Birth With Power

In honor of our family adopting a new dog, I decided to rebroadcast this episode about making sure your dog and new baby get along! This is a delightful interview with Michelle Stern from Pooch Parenting. Michelle is a mom, certified dog behavior consultant and trainer, and a former teacher of 16 years. She uses positive-reinforcement based methods for training based on the latest science of anima...

This episode is being brought to you by Ellement prenatal supplements. I talk a lot about how all birth is natural and having a cesarean is no exception. I’ve had two myself, after all. Today’s guest, Meghan, opted for a semi elective gentle cesarean. In this episode she gets into what that looked like for her and why she made the decisions she did. Now, Meghan’s birth story takes place in Texas....

I have been wanting to have a midwife on the show for a long time. It’s a big topic and I knew I had to get it right. That’s why I’m so thrilled to have Gianna Fay on the show today. Gianna Fay is a Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) and Women's Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP-BC). She has been a part of 600+ births and has worked in a variety of settings including out of hospital birth centers, la...

Warning: this episode contains discussion of pregnancy loss Technology is going to increasingly become part of the way we live and the way that we care for ourselves physically and emotionally; smartphones are here to stay and it’s important to figure out how to use that technology to our advantage. And that’s why I’m so excited to chat with Simmone Taitt. Simmone Taitt is the CEO and Founder of P...

Hey there! I’m still on vacation this week and spending some time with my family so enjoy this rebroadcast birth story episode from Brooke. This is just a really lovely birth story of an unmedicated hospital birth. Now I know you love birth stories because you tell me that those are your favorite episodes. So what if I told you that there will be a way for you to easily listen to all the birth sto...

Hey there! I’m on vacation this week and spending some time with my family so enjoy this rebroadcast episode of the podcast with birth photographer Tavia Redburn. I used to think that birth photography was a bit of a luxury, but the more I learned about it the more I started to think that all parents should consider whether they'd like to have a photographer present for their birth. To talk ab...

In this episode of the podcast, being brought to you by Ellement prenatal supplements, we have Tarynn sharing her birth story. Tarynn is actually one of the members of The Birth Preparation Course. Things didn’t go exactly as planned with her birth, in fact they went exactly the opposite. Now it would be easy for me to only share birth stories from course students where everything went great but t...

This is the 3rd episode in a series about preterm birth. The first episode, 163, was about risk factors for preterm birth. 164 was about preterm labor which accounts for 40-50% of preterm birth. That episode covered what preterm labor is, how to recognize it, and how it’s treated. In this episode you will learn about preterm premature (or prelabor) rupture of membranes (PPROM).   Approximately one...

Preterm labor might not mean what you think it does. You’ll learn all about what it is (and isn’t) in this episode. This is the second in a three part series on preterm birth - you can go back and listen to the previous episode if you’d like to hear about some of the risk factors. Now in today’s episode I’m not going to talk about what happens if you have a preterm birth, i.e. the outcomes for bab...

Today’s episode is one that I’ve had in the works for quite a while. A lot of folks have been asking for it so I’m excited to bring you this episode about preterm birth. I will follow up this one with episodes on the two most common causes of preterm birth so stay tuned for those, as well. Preterm birth is relatively common. There are some physical risk factors that you can't do anything about...

This is a difficult birth story episode. Molly experienced an induction before her due date, was denied an epidural at the hospital, and was denied the ability to get up and move around during labor despite having an uncomplicated pregnancy. One of Molly’s regrets is that she took her doctor’s advice to skip birth education and birth planning. Molly felt blindsided by the twists and turns her birt...

This is a really fun episode about music! I really do wish I had this information when I was pregnant. I know it feels natural for a lot of us to sing to our babies and it turns out there’s a reason for that. As our guest Vered Benhorin explains, there may well be some compelling science behind the benefits of music both before and after birth. A mother of three, Vered knows a thing or two (or thr...

In today’s episode you’re going to learn 9 tips for having an unmedicated birth. This is an episode I initially did over 3 years ago. From time to time I like to go back and revisit older episodes as new information comes out or I learn new things. So we are revisiting those 9 things with some additional tidbits of advice. Why do I say unmedicated instead of natural? Well, because that’s what it i...

Sydni had her son at 19 and is now 25. Even though Sydni’s story is from a few years ago, there’s still a lot to learn from it. She had her baby a little early at 36 weeks and you’ll hear about how, after a slower start, things went super fast - so fast it shocked her mother and caused her to faint at the hospital! She had her baby at a young age and although it forced her to step up, her partner...

The earlier you can start thinking about the postpartum period, the better. Just like all other parts of birth, everyone’s postpartum experience will be different. There are both physical and mood disorders that can affect some people. Oftentimes even experienced care providers can overlook planning for this crucial period and that’s why Nicole Makowka is here today. Nicole is a licensed marriage...

This episode is about racial disparities in ob/gyn and its release coincides with Black maternal health week. Founded and led by the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, BMHW is a week of awareness, activism, and community building intended to deepen the national conversation about Black maternal health in the US. To be honest I’m actually a bit tired of talking about disparities. The problems and root ca...

In this episode we’re talking about headaches in pregnancy. Headaches are common in general and also in pregnancy so I thought I’d tackle this topic. We will be focusing on primary headache syndromes today. A “primary headache” is when the headache itself is the disorder, whereas a “secondary headache” refers to one that is a symptom of an underlying issue. I do talk about when it’s time to take a...

I needed to take a little break this week but will be back next week with a brand new episode! In the meantime DM me on Instagram with the word REST and I'll send you a coupon code to get a discount on The Birth Preparation Course! I'm on instagram @drnicolerankins .  Take some time to REST if you need to and I'll see you next week! Our Sponsors: * Check out Avocado Green Mattress: htt...

Just because an outcome is unlikely doesn’t mean it isn’t going to happen. Birth stories are entertaining and heart-warming, but don’t forget that they are also educational. Learning about other people’s births will expose you to different possibilities. And that’s exactly what today’s guest, Karrah, did. A self proclaimed “podcast junkie,” Karrah filled the time during her pregnancy with long wal...

Today you’ll learn about what happens if your baby is breech. I originally talked about this three years ago and it came to mind because recently I did a surprise vaginal breech birth and after that I had folks saying they wanted to come to me with their breech babies so they could have a vaginal birth. I’d love to be able to see everyone who asked but breech birth is not that simple. Now what doe...

Pregnancy doesn’t mean putting your fitness on pause. MacKenzie Rowand is a new mom and exercise specialist with 9Round. She has an extensive background in wellness and there’s a lot to learn from her personal journey with fitness and pregnancy. She continually had to change the way she ate and exercised during all parts of pregnancy and through recovery. Flexibility and meeting yourself where you...

Brittany had a pretty long labor. It lasted for over 36 hours before she had a cesarean. She was induced at 39 weeks and 4 days by her own choice and with the support of her doctor. However, as we all know, birth does not always go according to plan. After the first few hours she had dilated to 3-4cm, but an entire day later she had not progressed. What sticks out to me in this story is the care t...

In today’s episode I'm sharing 9 important tips to help you make sure you have the right doctor for you during your prenatal care. Emphasis on YOU because it really is going to be individualized to your unique needs. A doctor who may be great for one person may not be great for another. There is not a one size fits all approach. In order for you to find the right doctor you’re going to need to...

In this episode we’re talking to Ashley Greene who is a surrogate. I wanted to chat with her because I know I have a lot of listeners who are not yet pregnant and I thought it would be good to talk about this as an option to expand your family. There may also be some folks who are curious about being a surrogate and what it’s like. Plus, I personally just wanted to know more about the subject. I l...

This birth story is a little different because we’re going to talk a little bit about all 3 of Taylor’s births. Her stories are really a metaphor for life; you have some good moments and some not as good moments and we all have to work at managing that. As a matter of fact her mother told her she should not share her stories because everyone would hate her. But I wanted to share her story because...