Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond

In this episode, Oni speaks to Laura Latina. Laura is a midwife originally from Italy. She graduated as a Midwife in 2008. Her curiosity and inspiration for the world took her to travel around the world to meet many women and know different cultures. Laura spent a few years in Africa working as a midwife in birth centres or villages and then went on to graduate with a Master Degree in London in Re...

In this episode, Oni Blecher speaks to Madi Luschwitz about her triplet pregnancy, birth, and postnatal period. Madi, an artist, and her partner Nic, a movement and life coach based in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, got quite the surprise when finding out that their first pregnancy was triplets ! Young and healthy, Madi and Nic expected to conceive their first baby. They conceived more than they expec...

Birth Trauma Awareness Week 2020 runs from 7-13th September. Throughout the week, tune in to insightful, thought-provoking and deeply honouring stories and discussions with people who have experienced birth trauma, clinicians and researchers in this area and maternity advocates working to change the system. In this episode, Oni Blecher speaks with founder of Birthing Dads founder Steven Kennedy. A...

Maternal Mental Health Matters talks Birth Trauma with mother of two Kristyn Begnall. DEAR LISTENER, PROCEED WITH CAUTION (TRAUMA TRIGGER WARNING): in this episode we speak with Australian mother of two Kristyn about her traumatic birthing experience. The content may be upsetting for some - please proceed with caution. Birth Trauma Awareness Week 2020 runs from 7-13th September. Throughout the wee...

Maternal Mental Health Matters talks Birth Trauma with Dr Sarah Buckley. Birth Trauma Awareness Week 2020 runs from 7-13th September. Throughout the week, tune in to insightful, thought-provoking and deeply honouring stories and discussions with people who have experienced birth trauma, clinicians and researchers in this area and maternity advocates working to change the system. Sally speaks with...

This week is Birth Trauma Awareness Week 2020, where we are working with other maternity health advocacy groups to raise awareness around traumatic birth and the wider implications for inadequate care throughout the pregnancy, birth and postnatal periods of life. Here, Oni Blecher speaks to Rhea Dempsey; esteemed and highly sought after childbirth educator, counsellor, speaker, author and birth at...

Maternal Mental Health Matters talks Birth Trauma with Professor Jenny Gamble. Birth Trauma Awareness Week 2020 runs from 7-13th September. Throughout the week, tune in to insightful, thought-provoking and deeply honouring stories and discussions with people who have experienced birth trauma, clinicians and researchers in this area and maternity advocates working to change the system. Professor Je...

We're discussing working through big feelings surrounding racism and discrimination, being a woman and the power we have in our hands in this moment, being with what is, not what should be. Vanessa Alexandra Wood a local to the Northern Rivers, born to a Peruvian Mother and Argentine Father on the border of NSW & VIC in Albury/Wodonga. As a child and young woman growing up in a predominantly white...

Dr Bronwyn Bancroft is a Bundjalung woman and elder, an acclaimed artist and mother to three children, Jack, Ella and Rubyrose. In this episode, Bronwyn shares her experiences giving birth at home in the 1980’s with her oldest two children, and her third vaginal birth at a birth centre at 42 years. Bronwyn’s story dives into the way that she found and embodied the strength and courage to birth in...

Hazel Keedle is a midwifery researcher and lecturer at Western Sydney University and a PhD candidate. Hazel has worked in midwifery group practices, an aboriginal medical service, a variety of hospital settings and as a privately practising midwife in both city and regional locations.  Hazels passion for VBAC followed her own experience of having a VBAC with her daughter in 2008 and since then has...

In this episode, Oni Blecher speaks with 'Get Promoted Life'; a high level performance and life coach, specialising in optimising the relationship with self and others. This includes effective communication and how to connect more thoroughly and respectfully with self and others. She works with people of all ages but has a special ability and affinity with working with children, allowing and encou...

What does it mean to have an embodied pregnancy and birth experience? How can we tap into, and move forward, from our inner knowing? And how can we reclaim the sacredness of birth? In this episode of Pregnancy Birth and Beyond, Kirilly Dawn speaks with Maha Al Musa - internationally acclaimed independant childbirth educator and fierce advocate for centering the sacredness of birth in maternity car...

Sally speaks with Paulette Bray-Narai, a certified Nonviolent Communication (NVC) instructor about how we can reframe the challenges we find in life through the practice of NVC. NVC was developed by Dr Marshall Rosenberg in the US in the 1960's and has been used since that time to bring groups with vastly opposing views together to form peaceful agreements. The NVC process has 4 main steps: 1. Whe...

In this episode, Oni Blecher interviews Sali McIntyre. Sali is an Australian midwife, antenatal educator at Tweed hospital, Arvigo practitioner and teacher, and mother of four adult children, all born at home. Sali founded and runs 'Heart and Soul of Wellness', a wellness centre in Murwillumbah and has just released her first book; a comprehensive guide and to and history of Yoni or vaginal steami...

Today on the show we are speaking with Dr Belinda Barnett. Dr Barnett is a maternal health researcher, psychologist and community advocate for the protection of mothers’ human rights. Belinda recently completed a PhD at the University of Queensland, her thesis titled “Becoming a mother and mattering in early 21st century Australia”. Confired on March 27th, 'Becoming a mother and mattering in early...

Oni Blecher speaks to Naturopath and soon-to-be mother, Layla Metcafle about her observations of often mysterious and misunderstood condition Endometriosis. Layla shares from her well experienced professional vantage point and from her own personal seven year journey with Endometriosis. In March, the Australian government invested approximately nine million dollars in funding toward research of En...

In 2018 the Australian Human Rights Commission stated that the trend towards incarceration saw a 77% increase of women in prison, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women making up the majority of this increase. Indigenous women and girls are the fastest growing group of people being incarcerated in 'Australia'. Approximately 90% of women in prison are mothers, and the majority of these mo...

This is a special edition of Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond that commemorates our last broadcast after 9 years and 9 months of continuous weekly shows from 99.9 BayFM in Byron Bay. HOWEVER! Our weekly podcasts will continue each and every week. Catch some of the history from our current and previous team in this episode. This is a cut down version from our Facebook Live event recorded on 27 June 2020...

Hello dears! Annalee here.. Today's episode of Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond is all about optimising natural vaginal childbirth, I am so happy to be having Anna the Spiritual Midwife on the show today. Anna is a midwife and childbirth educator who is passionate about helping women optimise their chances of having natural vaginal childbirth. She runs online courses and in person support groups and on...

In this show Sally speaks with mother, doula, author and maternity services advocate, Catherine Bell, about the importance of thoroughly exploring your options for life after birth, the postnatal period and having a clear plan in place. As Catherine says "birth is just the beginning" - the beginning of a marathon in the first weeks, months and years of your baby's life, and like all marathons, pre...

Oni Blecher interviews Dani Wolff about her experience in learning and teaching food growing, earth building, and creating intentional community through earth nurturing principles. Having recently become a mother herself, Dani talks about how to apply community to Motherhood and Motherhood to the community. She also gives some practical advice for food growing through these shifting times.

Oni Blecher interviews Steven Kennedy about his work with Birthing Dads and inquires into Steven's birth story. Steven speaks to preparing fathers for birth and the postnatal period. He speaks about how fathers and male birth support are the 'sleeping giants' of the birth world and if fathers are more prepared, they could assist and take extra weight and responsibility off midwives. When Steven su...

This episode is in two parts: Firstly Sally speaks with Moran Liviani, mother of 3 girls and doula based in Brisbane. Moran talks about the trends she's noticing with her clients during the COVID-19 pandemic. She says all of her clients would choose homebirth, if they could afford it. And that these are families who would have never considered homebirth before but they have now come to see birthin...

Hello there wonderful people, its Annalee from PBB, in this episode of Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond I am chatting with Dr Igor Tabrizian from the Byron Bay Health Lodge (in Australia). The Health Lodge takes a modern and advanced approach to medicine and healthcare and provides meaningful continuity of care to its patients. Practitioners come with a holistic whole-person attitude to healthcare and...

Oni Blecher interviews dynamic couple Laura and Russell Brand on the importance of play, creativity and making a fun mess while also discussing the deeper topics of birth politics, making conscious informed decisions for birth, parenting philosophy and teamwork within the pregnancy, birth and postnatal periods.