon to claim your spot at this wonderful event in London!

Welcome to the Simplify Birth and Motherhood Podcast, where you can get clarity to empower your pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, and early motherhood journey! In this part two episode, I will be finishing our series on birth environments and HOMEBIRTHS! Since 2019, homebirths have been increasingly become a favorable option for families who are looking to have an all-natural childbirth and receive care that encourages them to have an active participation in their pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum.   In Part two of this episode, I will be sharing: How the benefits of a all-natural homebirth outweigh the risks. How birth is an important psychological process for childbirth is for mothers. Why Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC), First Time Mothers (FTM) and experienced mothers choose this natural birth option. How to prepare for a natural childbirth in a homebirth setting.   Resources: - Books & Products | My Site (amandamejia1102.wixsite.com) - Apply to work 1:1 with Amanda here: Services | My Site (amandamejia1102.wixsite.com) - Having or wanting a natural birth and want to know how? Follow this link Natural Comfort Measures Class | Simplify Birth & Motherhood (teachable.com) -To join my email list please email: partnerships@simplifybirthandmotherhood.com to receive podcast episode updates, quick tips, and future promotions.  - Are you a birth worker such as a doula, midwife, or OB/GYN and are wanting to provide a well-rounded, full comprehensive, informational Childbirth Education Course to your client? Let me help you do that! For details about this partnership email: partnerships@simplifybirthandmotherhood.com    Connect with Amanda  Instagram: @simplify_birthandmotherhood Facebook: Simplify Birth & Motherhood: Get Clarity for Birth & Motherhood | Facebook Email: cbecoaching@simplifybirthandmotherhood.com  Website: https://www.amandamejia1102.wixsite.com/simplifybm   Disclaimer: *ANY INFORMATION OR REFERENCED EDUCATION SHARED ON THIS PODCAST IS NOT TO BE TAKEN AS MEDICAL ADVICE OR A PERSONAL MEDICAL DIAGNOSES. I AM NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL. THEREFORE, I DO NOT OFFER ANY MEDICAL ADVICE OR PERFORM ANY MEDICAL PROCEDURES.  ALL MATERIAL SHARED IS BASED PUBLIC EVIDENCE AND ON MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION AND RESEARCH AND IS SUBJECTED TO CHANGE TO ANY RECENT RESEARCH AND DATA. IT IS ALSO NOT A ONE SIZE FITS ALL, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT ANY INFORMATION THAT IS MENTIONED PLEASE SPEAK WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION. *      Resources: - Books & Products | My Site (amandamejia1102.wixsite.com) - Apply to work 1:1 with Amanda here: Services | My Site (amandamejia1102.wixsite.com) - Having or wanting a natural birth and want to know how? Follow this link Natural Comfort Measures Class | Simplify Birth & Motherhood (teachable.com) -To join my email list please email: partnerships@simplifybirthandmotherhood.com to receive podcast episode updates, quick tips, and future promotions.  - Are you a birth worker such as a doula, midwife, or OB/GYN and are wanting to provide a well-rounded, full comprehensive, informational Childbirth Education Course to your client? Let me help you do that! For details about this partnership email: partnerships@simplifybirthandmotherhood.com    Connect with Amanda  Instagram: @simplify_birthandmotherhood Facebook: Simplify Birth & Motherhood: Get Clarity for Birth & Motherhood | Facebook Email: cbecoaching@simplifybirthandmotherhood.com  Website: https://www.amandamejia1102.wixsite.com/simplifybm   Disclaimer: *ANY INFORMATION OR REFERENCED EDUCATION SHARED ON THIS PODCAST IS NOT TO BE TAKEN AS MEDICAL ADVICE OR A PERSONAL MEDICAL DIAGNOSES. I AM NOT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL. THEREFORE, I DO NOT OFFER ANY MEDICAL ADVICE OR PERFORM ANY MEDICAL PROCEDURES.  ALL MATERIAL SHARED IS BASED PUBLIC EVIDENCE AND ON MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION AND RESEARCH AND IS SUBJECTED TO CHANGE TO ANY RECENT RESEARCH AND DATA. IT IS ALSO NOT A ONE SIZE FITS ALL, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT ANY INFORMATION THAT IS MENTIONED PLEASE SPEAK WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION. * 

We had our 4th baby!For those of you who are wondering if I am officially 11 months pregnant, I'm here to tell you that I'm not - I had the baby. And I've been terrible about telling you about it! So today I want to share the birth story of our fourth child.It's always pretty vulnerable and a little overwhelming to share a birth story. To me, it's so personal. It is so private, so special and sacred. But at the same time, I love hearing from other moms their experiences, because I feel like that's what I attribute to my own growth and just understanding of what birth can be. Each time I have a baby, I feel so inspired by the process and I feel like I'm kind of born anew with this new baby. I also feel like we've learned so much over the years and the difference between what it was like when I had our firstborn, Jack, to this most recent birth has been like night and day. Both Michael and I have grown so much, we've learned so much about birth and the experience, we felt more empowered and more confident in making decisions that are right for us and our family and our children. I have been asked a lot of questions like: What was the birth experience like? Why did you choose a birth center? Tell us about the baby. What's the name? What's the gender?So, I am going to share a BIG time behind the scenes of a birth that I have never experienced before!Resources:Show notes: https://luminaryleadershipco.com/episode165 Go to luminaryleadershipco.com/tightenyourtinkler to get 50% off the Tighten Your Tinkler Signature program! Just enter the coupon code "LUMINARY" at check out!Alba Birth Center Episode 159: Meet My Mom: Mogul on Servant Leadership, Business Wisdom, + Raising Crazy ‘Ol Me Nadema Bell's Birth StoryConnect with me:Website: https://luminaryleadershipco.com/If there's a topic, a question or a guest you want to hear on the show or an idea you have for us, just reach out and share that at marketing@luminaryleadershipco.com.Connect with me on Instagram!Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating here!

Sarah N'Guessan is the mother of of a beautiful girl, an educator, a curly hair specialist, and has her own YouTube channel: "Curl to Curl". In this episode, Sarah shares the story of her natural childbirth, including how she prepared for it, what techniques worked best, and how she recovered. Coaching offerSupport the showConnect with Kelly Hof at kellyhof.comMedical Disclaimer:This podcast is intended as a safe space for women to share their birth experiences. It is not intended to provide medical advice. Each woman's medical course of action is individual and may not appropriately transfer to another similar situation. Please speak to your medical provider before making any medical decisions. Additionally, it is important to keep in mind that evidence based practice evolves as our knowledge of science improves. To the best of my ability I will attempt to present the most current ACOG and AWHONN recommendations at the time the podcast is recorded, but that may not necessarily reflect the best practices at the time the podcast is heard. Additionally, guests sharing their stories have the right to autonomy in their medical decisions, and may share their choice to go against current practice recommendations. I intend to hold space for people to share their decisions. I will attempt to share the current recommendations so that my audience is informed, but it is up to each individual to choose what is best for them.

We didn't find out the gender for our first three babies until they were born. Our 4th was the first one we found out during an ultrasound, which was anticlimactic and lame, to be honest. We weren't sure what we wanted to do with this pregnancy, so we had them put the gender in an envelope. We decided during today's episode if we were going to open the envelope with the gender inside or wait again until the baby is born. We also answered questions our followers from Instagram asked us. Listen along as we answer these 13 questions: 1. What are your plans for feeding your family after you give birth? Frozen meals, easy cooked meals, etc? 2. What are your plans for help during the 6-8 weeks postpartum? 3. Does this pregnancy resemble more like your boy or girl pregnancies? 4. Do you get junk food cravings? What do you typically eat during pregnancy? 5. How has your pelvic floor held up through all the pregnancies? Do you have management or help tips? 6. Do you have mood swings because of hormonal imbalance? Do the vitamins you take help with hormonal and moods swings? 7. Homebirth or hospital? 8. How are you making sure you eat enough, but not too much? 9. Are you nervous or have any fear about labor and deliver? How do you overcome that? 10. How far apart will this one be from your youngest? 11. Any advice for first time parents from pregnancy to birth to postpartum? 12. How do you manage motherhood and your career? 13. Do you feel like you have a new perspective on carrying this baby after your loss? Mentioned in video: "Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way" by Susan McCutcheon - https://amzn.to/3LWiErl - The Growth Initiative: Now open for enrollment! www.nowthatwereafamily.com/thegrowthinitiative Save $150 by purchasing the Get it All Done Club Home Management Course and Growth Initiative for Men together:https://www.nowthatwereafamily.com/offers/S3GJdvSm/checkout Free Home Management Masterclass: https://www.nowthatwereafamily.com/get-it-all-done-club Free Growth Initiative Masterclass:https://www.nowthatwereafamily.com/growth-initiative-webinar - Top 5 Tuesday Join our weekly email list to keep up to date with the highlights of what is going on in our family life. https://www.nowthatwereafamily.com/top-5-tuesday-newletter- Homeschool Course: https://www.nowthatwereafamily.com/homeschool Get it All Done Club: https://www.nowthatwereafamily.com/get-it-all-done-club - Looking for more Now That We're A Family resources? We got 'em! Website: https://www.nowthatwereafamily.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nowthatwereafamily/ OUR FAMILY MUSIC ACADEMY: https://www.voetbergmusicacademy.com

Grab a cup of coffee and join us as we answer your questions! Are we ever going to tour again? What advice would we give to a 20 year old? What's our advice for a first time mom? and much more!! For more fun content you can also find us here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/underthesun...Aileeah: https://www.instagram.com/aileeahcolgan/Irene: https://www.instagram.com/ireneloveta/

What would happen if Mother Nature opened a labor and delivery unit? In a world where labor and delivery were left to all things natural, and there were no doctors to guide the process, how would women and babies fair?  Before the advent of modern medicine, women relied on Mother Nature to ensure a safe delivery. But without medical intervention, complications were much more common than they are today As time passed, communities began to realize the importance of medical care during childbirth. They trained midwives and created clinics to provide prenatal and postnatal care. Women no longer had to rely solely on chance for a safe delivery. Although Mother Nature still plays a role, medical intervention can be a great asset to achieve better outcomes. As a result, childbirth became safer and more women and babies had healthier births.     As always, we'd love to hear from you! Connect with us on our website at www.truebirthpodcast.com or send us an email at info@maternalresources.org   Maternal Resources' website is:  https://www.maternalresources.org/   Remember to subscribe wherever you listen, and leave us a review!   Our Social Channels are as follows Twitter: https://twitter.com/integrativeobYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/maternalresources IG: https://www.instagram.com/integrativeobgyn/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IntegrativeOB    

Get ready because this is one of my favorite topics of all time. Consider this episode a mini crash course in birth, discussing things like what triggers labor to begin, and how it all starts, what exactly is happening inside your body and with your important labor hormones, and how we can use this understanding to “bio hack” your birth experience to support positive outcomes. We discuss the types of things that can cause birth to stall out, why contractions hurt and how to reduce that pain, and the INCREDIBLE things that happen inside your baby's body when they take their first breath. Thank you for being here, now let's dive in!   The Doctor's Websites  Dr. Morgan's website: www.milkmedicine.com Dr. Morgan's IG: https://www.instagram.com/morganmacdermott/ Dr. Leah's website: www.womanhoodwellness.com  Dr. Leah's IG: https://www.instagram.com/drleahgordon/    Resources Mentioned  BOOK: Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: A Doctor's Guide to Natural Childbirth and Gentle Early Parenting Choices by Sarah Buckley  HERE BOOK: Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin HERE BOOK: Childbirth Without Fear: The Principles and Practice of Natural Childbirth by Grantly Dick-Read  HERE More information about the midwife and teacher, Whapio https://thematrona.com/ http://www.birthinginstincts.com/reteach-breech https://www.breechwithoutborders.org/

In this episode, we are talking with Scarlett Lynsky (she/her) from Hatchings Doula all about her experiences as an Evidence Based Birth® Instructor and two-time gestational surrogate. Scarlett Lynsky was born, raised, and practices as a doula and childbirth educator in Portland, Oregon. Fascinated by childbirth from an early age, and inspired by Grantly Dick-Read's Childbirth Without Fear, she decided to become a Childbirth Educator and Doula in 2009. Over the last 13 years, Scarlett has attended over 200 births. She is passionate about informed consent, bodily autonomy and tuning in to each birthing person's needs at any given moment. Scarlett has two children of her own as well as completing two "extra credit births" in the form of gestational surrogacy. She continues to be in awe of the transformative power of birth and the strength and bravery of every birthing person. In this episode, Scarlett shares how she came into birth work and why she chose to pursue two very different but equally beautiful surrogacy journeys. We discuss the nuances of being a surrogate and the importance of open and clear communication between the gestational carrier, the intended parent(s), and their support and care teams. Content Warnings: fertility/infertility, miscarriage, pregnancy loss, bleeding in pregnancy, subchorionic hemorrhage, abortion,  pregnancy termination, assisted reproduction, IVF, 3rd party reproduction, gendered language, adoption, maternal mortality, high risk pregnancy, discussion of down syndrome, pregnancy complications related to uterine loss Resources and References: Find out more about Scarlett's EBB Childbirth Class and Doula services on her website here and follow her on Instagram here. Childbirth Without Fear: The Principles and Practice of Natural Childbirth by Grantly Dick-Read (1959), find a copy here Learn about agency Scarlett worked with in Oregon, Northwest Surrogacy Center here. Go to our YouTube channel to see video versions of the episode listed above!! For more information and news about Evidence Based Birth®, visit www.ebbirth.com. Find us on:  TikTok Instagram Pinterest Ready to get involved?  Check out our Professional membership (including scholarship options) here  Find an EBB Instructor here  Click here to learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class.

Celebrity and Royal Matchmaker Cristina Pineda joins Trending with Timmerie discussing comedian and SNL alum Pete Davidson's latest love bombing and serial relationship from Kim Kardashian to now Emily Ratajkowski (3:29).  Can men and women just be friends?  Actor Blaire Underwood is marrying his childhood friend of 41 years after a 27 year long marriage with ex wife (16:38).  How can young marriage and engaged couples find support?  (40:57) Pregnancy tips and tricks (43:02)   Resources mentioned :    https://www.matchmakersinthecity.com/   O Come, O Com Emmanuel - Traditional Choir https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xtpJ4Q_Q-4   Couple to Couple League  https://ccli.org/    Book Men Women and the Mystery of Love  https://www.amazon.com/Men-Women-Mystery-Love-Responsibility/dp/0867168404    Book: How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul https://chastity.com/products/how-to-find-your-soulmate-without-losing-your-soul/ If you Really Loved Me  https://chastity.com/products/if-you-really-loved-me/    Toddler Tower https://www.amazon.com/WOOD-CITY-Kitchen-Non-Slip-Mat%EF%BC%88Natural%EF%BC%89/dp/B08N14SQV1/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?keywords=toddler+tower&qid=1669942790&sr=8-4-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzVkhGRExaTEgzT0xDJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDc2MDAyM1VWVjVaUzQ0Slo0OCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTUzMjA1MlpVTFEyNlkyWFVPUiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=    Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way  https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Childbirth-the-Bradley-Way/dp/B07DM3Z315/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=bradley+method+childbirth&qid=1669943085&sprefix=bradley+method%2Caps%2C174&sr=8-1    Husband Coached Childbirth https://www.amazon.com/Husband-Coached-Childbirth-Fifth-Bradley-Natural/dp/055338516X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=husband+coached+child+birth&qid=1669943109&s=audible&sprefix=husband+coached+child+%2Caudible%2C154&sr=1-1-catcorr 

Have you talked to older generations of your family members about what birthing and baby feeding was like for them? Do you see the value of doing this? Have you ever wondered why feeding our babies has become SO difficult for so many of us, even though we are a member of the mammalian class of the animal kingdom?In this episode my Great Aunt by marriage Gina Fleming reaches into her treasure trove of memories and tells me about her experiences of feeding babies over 60 years ago. She describes her experiences of wanting to have a natural birth and what that meant for the lack of support she received from her care providers. She also compares the impact that finding support for herself in the early postpartum period had on her mental health and her ease with breastfeeding with her second baby compared with her first.I'm so delighted to release this look at breastfeeding 60 years ago in celebration of my 60th episode of The Milk Making Minutes.To get individualized lactation support from me, Lo, go here.Head to Apple Podcasts or Spotify for more Doing It At Home episodes!Head to Apple Podcasts or Spotify for more Milk Making Minutes episodes!Aunt Gina has traveled all over the world and continues to do so, taking beautiful photos of the people and places she sees. To see some of the beautiful images she has taken, visit her website.Join The Milk Making Minutes Facebook Group to talk about the structural barriers that make breastfeeding so difficult and work together to chip away at each one.To buy books about pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and parenting, and to support the show while doing it, go to my bookshop!Follow me on IG @milkmakingminutespodcast to laugh about breastfeeding and to see photos of guests!

Few of us enter pregnancy and delivery with a crystal clear picture of what the experience will be like the first time.  In some ways, this makes sense, given that everyone's experience will be unique in certain ways, depending on their health, their age, their partner, their history...but the distance between the narrative today's guest received from her mother and her actual experience can only be measured in lightyears....to be fair to her mother who gave birth in the 50s, it was a very different time in maternal care...but carrying this version of the story among others can have real consequence, if not for how her own delivery developed, it has the potential to affect how she understood her own experience. For more show notes, see: http://warstoriesfromthewomb.com/

Helya Glen the gym owner and head trainer at The Studio Ventura, shares how exercise helped her maintain a strong body and mind during natural childbirth. ▶ Ask Sally a question for a future episode: https://forms.gle/pRHRK5MbBRVNE47YA ▶ Helya Glen & The Studio Ventura: https://thestudioventura.com/aboutus/ ▶ Sally's Prenatal Yoga & Childbirth Education Courses: https://drsallymcnally.com/yoga --------------------------- THIS PODCAST: ▶ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCFDaa2ySxs ▶ We use Riverside.fm: https://riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_1&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=brigid --------------------------- ▶ More about Helya Glen: Helya Glen the owner and head trainer at The Studio Ventura, a high intensity and strength training gym in Ventura, Ca. Helya's training methods are functional, effective and efficient. She aims to create a positive and encouraging environment for everyone to thrive no matter their background or level. She'll push you, inspire you and teach you that “training” is a lifestyle, not a trend. She fosters the culture of being a better, stronger and more mobile version of yourself. She lives in Ventura with her husband, two kids, two dogs, frogs and a tortoise. #prenatalfitness #prenatal #postpartumbody #postpartum #pregnancycare #naturalbirth #childbirth #fitness #womenshealth --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Michelle chats with Barbara Decker, one of the pioneers in the childbirth education movement. With a half-century of experience, Barbara shares her journey, including being one of the firsts to certify as a Lamaze instructor (before it was even called Lamaze) and certify as a doula with Penny Simpkin. Barbara is a long-time HypnoBirthing® Instructor and expert in prenatal & perinatal psychology.  She provides a simple breathing technique to help calm and settle our nervous system. Something we, and our babies, can all use during these stressful times. Barbara explains that babies are looking for a trusting relationship with their parent. A parent's job is to respond to their baby. Babies need a healthy attachment figure to be able to build a healthy psychological and emotional journey. Barbara shares that almost half of all pregnancies are unplanned or unwanted. Yet, parents can repair the relationship with their baby at any point in pregnancy.  Barbara shares fascinating information regarding babies' awareness and consciousness in the womb. (This episode is a replay of episodes 49 & 50)"This [early nurture period] is critically, critically important for society as a whole and the health and the humanity that we are trying to bring into the world. When parenting in the womb becomes a normal phase, a part of, having a baby, we can change society as a whole."—Barbara Decker"When the mother is included in the decision making, the end result is not traumatization after the birth. It can prevent having an effect on the mother as long as she's part of that decision making. ...It's vital. And then our mothers are not going to have the challenges. We don't want mothers going to the birth, to the labor room, in fear that they are gonna have to do battle. We want them to know that they are going to be treated with respect."—Barbara DeckerAbout Barbara Decker:Barbara has been a childbirth educator for 50 years. She's a doula,  a HypnoBirthing ®Practitioner, PALS supporter and Mentor, PALS Northwest Hospital Ambassador, and an avid supporter of APPPAH as membership and Mentor for the PPNE course.What brought Barbara to the field of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology was the knowledge she received after reading The Secret Life of the Unborn Child by Thomas Verny. That was almost 11 years ago and since that time has received certificates as a Prenatal Bonding Facilitator with B.O.N.D. The Greatest Pregnancy Ever.com program, trained for two and a half years, with Dr. Gerhard Schroth in the Prenatal Bonding (BA) Program (Only 12 trained to facilitate in the US.), and was one of the first graduates of the APPPAH PPNE Program. Her passion for educating parents on the importance of the preconception/gestational period led her to write a new paradigm in childbirth education - EmpoweringPregnancy.com. She has lectured throughout the United States, in India, and in Mexico on the need to teach these classes. It is imperative that we educate our birthing families on the intelligence of the baby growing in the womb. Our babies need to feel loved during the pregnancy, mothers need to manage their stressors in a safe way, and this program offers the tools to build a healthy relationship for the whole family. Parents that have attended the program feel that they are better prepared for their pregnancy, more bonded and attuned to the baby inside, plan for more natural births, an improved relationship with their partners, and feel more prepared for the postpartum experience. When you parent a baby in the womb, you know how to parent when the baby arrives. Attachment improves with a more conscious awareness of the needs of our babies for healthy minds and bodies. Pregnancy complications are lessened and parents make more informed choices in birthing facilities, practitioners, and interventions. It is time to empower our families with the knowledge that Emotional Intelligence is formed from conception through the nine months after the birth. Let's put the brakes on the violence in this country and “Build Babies, Not Jails”. (Article written by Dr. Thomas Verny, JOPPPAH 2011)Connect With Barbara Decker:douladecker@gmail.comwww.soulofbirthing.comwww.empoweringpregnancy.com Connect with Michelle:Virtual Classes or Sessions with Michelle: birtheaseservices.com/birth-ease-childbirth-education, Facebook:   Birth Ease,   The Birth Ease PodcastInstagram:    @birtheasemichellesmithYouTube:    Birth EaseLinkedIn:  Birth Ease Michelle SmithWebsite:  BirthEaseServices.com  birtheasehypnobirth.com

Home births have the same results as hospital births for babies, and better results for mothers.  This episode breaks fears our modern society has around home birth and provides facts and information about the experience of the midwifery model of care  Guest: Charli and Sarah of Hearth and Home Midwifery Highlights  16:39 The midwifery model of care explained, and what it looks like in action  24:43 Important differences between hospital based care and midwifery 32:47 Reasons home birth might not be a good fit  51:28 Respecting oxytocin - why and how this is done 57:15 Addressing the safety concerns for a home birth  Resources We Mention:  @hearthandhomemidwifery on Instagram Home Birth Midwife Podcast  Hearth and Home Birthing Class  Related Episodes:  Podcast 002: Why I Choose Home Birth, with Allison Evans of Branch Basics Podcast 019: Behind the Scenes of Natural Childbirth with Mada Lavey Podcast 084: Blair Jones on Becoming a Mother: “the period of creation”, pregnancy mindset, home birth, and postpartum tips Health Resources Healing Hashimoto's Course Thyroid Lab Guide + Tracker (free)  Recommended Non-Toxic Products Connect With Carly: CarlyJohnsonBrawner.com Instagram: @carlyjohnsonbrawner Sponsors: Organifi (Use code Carly for 20% off) BiOptimize: Magnesium Breakthrough (use code Carly10 for 10% off) Micro Balance (use code Carly for 10% off)  Complete Show Notes Here

Welcome back! If you missed part 1 check it out in the link below. In this part 2, Taylor of Leo Jude Soap Co talks about her experience with natural childbirth, being a 3rd place winner of a duck race, the meaning of her shirt, and Chubby Chad talks about his favorite soap that she has. If you missed part 1, check it out here: https://youtu.be/anSVUkNgvnw Get your official Chubby Guys Podcast Merch at the link below: • https://bit.ly/3vTOFHR #soap #beadwar #bead #smallbusiness #JohnnyDepp #JohnnyDeppTrial ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Support Our Sponsors: • The Bearded Pup: https://bit.ly/3y7jmuY • Gillum Insurance: https://bit.ly/3GaBfZU • AP Prep: https://bit.ly/34i4ooL • McDonald's of Jackson and Vinton Counties: https://bit.ly/3KNoisG • Geiger Brothers: https://bit.ly/3IHNUFB ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHUBBY CONNECT: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chubbyguyspodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_chubby_guys_podcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chubbyguysspodcast Website: https://www.chubbyguyspodcast.com/

In today's episode Hava and Twila recount their pregancy and childbirthing stories.  They chat about some of the similarities and differences they experienced being pregant and giving birth at different stages of their lives.  They get vulnerable as they discuss getting pregnant quickly vs struggling to get pregnant.  They get real about the differences in pregnancy and childbirth in their 20s vs 30s, having a miscarriage and what they loved and hated through the process.  And both having experienced delivery naturally and with an epidural they recount their birth stories and what they choose now and dealing with postpartum.   No matter your parenthood status, they hope that you will laugh along with them as the share their memories of pregnancy and childbirth.They would love to hear from you! Message and Follow:  @successfulsisterspodcast And don't forget to Subscribe and Share at your favorite listening platform.