Australian Birth Stories

In today’s episode I talk to Anna about her beautiful VBAC in the midst of Covid-19. She describes her second birth, with daughter Juniper, as a birth of juxtapositions: an induced, drug-free, hospitalised, hypnobirth VBAC. It’s a birth story complete with an incredibly positive induction, strong midwife support, unwavering faith in body and mind and the immense healing of redemptive birth after t...

In today’s episode I chat to Steph who takes us through the heartbreaking experience of an ectopic pregnancy, something she knew nothing about at the time. After the loss of her baby and subsequent PTSD, she fell pregnant again and opted for continuity of care with a midwife in her local public hospital. After navigating postnatal anxiety and a gestational diabetes diagnosis, her waters broke at 3...

I interview Kate founder of Mere Botanicals about her three emergency caesareans, her third being the very first maternally assisted emergency caesarean birth in the Northern Territory. As a naturopath working in women’s health and fertility, she brings a holistic perspective to her story as she shares her experience with ectopic pregnancy, probiotics and vaginal seeding (transferring vaginal flor...

In today’s episode I interview first-time mum, Shuana, about her proactive approach to pregnancy and birth. When she found out she was pregnant she booked in with her local public hospital and was assigned continuity of care with a known midwife who fast became a precious support right through to postpartum. Shuana and her husband, Dan, did The Birth Class for birth preparation and felt incredibly...

In today’s episode I interview singer songwriter @alana.wilkinson about her pregnancy, birth and NICU experience. Her baby boy, Rafferty, was born at 24 weeks and surprised the neonatal staff with his strength despite his size (704 grams). Alana talks at length about her birth trauma, her NICU experience and the way music helped carry them through the long days and nights. Rafferty was discharged...

It’s estimated that one million Australians have an eating disorder with pregnancy and postpartum being high risk times for both the re-emergence or beginning of disordered eating habits. In today’s episode I chat to Olivia about how her history of disordered eating affected her pregnancy and postpartum experience, particularly the way she handled the drastic changes to her body after birth and th...

Pregnancy is one of the highest risk times for family violence and in today’s episode, Sara bravely shares her experience. After years of physical, emotional and verbal abuse, Sara got an intervention order and was under an alias in hospital when she birthed her first son. She then navigated years of court orders and visitations while receiving support from a family violence psychologist. Sara alw...

In my new online course, Welcome to the First Trimester, I talk with five perinatal specialists about everything you need to know about the first trimester, including:   - seeing your GP - choosing a care provider - navigating mental health concerns - physical changes and concerns - early pregnancy nutrition and supplements   Enter the code:save10 to pick up the course for $57 Hosted on Acast. See...

In today’s episode, I talk to Jen about her pregnancy, birth and traditional Chinese confinement during postpartum. Jen is a second-generation Chinese-Australian and while she was at first hesitant to embrace the confinement period after birth, when she left the hospital feeling frail, “like a creature born trembling, without fur or feathers” she accepted all the teas, soups and rest her mother an...

In this week’s episode I chat to Sarah, a mother of two and midwife who cherishes the work she does with pregnant women. When it came time to birth her first baby, she experienced a truly beautiful water birth in the birth centre surrounded by her fellow midwives. Her second pregnancy was symptom-free until her waters broke at 25weeks. She takes us through her experience, from the denial of what w...

In today’s episode I talk to Chantel about her three births. She suffered Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) in every pregnancy and was medicated early on to stop the vomiting. Her severe symptoms eased by 20 weeks but she still had to navigate intense nausea till the end of pregnancy. After two vaginal births in the hospital, she accessed continuity of care in a birth centre for her third. At 34 weeks s...

In today’s interview I chat to Queer couple Jess and Manda about the steps they took to create their family and the experience of being a gender non-conforming human while pregnant. We have a joyous and enlightening conversation about home insemination, pregnancy challenges, navigating the suggestion of induction when you’re an older mother, long labours, postpartum and the blessing of the village...

Emily Skye shares her first traumatic birth and her second accidental home birth. Emily doesn’t hold back on sharing the details of her birth experiences, including her challenging physical recovery and postpartum depression. A strong advocate for embracing and loving your body at every stage, Emily talks at length about her severe diastasis recti and hypertonic pelvic floor and the steps she took...

In this week’s episode I interview Ash who caught covid at 39 weeks. Her symptoms were mild and by the time she went into labour a week later, she was negative. Unfortunately, her partner, Tim, was positive and still had one more day in isolation. Ash takes us through her birthing day and details the moments she had to consciously surrender, accept the uncontrollable and turn inward to bring her b...

In today’s episode I chat to Nikki about her life in East Arnhem Land, her unexpected third pregnancy and the steps she took to actively prepare for her birth. You can hear the story of Nikki’s first two births in episode #113 but she also briefly talks about her second birth in this episode and details the challenge of shoulder dystocia, retained placenta and a postpartum hemorrhage. Her experien...

Today I chat to Ahlam, The Veiled Speechie, about her three births. She was under the care of the midwifery clinic at Bankstown Hospital for her pregnancies and admits that she did no preparation at all for her first birth which ended with an episiotomy and a vacuum delivery and led into a painful and challenging postpartum. As soon as she discovered she was pregnant with her second she started re...

If you need a laugh (don’t we all?!) make sure you listen to today’s chat with Amy @pickwick_and_sprout who shares her two birth stories with a good dose of hilarity. Amy admits that as soon as sperm met egg she started vomiting and she was eventually diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). Her pregnancy was not the glowing kind; she was exhausted, riddled with anxiety and constantly sick. She...

Mel’s story made headlines a few weeks ago when she had an unplanned homebirth and her baby was born unresponsive. NSW Ambulance was inundated and couldn’t assist so Mel and her husband, Alex, drove to hospital while she administered CPR to baby Ethan. Despite her harrowing ordeal, Mel shares her experience with clarity and it’s comforting to hear Ethan cry, squark and burp his way through the int...

In today’s episode I chat to Emma who shares her preconception journey in detail (a great tip for those of you planning to conceive soon!). She approached her pregnancy and birth preparation similarly by immersing herself in research and birth stories and The Birth Class. She was cared for by the Ngarrama Midwifery Group Practice in Brisbane and continued her high intensity training program right...

In today’s episode I chat to Millie who shares her preemie twin birth story. After a quick conception journey, she was looking forward to her 7 week dating scan after the fright of two incidents of implantation bleeding. Nothing could have prepared her for the news that she was pregnant with MCDA twins (one placenta, two sacs). Initially, in their own sacs, an ultrasound at 23 weeks confirmed that...

Today Brigitte goes to her most vulnerable place when she details the miscarriage she experienced before discovering she was pregnant with baby Willa, an experience made all the more difficult because of covid lockdown. Intent on birthing Willa at home with a private midwife, Brigitte prepared by listening to The Birth Class multiple times to make sure she was absorbing the information shared. She...

In this first episode of the year, I chat to Kate @katebloomdoula who shares the beautiful story of her two pregnancies, including her recent twin vaginal birth. Her first pregnancy ignited her passion for pregnancy and birth and after a positive and empowered experience, she trained as a birth and postpartum doula. Her intuition was undeniably strong when she discovered she was pregnant for the s...

In today’s episode, I interview Jodi Wilson. Jodi shares the pregnancies and births of her four children.  As a yoga teacher and childbirth educator, Jodi brings a beautiful perspective to her interview. She even shares some breathing techniques and tools she used in her births. Whilst each of Jodi’s births was drug-free and under the care of midwives, they were all quite unique in their own way. ...

In today’s episode, I interview Lauren and her mother-in-law, Donna. Lauren has MRKH syndrome and was born without a uterus so she knew from a young age that her fertility journey would be challenging. After going through IVF to retrieve and fertilise her eggs, Lauren handed her pregnancy journey over to Donna who, at the age of 50, carried Lauren’s baby. Surrogacy stories aren’t always straightfo...

In today’s episode, I interview Leah about her third birth; an unplanned homebirth. Leah shared her first two births in episode 162 and I highly recommend listening as she details her infertility and IVF experience as well as her traumatic second birth which led to a PTSD diagnosis. For her third pregnancy, she consciously immersed herself in birth preparation, embraced lessons from The Birth Clas...