Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast

Join Merelise and her guest, Karen Robbins, who shares the birth stories of her three girls, one singleton and one set of twins. They discuss Karen’s first birth, a vaginal delivery and what she described as an ideal birth, and then her second birth, which was a planned C-section with her twins, and the difficult recovery that followed. They also chat about what it’s like having a spouse in the me...

This week, Merelise is joined by her friend, Whitney Byerly, who shares her three beautiful birth stories. They also chat about drive through pregnancy appointments during COVID, placenta encapsulation, epidural limbo, and savoring those few, truly life changing moments we’re given.  Whitney’s first birth was a vaginal delivery in a hospital with no epidural. And while she felt at the time that it...

This week, Merelise is joined by mom, actress and postpartum doula, Sarah Morris Brower. Sarah opens up about postpartum healing, the vital role of postpartum doulas, and how birth trauma can linger even in seemingly healthy deliveries. Sarah’s first birth was unmedicated, in hospital, but her son ended up spending time in the NICU due to meconium aspiration. From the shock of an unexpected NICU s...

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses pregnancy loss. In this week’s episode, Nicole Connell, mama and founder of Mère, shares her raw journey through challenging pregnancies, prenatal depression, pregnancy loss and unplanned pregnancy, all while building a revolutionary healthcare platform designed specifically for moms at every chapter of their motherhood story. They also discuss the intense t...

Trigger warning: this episode discusses pregnancy loss.  This week, Merelise is joined by mom, actress, podcast host, author and so much more, Sarah Wright Olsen. Sarah reflects on her four kids’ birth stories, the transformative power of birth, surrendering, delivering big babies, grieving while pregnant, mourning pregnancy loss, and so much more.  They discuss the importance of addressing fears...

Merelise is joined this week by Ann Morris, a mama, doula and childbirth educator. Ann shares her three birth stories, which include two unmedicated hospital births and one home birth. Ann’s stories are all wildly different - between the three, she experienced an ambulance ride, a calm home birth, pre-rupturing of the membranes (PROM), a surprise gender mix up, an almost car-birth, and a last minu...

This week, Merelise is joined by model and mom, Baskin Champion McFarland, who shares the miraculous story of her son’s birth via emergency C-section. Baskin talks about the life-changing moment she decided to trust her intuition and go to the hospital when she felt like her baby had stopped moving in utero, the extremely fast decision to perform an emergency C-section (her husband almost didn’t m...

Merelise is joined this week by Shannon Howell for a conversation on all "the things they don't tell you" about birth, seasons of life, fourth trimester guilt, and so much more. Shannon’s first birth story began unexpectedly when she went into labor at 35 weeks while staying at an Airbnb as her husband was out with friends. After the initial disbelief that her water had actually broken that early,...

This episode is a candid, deeply emotional look into the realities of motherhood, trauma, and hope. Listener discretion advised for sensitive content involving grief and loss of a spouse.  In this episode of the Arrivals podcast, Merelise is joined by Julie Moran, aka Spilled Milk Mamma, who shares her perspective on the profound experiences of birth, motherhood and unthinkable loss. Julie tells M...

This week, Merelise is joined by Kait Swafford, who shares her two amazing birth experiences at the Atlanta Birth Center.  From the moment she became pregnant with her first, Kait knew she wanted a low intervention birth outside of a traditional hospital environment. When she heard about the option of the Atlanta Birth Center, she felt like it was the perfect “in between” solution for someone who...

Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussion of fetal loss and miscarriage.  Merelise’s guest this week is Carolyn Donaldson, who shares her experience with a rare condition called a bicornuate uterus. In this heartbreaking but also hope-filled episode, Merelise and Carolyn dive deep into pregnancy trauma, loss, and PTSD, but also the incredible ability of a mother’s heart to heal and hold on...

This week, Merelise is joined by her friend, fellow podcast host and Australian “twin”, Clare Hambridge. Clare shares the birth stories of her son and daughter and in particular, how her experience as an emergency nurse really colored her perspective on pregnancy and birth.  During Clare’s first birth she experienced cervical swelling likely due to her baby being in a “stargazer” position. This sw...

This week’s episode is a heavy one. But this podcast was created to be a space for every type of birth story: the miraculous, the devastating, and everything in between. Merelise is joined by the indelible Charles Johnson, dad of two and CEO of 4Kira4Moms. Charles shares with me the beautiful birth stories of his two sons, as well as the tragic story of how his late wife, Kira, lost her life after...

Join Merelise and her guest, Alexi, this week, as they discuss Alexi’s three vaginal births in the hospital. This episode has it all - one birth with an epidural and two without, two known genders and one surprise, two babies with gestational diabetes and one without…the list goes on and on for Alexi’s three very different births! They also discuss the choice to decline medical advice when you fee...

Join Merelise and triplet mom, Mindy Zeh, for Part II of their conversation. Make sure to listen to the end for a special guest (x3) appearance! Part I ended with the triplets being born via C-section after Mindy was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome. In Part II, they pick up with Mindy describing the ins and outs of what daily life looked like with multiple babies in the NICU. Mindy talks about the u...

Join Merelise and her dear friend and triplet mom, Mindy Zeh, for Part I of their conversation where they discuss navigating pregnancy with multiples and all the excitement, curiosity, and challenges that come with it.  Mindy shares every step of her journey as a mom, from the shock of finding out she was pregnant, to the bigger shock of learning it was triplets, to delivering three healthy babies...

Merelise is joined this week by Dr. Amy Meehan, who is a mom, entrepreneur and physical therapist specializing in women’s health, with an emphasis on pelvic floor conditions and orthopedic care.  Amy shares her three very different birth experiences and how each has taught her something unique. Her first birth and postpartum experience was marked by uncertainty and a lack of support. That experien...

This week Merelise is joined by her friend and Clover by CLOVE + HALLOW founder and CEO, Sarah Biggers Stewart. Sarah really wanted a low intervention birth experience with her first, so she planned a birth center birth, but ultimately ended up with a transfer to hospital due to meconium being present in her waters. After hours and hours of extremely painful back labor, Sarah decided to get an epi...

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses pregnancy loss.  Merelise is joined this week by founder + owner of Sculpthouse fitness studio, Katherine Mason Beasley. In this episode, Katherine tells the stories of her two daughters’ pregnancies and births, and the unique health challenges that came with each.  During her first pregnancy, Katherine admittedly didn’t want to know much about birth. After...

This week, Merelise is joined by chiropractor and mama, Dr. Rachel Stockwell, who shares the incredible stories of her three, beautiful water births at home. Rachel is a second generation chiropractor who grew up ingrained in the birth community and knew from a young age that she would always want to give birth to her own children at home. During her third home birth, Rachel experienced a rare occ...

This week, Merelise is joined by her friend and former colleague, Kiersten Saunders of rich and REGULAR. Kiersten shares the birth story of her son, Beau, one of the elite group of babies born on their due date! Beau’s birth started with Kiersten’s water breaking, after which they immediately went to the hospital just to hurry up and wait, when Kiersten’s contractions didn’t start for a while. Aft...

This week, Merelise is joined by model and mom, Baskin Champion McFarland, who shares the miraculous story of her son’s birth via emergency C-section. Baskin talks about the life-changing moment she decided to trust her intuition and go to the hospital when she felt like her baby had stopped moving in utero, the extremely fast decision to perform an emergency C-section (her husband almost didn’t m...

Join Merelise and her guest, Meg, as they delve into Meg’s two vaginal birth experiences, with an extra special guest appearance from Aubrey, Meg’s 10 week old daughter! Meg, who is a professional equestrian, did a lot of preparation for her first birth, from hiring a doula, to pelvic floor physical therapy, to yoga, in the hope of having an unmediated vaginal birth and being able to get back to r...

This week, Merelise is joined by her friend, Davis, who shares the stories of her two sons' births. Her first son was born via unplanned C-section after Davis stopped dilating and actually started un-dilating at 3 cm. She talks about how she knew very little about C-sections before she had one and the complex feelings she had after hers, including some guilt. When she got pregnant the second time,...

Join Merelise and her guest, Alison, who shares her two VERY different birth experiences. In this moving episode, Alison details what happens when the best laid plans go out the window and mother nature takes over. Her first birth was a straightforward, vaginal birth with an epidural at 40+3 weeks and her second was a surprise, precipitous home birth at 38 weeks, while Alison was home alone. She d...