Growing Up Raising Us

In today's episode, Chelsea (she/her and co-host of the poddy) shares her incredible homebirth after caesarean (HBAC) story. Chelsea had an unplanned caesarean-section in hospital for her first birth and after 2+ years of preparation and research, had her second birth at home, surrounded by her beautiful birth team. Chelsea shares the preparation for her second birth in the previous episode.   In...

In today's episode, Chelsea (she/her and co-host of the poddy) gives us insights into her journey towards VBAC - vaginal birth after caesarean. Chelsea reflects on her first birth which involved a long labour, posterior baby, last minute midwife change and ultimately ended in an unplanned caesarean-section in hospital. Chels shares that she immediately knew she wanted a different experience fo...

We are SO excited to bring you this week's episode - the first episode for 2024 and the first episode under the relaunched Growing Up, Raising Us pod.  Today, we officially launch the podcast makeover and share all the ins and outs - who the heck is your new co-host, why have we relaunched and what you can expect this year from Growing Up, Raising Us. It's a short, snappy episode today - w...

In this episode, I'm joined by Bree Stafford (she/her), a birth doula, birth photographer, and mum of three. Bree joins us to share her VBA2C/HBA2C story. Bree's three birth experiences have opened her heart to what is possible. Her first babies, two boys, whose arrivals took her on a journey through an intervention filled hospital birth, resulting in a Cesarean with her first son. The pro...

In this episode, I'm joined by Bree Stafford (she/her), a birth doula, birth photographer, and mum of three. She is my wonderful doula who'll be supporting my VBAC this year/early next. In this episode, Bree shares her 'Recipes for a Successful VBAC' as comprehensive tips for anyone planning for a VBAC. More about Bree: Bree's three birth experiences have opened her heart to wh...

In this episode, we’re joined by Fleur (she/her), who is a mother to an almost two-year-old daughter named Prim. Fleur works runs her own business, Umi Wellbeing , as somatic health and wellness coach, predominantly for women. Fleur shares that it took over a year for her and her husband Will to conceive, which came as a surprise. Fleur conceived the week after her mother passed away, just before...

In this episode, I’m joined by sisters Hannah and Em. Hannah is a mother to three children: Iris, Oaka, and Charlie. Iris and Oaka are angel babies, who Hannah very sadly lost during her pregnancies with them, before she had Charlie, who is now 20 months old. So I’d obviously like to include a trigger warning here as we do discuss Hannah’s story of miscarriage and pregnancy loss at a few points th...

In this episode, I'm joined by Emma (she/her) and Raji (she/her), two lovely friends I've met along my motherhood journey. We dive deep into the transformations our personal friendships have undergone since becoming parents, sharing the highs and lows. From the challenges of maintaining connections to the unexpected joys of making new mum/parent friends, we explore the dynamics of parentho...

[Content Warning: This episode discusses physical and sexual abuse] In this episode, we're joined by Maria (she/her), a mother whose life took an unexpected turn when her daughter, Josephine, was diagnosed with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, a rare chromosomal abnormality at two weeks old. Maria shares the challenges and transformations her family experienced, from the initial shock of the diagnosi...

In this episode, we're joined by Josi (she/her). Josi is living with her husband and her four kids aged 9, 8, 8 and 4 in Brisbane. Josi was only 23 when her first daughter was born via planned C-section due to breech presentation. Shortly after she fell pregnant again, this time with twins ! Another planned C-section was her chosen mode of birth, which turned into an emergency c-section at 36...

In this episode, we're joined by Katelyn (she/her). Katelyn lives in Western Sydney with her husband and their two daughters. She now works as a doula and does birth after caesarean mentoring. In Katelyn's first birth, she was under the care of a private obstetrician whose philosophy about birth was at odds with her own. Despite being reasonably educated for a first time mum, she eventuall...

In this episode, we're joined by Rebecca (she/her). Rebecca lives in Melbourne with her fiancé Dwayne, two young sons (22months) and (7months) and two step daughters (13) and (11) years old.  Rebecca is a confident, outgoing secondary school teacher but unfortunately has crippling hospital anxiety after watching her Mum pass away from cancer when she was 25. After a difficult road to getting p...

In this episode, we're joined by Ashley Winning (she/her). Ashley is a Homebirth Mindset Coach & Guide, Podcaster, Speaker, and she birthed her third baby at home unassisted after two surgical births. In her first two pregnancies and births, Ashley experienced many challenges and stigmas in the hospital system due to being larger-bodied. Her first caesarean followed a 'failed' indu...

In this episode, we're joined by Brownyn (she/her). Bronwyn is the host of @the.motherwhelm podcast and lives in the Blue Mountains with her husband and three children. Her first birth was a classic case of the cascade of intervention, from an induction due to gestational hypertension, to an emergency cesarean due to ‘failure to progress’. This experience left Bronwyn feeling humiliated and di...

In this episode, we're joined by Rowie Cooke (she/her). Rowie lives with her partner Jake and two children Sonny and Rua. She is a birth and postpartum doula whose passion for birth and postpartum were ignited by her own experiences of birth. You can find her on instagram ⁠@rowiecooke_doula.⁠⁠ Rowie birthed Sonny in a public hospital, and despite trying to get into a midwifery group program, s...

In this episode, I am joined by doula Bree Stafford and Homebirth Mindset Coach & Guide Ashley Winning to discuss what they've noticed in supporting people in their homebirth after caesarean (HBAC) journeys. Guest 1: Bree Stafford Bree is a birth doula, birth photographer, and mum of three. Bree's three birth experiences have opened her heart to what is possible. Her first babies, two...

In this episode, we’re joined by Melanie Jackson, or you may know her as Melanie the Midwife . Mel co-hosts her own podcast The Great Birth Rebellion , is a mum of two, and works as a privately practising home birth midwife, and part-time as a researcher at Western Sydney University. Mel joins us to chat all things homebirth, including: Can you tell us about the skill sets of home birth midwives v...

In episode 5 of ⁠Definitely Baby⁠ 's VBAC mini-series, three wonderful women share their VBAC journeys. As the stories can attest, there is so much power in equipping yourself with evidence-based information and knowledge throughout your pregnancy, especially if you’re planning a VBAC. There are so many great resources and podcasts you can gather this information, and I truly believe that the...

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Hazel Keedle .  Hazel is a Senior Lecturer of Midwifery at The School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University. Hazel has worked in nursing and midwifery for over two decades. Her interests in research focus on vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC), birth trauma, and women’s maternity experiences explored primarily using feminist mixed methodologies....

In episode 3 of Definitely Baby 's VBAC mini-series, three wonderful women share their journeys to VBAC. As the stories can attest, there is so much power in equipping yourself with evidence-based information and knowledge throughout your pregnancy, especially if you’re planning a VBAC. There is so many great resources and podcasts you can gather this information, and I truly believe that the...

In the second episode of our VBAC mini-series, we are joined by Laura Callea (she/her) from Pregnancy with Physio Laura . Laura is a specially trained women’s health physiotherapist and in this chat, shares some things individuals can do during pregnancy to prepare physically and emotionally for a VBAC. She also shares her empowering home birth after 2 caesareans (HBA2C) story. Pregnancy with Phys...

In episode 1 of the VBAC mini series, we're joined by Meagan Heaton (she/her), co-founder and host of the podcast, the VBAC Link , to unpack the risks associated with both VBACs and repeat Caesareans. Meagan Heaton co-founded the VBAC Link in 2018. Although she always felt called to the baby world, she really found her love for birth in 2014 after her second C-Section. Through these two birth...

In this bonus episode, we're joined by Brittni (she/her), a certified Infant Sleep Specialist from Resting in Motherhood. She shares her insights on sleep regressions, preferring to view them as sleep progressions, and challenges the idea of creating 'bad habits' with infant sleep. She emphasises the importance of responding to a baby's needs and comforting them. Brittni sheds ligh...

In this episode, we're joined by Rowie Cooke (she/her). Rowie and her partner, Jake, are parents to two girls: Sonny (5.5) and Rua (2.5), and a fur baby, Chill. Rowie works as a birth and postpartum doula, @rowiecooke_doula.⁠ Rowie's first birth was an emergency caesarean section due to fetal distress. Although her daughter came out with low APGAR scores and the clear necessity of the caes...

In this episode, we're joined by Katelyn (she/her). Katelyn and her husband, Luke, live in Geelong and are parents to a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Bella, and a 4.5-month-old son, Rupert. During Katelyn's labour with Bella, she had an induction, followed by an emergency caesarean due to fetal distress. There was also meconium present in the amniotic fluid. Subsequently, she encounter...