Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman

[spp-player] Imagine if all your worst birth fears came true? What kind of birth experience would that be? It would be easy to think that this could be the most terrifying birth experience ever. And for some it might well be, but in today's episode I'm sharing a story that shows that it doesn't have to be. Today's positive birth story is from Grace who was a big fan of the podcast during her pregn...

Hannah Dahlen and Kate Levett are pretty much celebrities in the birth world and I'm thrilled to have been able to chat to them both for my podcast. When I was going through the edit of my book recently I realised how much I've cited much of their research, so this was a real treat for me. [spp-player optin="off" ctabuttons="off" url="youraudio.mp3"] Hannah Dahlen & Kate Levett Hannah Dahlen and K...

Last week I shared an interview with Independent Midwife, Nicky Grace to showcase the wonderful women that are midwives, but also to highlight the challenge that Uk Independent Midwives are facing due to a new ruling that will prevent them from continuing their valuable work. But, to be honest, there is nothing more powerful that sharing a real life story of what the difference an independent midw...

After a bit of a break the podcast is back! To kick off series 3, I'm sharing an interview with an independent midwife, Nicky Grace, whom I know personally through my local Home Birth Group. [spp-player optin="off" ctabuttons="off" url="youraudio.mp3"] Save the Independent Midwife I decided to start with this due to the recent shocking news here in the UK, that independent midwives are being force...

There are birth stories and there are birth in a stream stories and today on the podcast I'm super chuffed to be able to bring you one of the latter. It's an incredible birth story and one that you might well have seen, or at least heard about. [spp-player optin="off" ctabuttons="off" url="youraudio.mp3"] Today I'm sharing Simone's amazing fearless birth in a stream. You might well have heard of S...

Today's positive birth story will delight anyone who's on a budget and who wants to prepare for their fearless birth using FREE stuff! My guest today is Tora, a podcast listener, and we had a few emails back and forth during her pregnancy, but what was so fabulous is that Tora emailed me to tell me about her amazing birth. Tora's Fearless Birth "Thank you so much for your podcast. It has been a wo...

Getting into the right mindset for birth is something that is often talked about. We're often hearing people say "Birth is mind over matter" and that's because it's true! So I wanted to dig a bit deeper into understanding what a great mindset for birth was and I've a great guest to help me. On the podcast today, I'm joined by Ulf Sandstrom who is a mental trainer and hypnocoach who also happens to...

If I had to sum up my philosophy on life and indeed all those important aspects of life, I'd say it would be all about living consciously . So I was thrilled when Natasha, the host of the Conscious Living Podcast, approached me so that she could share her positive birth story on the podcast. Natasha has a Master's degree in Psychology and works in Child and Family Therapy, so she has a solid under...

Today I want to explore the difference between meditation and hypnosis, and relaxation beause they're often used interchangeably but there are actually important yet subtle differences. [spp-player optin="off" ctabuttons="off" url="youraudio.mp3"] One message that is never far away from the ears of a pregnant woman is around the idea of self-care and relaxation . The importance of taking the time...

I'm going to keep my podcast show notes short today because I just recorded the podcast without planning it. I just hit record and spoke from the heart. It's a very personal podcast that was hard for me to record and I don't quite fancy having to regurgitate it all for the sake of writing a proper blog post to go with it. During the podcast I talk about the more difficult emotions that we have to...

If you panic and worry in the lead-up to an injection then I hope that today's podcast will help you. It's for those people with a fear of needles and injections. As someone who used to be utterly terrified of needles and injections, this is something that I'm all too familiar with. At my first very first midwife appointment, I couldn't even concentrate on what she was saying because there was a n...

I've already talked about pain during birth in another podcast - how a fear creates pain during childbirth - so today I want to take a slightly different angle because pain is quite a biggie when it comes to birth. So I'd like to zoom in on the idea of pain and its close relative a fear of pain . A fear of pain in birth Most pregnant women have a fear of pain when it comes to their upcoming birth....

This week I'm delighted to share another positive birth story. This week Lucy HG is going to be sharing with us her primal birth story. Primal birth story? Well yes! It's primal because Lucy went all primal in the final phase of labour! Lucy's Primal Birth Story Lucy has been a long time listener of the podcast and would enjoy episodes as she would prepare for her birth so it's lovely to be able t...

Today I want to talk about tokophobia for a few reasons… It's the name given to a fear of pregnancy and childbirth… so pretty relevant for my podcast! People don't even know it's THING.. so I'm here to say it IS a Thing and it's a pretty BIG thing. I want to share more information about it so that if you're a sufferer of it, you can better understand it, or at least realise that you're not alone I...

I'm not one for regrets, but if there's one regret I have about my last pregnancy and birth it's that I didn't mark the moment or honour it with a ritual of some sort. During my first pregnancy I had a baby-shower, but since then my thoughts and ideas around pregnancy and birth have changed. As a first time mum I was caught up in the mass market ideas around birth as I turned to the usual places t...

Choosing between a hospital or home birth is one of the key decisons you will face as a pregnant mama. Making choices around your birth can feel a little overwhelming. It can be easy to procrastinate on this and put it off. But actually, that's the last thing you should do, because once you start getting your head around things, you realise that there's actually quite a lot for you to consider. It...

I’m really excited about bringing you this episode because today I’m chatting to specialist birth film maker and authorToni Harman.   Toni Harman is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her credits include  DOULA!  a documentary about doulas (2010, 60 mins),  FREEDOM FOR BIRTH  a documentary about human rights in childbirth (2012, 60 mins). Her last film  MICROBIRTH  (60 mins, 2014) about how b...

I decided to bring out this surprise sneaky podcast episode BEFORE the start of season 2 because I didn’t want to wait that long to share this. This podcast came about as a result of a client session I had a few weeks back. We were talking about control; losing control, being in control and feeling out of control. One of my client’s fears was losing control, which is very common among pregnant wom...

I can't quite believe it, but this is the last episode in the first season of the Fear Free Childbirth Podcast. To finish I thought it would be nice to end with my own positive birth stories. After all, it's the birth of my two daughters that have inspired all my work in this area and for me it all started with these two very magical experiences. To help me share my positive birth stories, I invit...

Today on the podcast I’ve got a positive birth story with a difference because today’s story is a beautiful gentle c-section story. A previous podcast guest of mine, Emily told me about Cath and suggested her as a guest for the podcast because of how positive her story is for a c-section. Cesareans get a lot of bad press, and they are often regarded with dismay by vaginal birth advocates, but that...

Last week on the podcast I shared Lisa’s positive fearless birthing story . Lisa described herself as phobic when it came to childbirth and how it really hung like a cloud over her during her pregnancy. I knew Lisa from a while back as she had attended one of my Reflective Repatterning courses way back. She got in touch with me when she first found out that she was pregnant because she had heard o...

Today, I’m super thrilled to be able to share with you a positive birth story with a difference. It’s different because Lisa prepared for her birth using Fearless Birthing so it's the first it's the first Fearless Birthing story. I’ll be doing a podcast next week on Fearless Birthing so you can find out more about it then, but here’s a quick overview; Fearless Birthing is a birth preparation appro...

When it comes to fears that can crop up around childbirth, there’s one aspect that isn’t always obvious and is often overlooked. I say “overlooked” because I’m referring to a lot of birth preparation approaches or classes. This aspect is the bit that comes straight AFTER birth: the parenting and parenthood bit! Now I know there are plenty of books, blogs and podcasts on parenting, but what I’m ref...

Today’s episode is inspired by a listener Amanda. Amanda started listening to the podcast right at the beginning of her pregnancy and she emailed me to let me know how much she was enjoying listening to it. She excitedly shared her hopes and dreams around her pregnancy and birth and I remember feeling so priveleged that she was allowing me to accompany her on her journey. Then a few weeks later sh...