Doing It At Home - The Home Birth Podcast

What helped you when you were preparing for home birth? For Paige, “Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth” and Doing It At Home podcast were two of the biggest resources in her journey. In Paige’s submitted audio story, she walks us through her preconception journey as well as the planning for home birth and the birth of her son, Cole. Themes and topics from Paige’s story: Unexplained infertility and stru...

What sort of stuff do I need to prepare for a baby? Great question. And what if it’s not about the “stuff?” What if we focus less on the “stuff” and look more at the support and resources that mothers and parents need after they have a baby? Enter Be Her Village, an online cash gift registry where parents can select services and support for friends and family to contribute to. You can customize yo...

But what about the bag of waters?! We answer this and other questions that we received as follow ups to our second home birth story for baby Naomi. There were also some things from the birth story that we forgot to mention and wanted to expand upon further. This includes but is not limited to: crying during labor, the cord snap, birthing the placenta and the moment when we discovered that baby was...

When did you first learn about home birth? For today’s mama, Celia Donaldson, she herself was born at home. So for her growing up, it was just “normal.” So there didn’t have to be this explanation and deep dive into what it was or why people might choose it. It’s this normalcy that carries through how Celia shares her story, from research she did while pregnant, the conversations with her partner...

Enjoy another listener story submission! This one is from Lauren Carney about the birth of her son Jasper. Things mentioned in this story: Advocating for yourself Looking into a birth center Care providers that make you feel safe and care about you properly Falling in love with midwifery Switching plans at 24 weeks from OB to midwifery Baby flipping positions Humming through contractions Water eas...

How do you know when labor is starting? This is a question we put out there into the community, and received some really great answers and examples. So we’re sharing them with you! Plus our experience of what it was like when we realized it was “game time” -- what it felt like, what was going on, and what we did once it was clearly active labor. There’s a wide range of possibilities and experience...

FINALLY! Our second home birth story. At 12 weeks postpartum, we are sharing the details of the birth of our second daughter, Naomi.  Offers From Our Awesome Partners: Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH23 to get 20% off your order or DIAH100 for $100 off a Complete Plan More From Doing It At Home: Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU DIAH Website: https://www.diahpo...

Why home birth? For today’s DIAH Mama Holly Leever, her answer was: “I knew I would be more comfortable at home and would avoid a lot of unnecessary interventions.” This episode is part of a new format and style we will be featuring on the podcast every so often - a non-interview audio submission from listeners sharing their birth stories with us. We’re excited to have this as another way to bring...

Who knew they were going to have a home birth before ever becoming pregnant? This was the case for Lisa Hendrickson-Jack, today’s guest and creator of the “Fertility Friday” podcast and author of the book “The Fifth Vital Sign.” Lisa is a holistic reproductive health practitioner specializing in fertility awareness method. She’s helped thousands in their reproductive journeys. And today, we get to...

Can birth just be wonderful and beautiful and simple and uncomplicated? Absolutely! Every story is unique and every story matters. We love how we are able to present the variations here on the podcast. Today we get to hear Steph Greunke’s birth stories: 2 home births. Things we talk about in this episode: Links From The Episode: Steph’s website: www.stephgreunke.com Steph’s program: www.postpartum...

How often is intervention necessary? From what we’ve found and learned in the hundreds of stories on this podcast, more interventions seem to be unnecessary rather than necessary. In Stephanie King’s stories, she talks about the cesarean for her first birth being unnecessary. From there, she walks us through her journey to a VBAC in a birth center and then a home birth for her next 2 births.  Step...

Is it possible for a birth experience to empower you and leave you feeling a little defeated at the same time? That was what Dr. Brittany Zis thought about her home birth, at first. For one thing, it was 55 hours long, and a couple of unplanned factors popped up - like her cervix being completely closed after almost a day of contractions, pushing challenges and baby changing position at the last m...

Would you try again for a home birth if it didn’t happen the first time? Today’s guest, Britt Anderson, walks us through 3 very different birth experiences. From a hospital transfer for cesarean, to another hospital transfer with VBAC to a home birth. Britt also shares how her history as a nurse, doula and her expertise in women’s health and wellness fuels her passion for preconception care.  Thin...

Do you feel like you have control when it comes to your pregnancy and birth? In today’s birth story, we chat with Kathryn Langlois, mama of 3 from Alberta, Canada, about the details of her 3 pregnancies and births.  2 hospital births and 1 birth center birth. Her third birth felt “uncontrolled” – unlike her previous births. So because of that, in a way, she felt like a first-time mom in that birth...

Why do a small percentage of planned home births transfer to the hospital?  There are a number of reasons. In today’s conversation with our friend Anne Margolis, certified nurse midwife and a powerhouse in the birth world. She has personally helped usher in over 1000 babies into the world. We’ve had her on the show a few times now and it’s always magical to speak with her, because she ends up blow...

How do you truly honor birth? Dr. Nathan Riley joins us for the second time on the podcast. First time was back in 2019, and a lot of life has changed for him. For one thing, he’s welcomed both of his daughters into the world. And today we talk about the home birth of the youngest (about 5 weeks old at the time of this interview). Nathan shares his perspective of the experience, as a father, partn...

What would you do to get the birth you want? Change plans at 33 weeks, talk to different providers, get your partner on board? These are all themes of today’s story with Kseniya Gadh. Her first birth was a bad experience in the hospital. For her second birth, she switched to a home birth plan around 33 weeks, even with circumstances like gestational diabetes and previous preeclampsia. Kseniya is a...

How do you feel in a hospital environment? Many choose home birth because of a bad experience (whether birth-related or not) or general dislike with the hospital. In today’s story with Sophia Pavia, an unpleasant experience in the hospital during her first pregnancy added to her reasoning for having a home birth. But that wasn’t the only reason. She herself was born at home and her sister had home...

Can you over prepare intellectually for birth? This is a topic that comes up in our interview with Shira Page, NP and CLC. According to Shira, when it came to her first birth: “I had been planning to deliver at home my entire life because my mom gave birth to my brother at home. We did Bradley, I read all the books, watched all the documentaries, and listened to DIAH non-stop. My labor at home was...

How do we make birth better? Today we’re chatting with one of the country’s top leaders addressing this question, and not just addressing it, but matching his conviction with his actions. They say don’t meet your heroes...but I don’t think they included “birth heroes” in there. Because you should definitely meet those people! Dr. Stu Fischbein joins us at Doing It At Home for a powerful conversati...

How can you take your power back after it feels like a previous birth experience took it away? Today’s story with Karine Halle features details of trauma from a hospital birth for her first child and how she was determined to have a home birth for her second.  In between her first and second birth, she felt called into doula work and became passionate about supporting families in the birth experie...

Have you had feelings of fear, guilt and or shame around sex? If you have, you are most certainly not alone. In fact, you’re likely in the majority. We just don’t always talk about it because of the perceived taboo aspect of it.  We love tying in the conversation of intimacy and sensuality with birth - we’ve had a number of guests on the show who reference it and we’ve shared it in some of our own...

Welcome to our final pregnancy update episode! We’re at 37 weeks when we record this. It’s our last time recording before the baby arrives. Stay tuned for the birth story to drop in the beginning of 2023! We talk about: Our family babymoon Tests and test results like blood work, Gestational Diabetes and GBS Our midwife appointments Bodywork in pregnancy Halloween costume during pregnancy Baby show...

Today we’re chatting with Kaitlin McGreyes about the birth of her 3rd child, which was her first home birth. After a cesarean and then a hospital VBAC for her first two births, she decided to have a different experience for her third. Kaitlin was a doula for 2 years before her home birth. And interesting fact: in the beginning of her doula work, she was against home birth. We talk about the shifts...

Is it possible to have good collaborative care with a team of different practitioners when planning for home birth? Absolutely! Do you hear about it all the time? Unfortunately, not. But today’s story with guest Ryan Woodbury is a great example of what it can look like to plan for and have a home birth that is supported by multiple care providers and a team approach. Ryan shares her preconception...