Birthful

When you’re expecting, anxiety and worrying seem to take center stage, especially if you are categorized as high-risk. What can you do with these feelings? Can they affect your and your baby’s health? How do you make the mind-body connection work for you, to put this anxiety in its place? Parijat Deshpande has answers.  Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on...

Alaina Gay woke up excited and happy, thinking her water had broken, only to discover it was blood. Her planned birth center birth turned into an induction at the hospital, but thanks to compassionate care providers, that focused on her wellbeing as well as on a respectful transfer of care, Alana had the healthy and empowering birth she was looking for.  Get the most of this episode by checking ou...

With the legalization of cannabis expanding around the world, it’s time to have a nuanced conversation about its use during pregnancy and breastfeeding. What do we know about the health risks? What about the legal risks? Is a non-biased risk-benefit analysis centered on harm reduction possible, and what would that look like? Heather Thompson has answers.  Get the most of this episode by checking o...

Anne-Marie Shumaker’s story is epic no matter how you approach it. Her fertility process was an long road involving surgery, multiple rounds of IUI, and a devastating miscarriage. The birth itself included persistent back labor, stalling for hours at 8 cms, and a long pushing stage. And yet, holding her miracle baby released all her previous feelings of brokenness and fear.  Get the most of this e...

More and more, we’re acknowledging the menstrual cycle as a vital sign. Let’s take it one step further, to consider how the uterus connects to general health. What happens to the uterus during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum? Why is it important to restore the uterus after having a baby. Valerie Lynn has answers.  Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on the...

For her second VBAC, Kristen Bowles was almost sent home from the hospital, when she wasn’t progressing past 2 cm after more than 4 hours. As they were getting ready to leave, her water broke, and then she went from 4 cms to pushing unexpectedly fast, even though she was sitting on the edge of the bed about to get an epidural.  Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links l...

For Shea Cole, getting pregnant was easy, the trick was staying pregnant. After 3 miscarriages, getting to the end of a pregnancy was a huge mix of happiness and relief, yet it brought along its own set of unusual circumstances like Shea breaking her leg, having a stranger break into her house, and her water breaking 78 hours before the birth of her daughter.  Get the most of this episode by check...

Does your baby sleep with an open mouth? Do they make noise when breathing? Are they copious droolers? Do they have lip blisters? Do they hate tummy time, or have a lot of reflux? These are signs that oral function may need to be evaluated, but why does optimal oral function matter? Michelle Emanuel has answers.  Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on the sh...

During pregnancy and birth, it has somehow become OK for others to tell those giving birth, what they can and cannot do with their bodies, even when being subjected to unsafe care and in violation of their human and legal rights. So what can you do about it? Cristen Pascucci tells us more.  Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on the show notes page at birthf...

Alena LeShack went from not knowing anything about birth and considering a scheduled cesarean to preparing for -and having- an unmedicated birth. She had a flowing and empowering hospital birth, fueled by her confidence, the support of her team, and even a little dose of Virtual Reality.  Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on the show notes page at birthful...

I’m Adriana Lozada, and today I’ll be talking with Rebecca Dekker about Evidence Based Care, how it relates to Florence Nightingale, why it matters and how to bring its three components into your maternity care. We also talk about the evidence for using Castor oil as an induction method and much more.  Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on the show notes pa...

Laura Kline-Taylor spent most of her first pregnancy preparing for motherhood while healing from infidelity, and then had three days to get ready for an unexpected breech cesarean. Second time around, both she and her husband were in a much better place to come together to celebrate this new pregnancy, and intentionally prepare for an unmedicated VBAC. Listen to how she was transformed. Get the mo...

Elimination Communication it’s a way of responding to your baby’s pottying cues that can lead to being diaper free. This is what everyone did before diapers were invented, and how half the babies on Earth are currently potty independent by age one. Intrigued? Andrea Olson is here to tell us more.  Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on the “show-notes” page...

Returning to work can be a pivotal moment on your breastfeeding journey that stirs up all sorts of feelings. How can you prepare yourself, your baby, you caregivers and your workplace to set you up for physiological and emotional success? Robin Kaplan has answers. Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on the show notes page at birthful.com/podcast-back-to-work...

We continue to celebrate reaching 2 million downloads for the show! This is part 2 of my two-part minisode with some of my favorite birth mantras to convey physiology and help you navigate labor. If you haven’t yet, make sure you go listen to the previous episode first . These mantras are part of what I talk about with my doulas clients during prenatals, and I hope that they also prove super usefu...

Today we are celebrating 2 million downloads for the podcast, and so I’m doing things a bit differently. Instead of our regular episodes, this is going to be a minisode with some of my favorite birth mantras to convey physiology and help you navigate labor, but since we hit two million downloads, I’ll be sharing these mantras over two minisodes. You get one today and another next week. These mantr...

There are certain conditions where a newborn’s risk of hypoglycemia increases. What are those conditions? How and when are they tested for? If there’s a concern, does that mean your baby will get formula supplementation, and how does all of this impact initial breastfeeding? Dr. Casey Rosen-Carole has answers.  Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on the show...

Lydia Palermo’s first birth started with a premature induction for preeclampsia, and resulted in many interventions. When she was diagnosed again with preeclampsia during her second pregnancy, and was looking at another imminent induction, she did everything in her power to get labor going, to hopefully birth on her own terms.  Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links l...

If you’re pregnant, you may be sick of the question “When are you due?”, especially since the methods for calculating that date aren’t based on any current evidence. Only about 5% of babies are born on their due date, so why do we obsess? Gail Hart and her dogs tell us more. Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on the show notes page at birthful.com/podcast-d...

You’d think choosing a childbirth education class would be straight forward, but as with most birth-related things, the options are nearly endless. Should you take the hospital class or an independent one? Lamaze, Bradley, Birthing from Within, Hypnobabies, or something else? When should you start? What do they cover, and how can you tell if the instructor is any good? Sharon Muza has answers. Get...

Parijat Deshpande’s first pregnancy was extremely complicated and risky, with her micropreemie son being born at 24 weeks. So when it came to doing it again, the seemingly easier option was to use a surrogate. Or so they thought. Listen as Parijat takes us on an unbelievable rollercoaster of emotions that led to her taking home a healthy, full term baby girl.  Go to birthful.com/simplybreastfeedin...

The good news is that figuring out how to parent your newborn is something you can do while you discover what type of parent you want to be, and most of the time, your baby will lead the way. The even better news is that it will probably involve a skin-to-skin extravaganza. Dr. Bob Hamilton is here to tells us more. Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on the...

If you had or have a baby who is suspected to be big, your provider may have talked about the risk of the shoulders getting stuck, and maybe suggested an earlier induction or even a cesarean. But how often do the shoulders get stuck? What are the risks? Does it happen more to big babies? Are there ways to prevent it, and what can you and your provider do if shoulder dystocia happens? The ever amaz...

What can you do after a truly exhausting birth leaves you in a daze, you’ve got intersecting breastfeeding issues and postpartum anxiety, you feel you are bonding more with your breast pump than your baby, have to return to work, and you don’t know how to ask for help? Sarah Fowler shares her experience. Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on the show notes...

With a very underdeveloped brain that is making over a million connections per second, newborns occupy a unique reality. What do you as a parent need to know in order to tap into their built-in instruction manual? Greer Kirshenbaum has answers.  Get the most of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on the show notes page at birthful.com/podcast-newborn-brain Click to grab my...