Birth Tales

In today's episode we're hearing from Rachel about her third birth. Her 2 eldest children were born via emergency c-section and a forceps assisted delivery - experiences which Rachel found traumatic - and she knew she wanted to feel more present and involved in any subsequent births. Before conceiving her third baby, Rachel was diagnosed with congenital hepatic fibrosis;   a rare condition affecti...

In today's episode I'm speaking to Annie who conceived her little boy via IVF. After a clinical start to her pregnancy she had to work hard to rebuild trust in her body and found her yoga practice to be invaluable in helping her to reconnect to herself and her intuition. Towards the end of her pregnancy concerns were raised around her baby's size and after multiple scans to check growth and placen...

In today's episode we're hearing from Nina about the birth of her daughter Isla. Nina conceived a little sooner than planned and admits she knew very little about birth when she first got pregnant. She took an antenatal course and decided to go with the flow rather than overloading herself with birth prep. Around 41 weeks Nina chose to have a sweep and her labour began shortly afterwards. During a...

In today's episode I'm chatting to Leone about her positive homebirth experience. She loved being pregnant and really immersed herself in preparing for her baby's birth. Her labour began a few days before her estimated due date and she was surprised to feel all her contractions solely in her lower back. She laboured at home with the support of her husband and doula, using the TENS machine and the...

In today's episode Nicole shares her experience of consciously conceiving and birthing her son Oakley. She loved being pregnant and spent her time preparing for the transition from maiden to mother by hiring a doula, listening to positive birth stories and nourishing herself with good food, movement, yoga and massage. Having planned for a homebirth, Nicole and her husband spend the majority of her...

In today's episode I'm chatting to Laura about the birth of her daughter Winnie. Laura loved being pregnant; she enjoyed staying active and immersing herself in birth preparation. When her labour began and her contractions got going Laura found all the tools and techniques she had learned through hypnobirthing to be invaluable, but after a while progess slowed due to the baby's positioning and her...

In today's episode we're hearing from Georgie about the birth of her son Phaedra. During her first trimester she struggled with feeling unwell but put her symptoms down to her pregnancy. When things didn't improve over time her care providers investigated and Georgie was eventually diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and placed under consultant lead care. Conversations about induction started early as...

In today's episode we're hearing from Lily about the birth of her second daughter, Nancy. Lily loved being pregnant but definitely found it harder to create time to relax this time around. She planned for a homebirth and really enjoyed having all her midwife appointments at home, but admits she felt much more nervous about giving birth than she had during her first pregnancy. When her labour began...

In today's episode I'm chatting to Zoe as she shares her insights on loss, pregnancy and the postpartum period both as a mother and as a psychotherapist. Zoe shares her two heartbreaking experiences of miscarriage and the emotional challenges of pregnancy after loss. Aside from the understandable anxiety, her third pregnancy went smoothly. Her waters broke nearly 2 weeks after her due date but whe...

In today's episode Emma shares her stories of birthing her two daughters. Her first pregnancy went smoothly on the whole; she fell pregnant easily, was lucky enough to experience the sought after second trimester glow and married her husband a few weeks before the baby arrived. She talks us through the emotional challenge of becoming a mother having sadly lost her own mother as a teenager and how...

In today's episode we're hearing from Georgie about the births of her two sons. Despite struggling with anaemia and being in lockdown for much of it, her first pregnancy was overall very positive, but in the final few weeks after a loss in the family and talk of potentially having to birth without her husband present, Georgie's confidence began to waver. She went into hospital for a check up have...

In today's episode I'm chatting to Natalie about her 2 experiences of birth. Natalie conceived sooner than she had planned and found herself feeling disengaged from her pregnancy. Having prepared for a homebirth, her plans were derailed when the country went into national lockdown during the final few weeks of her pregnancy, so when her waters broke she transferred in to the MLU. After a long, unc...

In today's episode I'm speaking to Grace about the birth of her son Jude. Grace knew she was going to need IVF to conceive having had both fallopian tubes removed at the age of 22. As a nutritional therapist specialising in fertility she knew exactly what to do to help her and her husband prepare themselves so she talks us through the conception preparation they both undertook before their success...

In today's episode we're hearing from Jess. As a midwife and one of 10 siblings she was no stranger to the world of birth when she found out she was pregnant. Jess was lucky enough to have continuity of care from an amazing friend and colleague of hers which had such a positive impact on her experience. She chose to give have her baby in the birth centre where she worked. After a long latent phase...

In today's episode we're hearing from Anna about her two vastly different births. She admits she did zero preparation during her first pregnancy, seeing birth as something that simply had to be endured. As a result, when she went in for her induction she had no coping techniques to rely on and ended up having an epidural and forceps delivery. It wasn't until she took a hypnobirthing course whilst...

In today's episode we're hearing from Ellie who conceived both her little boys via IVF due to primary amenorrhea. She shares how she struggled with anxiety during her first pregnancy, not trusting in her body's ability to carry a child. Her and her husband moved out of London just weeks before Bowie was born and despite a short hospital stay at 38 weeks due to a hemiplegic migraine, Ellie went on...

In today's episode I'm speaking to Phoebe who birthed her daughter at home in Bali. Phoebe and her husband were advised they would probably need to conceive via IVF, but gave themselves a month to relax and have fun before starting treatment. Miraculously their daughter came through that month! When Phoebe started experiencing contractions on her due date she had no idea that her baby wouldn't be...

In today's episode we're hearing from Ellie who had her baby whilst living out in LA. Ellie fell pregnant quickly and went on to struggle with anxiety during her first trimester. She shares her fascinating account of navigating the US maternity system where she had difficulty finding midwifery lead care to support the physiological birth she was hoping for. She hired a doula to help her advocate f...

In today's episode we're hearing from Kat as she shares about the births of her two daughters. She used letrozole to help her conceive her first baby due to amenorrhea and her second was conceived after her first period in 13 years! Despite both babies being born at home, her two births were wildly different experiences; one ended with an episiotomy in an ambulance outside the house and the other...

In today's episode we're hearing from Minnie about the birth of her son Miles. Minnie fell pregnancy quickly and as an active person found the first trimester fatigue difficult. Despite feeling pretty good during the rest of her pregnancy she came up   against some challenges; from her 12 week bloods showing the baby had a high chance of having Down Syndrome to low PAPP-A levels and concerns aroun...

In today's episode we're hearing from Lucy as she shares her experience of birthing her daughter Freya. Her labour began when her waters broke dramatically at home one night. Her surges were irregular and remained so for the next 24 hours so eventually she was advised to have her labour augmented with a syntocin drip which she found intense but manageable. Despite accepting some interventions that...

In today's episode I'm chatting to Kim about her amazing homebirth. Kim fell pregnant a little faster than she expected and quickly decided homebirth was the best option for her and her baby. She threw herself into birth prep - reading books, listening to podcasts and seeing a women's health physio - which she found to all be very empowering. When her labour started at 4am her contractions came on...

In today's episode I'm sharing my own story of birthing my son Max. I touch on the experience of losing my first pregnancy at 12 weeks, how that loss affected my second pregnancy and the amazing support I received from my doula, acupuncturist and therapist. I talk about how finding out I was GBS positive influenced my choice of birth place and how much I enjoyed learning about pregnancy and birth...

In today's episode I'm speaking to CJ as she shares the story of her daughter Evie's birth. After being diagnosed with PCOS, CJ had been told she might struggle to get pregnant, so she embarked on an 18 month journey of changing her diet and lifestyle to prepare her body and optimise her chances of conceiving. Luckily she fell pregnant quickly, but she struggled with intense pelvic girdle pain dur...

In today's episode I'm speaking to Georgia who gave birth to her daughter Skye in the water in the MLU. She shares about finding out she was GBS positive during pregnancy, how she managed her diagnosis of gestational diabetes and why she loved having the support of a doula. When her labour began at 39 weeks Georgia stayed at home for as long as possible, so by the time she arrived at the hospital...