Tia’s first two birth experiences were hospital inductions. By the time she was pregnant with her third, she knew she wanted a more empowering and natural experience, so she hired a midwife, and planned a home birth.

But around twenty-one weeks into that pregnancy, Tia went into preterm labor. She was rushed to the hospital where she delivered not one, but two babies. Tragically, this was how she found out she had been carrying twin girls.

A couple months after this terrible loss, Tia was ready to be pregnant agin, and conceived. And she finally got to experience a beautiful, natural birth.

Her story is one of hope and healing. Tia wants other women who hear it to be encouraged and know that a beautiful birth experience is possible for everyone, even after such a huge loss.

Follow Tia on Instagram @thethrifty_homemaker

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts! 

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you’d like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at contactus@healingbirth.net

Check out the website for lots of other birth related offerings, and personalized support: www.healingbirth.net

Intro / outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Amber shares the vulnerable and intimate experience of getting pregnant, and giving birth, at fifteen years old. Her experience with what was ultimately a traumatic birth, and post-partum depression, was the catalyst that compelled her into the important work she does now to support other mothers.

She is now a board-certified lactation consultant, functional nutrition practitioner, and certified doula. Amber has spent nearly a decade supporting families, and views birth as a natural, mother-centered event that unfolds best when led by the mom herself.

Follow Amber @ambertheibclc

Amber’s website:

nourishedroots.co

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts! 

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you’d like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at contactus@healingbirth.net

Check out the website for lots of other birth related offerings, and personalized support: www.healingbirth.net

Intro / outro music: Dreams by Markvard

During her first pregnancy, Amanda completely deferred to her medical team. The birth ended in coached pushing, a totally unnecessary episiotomy, and Pitocin. She describes herself as completely disconnected from the whole experience. And she left it knowing she would never do it that way again.

In her postpartum period, Amanda discovered freebirth story podcasts, and it completely changed how she thought about birth. With her next baby, she planned and had a home birth, but had to navigate a postpartum transfer due to a birth defect that had gone undetected during pregnancy. Having had a powerful, autonomous home birth helped her navigate the ensuing NICU stay with her power intact.

Very quickly postpartum, Amanda conceived her third baby. This birth happened so fast, the midwife didn’t make it. But it was exactly the experience she needed to once again step in her true maternal power!

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts! 

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you’d like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at contactus@healingbirth.net

Check out the website for lots of other birth related offerings, and personalized support: www.healingbirth.net

Intro / outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Nicole shares her three, epically different, each beautiful in their own way, birth stories.

They include a cesarean, a powerful hospital transfer VBAC, and a free birth.

The daughter of a midwife herself, Nicole grew up attending home births, tagging along with her mother. She is now a traditional birth witness, postpartum keeper, and embodied motherhood guide.

She is offering a coupon code for listeners of this podcast for her postpartum course, NOURISHED! You can purchase it through the link below, or, use the code “HEALINGBIRTH” for nearly 30% off. 

https://www.sufey.love/offers/rvvuBe2F?coupon_code=HEALINGBIRTH

She is also offering  25% off entire orders on her website, using the code 'HEALINGBIRTH'

Mention the Healing Birth podcast by name when joining any of her embodied motherhood programs or 1:1 mentorship, and you will receive 25% off the sign up fee!

Nicole’s Website is www.theseedofjoy.com, where anyone can navigate to her programs, shop the herbal apothecary, and find her postpartum cookbook.

You can follow Nicole on Instagram @theseedofjoy

Support the show!

https://www.patreon.com/healingbirth

Our website is www.healingbirth.net

Laura’s first baby, born in 2020, came with the most severe birth complication I have personally ever heard of. While she was postpartum, trying to heal, and figuring out how to be a mom, she was left almost completely alone due to fears from the community of spreading covid.

This left her in a postpartum depression so dark, she attempted to take her own life.

After recovering emotionally and physically, she had a second child under much better circumstances. To say the pregnancy was rough is a massive understatement, but the eventual experience of giving birth naturally this time was extremely healing for her.

Even though there are really heavy parts of this story, Laura shares it with so much strength, radical honesty, and levity. Her story truly illustrates importance of in-person support, which I feel cannot be overstated for new mothers.

Please note that this episode does discuss attempted suicide, and use your own discretion. 

Support the show! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

www.healingbirth.net

Sian was 12 weeks pregnant when the United Kingdom announced a national lockdown, and she shares what it was like navigating her pregnancy, the birth, and the NHS during this strange time.

Her second baby was born just two months ago at the time of this recording, and overall her two birth stories are not at all what I was expecting to hear (which is always my favorite kinds of stories to share!).

Sian is now training to be doula, and you can find her on instagram @diaryofmrsk and at @sacredmagicbirthing

Support the show!

https://www.patreon.com/healingbirth

Our website is www.healingbirth.net

Ali shares her experience giving birth at home with a midwife, and navigating a hospital transfer during covid, for post-partum blood loss.

While the transfer was a scary thing to happen to Ali, her partner was the most traumatized by the experience, which was exacerbated by pandemic protocols that kept him separate from her for a time.

Her story also includes hands down the most unique pregnancy symptom I have ever heard - comment on our social medias if you have ever heard of it too!

Support the show! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

www.healingbirth.net

Sondra, a former healthcare worker herself, shares her experience of navigating the healthcare system, and giving birth, during the covid pandemic.

Her story is such a beautiful example of what is possible when we are spiritually prepared for birth. Even when the outcome is not what we desire (or perhaps, even what we fear the most), we can emerge from our birth experience empowered and avoid trauma.

Sondra now works as a doula, and you can follow her on IG @maternalintuition, and find her at www.nursedoulabirthworker.com

Support the show! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

www.healingbirth.net

Every now and then a story takes a twist I am not expecting during the interview - and it always makes for an even better story than the one I thought I would hear! This episode is a perfect example of that.

Rebecca shares two birth stories with us. First, a traumatic, unnecessarian (major kudos to whoever coined that term), and a redemptive, led by faith freebirth.

It is the extraordinary experiences around that second birth that gets us into talking about spiritual warfare, the spirit realm, and the truth that birth is designed to be a holy experience.

Check out Rebecca’s instagram for many beautiful reels that show images of her births @theradiantmission

You can support the podcast on Patreon! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

www.healingbirth.net

Lauren was pressured into a “natural” induction by her midwives as she approached 40 weeks pregnant. After multiple rounds of herbal cocktails and finally, the dreaded castor oil, her body was forced into the labor process.

She believes that the labor was so intense, painful, and her baby mal-positioned because her body and baby weren’t actually ready to begin. And, after a very long time laboring at home, she transferred to the hospital, which had been her biggest fear.

While postpartum with her son, Lauren’s twin sister (who has also been a guest on this podcast!) freebirthed her second child at home. Witnessing her sister do this made Lauren realize that was also the path forward for her.

(If you’d like to hear Lauren’s twin sister’s episode, it is season two, episode 20: “The Incredible Power of a Mother’s Intuition | Spirit Baby Communication, Free birth, and Resolving a Retained Placenta at Home.” Here is a link.)

JOIN US on Sunday, July 16th for  Reclaiming The Village with Neena Brunngraeber, of Great North Postpartum.

This is an interactive webinar & workshop for dissecting depletion culture, excavating your core needs, and reclaiming the village you & your baby deserve.

You can register here:

https://www.healingbirth.net/reclaiming-the-village

Irina had just moved to the United States from another country when she found out she was pregnant. Without knowing much about our maternal healthcare system, she gave birth in the local hospital, and the care she received was unimpressive to say the least (among the crazier parts of this story was a nurse telling her, mid-labor, that giving birth on her hands and knees would “kill her baby”).

When it came time for her second birth, she decided she didn’t need the healthcare system at all. And although she had a beautiful birth that time, she sorely lacked the right postpartum support.

Now, Irina is passionate about supporting other mothers in their postpartum time.

You can follow Irina on Instagram @embodiedwomanhood

JOIN US on Sunday, July 16th for  Reclaiming The Village with Neena Brunngraeber, of Great North Postpartum.

This is an interactive webinar & workshop for dissecting depletion culture, excavating your core needs, and reclaiming the village you & your baby deserve.

You can register here:

https://www.healingbirth.net/reclaiming-the-village

After an unplanned pregnancy very newly into her marriage, Melissa planned a home birth, but was transferred out of midwifery care due to a pre-eclampisa diagnosis. She was given no other option than an induction in the hospital.

Overall, she was grateful to have not ended up with a cesarean, but there was so much that happened during that birth that was violating and unnecessary. After her baby was born, she started listening to birth story podcasts and realized that birth didn’t have to be that way.

During her second pregnancy, Melissa knew she wanted a different experience. She sought out a midwife with who had a wealth of knowledge about how to manage her blood pressure holistically in the event that she developed high blood pressure again.

Recorded at just 7 weeks postpartum, her second birth was full of joy, humor, and there’s a surprise twist at the end!

This is such a beautiful story!

Her high blood pressure prevention protocol:

• Passionflower tea
• Epsom salt baths
• Reducing stress
• Journalling

(Please note that I am never giving medical advice on this podcast, I am simply sharing women’s own stories!)

You can follow Melissa on Instagram @mklemens28

Join our online community! www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

At just 21 years old, Trae’s experience giving birth to her first baby was a truly life threatening one.

Although she is still processing the events of that day, Trae is very passionate about advocating for other mothers who experience traumatic births. She shares the whole story with us today, including ways she has found healing in the aftermath. 

Please note that this episode contains a description of a traumatic birth, and take care of yourself accordingly.

You can follow Trae on instagram @traethurston

Join our online community! www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

Tere shares the story of having a completely unexpected, euphoric, orgasmic birth with her very first baby!

Her second birth experience was not like the first, and presented with a unique challenge. But Tere says that  both of her birth experiences taught her a lot about courage, surrender, and trust.

Follow Tere @cyclealchemist

www.teremariemartini.com

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts! 

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you’d like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at contactus@healingbirth.net

Check out the website for lots of other birth related offerings, and personalized support: www.healingbirth.net

Intro / outro music: Dreams by Markvard

After a failed induction, a very long bout of prodromal labor, and getting ultimately kicked out of her birthing center, Ita’s first baby was born surgically, under general anesthesia, in Bali. After this birth experience, Ita had a hard time bonding with her daughter, and they struggled with their breastfeeding relationship.

After that first tough year, and a move to the US, Ita became pregnant with her second baby. And as the pregnancy progressed, Ita felt increasingly called to freebirth this baby despite having initially hired a midwife.

At 43 weeks and four days gestation (!) Ita birthed her baby in the sovereignty and safety of her own home. At the time of this recording, which was only 6 weeks postpartum, Ita says she can’t wait to give birth again.

Join our online community! www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

In honor of #internationalhomebirthday (June 6th), I’m sharing this beautiful home birth story.

Samantha, a twin who was born at 33 weeks, wisely dealt with the trauma of her own birth before becoming pregnant herself. She says that the day she gave birth was truly the best day of her life, but that she worked really hard for it.

The most remarkable part of her story for me was the dreams she describes during her pregnancies which were clear communications from her babies' souls.

Join our online community! www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

Before having children, and doing the work that I do now, I spent ten years working within the health insurance industry.

I sat in on a lot meetings that (accidentally) shared what I believe to be the truth about our healthcare system - namely, that it doesn't really create health.

Above all, it's a really big business.

I focus this episode mainly on the myth of preventive care, because it's of particular relevance to pregnancy and prenatal care. 

If you love the show, please consider supporting our work on Patreon! www.patreon.com/healing birth

Go to our website to find out more about Healing Birth! www.healingbirth.net

The image accompanying this episode was taken by the wonderful photographer Jade Beall. 

Gena McCarthy is an educator, nurse, and perinatal psychotherapist. Her work is to support you to build bridges  between your heart and your womb, between your birth imprints and your present life, between your spiritual, parenting and professional paths.

During our conversation she shares the story of her own birth 70 years ago, with her mother under twilight sleep, and the home birth of her son.

She takes us through a couple different practices to help us heal birth trauma, one, an EMDR practice to help us feel safe in our bodies when big feelings come up, and another that moved me to tears.

There are moments during this interview when I really stepped out of the role of host and got vulnerable with my own wounds which I still carry from my first birth.

We also talk about somatic healing, handling guilt, helping our babies and children heal from a traumatic birth, and resources for birth workers.

Gena’s website is www.birthspiritualityandhealing.com, and you can find her on Instagram @birthspiritualityandhealing

If you love the show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

After two pretty straightforward births, Amy’s third birth resulted in a traumatic, unplanned cesarean, where she experienced obstetric violence, PTSD, and postpartum depression and anxiety.

Amy had a lot a trauma from childhood come up for her after this birth. She says that the experience made her second guess everything she believed about the medical system, and even her beliefs about God.

After that birth, and two losses, Amy had her fourth baby at home.

Amy graciously shared with me some of the resources that were most helpful to help her heal:

1. This podcast (thank you!)

2. The place we find ourselves (podcast) with Adam Young

3. Birth Trauma for Birthworkers (podcast) with Dr. Erin Bowe

4. How to Heal a Bad Birth (book) by Melissa J. Bruijn

5. Brave Beautiful Birth (book) by Jamie Schrock

You can follow Amy @burr382

If you love the show, please support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

After a conscious conception, Ally went into labor at almost 43 weeks. Her epic, three day long birth process included many things that could be considered a “problem” or otherwise pathologized, but with the right support, and unwavering trust in herself and her body, this birth initiated Ally into a more powerful, sovereign version of herself.

You can follow Ally on instagram @ally_aura

JOIN OUR ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

JOIN OUR LIVE WEBINAR EVENT: Discovering Your Mothering Superpower with Emily Bruce on May 15, 2022 4PM PST https://www.healingbirth.net/event

This is part two of a series exploring, through personal stories, how the experience of prior sexual assault can show up when we give birth.

Rebecca shares the incredible story of the birth of her fourth child, born at just 32 weeks, in a teaching hospital. This is one of the most emotionally intense stories I have ever recorded, both in its beauty and pain.

(Please note that while we do discuss sexual assault, this conversation does *not* contain a description of sexual assault).

You can follow Rebecca on instagram @cosmic_love_child

JOIN OUR ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

JOIN OUR LIVE WEBINAR EVENT: Discovering Your Mothering Superpower with Emily Bruce on May 15, 2022 4PM PST https://www.healingbirth.net/event

This is part one of a two part series exploring, through personal stories, how the experience of prior sexual assault can show up when we give birth.

(Please note that this conversation does *not* contain any description of sexual assault).

You can follow Gemma @wyldbirth and www.wyldbirth.com

JOIN OUR ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

JOIN OUR LIVE WEBINAR EVENT: Discovering Your Mothering Superpower with Emily Bruce on May 15, 2022 4PM PST https://www.healingbirth.net/event

What if breech birth is not the inherent emergency we are conventionally told, but rather, an expression of intelligent, deeply empathic, communication between mother and baby?

Jess shares her three birth stories with us  - actually four, as we begin with her own -  all of which carry the through line of breech presenting babies and maternal communication.

This is another one of those stories where ancestral and matrilineal healing come from a powerful reclamation of what it means to birth in sovereignty.

You can follow Jess @jess.aralia

JOIN OUR ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

In this solocast I explain why.

Let me know what you think! HMU @healingbirth or www.healingbirth.net

JOIN OUR ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

Taylor always envisioned the day she would give birth, unlike other young girls who dream of their wedding day. But when she unexpectedly went into labor at just 24 weeks with her first baby, she had to set aside her long-held dreams for a more medicalized experience.

This is her bittersweet, yet ultimately beautiful, story of letting go.

Photo by @angenobles

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts! 

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you’d like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at contactus@healingbirth.net

Check out the website for lots of other birth related offerings, and personalized support: www.healingbirth.net

Intro / outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Ariana shares the story of her daughter’s birth, a planned homebirth that ended in a cesarean.

Recorded at only four months postpartum, she shares some of the insights she’s already gained from this experience, and reminds us that’s its okay to feel it all -  happy that you have a healthy baby, and perhaps, sadness or other complicated feelings about how the birth itself happened.

This is exactly the kind of story that I needed to hear, years ago when I went through a very similar experience with my own first baby, and her story is still medicine for me, today.

You can follow Ariana @arianafotinakis on instagram, and via her website www.arianafotinakis.com

JOIN OUR ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

I love stories that illustrate how the births of our first babies (maybe every baby?) often prompt us to change and shift our lives, and this is definetly one of them.

Christine shares the story of free birthing her son in Canada. There are so many juicy elements to this one - making love during labor, having a psychedelic, out of body experience, spirit baby communication, just to name a few!

Christine also shares how, after such a powerful birth, she felt alone in the postpartum time. This prompted her to shift her life to now live in a conscious community. 

Christine supports other mothers as a radical birth keeper, and you can follow her on Instagram @wildwomanmothering

JOIN OUR ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

Victoria’s first birth was unmedicated, in a hospital, and although everything went “right” it left her feeling like something wasn’t quite right. Her postpartum experience with that baby was very challenging, and she later connected the challenges postpartum with some of the disempowering things that happened during the birth.

She shares the experience of miscarrying at home after that hospital birth, and how that miscarriage helped her realize that her body was completely capable of birthing without anyone’s help or interference (this is something I have heard often and am so fascinated by - that pregnancy loss, though never easy, can be healing).

Her third baby was born at home with a very hands off midwife, an experience that set her up for a totally different and easeful postpartum time.

Victoria now works to support other mothers postpartum. You can connect with her on instagram @the_motherbiome.

During the interview she mentions her epic birth playlist! You can listen to it here:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1EROuluKp3kEwtTq642UM8?si=UDxFsyj4TeuE0uI6l4AHtA&utm_source=copy-link&nd=1

JOIN OUR ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

Jenna, a spiritual life coach for moms (and friend of mine!), shares her two birth stories. One, midwife assisted at a birth center, and the second, a very consciously chosen free birth.

Guiding her through her pregnancies and birth experiences was Jenna’s strong intuition and willingness to trust herself.

She also shares much about the always unfolding lessons of motherhood, and has a special message for anyone who is struggling to process a birth experience that left them in pain.

She’s funny, wise, and spiritual, I loved every second of this conversation!

If you would like to work with Jenna, you find her at www.jennawalenga.com and on Instagram @whole.heart.mama

JOIN OUR ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

In a heart wrenching and raw interview, Ashley shares the story of the unnecessary cesarean birth of her first child.

From showing up in labor and being misidentified as a different patient, to having her doctor rush her labor process due to his golf tournament, her whole story is infuriating and deeply sad, most of all, because it’s simply so common.

Many times during this conversation, I had to mute my mic and take deep breaths, because so much of her story was personally relatable to me. 

I believe that as long as women are being brutalized during the most sacred thing we participate in and through, we have a moral imperative to share difficult stories like these.

If you have experienced a cesarean you feel was unnecessary, or simply found the countless indignities and traumas of industrial birth within the machine just wrong, this episode is for you.

You are not alone.

JOIN OUR ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

Margeaux, a therapist who works in maternal mental health, went into her first pregnancy having heard first hand the many ways that a birth experience can leave us traumatized. Unfortunately all that knowledge was not enough to prevent her from being coerced into an induction that left her in the kind of pain she counsels her clients through.

After the first year postpartum, a series of beautiful, magical synchronicities, and a deep connection to her inner voice, led her to become pregnant again. She was guided that she would have a baby girl, and that this time birth wouldn’t hurt her, it would heal her.

As she said to me after this interview, it feels so good to be on the other side, and be able to share this redemptive story!

You can follow Margeaux on Instagram @margeaux_gibson_therapist and at www.margeauxgibson.com

JOIN OUR NEW ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on patron! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

www.healingbirth.net

Elizabeth shares two very different home birth stories with us today. This first, included almost every traumatic thing I can think of that can transpire at home, including a postpartum hospital transfer for blood loss. After that experience, she says she never wanted to give birth again.

But when she had healed enough from that experience to become pregnant and birth again, that birth was so powerful and blissful she wanted to experience it over and over.

You will not want to miss her description of dancing through labor, in the wake of her father’s just having passed over, calling on her ancestors, and feeling him there with her.

Or her describe that sacred moment after birth holding her daughter, basking in the feeling of elation and joy.

Elizabeth mentions a few resources in this episode that I’d like to link to below:

- The “dancing doula” instagram page  is @doulawombwork.

- the meditations that were so helpful for her can be found at www.hypnobirthinghub.com.

You can follow Elizabeth on Instagram @dr.elizabethwade and at www.drelizabethwade.com

JOIN OUR NEW ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on patron! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

www.healingbirth.net

Charlotte shares her three birth stories with us - one cesarean (the reason for which is definetly the most unique one I have ever heard!), and two home birth VBACs.

Her entire journey is so beautiful, she has so much wisdom to share, and now has stepped into working with other women who want to birth in sovereignty.

You can follow her @the_vbac_coach

JOIN OUR NEW ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

Andrea’s first birth experience is a perfect example of what it can look like when your midwives work for the state, not you.

After a traumatic cesarean birth, she was determined to birth her second baby at home.

Unfortunately (or maybe, fortunately?) no one in her province you could offer her the kind of support she needed, so she birthed that baby with just her partner as support.

That birth was a firewalk, but in it, she found the connection to her ancestors that wasn’t present the first time when she called on them for support. She could feel them witnessing her in this powerful act of reclamation.

Around the one hour mark, Andrea mentions a few resources that were really helpful along her journey to free birth.

1. Christine Murphy - you can find her on instagram @wildwomanmothering

2. Yolande Norris Clark - www.freebirth.ca and on instagram @bauhauswife

3. Freebirth Society’s The Complete Guide to Freebirth online course - link

JOIN OUR NEW ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

And, if you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

Hint: It has to do with finding grace for yourself. 

This is a bonus solocast. 

JOIN OUR NEW ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

Lauren, an expat living in Brazil, planned a home birth with midwives for her first baby’s birth. Near the end of her birth process, the midwives decided her baby was likely too big be born at home, and transferred her to the local hospital, where the birth ended with an episiotomy. It was a violent intervention that left Lauren, and her husband, traumatized (also, spoiler alert: the baby was a perfectly normal size).

When she became pregnant with her second baby, she knew she would not allow the same thing to happen to her again. She found the right team of wise women to surround her, set very clear boundaries (including with her husband, who was still working through his fears), and mostly importantly of all, trusted herself.

That second birth experience was the “birth of her dreams.” And Lauren wants every woman who hears her story to know that it’s every woman’s birthright to experience a birth like hers.

If you don’t already follow @healingbirth on Instagram, be sure to this week to see photos of Lauren’s birth. They are exceptionally beautiful!

If you love this podcast, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts! 

Follow us on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you’d like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at contactus@healingbirth.net

Check out the website for lots of other birth related offerings and personalized support: www.healingbirth.net

Intro / outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Kristen shares her two pregnancy and birth stories, one, a home birth with a midwife, and the second, a planned free birth. Throughout her pregnancies, Kristen was in direct communication with the spirits of her babies on the other side, waiting to come through. In fact, it was they who guided her to make the decision to free birth the second time.

Kristen also shares how she resolved the retained placenta from her free birth naturally at home - something I have never heard anyone do before!

JOIN OUR NEW ONLINE MEMBERSHIP HERE! https://www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

Esme vividly describes her first birth experience as a descent into the underworld. Ultimately, that birth process was interrupted by an overly cautious midwife, which had long term physical and emotional ramifications for both her and her son.

After a lot of healing work, her second child was born, in an experience she describes as blissful.

Esme’s entire story is nothing short of pure magic! I loved every second of our conversation.

You can follow Esme @esmeannarose

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on patron! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

www.healingbirth.net

Nelia was assaulted during her first birth experience at her local hospital.

Immediately understanding that what happened to her was wrong, she fought to get justice and to heal.

The second time she gave birth, she took back her power in a massive way.

We mention @birthmonopoly as a great resource for anyone who has experienced obstetric violence. You can find the map of obstetric violence, read other survivor’s stories, and other resources here:

https://birthmonopoly.com/obstetric-violence/

Follow Nelia @neliathedoula

www.neliathedoula.com

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon/healingbirth

After her first pregnancy ended in a loss, Lisa quickly fell pregnant again. The story of her labor and the birth of her baby is the all too common one of a cascade of interventions, beginning with an induction, that ends in a cesarean.

In the aftermath of the trauma of that experience, something beautiful blossomed. I hear this theme commonly from women who experience the utter failure of the maternal healthcare system first hand - if that system is a lie, what other systems or institutions we are taught to blindly trust that are also built on a foundation of lies?

This is a raw, beautiful conversation with a woman beginning to heal.

Lisa can be found on Instagram @thewomanssanctum. 

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on patreon! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

www.healingbirth.net

“It was so boring”

This is how my guest today described her birth, several times, during the course of our conversation. Of course, birth is not actually boring and certainly the journey that brought her to this birth is anything but - but that statement illustrates so perfectly the central theme of her story. That birth, when left alone, even in someone deemed high risk, even in someone who has only had cesareans, can and often does unfold in a very straightforward manner.

This is a story of a woman who radically trusted herself to know what was best for her baby, her body, and how to give birth. She finally said no the systems that had hurt her.

This is also my first returning guest! If you haven’t heard the first part of her story, go back to episode 6 of season two of the show, linked below:

https://www.healingbirth.net/podcast/episode/43559a5a/i-had-to-push-through-or-chayas-three-birth-stories

(The image of the pregnant woman that accompanies this episode is a stock image, and is not my guest.)

You can follow Chaya @themindfulwoman365

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us on patron! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

www.healingbirth.net

During her pregnancy, Roxanne was coerced into taking an injectable pharmaceutical product that injured her, greatly affecting her quality of life postpartum.

Her son was later also injured by the same product. 

This is their story of healing together. 

#believemothers

If you appreciate the show, please consider supporting us on Patron! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

Visit our website, join the newsletter, and stay in touch with me! www.healingbirth.net

Najma spent her early career in the pharmaceutical field, and trusted the medical system. During this time, she also had the sense many times that something wasn't right. 

When it came time to have her own children, she chose to keep them pharmaceutical drug-free, until that choice  was taken away from her without her consent or knowledge. As a result, her child suffered a vaccine injury. 

This is warning to anyone who has their child in a government school, it could happen to any of us. 

Located in Egypt, Najma also offers us a window into what is happening there in terms of mandates, medical freedom, and the global tyranny we are all experiencing to one degree or another. 

If you appreciate the show, please support us on patreon! patreon.com/healingbirth

Mothers have always been at the forefront of the medical freedom movement - the fight for the freedom to decide what is or is not injected into their bodies and those of their children.

We are a time in history where the fight for medical freedom has never been so crucial, and so heated. 

This is part one of a three part series where mothers share their personal stories of why medical freedom matters to them. #believewomen. 

This is Sarah's story. 

To find out more about ILLUMINOUS, our newest offering, go to https://www.healingbirth.net/events

Miranda was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome near the end of her first pregnancy, which led to an induced, traumatic birth experience.  As she began to heal herself, she also helped to heal her son.

This is a story of healing, transformation, and spiritual growth.

Follow Miranda on IG @rooteddaughter

If you love the show, please consider supporting us on Patron! www.patron.com/healingbirth

Serendipiti Day is a radical feminist who has spent the last ten years of her life hitchhiking all over the world, mostly by herself.

Her passion for women's work was influenced by her childhood, when she experienced firsthand what it meant to be exploited because of her sex. At the age of 12, she was taken out of a sexually abusive home and put into the foster care system, where she stayed until she aged out.  From there, she launched herself into the world, visiting over 40 countries, witnessing what womanhood looks like all around the world. 

We talk about the importance of understanding what menopause looked like for our elders, miscarriage, abortion, and forced birth control within the foster care system.

Follow serendipidi @astarte_rose_in_confidence

Support the podcast on Patreon! www.patreon.com/healingbirth

Sandra  shares the sweet story of the birth of her second baby, who came so fast, the midwife didn’t make it. Deep down, a free birth was what she wanted anyway, and she got it! While the birth was triumphant, her postpartum period was very challenging.

You’ll hear us discuss the importance of being held spiritually and emotionally during that tender time, and why we culturally seem to lack awareness around that. 

Sandra wants other women to know that birth itself offers an incredible initiation into healing, if we are open to it. 

You can follow Sandra @sandrablex

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts! 

Follow us on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you’d like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at contactus@healingbirth.net

Check out the website for lots of other birth related offerings and personalized support: www.healingbirth.net

Intro / outro music: Dreams by Markvard

A bonus episode with some thoughts on homebirth for this day. 

Hannah shares her two birth stories, both at 35 weeks gestation.

One, in a hospital with all the standard things that come with a pre-term birth, and the second, freebirthed at home.

Her story is one of a journey to trust herself, her body, and her baby to be born at the right time. There are also some wild twists and turns!

Follow Hannah @tovarhomestead
www.hannahandbabes.com

Katie Sutherland is an energy medicine healer, teacher and holistic wellness practitioner who supports mothers to thrive and reclaim their empowerment and vibrancy while navigating the journey of motherhood and childbirth.

Katie had a powerful initiatory experience through the birth of her daughter almost a decade ago. It was one of the most intensely challenging rites of passage in Katie’s life, yet held an important key in the awakening of her greater purpose, and was a catalyst for much of the transformational work Katie now shares in empowering and supporting other mothers. Her birth story is one of my favorite ones I have ever shared!

Katie’s work and offerings can be found at www.innerwisdommotherhood.com

Join us on Sunday, May 23rd, 5PM PST / 7PM CST for a FREE community call. Share your birth story, journey with healing, or anything else that is on your heart. Sign up on our website at www.healingbirth.net/events