Arrivals: A Birth Story Podcast

This week, postpartum doula, Penny Gilchrist, joins Merelise to not only tell her two birth stories, but to talk about the importance of the postpartum doula role, how birth and postpartum trends have changed in her 27 years as a doula, what she recommends all new moms do, and so much more. They reflect on their experiences with post-partum depression, why it’s hard for new moms to ask for help, a...

This week, Merelise is joined by Jessica, who shares her four birth experiences. Jessica’s first three birth experiences in a hospital left much to be desired, and so for her fourth, she decided to plan a home birth. Jessica talks about how she felt a lack of control for different reasons during each of her hospital births, whether it was an epidural that left her feeling unable to connect with he...

In this episode, Merelise and her guest, Leah, dive deep into the world of preeclampsia and high risk pregnancy. Leah’s journey to motherhood was complex and scary at times, starting with an ectopic pregnancy in 2024, then a high-risk pregnancy later in the same year, during which she was ultimately diagnosed with preeclampsia and admitted to the hospital at 33 weeks. But Leah’s trials didn’t end...

Just like during birth, all modesty is out the window in this episode! Join Merelise and her sister-in-law, Abby, as they reminisce on the birth of Abby’s two children, who are now fourteen and twelve. Abby had a successful induction with her first and then went into labor naturally with her second, and both were born vaginally in a hospital but were very different experiences. They talk about wat...

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 feel...

Join Merelise and her guest, Courtney, as they discuss Courtney's first birth, which started with a Foley bulb + Cytotec induction. Her birth story has quite a few twists and turns, chiefly driven by her low platelet count and late preeclampsia diagnosis, and culminating in her hemorrhaging post-birth. Even after not a few complications, Courtney considers her birth experience a positive one - tal...

Join Merelise and her guest, Heather, who shares the birth stories of her three boys, all born vaginally in uncomplicated, peaceful, hospital births. If these two sound like old friends, it's because they are! They talk about their shared love of birth stories and keeping their babies' genders a surprise until birth, giving birth in the COVID era, big baby fears, prodromal labor, the perfect hint...

Join Merelise and her guest, Karen, 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 medical fi...

Join Merelise in the debut episode of Arrivals! She discusses her path to choosing an unmedicated hospital birth, going past her due date, induction fears, laboring without pain medication and ultimately welcoming her first son in the world. Special guest, Chris Wilson, joins the first episode to give his perspective as the partner of the birthing person. Want to be a guest on Arrivals? Contact Me...