Send us a text Trigger Warning: This episode contains sensitive content around birth and birth trauma and may not be for everyone. Kayleigh describes the birth of her son as the worst day of her life; and it literally was because she actually died during birth. Her son was born via emergency cesarean as she was being resuscitated on the operating table after experiencing an Amniotic Fluid Embolism. She and her baby survived and are healthy and well but the lasting trauma and post-traumatic stres...
Aug 04, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 116
Send us a text It is time for our monthly Q&A! We are back with a short birth story of a necessary C-section birth followed by your input on food cravings in pregnancy, nausea remedies and your most common pregnancy food aversions. Next, we discuss the most common relationship challenges in the early postpartum followed by your questions including: Can I have an unmedicated birth if I have a low pain tolerance? Do I need to workout in pregnancy to have an easier birth? How do I get my baby t...
Jul 28, 2021•37 min•Season 2Ep. 115
Send us a text Nicole Neesby, her husband and children are Americans living in Mexico. In this mini-sode, Nicole tells the story of searching for the just-right provider to attend the birth of her fourth baby. When she didn't find what she was looking for in Mexico, they booked an Airbnb in San Diego and gave birth back in her homeland. This show is sponsored by: Postpartum Soothe * *Use promo code DOWNTOBIRTH ********** Primally Pure: From soil to skin, Primally Pure products are made with down...
Jul 26, 2021•14 min•Season 2Ep. 114
Send us a text Before Kristina became pregnant, she believed birth was a scary, painful, and potentially dangerous event. Her mindset around birth was mostly fear-based and centered on pain. Once she became pregnant, something stirred inside. She wanted to learn more. In educating herself, she realized she craved to feel all aspects of labor, took Cynthia's HypnoBirthing class, and decided to have an unmedicated birth. In the end, what surprised her most was that during labor she kept waiting fo...
Jul 21, 2021•31 min•Season 2Ep. 113
Send us a text Trigger Warning: This episode contains sensitive content and detail and may not be for everyone. We share this story because we know many women, like Andrea, suffer with the nearly impossible choices around late term abortion. Andrea is a singer/songwriter living in NYC who wants to be a mother. She joins us on the show today to share her heart-wrenching story of choosing between having a severely disabled child or letting go of the baby she desperately wanted, not once, but twice...
Jul 14, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 112
Send us a text Are doctors misinforming patients? How can the medical model of birth cause harm to birthing mothers? Why are half of the cesarean births in the United States performed unnecessarily? Why is one's satisfaction with her own birth experience so low on the priority list? These are the questions we dive into with Dr. Stu on today's episode. Stuart James Fischbein, MD, also know as “Dr. Stu” is a Board Certified OBGYN. He has been a practicing obstetrician in Southern California since ...
Jul 07, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 111
Send us a text Your body has been perfectly designed for childbirth. In this episode, Cynthia explains the difference between a mammal birthing in a state of fear versus trust. It's all part of nature's perfect design to protect the baby from arriving amid harm. Our job is to respect that process and to learn to work with it. This episode may be even more important for your partner to listen to than you, because partners tend to hold that special role of being the ones who can put us into a trus...
Jul 05, 2021•14 min•Season 2Ep. 110
Send us a text We have a fun and informative Q&A episode for you this month! We kick it off with confessions and shares from our Instagram community related to: Comments from our own mothers after we give birth; Finding community when we have none; Fear of intrusive thoughts; What constitutes too much crying postpartum; Fear of managing the "pain" of labor; Best food choices for labor and more. Next we dive deeper into our questions of the month including the topics of: Premature Rupture of ...
Jun 30, 2021•37 min•Season 2Ep. 109
Send us a text Emily Geller Hardman , a New York Opera singer, gave the performance of a lifetime with her unassisted VBAC in the back of the car as her husband sped down the highway en route to the Connecticut birth center from Pennsylvania. At 37 weeks, she went into labor unexpectedly while at a wedding three hours from home. In the middle of the night, she knew she was in labor, and it was time to hit the road. After having had a Cesarean for her breech baby the first time around, she was we...
Jun 23, 2021•38 min•Season 2Ep. 108
Send us a text Hello friends! When you first become pregnant, the next question is where and with whom will I give birth? In today's mini sode, Trisha helps you to determine the best place for you to give birth. You may be surprised to learn that you have the answer more than we do, but we can tell you the most important question to ask yourself and how to create your best birth space. Take a listen to today's mini-sode and reach us on Instagram @DownToBirthShow with any feedback or on our websi...
Jun 21, 2021•11 min•Season 2Ep. 107
Send us a text Wondering how to best manage the fourth trimester? This week on the show we are speaking with Kimberly Ann Johnson , author of "The Fourth Trimester" and "Call of the Wild." After experiencing her own “black hole” through her postpartum experience, she studied indigenous cultures around the world to learn how we can do a better job with the postpartum period. From her experience, she determined there are five universal needs that all women across the globe require postpartum. Toda...
Jun 16, 2021•41 min•Season 2Ep. 106
Send us a text Husbands and partners, this is one is for you! Today, on the show we have guest host Krisha of @serenitylifedoula speaking with us about the best ways to support mothers in labor. Did we mention that Krisha is a birth doula with a 100% vaginal birth rate? And she gives all that credit to the birthing mother AND their partners for doing all the tricks and tips we share with you today! Birth partners have an important job in labor and knowing the best possible ways to provide suppor...
Jun 09, 2021•40 min•Season 2Ep. 105
Send us a text In today's "Pregnancy" Minisode, Cynthia discusses six red flags that could mean you're planning to birth with a provider who may not be right for you. After this episode, find us @downtobirthshow on Instagram and share your stories with us. That is, how do you know you are with the wrong - or right - provider? ********** Primally Pure: From soil to skin, Primally Pure products are made with down-to-earth ingredients that feel and smell like heaven for the skin. Promo code: DOWNTO...
Jun 07, 2021•13 min•Season 2Ep. 104
Send us a text When it comes to giving birth, women are too often told a healthy baby is all that matters. And while none of us will argue that a healthy mom and baby are the highest priority, it’s time to give mothers the respect, dignity, and agency they deserve in their birth experiences. Milli Hill is the author of “Give Birth Like a Feminist” and “The Positive Birth Book”, and is here to tell you that women matter, too. Because how we give birth stays with us the rest of our lives. Milli be...
Jun 02, 2021•44 min•Season 2Ep. 103
Send us a text It's that time of the month! Our May Q&A is here and kicks off with two short, entertaining birth stories followed by excellent questions submitted by our listeners including: Are more babies born under the full moon? If I experience fear in labor will my cervix close or regress? Do I need a cesarean birth if I have too much or too little amniotic fluid? What is the difference between a birth center and hospital birth? What are the best ways to take care of yourself physically...
May 26, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 102
Send us a text As Cynthia always says, no one is more determined to have a good birth than a woman who's already given birth. Meet Rachel: a mom from Idaho who took Cynthia's live online HypnoBirthing class with her husband prior to having their third baby. After interviewing literally 17 home birth midwives - clearly a resource that's more abundant in Idaho than most states - Rachel felt she hadn't found quite the right provider yet. They ended up hiring a team of midwives in a hospital birth s...
May 24, 2021•17 min•Season 2Ep. 101
Send us a text For our 100th episode, we are featuring Barbara Harper: the leading voice for childbirth and maternity care reform, an author, educator, midwife and internationally recognized expert on the use of warm water immersion for labor and birth. Today, we are honored to have her join us on the @downtobirthshow to talk to us about the “great liberator” aka water birth and all the benefits for you and your baby including: hydrostatic pressure, increased oxytocin, immediate and prolonged sk...
May 19, 2021•30 min•Season 2Ep. 100
Send us a text “Push like you are taking a poop! Pushing is a long, grueling process!” This is what most people are told about pushing in labor. But, is it true? Hehe Stewart, of Tranquility by Hehe, is a doula and maternity coach who grew up on a farm watching animals give birth in an undisturbed and effortless way. After attending births in hospitals and homes, she realized things looked very different there from what she had seen. This experience inspired her to start teaching how to birth wi...
May 12, 2021•33 min•Season 2Ep. 99
Send us a text In today's mini-episode, Trisha explains how and why we get clogged or plugged ducts and provides guidance on how to recognize them, how to prevent them, and simple steps to resolve them quickly to keep you breastfeeding comfortably. If your plugged duct does not resolve within 24-48 hours seek the help of a professional lactation consultant. * * * * * * * * * * Primally Pure: From soil to skin, Primally Pure products are made with down-to-earth ingredients that feel and smell lik...
May 10, 2021•13 min•Season 2Ep. 98
Send us a text Amanda Pahls is a mother of four daughters, a blogger, and a home school educator with a passion for honoring women's birth experiences. She joins us on the show today to walk us thorough her first hospital birth followed by three home-births and the dramatic difference in care she received between the two. Her fifth pregnancy and most recent birth was a miscarriage, at home, which brought her a depth of grief, sadness, and even guilt that she never expected. She opens up about th...
May 05, 2021•32 min•Season 2Ep. 97
Send us a text This month's Q&A kicks off with a couple personal questions of Cynthia and Trisha about their dream travel and what they admire in themselves and in each other. After our little heart-to-heart, we get down to business discussing: Pregnancy & birth risk associated with IVF; why you don't need painful uterine massage after birth; what our "must-have" items are for new moms and baby; tips for preventing pre-term birth; tips for preparing for birth related to teas, supplements...
Apr 28, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 96
Send us a text Jessica is a first-time birthing mother from Atlanta who recently attended Cynthia's HypnoBirthing class via Zoom. She and her husband had a birth that began with laughter over a misunderstanding, and ended with a 5-hour pushing stage doing HypnoBirthing deep-breathing while wearing a mask. Jessica's story emphasizes how she and her husband felt respected and supported by their hospital staff from start to finish, including an appreciation for the COVID protocols that disallowed v...
Apr 26, 2021•9 min•Season 2Ep. 95
Send us a text In this episode, Lisa shared out loud for the first time the full extent of the intrusive thoughts that have been haunting and terrifying her postpartum. When women suffer from a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder such as postpartum anxiety, depression or psychosis they can suffer from intrusive thoughts such as: fear of drowning the baby in the bath, imagining yourself or someone else dropping the baby, falling down the stairs with the baby, or even imagining yourself or someone ...
Apr 21, 2021•30 min•Season 2Ep. 94
Send us a text As a registered dietician (RD) and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Jaren Soloff was inspired to create a space and program to help postpartum moms navigate eating and body image after birth. She guides her clients in the anti-diet method of "intuitive eating," which focuses on tapping into your body's signals to tell you when you are hungry and when you are not. Intuitive eating is a process of learning to trust your appetite and cravings as a means of ...
Apr 14, 2021•35 min•Season 2Ep. 93
Send us a text Most of us fall short when it comes to practicing self-care - especially postpartum moms, who are usually happy enough just to get more than 5 hours of sleep plus a shower. And when anyone tells them to go do something nice for themselves, it's always well-intended, but is it helpful when those moms think self-care means getting a professional massage, attending a live yoga class or getting a mani/pedi? In today's episode, Cynthia talks about self-care as a lifestyle rather than a...
Apr 12, 2021•15 min•Season 2Ep. 92
Send us a text Colleen always felt called to birth and was determined to have the birth of her dreams. After two miscarriages, she was so excited to give birth to her first child. When her birth resulted in a cesarean, she knew the next time around she would make sure things went differently. Despite her mother and husband resisting the idea of a VBAC she went for it anyway. At 1/2 a centimeter dilated, the hospital sent her back home while she feared her birth was going to end up with the same ...
Apr 07, 2021•28 min•Season 2Ep. 91
Send us a text Our March Q&A episode is here! We begin with a discussion around the use of ultrasound measurements in pregnancy to determine your baby's size and weight at birth (hint: a baby that is measuring long is likely to be taller than average not macrosomic); we discuss when you might consider changing providers for your planned VBAC birth; can a mother experience postpartum depression (PPD) while still pregnant? What about the use of distraction techniques in labor and how does that...
Mar 31, 2021•35 min•Season 2Ep. 90
Send us a text Kimberly always wanted a home birth -- especially the second time around -- but decided to stay with the providers she liked and trusted. She began having doubts during the implementation of Covid protocols, and those doubts only grew when her doctor started talking about induction before she was at 41 weeks. But she declined the induction and implemented some natural means of induction at home, including a recipe for eggplant parmesan she got in her HypnoBirthing class. Once labo...
Mar 29, 2021•15 min•Season 2Ep. 89
Send us a text Jamie Davison Ortiz is a mother, doula, and student midwife who birthed her twins naturally during a planned freebirth with her husband and doula. For those who don’t know, a freebirth is a controversial birth movement of giving birth at home without a medical professional in attendance. Jamie’s birth wasn’t without risk and while Jamie says she has no regrets, she’s the first to say that free-birthing took years of preparation, comes with risk, and is not for everyone. * * * * * ...
Mar 24, 2021•31 min•Season 2Ep. 88
Send us a text Postpartum rage is among the lesser known perinatal mood and anxiety disorders that can impact postpartum women and even their partners. Unfortunately, what women don’t understand is that sometimes anger comes more easily than tears, and it doesn’t mean that anything is fundamentally wrong with them or with their character; but rather, they are suffering from one particular manifestation of postpartum depression or anxiety. Postpartum rage can look like: snapping at your children ...
Mar 17, 2021•34 min•Season 2Ep. 87
