Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a connective tissue disorder that presents differently in each individual. For Emily, it significantly affected her digestive system. During her first pregnancy, she struggled with severe hyperemesis, unable to keep any food down at all. In this episode, Emily shares one of the most unique and challenging stories of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum I have ever encountered. Her journey is a powerful testament to the resilience of the mother-baby bond and her incred...
Jan 20, 2025•23 min•Season 6Ep. 3
After two hospital births—one of which was extremely traumatic—Laura decided to homebirth her third baby. During her 20-week anatomy scan, a velamentous cord insertion was discovered. Laura’s main concern with this complication was the risk of intrauterine growth restriction. She chose to closely monitor her baby’s size through ultrasounds, and by 35 weeks, it was clear she was carrying a large, healthy baby. Feeling confident, Laura moved forward with her plan to give birth at home. Her birth e...
Jan 13, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Season 6Ep. 2
I open season six of the podcast with the jaw-dropping story of a family who fled France after the authorities targeted them for freebirthing their baby. Katie initially planned a homebirth for her first child, but during labor, her midwife transferred her to the hospital, where she was given no option but to have a cesarean section. When Katie became pregnant with her second child, her family had relocated from the United States to Paris, France, due to a job transfer. Because of her prior cesa...
Jan 06, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 1
Katie’s journey with birth has been one of both trauma and triumph. It begins with an excruciating, 3-day Pitocin induction, ending in a c-section, which left her devastated and later diagnosed with postpartum PTSD. She endured months of nightmares, flashbacks, and depression. In contrast, Katie later experienced a second trimester loss, and says that her experience in the medical system managing the death of her baby was better than the previous live birth - because this time she had trauma-inf...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 49 min•Season 5Ep. 53
Julia became pregnant in December of 2019, right before the world shut down. She spent that pregnancy isolated, alone, and made to go to her prenatal appointments without her partner. Beginning at just 36 weeks, she was pressured to have a c-section, because her baby was breech. Deep down, Julia knew her baby was healthy, still growing, and perhaps still had time to turn. But after several weeks of unrelenting pressure from her doctor, she gave in and scheduled the cesarean. After this experienc...
Dec 16, 2024•30 min•Season 5Ep. 52
Patience is a doula and birth keeper, and was quite familiar with birth when it was time to have her first baby. She chose to give birth in a midwife-run birth center, but her labor progressed so fast that they never made it inside, and the baby was born in the doorway! When she became pregnant with her second baby, she wanted a more autonomous experience, and chose to birth at home with just her husband and a non-medical birth keeper for support. Patience has an unshakable faith in the wisdom o...
Dec 09, 2024•37 min•Season 5Ep. 51
Molly planned to give birth to her first baby at a birth center, but when she hit 41 weeks, she was bait and switched into a hospital induction. The Pitocin-induced birth was traumatic and excruciating, and ended with a week long NICU stay for her son. In retrospect, Molly believes the induction, and the trauma to her and her son, was completely unnecessary. It wasn’t until she began therapy at one year postpartum to address the scars of this first birth experience that she began to heal, and co...
Dec 02, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 5Ep. 50
Lea is the content creator behind the popular Instagram account @trusting_life_ , and host of the Wise Woman Diaries podcast. In this conversation, we go deep. Lea shares candidly about how a ten-year preconception journey has been the path that led her to soul, and, paradoxically, into true trust in her body. She shares what inspired her to create both Trusting Life and Wise Woman Diaries, despite being a maiden and not having experienced motherhood yet. We talk about the importance of story me...
Nov 25, 2024•47 min•Season 5Ep. 49
Alice was induced at the end of her first pregnancy, which ended with a forceps delivery and an episiotomy. The trauma and intensity of this experience profoundly affected both Alice and her baby, who was bruised and cut from the forceps. In the aftermath of this birth and postpartum time, Alice’s marriage ended - in part because of how difficult that first year was for them. But Alice found love again, and had a second chance at birth. This time, she chose a home birth with a midwife, which is ...
Nov 18, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Season 5Ep. 48
During Delainey’s third birth (her second freebirth), her baby experienced a true shoulder dystocia at his emergence - a complication that is almost never heard of in home or free births, and can be one of the few, rare, actual obstetric emergencies. His head was out for eight whole minutes before the rest of his body was born, and Delainey could feel exactly where his shoulder was stuck. Impressively, she and her partner stayed very calm and, guided by their intuition and intimate connection, w...
Nov 11, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Season 5Ep. 47
Emily, a former nurse of 13 years, shares the sweet story of the homebirth of her first born son. Since entering that rite of passage, her heart and soul mission has become focused on using her cumulative life experiences to walk alongside women and their families as they too cross the threshold. She helps to facilitate the deep inner work needed to prepare mothers for an empowering, physiological pregnancy, birth, & postpartum experience. She holds sacred space and advocates fiercely for th...
Nov 04, 2024•56 min•Season 5Ep. 46
The medical system couldn’t offer Tiffany the kind of birth she wanted for her twin boys, so she fired her doctor, and planned to birth them at home. Needless to say, this was a choice that took a great deal of courage, trust, and consciousness. All along the way, Tiffany was shown signs from the universe that she was on the right path, and was in alignment with what was right for her and her babies. Her twin boys, Astro and Cosmo, were born at home, in the presence of family, on Halloween! If y...
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 37 min•Season 5Ep. 45
Lindsey begins her motherhood journey with the experience of an ectopic pregnancy, which she - amazingly - resolved without taking medication or having surgery. Despite her being told by medical professionals that it would hard for her to conceive again, she did, easily. Her first baby was born in a hospital, and this experience left her knowing that she would never give birth in a hospital again. Her next baby was born at home, with a midwife. Lindsey then began working as a midwife apprentice ...
Oct 28, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 5Ep. 44
Maiken always knew a hospital birth wasn’t for her. When she welcomed her first child, it was at home, with only her partner and a doula present, embracing the power of her body in an intimate, natural setting. Her journey through pregnancy and birth wasn’t just life-changing—it was deeply healing. The experience reshaped how she saw herself, teaching her profound lessons about strength, letting go, and trust in her own body. In this episode, we also explore the evolving birth culture in Norway,...
Oct 21, 2024•36 min•Season 5Ep. 43
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 ...
Oct 14, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 5Ep. 42
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-cent...
Oct 07, 2024•37 min•Season 5Ep. 41
Step into paradise with me this week as my friend Taylor opens up about her deeply transformative journey from an unexpected cesarean with her first child, to the empowering experience of a homebirth on the beautiful island of Kauai with her second. Taylor's story is one of resilience, healing, and the power of trusting your body. Find Taylor on Instagram @mahina.risssing If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts ! Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth...
Sep 30, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 5Ep. 40
During Carey’s first pregnancy, her baby was diagnosed with Intra Uterine Growth Restriction (a fairly subjective label that means the baby is thought to be small, and it is not known why). Because of this, she was subjected to multiple ultrasounds during the last few weeks of her pregnancy, and highly pressured to induce. Carey refused to be induced, and went into labor spontaneously. The labor experience was colored by the fears of the medical staff, she was subjected to coached pushing, and a...
Sep 23, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 5Ep. 39
From the very beginning of her first pregnancy, Aeriel encountered discouragement and doubt from medical providers about her ability to birth naturally. Unbelievably, she was even repeatedly encouraged to end her (unplanned, but wanted) pregnancy multiple times by the first doctor she saw. Reasonably shook by this, she sought other care and found a birth center mid-pregnancy. Due to going to 42 weeks, she was transferred back to the same hospital that was affiliated with her first doctor to be i...
Sep 16, 2024•48 min•Season 5Ep. 38
From the moment she knew she was pregnant, Hari felt an extraordinary, intuitive bond with her baby. Guided by this inner knowing, she knew she would freebirth—believing this was the path her baby's soul desired. But at 34 weeks, things took an unexpected turn when Hari went into labor. Faced with the unforeseen, she chose to embrace trust over fear, staying true to her plan of giving birth at home, accompanied only by her partner. In a remarkable journey of intuition and courage, Hari allowed h...
Sep 09, 2024•41 min•Season 5Ep. 37
Midway through her pregnancy, Hope’s baby was diagnosed as growth restricted (IUGR), but despite concern from her doctors, Hope’s intuition was telling her the baby was okay. Her baby was also breech at that point, and never did turn. She was recommended to have a planned cesarean at 37 weeks due to both the IUGR diagnosis and the breech positioning, but this never sat right with her. She kept asking questions to her care team that she felt were not adequately answered. Amazingly, the hospital s...
Sep 02, 2024•27 min•Season 5Ep. 36
At fifteen weeks into her first pregnancy, Caroline began experiencing kidney pain, and was eventually diagnosed with a swollen kidney. Fear started to take root as she saw different specialists, all with different opinions as to how to resolve it. After a horrible experience with a nephrostomy bag (a bag to drain the kidney of pee that is attached to one’s back), Caroline consented to corrective surgery, at twenty two weeks pregnant, which then required a second follow up surgery. Throughout he...
Aug 26, 2024•1 hr 25 min•Season 5Ep. 35
Holly is a certified Fertility Awareness Method Educator and Licensed Acupuncturist. Her passion for periods and fertility stem from a long history of personal cycle issues. At 22, she was told she would likely have a hard time getting pregnant due to a consistently erratic menstrual cycle, and amenorrhea due to severe anorexia. A testament to the body’s innate ability to heal, it was during a passionate love affair in her thirties that she conceived her daughter, and had a beautiful, easy home ...
Aug 19, 2024•40 min•Season 5Ep. 34
Lindsay is a mother of three, photographer, birth coach, and podcast host at Birth Like a Mammal™, a community that teaches parents and doulas how to give birth like a mammal. After over a decade of supporting families as a doula and working in birth advocacy, Lindsay founded Birth Like a Mammal™ in 2023. She feels deeply that most issues within our society and culture can be solved by birthing in alignment with mammalian biology. In this episode, you’ll hear Lindsay discuss: How her background ...
Aug 12, 2024•44 min•Season 5Ep. 33
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 po...
Aug 05, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 5Ep. 32
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...
Jul 29, 2024•38 min•Season 5Ep. 31
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 ...
Jul 22, 2024•44 min•Season 5Ep. 30
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 th...
Jul 15, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 5Ep. 29
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 i...
Jul 08, 2024•28 min•Season 5Ep. 28
Couple Marion and Banks share the sweet, intimate conception and birth story of their daughter. Banks was Marion’s sole support during the birth and shares what it was like to witness, hold space, and have a vital role during the experience. I got to ask Banks some of the questions I have always wanted to hear from a conscious man about birth! Among other things, he speaks to: How witnessing his partner birth their baby at home, sovereignly, healed generational birth trauma from his family of or...
Jul 01, 2024•58 min•Season 5Ep. 27
