Healing Birth

A bonus episode with some thoughts on homebirth for this day. 

Hannah shares her two birth stories, both at 35 weeks gestation. One, in a hospital with all the standard things that come with a pre-term birth, and the second, freebirthed at home. Her story is one of a journey to trust herself, her body, and her baby to be born at the right time. There are also some wild twists and turns! Follow Hannah @tovarhomestead www.hannahandbabes.com

Katie Sutherland is an energy medicine healer, teacher and holistic wellness practitioner who supports mothers to thrive and reclaim their empowerment and vibrancy while navigating the journey of motherhood and childbirth. Katie had a powerful initiatory experience through the birth of her daughter almost a decade ago. It was one of the most intensely challenging rites of passage in Katie's life,...

Bethany is a holistic womb-pelvic bodyworker, wild mama, and author of the book Pelvic Awakening . She guides women and mothers through deep-dive journeys into womb and pelvic healing, weaving together the physical and energetic and cultivating deep magical awareness, that makes big shifts. She believes that when a woman roots within her pelvic bowl, she finds the deep well of power and knowing th...

Arielle was induced at 41 weeks. During the induction process, it was discovered that her baby's cord had prolapsed, which led to an emergency cesarean birth. Arielle shares how she emotionally processed this experience, and the important role that healing plant allies played in her journey. Join us this Sunday, April 18th, for Healing the Heart, a collaborative webinar between Healing Birth + my...

Chaya shares her three birth stories which include a loss, a cesarean twin birth, two subsequent cesareans, and a fairly harrowing experience with post-partum birth control and PPD. Throughout her story is the theme of having to push through these difficult experiences in order to survive them. Mentioned in the episode: Nancy Wainer Cohen's Silent Knife and Jennifer Block's Everything Below the Wa...

I am often asked to define birth trauma. Or other times, new moms will ask me, how do I know if I was traumatized by my birth experience?  For some the answer is clear as day, but it's not a dumb question at all. For many of us, we emerge from the birth experience grateful to be alive and have a healthy baby, and yet can still be haunted by certain parts of the experience.  If you enjoy the show,...

During labor with her first baby, Gemma's midwives transferred her from home to the hospital due to her waters being opened "too long." This experienced ended as it so often does in a coerced, unnecessary surgical birth. Gemma got extremely clear during her second pregnancy on the kind of support she wanted, and found a radical birth keeper to support her autonomy. She gave birth to her posterior,...

I share some recent observations and thoughts I've had from listening to a LOT of VBAC stories these past few months. www.healingbirth.net/events for the upcoming webinars! 

Megan's first birth was a cesarean for breech presentation, which she describes as a giving of herself and her baby over to the system. Her strong faith in God helped her find the courage and conviction to trust herself, her baby, and the intelligent design of birth the second time. She birthed her second baby at home, in power. My apology that the audio quality is quite imperfect, we actually tri...

Ellie's first birth could be described as a classic cascade of interventions that ended in a cesarean, and left her devastated. She gave birth to her second baby at the Farm in Tennessee, after a series of divinely guided incidents and after having committed to trusting her own instincts. Recorded just six weeks postpartum from her second birth, this is a beautiful, raw, emotional story of courage...

Ellie's first birth could be described as a classic cascade of interventions that ended in a cesarean, and left her devastated. She gave birth to her second baby at the Farm in Tennessee, after a series of divinely guided incidents and after having committed to trusting her own instincts. Recorded just six weeks postpartum from her second birth, this is a beautiful, raw, emotional story of courage...

Kristyn was 37 weeks pregnant with her first baby when she developed acute appendicitis. in order to be treated for it, her baby needed to be delivered immediately, but due to delayed diagnosis and dismissive care at the hospital, she suffered a great deal of pain, delivered via cesarean under general anesthesia, and had her baby separated from her postpartum. Kristyn shares with us the long term...

Tarina is a certified FEMM Instructor and a student midwife. Her own struggle with high blood pressure, headaches, cramping, and spotting from an IUD led her to explore natural birth control options. She now guides women as they learn to confidently use this science-based, natural method of birth control. Fertility Freedom is available to everyone. Follow Tarina @fertilityfreedom www.fertilityfree...

Freya Kellet is a radical birth coach, and a regenerative farmer who works with women who are dreaming of a wild birth, at home, in power. Do you long to be witnessed by an authentic wise woman? Do you wonder if you've found her? I've heard too many stories of medically minded midwives sabotaging birth, abandoning women at the end of their pregnancies, or coercing them into unnecessary or unwanted...

Jasmine was 41 weeks pregnant, and about to give birth to her first child, when her brother suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. She tells us the story of what it was like to be induced and give birth while dealing with the whirlwind of stress, emotions, and grief.  Jasmine also shares the story of her second birth which was near a completely opposite experience, at home, and was (as so many sub...

BUCKLE UP for a powerful conversation with one of the wisest women I've had the pleasure of speaking to. Maha Al Musa is a Wise Birth Oracle, an award-winning international birth mentor, author and speaker as well as the founder and creator of EmbodyBirth™ School and BellydanceBirth. Maha gave birth to her 3rd child at home, a full water lotus birth when she was 46 years of age and has been featur...

Erica hired a "midwife," had a healthy uneventful pregnancy, and meticulously planned for an unmedicated vaginal birth. What transpired at the hospital when it was time to deliver was a cascade of dehumanizing and unnecessary interventions, culminating in Pitocin and finally, a cesarean. Erica is now 15 months postpartum, and shares how she's healing the PTSD from this experience. We talk about ho...

Dr. Beebe Dericks is a Naturopathic Doctor, Acupuncturist, Holistic Pelvic Care© Practitioner, Birth Healing Provider, and Chinese Herbal Medicine Specialist.   She's obviously brilliant, but I wanted her on the show not merely to share her vast body of knowledge about healing, but her passion for serving women. We go DEEP into the science of why trauma, of any kind, is literally stored in our tis...

My guest this week shares the story of the births of all three of her babies, with an emphasis on the birth of her twins one year ago. Her story is of the clearest examples of coercive, abusive, obstetric violence I have ever heard. We also talk about the importance of telling your story, as many times as you can, the importance of sisterhood, and how we can begin to hold physicians and hospitals...

I took a poll on instagram and you have spoken! Tune in to hear me speaking about what it's like to parent a child with special needs during this very interesting year. I speak about why it's taken me so long to talk about parenting an autistic child, major compromises I have had to make, masks, surprises, and most of all, solidarity with all of you who are going through the same thing.  This kind...

Birth work is also death work. Meet Wild Luna Raven, a radical birth keeper, and death keeper, who does not shy away from the death work. She offers beautiful support for women who experience an early birth (a term we use intentionally, and you'll learn why). We talk about her own experiences of early births, and the different ways that early births can unfold. We also talk about the birth of her...

What does it mean to take responsibility for our birth experiences? How do we learn from it, digest it, and, in the case of a traumatic birth, heal from it, without staying in a place of victimhood or self blame? This is extremely tricky work! Join us this week as explore this topic with sensitivity and loads of compassion, for all of us. If we can get to the point of owning our stories, we can be...

You know I love a VBAC story! Tessa shares her victorious, home birth, VBAC story, after having experienced a coerced cesarean due to breech positioning with her first child. Her story is such powerful testament to listening to your own instincts, self-education, and the importance of leaving behind a system that consistently fails birthing women.  Join me for our August Group Call - Healing Your...

Natalie shares her story of giving birth via a cesarean that she could feel.  We talk about her healing process, and the total lack of accountability from anyone at the hospital where her birth occurred. Please be advised, this episode contains a graphic description of a traumatic surgical birth. Skip this one of you are pregnant, and need to protect your space. Follow Natalie @mermaidnat1 Support...