Birth Choices

In this episode, we speak to our very first international guests, Úna and Andreas, who share their story of navigating their pregnancy and birth choices as expats having their first baby in Portugal. We hear about their experience of initially choosing a private obstetrician based on word of mouth, before changing care providers late in the third trimester once it became clear that there was a mis...

In this episode, we speak with Elysia’s younger sister, Corinne, who shares her journey from planning a publicly-funded homebirth to an unexpected diagnosis at her 20-week ultrasound that changed the course of the rest of her pregnancy and her birth. The ultrasound revealed Corinne had placenta previa, a marginal cord insertion, and an extremely rare condition called vasa previa. Corinne walks us...

In this episode we speak with Sammy Veall, artist and former yoga teacher and studio owner, about the contrasting pregnancy and birth experiences of her two boys. Sammy shares her experience of an unplanned caesarean in a private hospital under obstetric care, and how that experience shaped her decision to have a homebirth after caesarean (HBAC) with private midwives for her second son. Sammy spea...

In this episode we speak with Kelly Langford, co-founder of Victoria’s first private midwifery group practice MAMA Midwifery, about choosing private midwifery care for your pregnancy and birth. After being mentored into private practice early in her midwifery career, Kelly is a passionate advocate for families and midwives alike. Kelly joins us to talk about what a private midwife is, what continu...

In this episode we speak with paramedic and fellow student midwife, Ruth, about her experience of choosing her care provider and place of birth in her first and second pregnancies, receiving care from private midwives with admitting rights in a private hospital in Brisbane, and then after being unable to find that same model in Melbourne, choosing to birth at home with the support of private midwi...

In this episode we speak with Georgia and Talbot, barrister and engineer, about their decision to birth their first baby at home. Georgia and Talbot initially chose a private midwife as no publicly funded programs were running after COVID, but late in pregnancy, after agonising over the decision, changed to a publicly funded program. Georgia reflects on the impact of her mum’s work as a midwife on...

In this episode we speak with Res McCalman, a Ballardong woman, midwife and researcher who is part of the team responsible for the Baggarrook Yurrongi culturally inclusive caseload midwifery pilot program, a project which implemented continuity of midwifery care for First Nations women and babies at three key maternity sites in Victoria (with plans for expanded rollout). In this episode Res speaks...

In this episode we speak with Kyla about her experience of navigating her choice of pregnancy care provider, and deciding to birth in a private hospital under the care of an obstetrician, with doula support. Coming from the US, Kyla was drawn to the possibility of public maternity care and also knew from her research that midwifery-led care was appropriate for her and her hopes for birth.  Kyla’s...

In this episode we speak with first time parents Emily and Josh about their experience of navigating their choices in pregnancy and birth, and preparing for what was a beautiful physiological waterbirth in the public system. Em and Josh sought out continuity of care through their local caseload program, and chose additional support from a doula. We hear about the positive social influences on thei...

In this episode we speak with private midwife Clare from @tobirthbeautifully_ about the births of her four boys by caesarean section, and her various experiences of both labour and theatre. Choosing midwifery-led care (via MGP) for her first pregnancy, Clare takes us through her first labour and birth, and the choices she made which she feels contributed to her first caesarean section, setting the...

In this episode, Elysia and Alice discuss the role of a student midwife and why you might choose one to provide additional (and free) support to you in pregnancy, birth and postpartum. We discuss what’s involved, what some evidence says about the physical and emotional outcomes, and how you can find the right student for you.  Links For links to the studies discussed, as well as to the Facebook an...

In this episode we hear from physio and internal pelvic release practitioner, Olivia, about the births of her two sons. Olivia received private midwifery care in her first pregnancy. Her plans for homebirth changed when she chose induction at 41+3, and Olivia talks us through her experience of birthing in hospital without the support of her private midwife due to covid restrictions, and the unplan...

In this episode we speak Fiona Hallinan and Agia Nenke, midwives and internal pelvic release practitioners, about the role of the pelvis in understanding labour and birth, the role of soft tissue and the impact of tension, perineal massage (or more relevantly, perineal kneading, and what not to do!), spinning babies and how to best support women and babies bodies to work together and minimise trau...

In this episode we hear from co-host Alice and her husband Dave about their road from birthing in a private hospital under private obstetric care, through the grief of two miscarriages, to then birth at home via a publicly funded homebirth program. Alice looks back on her first vaginal birth, which she emerged from feeling victorious, now through the lens of greater understanding of birth and the...

In this episode we speak with obstetrician Dr Natalie Elphingstone about her obstetric training and how that contributes to a certain dominant philosophy of birth, her road to “doing” less and learning from and collaborating with midwives and doulas, the question of obstetric care for “low risk” or uncomplicated pregnancies, homebirth, curating postpartum support, and your choices in caesarean sec...

In this episode we speak with Karli Smith, a doula with a background in international human rights law and humanitarian aid, who now spends her time supporting women and birthing people on an individual and broader systems level in advocating for rights in maternity care. We speak about the role of doulas in pregnancy, birth and postpartum, the power and magic of birth and having someone hold you...

In this episode we hear from our very own Elysia, as she and her husband Andrew give us a snapshot of their first three birth experiences — the first two in integrated birth centres in the UK, the third in a Melbourne public hospital, before delving into what led them to choose homebirth for their most recent birth of baby number 4, at home via a publicly funded homebirth program.  We discuss the...

In this episode we welcome back Dr Hazel Keedle to discuss all things vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC). We speak about her research that collated in her book, Birth After Caesarean: Your Journey to a Better Birth, what informed consent looks like in this space, the benefits of relationship-based care, the four contextual factors impacting on women’s experiences of VBAC, and how the ripple effe...

In this episode we speak with postpartum doula, Jules Meyer of @flo.to.grow , about her experience of the “cascade of intervention” in her first birth following induction, her journey of preparing for a vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC), the ongoing advocacy required through her pregnancy, and birth, and how it felt to birth her second baby vaginally, both in those minutes and hours post-birth,...

This is Part 1 of our care provider choices mini-series. In this episode we walk you through the care provider options available to you for pregnancy, birth and postpartum care. We discuss care under the public system - from fragmented general care, to caseload/MGP continuity models, publicly funded Homebirth, and shared care with a GP or private midwife, as well as care from private midwives and...

In part 2 of our mini-series on care provider choices we speak with Dr Hazel Keedle, lead researcher on Australia's largest survey on women's experiences of maternity care, the Birth Experience Study (BESt). We discuss the findings explored in a few key papers emanating from the responses of 8,804 women to that survey, including key findings around “what women want if they were to have a...

Welcome to our introductory episode for birthchoices — the podcast. Meet co-hosts Alice and Elysia who introduce themselves and discuss their plans for the podcast — a platform to share digestible evidence and stories from families, as well as insights from experts, about the range of choices available to you in pregnancy, birth and postpartum.