Happy Homebirth

How long did you wait to tell your friends and family about your pregnancy?  No time? 8 weeks? 12 weeks?  What about 6 months?    Today’s episode with Alissa covers an incredible array of stories, and she bears her soul with her experience.  I feel so honored that she shared her stories, and I know you’ll feel the same when you hear them.  I do of course like to mention when stories contain especi...

What does it mean to fully embrace motherhood? To fully embrace the God-given responsibility of caring for your children?   This week, we're speaking to Courtney Valdez, a 26-year old mom of two beautiful girls + a business owner/hairstylist, with a love of homemaking and holistic wellness. Courtney's experience of pregnancy and birth has changed the way her family lives in every way for the bette...

What happens when God uses birth — and even loss — to refine your faith in ways you never imagined? Welcome to Episode 300 of the Happy Homebirth.  Wow, 300 episodes of real, raw homebirth stories, and you’re about to meet your match with this week’s guest. This week, we’re speaking to Rachael Nalley, a home birth doula, micro-baker, and mother of four living in Travelers Rest, South Carolina. Rac...

What do you do when an OB refuses to support your VBAC, and then no other local OBs will take you on as a patient because they don’t accept transfers from other OBs?  Where do you go? This week we’re speaking to Alicia Downey, a military spouse who has lived in 4 states over the last 5 years, is a mother to two wonderful daughters, and a registered nurse. Alicia is currently staying at home with h...

Hey there Happy Homebirthers, I’ve got a fun little treat for you for this week.  Instead of our usual interview setup, I wanted to share a podcast that I was on recently.  My friend Sarah at Entering Motherhood recently had me on her show to discuss homebirth and storytelling–particularly healing through storytelling.  These are two of my favorite topics, so I wanted to give you a chance to liste...

If you choose to have a freebirth, you must be some kind of fearless superwoman, right?     This week we’re speaking to Charissa Blair.  Charissa is wife to Adam and mother to her freebirthed first baby, Leviticus, with a second baby on the way.  In this week’s episode, we’ll hear why Charissa decided to give birth unassisted with her first baby, how the birth unfolded, and how it has impacted Cha...

Homebirth is great, but if you do happen to have an emergency at home, you’ll always wish you were at the hospital, right? This week we’re speaking with Kennedy Voetberg.  At 18, Kennedy became fascinated by the birthing process and underwent training to become a certified birth doula. Almost a decade later, Kennedy is married to her husband, Deter, and together they have 3 children with their fou...

  How would it feel to be supported in your pregnancy and birth by the women of your family?    This week we are speaking to Miriam McCuiston, a stay at home mom to her daughter Zoe. She is married to her husband and best friend, Kyle. Miriam is learning all new things about being a homemaker and mama, and as we’ll hear in her story, she has women around her who are deeply encouraging her and chee...

Raise your hand if you’ve experienced a symptom or two in pregnancy that you wish you could get to the root of and heal.  Food aversions?  Morning sickness?  Full on Hyperemisis Gravidarum?   This week we are speaking to Jes Reynolds, a holistic health practitioner and founder of The Wellness Element, where she guides mothers to protect the health and wellbeing of children by reclaiming their intu...

The word Midwife means ‘with woman’-- what does it mean to be ‘with woman’? What does it look like, and how does it feel?   This week we are speaking with the incredible midwife, published author and poet, Janelle Alier, who in my opinion is the embodiment of genuine midwifery care.  We’re going to hear how she became a midwife, or how midwifery happened to her, we’ll hear her journey through her...

Husbands, what can you tangibly do to support your wife during postpartum, especially those first few critical weeks?     And today we’re having a GUEST interviewer! My very own hero of a husband, Thomas Fusco.  Thomas will be taking over the interview reins as he sits down with a father-to-father chat with Eric Stein, CEO of Restorative Roots, and husband to Holly Stein, last week’s podcast guest...

What do you think you’ll want your first meal to be after having your baby?  And does it really matter how we’re fueling our bodies after the baby is born?     Holly, her husband Eric, and their 3 children live in Southern California, where they love homeschool, skateboard, and cook.  They have built an incredible company, Restorative Roots, that delivers nutrient-dense postpartum meals to mothers...

We talk about trusting your instincts a decent amount around here– but what does it look like to LEARN how to lean into those instincts?     This week we’re speaking with Lisa, who found the confidence to trust her instincts during pregnancy, which has changed her trajectory both as a mother as well as an entrepreneur and coach. Lisa Villani is a rebellious doula, sassy sales coach, hip-hop dancer...

If you had an arduous labor due to your baby’s positioning once, it’s sure to happen similarly if your next baby takes the same position, right?   Ashley Atwood and her husband Sam have 3 active and lively boys. They are a homeschooling family and love adventure and being outdoors. Ashley is a self described birth nerd and loves educating herself about all things birth and pregnancy and discussing...

Vaginal births after cesarean- are they really safe?  And what about vbacs at home, or outside of the hospital?   This week we’re speaking with Meagan Heaton, Host and founder of The VBAC Link. Meagan co-founded the VBAC Link in 2018. Although she always felt called to the baby world, she really found her love for birth in 2014 after her second C-Section. Through these two birth experiences, her l...

Is it possible to hold space for both joy and grief simultaneously?    This week we’re speaking with Ivana Burbage.  Ivana is a mom, wife and photographer from San Diego but now lives in Hawaii with her husband Justin. She loves being creative, surfing,  spending time in the ocean and since having her babies is passionate about birth and motherhood.    And as Ivana’s story unfolds, you will certai...

Does an empowering birth change you all at once?  Or does it do so incrementally?  Pulling back layers as time goes on, exposing truths– behaving more like a well-cultivated seed than an instant shift?   Abigail Pyle is wife to her husband Jeff, and a stay-at-home mom of five very energetic and delightful children ages 10-2 years. She is navigating homeschool and parenting on the Central Coast of...

What’s the best way to enter birth?  Is it with a completely blank slate- not allowing the stories of others to influence your own experience, or…. Is there benefit to listening to the raw stories of others: the gamut of experiences to know what’s possible?   This week we’re speaking with Dr. Elliot Berlin, who we last spoke to on episode 229 titled Have an Informed Pregnancy with Dr. Elliot Berli...

How do you discern the difference between fear mongering and true concern?   Scarlen is a home birth mom from Chattanooga, TN. She is a wife to Manny and together they have 5 boys. After a rough hospital birth with her first, she knew there had to be a different way to birth. When she became pregnant with her second boy, she decided she would birth at home and has not looked back since. Her love f...

The pelvic floor: it can be wounded during childbirth– but– could it be healed during the process instead?   Victoria Hedrick is a wife to her wonderful husband Jonathan, and the mother of their almost three year old daughter, Josie. They live on a small piece of land in Virginia that they are slowly turning into a homestead. Victoria enjoys fishing, canoeing, baking sourdough, and all things babi...

The pelvic floor- can you truly heal it and restore function?  Or is there a point where you’re beyond help?   This week we are speaking with Paris Latka. Paris has been involved in the practice of Bowspring since 2016, and this transformative movement system has deeply reshaped both her body and her life. Teaching for the past six years, she shares this work from a place of embodied passion and r...

Breech birth is supposed to be rare, right?  How would you feel if you had more breech babies than head down babies?!   This week we’re speaking to Stephanie Kase, who has had twice as many breech babies as she’s had cephalic presentations!  Stephanie is mama to 3 under 3, wife, and online business coach from Greenville, SC. She's married to her husband, Michael, of 7 years with 3 girls - twin tod...

If you had a pretty good experience in the hospital with your first baby, what’s the point of changing things up with subsequent births?   Today we’re speaking with Kylie, who is living the dream as a stay at home mom of 3. She is married to her husband of 10.5 years, Tim and they live in Franklin, TN. They are passionate about embracing the adventure of life wherever it takes them and celebrating...

What is the balance when it comes to preparing for our birth, but also holding it all with an open hand, knowing that outside factors can contribute to our experience?   Sara West and her husband Andrew live on Florida's sunny Space Coast with their four children. Her passions include writing, singing, drawing, and crocheting, though she has a little less time for those things while starting her h...

You’re either for something or you’re against it, right? Like, you either love ultrasounds or you don’t.  Or you want testing done or you don’t….. Or… gasp, could there be more to it than right or wrong?   This week we’re speaking to Taylor Shaffer: a wife, mother of two beautiful girls, holistic doula and online educator. She is passionate about nourishment, holistic living and taking radical res...