Down to Birth

It's that time of the month! Our May Q&A is here and kicks off with two short, entertaining birth stories followed by excellent questions submitted by our listeners including: Are more babies born under the full moon? If I experience fear in labor will my cervix close or regress?  Do I need a cesarean birth if I have too much or too little amniotic fluid? What is the difference between a...

As Cynthia always says, no one is more determined to have a good birth than a woman who's already given birth. Meet Rachel: a  mom from Idaho who took Cynthia's live online HypnoBirthing class with her husband prior to having their third baby. After interviewing literally 17 home birth midwives - clearly a resource that's more abundant in Idaho than most states - Rachel felt she had...

For our 100th episode, we are featuring Barbara Harper:  the leading voice for childbirth and maternity care reform, an author, educator, midwife and internationally recognized expert on the use of warm water immersion for labor and birth.   Today, we are honored to have her join us on the @downtobirthshow to talk to us about the “great liberator” aka water birth and all  the benefits for you and...

“Push like you are taking a poop!  Pushing is a long, grueling process!” This is what most people are told about pushing in labor. But, is it true? Hehe Stewart, of Tranquility by Hehe, is a doula and maternity coach who grew up on a farm watching animals give birth in an undisturbed and effortless way.  After attending births in hospitals and homes, she realized things looked very different there...

In today's mini-episode, Trisha explains how and why we get clogged or plugged ducts and provides guidance on how to recognize them, how to prevent them, and simple steps to resolve them quickly to keep you breastfeeding comfortably.   If your plugged duct does not resolve within 24-48 hours seek the help of a professional lactation consultant.   * * * * * * * * * * Send us Fan Mail Access ou...

Amanda Pahls is a mother of four daughters, a blogger, and a home school educator with a passion for honoring  women's birth experiences. She joins us on the show today to walk us thorough her first hospital birth followed by three home-births and the dramatic difference in care she received between the two.  Her fifth pregnancy and most recent birth was a miscarriage, at home, which brought...

This month's Q&A kicks off with a couple personal questions of Cynthia and Trisha about their dream travel and what they admire in themselves and in each other. After our little heart-to-heart, we get down to business discussing: Pregnancy & birth risk associated with IVF; why you don't need painful uterine massage after birth; what our "must-have" items are for new mom...

Jessica is a first-time birthing mother from Atlanta who recently attended Cynthia's HypnoBirthing class via Zoom. She and her husband had a birth that began with laughter over a misunderstanding, and ended with a 5-hour pushing stage doing HypnoBirthing deep-breathing while wearing a mask. Jessica's story emphasizes how she and her husband felt respected and supported by their hospital...

In this episode, Lisa shared out loud for the first time the full extent of the intrusive thoughts that have been haunting and terrifying her postpartum. When women suffer from a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder such as postpartum anxiety, depression or psychosis they can suffer from intrusive thoughts such as: fear of drowning the baby in the bath, imagining yourself or someone else dropping th...

 As a registered dietician (RD) and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Jaren Soloff was inspired to create a space and program to help postpartum moms navigate eating and body image after birth. She guides her clients in the anti-diet method of  "intuitive eating," which focuses on  tapping into your body's signals to tell you when you are hungry and when yo...

Most of us fall short when it comes to practicing self-care - especially postpartum moms, who are usually happy enough just to get more than 5 hours of sleep plus a shower. And when anyone tells them to go do something nice for themselves, it's always well-intended, but is it helpful when those moms think self-care means getting a professional massage, attending a live yoga class or getting a...

Colleen always felt called to birth and was determined to have the birth of her dreams. After two miscarriages, she was so excited to give birth to her first child. When her birth resulted in a cesarean, she knew the next time around she would make sure things went differently.   Despite her mother and husband resisting the idea of a VBAC she went for it anyway.  At 1/2 a centimeter dilated, the h...

Our March Q&A episode is here!  We begin with a discussion around the use of ultrasound measurements in pregnancy to determine your baby's size and weight at birth (hint: a baby that is measuring long is likely to be taller than average not macrosomic); we discuss when you might consider changing providers for your planned VBAC birth; can a mother experience postpartum depression (PPD) wh...

Kimberly always wanted a home birth -- especially the second time around -- but decided to stay with the providers she liked and trusted. She began having doubts during the implementation of Covid protocols, and those doubts only grew when her doctor started talking about induction before she was at 41 weeks. But she declined the induction and implemented some natural means of induction at home, i...

Jamie Davison Ortiz is a mother, doula, and student midwife who birthed her twins naturally during a planned freebirth with her husband and doula. For those who don’t know, a freebirth is a controversial birth movement of giving birth at home without a medical professional in attendance. Jamie’s birth wasn’t without risk and while Jamie says she has no regrets, she’s the first to say that free-bir...

Postpartum rage is among the lesser known perinatal mood and anxiety disorders that can impact  postpartum women and even their partners. Unfortunately, what women don’t understand is that sometimes anger comes more easily than tears, and it doesn’t mean that anything is fundamentally wrong with them or with their character; but rather, they are suffering from one particular manifestation of postp...

In today's minisode, Trisha reviews the three most common challenges that breastfeeding  moms experience: Engorgement, Nipple Pain, and Supply issues. She briefly explains why they occur and offers simple steps to recognize and resolve each issue so that you may comfortably and easily continue your breastfeeding journey. See other episodes on breastfeeding: #33 | Breastfeeding Mini: Out With...

Approximately 1 in 12 women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, which can leave them feeling confused ashamed and overwhelmed with questions like, “Have I done something wrong?  What can I eat now? Does this mean I have to be induced?”  In this episode we speak with Leslee Flannery a dietitian from Ohio and founder of @gestational.diabetes.nutrition who loves supporting, educating and empower...

For Lynne, giving birth via Cesarean just didn't feel like giving birth. Learning she was pregnant with her third and having had two prior C-sections, she wanted a different experience. After meeting a friend for lunch who was planning a home birth, she got curious and started exploring options and digging into the research on VBAC.   While giving birth at home felt outside her comfort zone,...

Our February Q&A episode is here!  Today, we discuss a wide variety of topics from the influence of medical rhetoric on our decisions in pregnancy and birth to the implications of being plus-size in pregnancy to the best time to pump your breastmilk.  We have a lengthy discussion on what to wear in pregnancy and seriously question why hospitals still promote the classic hospital gown for birth...

“I would give birth like that ten more times!”  In today’s mini-sode Stefanie tells her story of choosing a homebirth VBAC (HBAC) for her second birth after knowing she would absolutely not return to the hospital to have her next baby. Despite going into to labor just before 37 weeks, Stefanie was fully committed to her HBAC birth and beautifully supported by her midwives, doulas, and partner thro...

Andrea was thirty-three years-old and experiencing a low-risk healthy pregnancy when she went in for her prenatal visit at five days past her guess date and - it just so happened - the week of Christmas and New Year's.  Her OB informed her that she would need to be induced.  In response to her question, "What happens if we wait for labor to begin on its own," he replied, "Your...

Approximately 1 in 5 known pregnancies result in miscarriage before 12 weeks, and 1 in 4 women have experienced a miscarriage in their lifetime.  Despite it being a relatively common experience, it is often left unspoken of, leaving mothers heartbroken and shrouded in feelings of guilt and failure.   Today, Amanda, Nicole and Meghan share their heartfelt stories, expressing the deep emotions surro...

Medical Rhetoric involves language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience, but often lacks sincerity or meaningful content. How can you tell when your obstetrician or medical provider is using rhetoric to persuade, discourage or manipulate you into going along with a particular course of action without first offering you any information or data that would be useful in y...

When Christina showed up at the hospital with ruptured membranes and GBS+ status, the hospital informed her that she was not allowed to leave—not even to return home to get her hospital bag.   According to Christina, every cell in her body told her to run.  She made a few phone calls, started crying while she searched for a way out, and soon found herself driving across state lines to see a home b...