Katya Nova's Birth Journey: Part 2 by Free Birth Society
Nov 16, 2017•1 hr
I’m super excited to be releasing a two part episode with my new dear friend Katya who just recently had her Free Birth in the Dominican Republic about a month ago. Part one dives into the depressing birth culture of Dominican Republic and Katya's pretty wild first birth, where she had to spend the majority of her labor driving six hours to reach home and had a traditional birth attendant waiting for her. Katya also shares her list of fearful possibilities she had to come to terms with in order ...
Nov 09, 2017•57 min
What would our society look like if males and females of all ages understood the basics of fertility? What if growing up we were taught truths instead of lies about sex and pregnancy? We have to start somewhere so this episode is for anyone who doesn’t yet know the ABC’s of how to track and understand fertility. I’m joined by birth worker and science nerd Jessica Austin from Vancouver, Canada who goes through the simple steps of how to use FAM to both conceive a child and to not conceive a child...
Nov 01, 2017•1 hr 4 min
Today on the show we have writer Jennifer Margulis from Oregon. Having four children of her own, she has birthed in hospital, at home with both licensed midwives and a traditional midwife, and free birthed her last baby. Author of the books Your Baby Your Way & The Vaccine Friendly Plan, Jennifer offers both a professional and person insight into birth culture today.
Oct 27, 2017•59 min
Today on the show we have the incredible Patrice from New Jersey. Patrice walked into her first birth experience at 20 years old feeling confident in her body and in her ability to have a normal unmedicated birth. She was quickly silenced and given pitocin without her consent or knowledge. Patrice was forced to stay in bed in excruciating pain for 30+ hours, denying the epidural laying there suffering. Somehow deep within her, Patrice knew this wasn’t right and that this wasn’t her body’s fault....
Oct 11, 2017•1 hr 25 min
Today on the show we have Melissa from the UK. After a wonderful first birth with midwives in hospital, she became obsessed with birth and was left shocked to realize how uncommon a positive birth in hospital was. Pregnant with her second, Melissa chose to stay at home and have a free birth, to then be harassed by child protective services and even had the cops bust into her home. After a wonderful home birth Melissa was quickly left traumatized by being attacked by social services for almost a ...
Oct 05, 2017•1 hr 9 min
Today on the show we have Jenny Hatch, who you may say has experienced it all. From having a full on mental break down after her first birth, to a c-section due to breech presentation with her second, she went on to fire her doctor while having her VBAC, then had a postpartum hemorrhage at her first home birth. Finally with her fifth child, Jenny gets to experience an uncomplicated ecstatic free birth. Jenny’s journey is quite the wild tale offering tons of insight and wisdom into the journey of...
Sep 28, 2017•1 hr 12 min
Our first VBAC show! Today we have Diana from Seattle, Washington with a true story of victory. Diana shares how her emergency c-section was caused by the interventions she received in her birth experience. Diana says, “I'd like people to know about how the cascade of interventions causes an emergency c section. The cascade being anesthesia > pitocin > heart decels from the pit and therefore causing an emergency and of course then needing a c-section to "save the baby”. When Diana found he...
Sep 21, 2017•59 min
Elder Midwife Sister MorningStar (Part 2) by Free Birth Society
Sep 12, 2017•53 min
This week we are truly blessed to have elder midwife Sister Morningstar sharing her wisdom on the art of traditional midwifery. You may know her from her impassioned letter to NARM resigning from the registry that went viral earlier this year and touched many of our birth keeper hearts. Sister shares how to start village prenatals in your community, the dangers of NRP and intervening with the natural birth process, to her own incredible mentorship in her earlier years. It was a deep privilege to...
Sep 06, 2017•57 min
Today on the show we have Heidi-Lyn from New Brunswick, Canada sharing the healing story of her birthing in full power with her second baby in the support of her husband and a traditional midwife. After a deeply traumatic childbirth experience in hospital with her first, it took her a long time to even be willing to consider a second child. She was left violated and angry, knowing deep in her gut this second birth needed to be different than what she had at the hospital. So, she did the work. He...
Sep 01, 2017•1 hr 13 min
Today on the show we have Anna who birthed her baby in Florida. Anna knew years prior to meeting her partner that she was destined to free birth her child. After consciously conceiving her baby she navigated a rough pregnancy but never wavered in the knowledge that an unassisted pregnancy and birth was what was right for her. Anna went into labor in her 36th week, what the medical model would call premature labor, and had a quick and beautiful birth resulting in a healthy baby that breastfed eas...
Aug 17, 2017•47 min
An expat from America, Nicole moved to Mexico to live a more simple and nature based life. After witnessing an unassisted birth of a family member, she knew this was also the path for her. Nicole went on to birth her three sons over the last four years, at home, with the support of her friends and family. Nicole recently free birthed her third child and tell us the stories of all three. We get into birth culture, privilege, and how Nicole navigated trust in her body and babies after her first so...
Jul 28, 2017•1 hr 20 min
Pregnant with her 5th child, Katie shares her first four very different birth stories. A precipitous first birth in the hospital, an elective induction with her second, an overwhelmingly fast unassisted birth with her third, and then finally a nicely paced calm and private water birth with her fourth. We talk about her path towards free birth and the concerns of birthing this new baby in a conservative state without a supportive birth community. Katie and her family currently resides in North Ca...
Jul 20, 2017•1 hr 13 min
Today on the show we have the incredible Layla from Maui, Hawaii. She birthed both her children outside under the bamboo trees of Hawaii, with the moon on her face and a fire blazing. Her stories carry the essence of ancient birthing wisdom. Listen in as Layla shares about her intuitive guidance towards free birth at 6 weeks pregnant and her ability to set appropriate self preserving boundaries with family and her surroundings. Layla’s story is truly inspiring.
Jul 11, 2017•50 min
Today we have Amanda from Los Angeles, California. Luckily, Amanda was able to attend a hospital birth before being pregnant, so she knew what she didn’t want. With the support of her partner, she prepared herself for an autonomous birth at home. Labor began at the bar where she and her husband had met. She drove herself home to realize she was in full blown active labor. Her birth story is beautifully simplistic, though not without an interesting twist at the end!
Jul 03, 2017•1 hr 12 min
Today on the show we have the wise and wonderful Dominque. She chose a home birth with a midwife and doula for her first birth in the Bronx but upon reflection after the birth she realized she would have preferred to have just been alone with her husband. So when she became pregnant with her second son and moved to Texas, it was an easy and intuitive decision for her to have a mostly unassisted pregnancy and to free birth. We talk about breastfeeding while in labor and what it was like for Domin...
Jun 27, 2017•43 min
Today we have our first grand multipara on the show, meaning a woman who has given birth five or more times. Julie has had 11 children and is currently living in Arizona. From her first baby at 16 years old in the hospital with forced interventions and rough treatment she went on to continue to be induced with her next three children in hospital. So after four babies, she chose with the support of her husband to birth on her own and trust and allow labor to work it’s magic. Julie goes on to have...
Jun 22, 2017•1 hr
On the show today I talk with fertility and conscious conception coach, Elisabeth Manning. Elisabeth teaches people how to live a more fertile life through self exploration, doing the work, and loving what is. She speaks of fertility being a journey of the soul, a sacred path to be honored and leaned into. Elisabeth shares her wisdom and reminds us to look at our childhood wounds and learn how to heal ourselves so that we can call in our children in the highest vibration. And as always, we talk ...
Jun 07, 2017•1 hr 17 min
Today I speak with the incredible Lacey Haynes from London. After consciously conceiving her love baby she was thrilled to begin prenatal care with her OB. After a deeply underwhelming prenatal where she was treated dismissively and told she was on a conveyor belt, Lacey switched to the midwifery program. The midwives also had little to offer in way of individualized care and Lacey was led to the choice to go it alone with her husband and dear friend. Lacey had a weekend long champion of a labor...
Jun 03, 2017•1 hr 25 min
Today on the show we have Heather from Michigan, mother of four and a new midwife. From an induction at a hospital with her first birth, to two midwife assisted births, to then choosing a free birth outside in her backyard at almost 43 weeks, Heather shares the journey of how her birthing experiences led her to the path of midwifery and her own self empowerment.
May 31, 2017•1 hr 34 min
Today we have the story of an intended free birth turned hospital delivery. After being abused at the local hospital with her first birth, Lynnea was left traumatized and knew she couldn't return there when she became pregnant again. She decided she would feel safest birthing at home on her own terms. However, as she got close to pushing, her boyfriend got scared and called 911 and they whisked her away. Lynnea did her best to return to the place of her first birth and still found a way to to bi...
May 24, 2017•1 hr 7 min
Today on the show we have Cristen Pascucci from Birth Monopoly. Cristen is an advocate for women’s rights in childbirth, who from her own child birthing experience was inspired to change careers and dedicate her life to leading the charge in birth rights activism. We get into the nitty gritty of how the obstetrical model of care is failing women and how it’s high time for us as consumers to speak up. Cristen is a force to be reckoned with.
May 22, 2017•1 hr 10 min
Today on the show we have the incredible Rachel from BC, Canada. She walked out of her first OB prenatal never to return, and went on to birth her four children and one miscarriage over the last 7 years with her husband on their own land. Rachel shares about her interesting life raising four kids off grid on a farm in Canada and how she learned to birth her way, in the house her husband built.
May 16, 2017•1 hr 7 min
After birthing five children unassisted, Laura Shanley wrote an inspiring book on how she did it. We get in to her personal story, from having child protective services take away her first born for five days, to an unexpected footling breech delivery, to birthing completely alone as a personal challenge - Laura really has done it all. We talk about loss, birth politics, and painless birth. Her book has inspired many to claim their birthing power and say no to routine care.
May 12, 2017•1 hr 39 min
After intentionally conceiving her daughter in Mt Shasta, Maya got strong intuitive wisdom that her baby wanted to be born in Maui. At eight months pregnant Maya made her way to the beautiful island of Maui in Hawaii. With the help of a dear brother, Maya birthed her baby in a small hut on her own.
May 06, 2017•54 min
In this episode, Emilee and five women, four of which are mothers, share what conscious conception means to them.
May 01, 2017•59 min
Today we have Melinda from Wyoming. After two midwife assisted births, Melinda free birthed her third child in the privacy of her home with her family surrounding her. From her husband missing her first birth, to driving 6 hours round trip to her midwife’s office with her second, to free birthing her third, Melinda shares how liberating it was to experience her third pregnancy being the one in charge.
May 01, 2017•52 min
