Healing Birth

At the end of Jenna's pregnancy, she chose to be induced. The process lasted several days and was grueling, ultimately ending in a traumatic cesarean and a NICU stay for her baby.  Both Jenna and her husband left the hospital with PTSD, and in the early days of postpartum, Jenna wasn't even sure their marriage would survive. Healing began when Jenna reconnected with one of her passions: photograph...

Before becoming pregnant herself, Alicia, a medical professional working in obstetrics, had the opportunity to witness birth working in a freestanding birth center. Seeing families welcome their babies in that calm, home-like environment opened her eyes to a different side of birth, one centered on trust, autonomy, and the natural process itself. So when it came time for her own pregnancy, Alicia...

For her first birth, Paige planned a natural delivery at a local birth center. But when the day came, her labor was long, and the pushing phase even longer. Eventually, the midwives decided to transfer her to the hospital. As is often the case with transfers, the birth ended in a cesarean, which left Paige heartbroken. It took some time for Paige to conceive again, but when she did, she felt confi...

Jessica was a career-driven woman who never thought she wanted children, until a dream job fell through and an experience at a spiritual retreat awakened her desire to become a mother. After joyfully conceiving, she miscarried at twelve weeks, enduring not only heartbreak but also a traumatic experience with the medical care she received. Over the following year, Jessica focused on healing, and wh...

Hannah grew up as the daughter of a doula and, as a child, had the unique experience of attending the births her mother supported. So when she became pregnant herself, she had a deep trust in the birth process and planned a freebirth. Although there was nothing wrong with her or the baby, Hannah ultimately chose to transfer to the hospital during labor, where she had to strongly advocate for herse...

In part two of her story, Rose returns to share the beautiful, pain-free freebirth of her second child, as well as the equally magical freebirth of her third. Between these two births, Rose had an abortion, and she shares how even through that she deeply connected with the soul of that baby, who told her she would be coming back. Throughout this second part of her story, Rose's experiences remind...

Growing up, homebirth was the norm for Rose. Both she and her brother were born at home, and her mother was heavily involved in the Homebirth Australia movement. At age 26, while island-hopping around the Caribbean, Rose discovered she was pregnant. She decided to return to Australia and give birth on her father's rural property. That birth turned out to be a wild and dramatic experience—nearly re...

During Hope's first pregnancy, she followed the conventional path—seeing an OB, agreeing to all the standard tests and procedures, and ultimately undergoing a Pitocin induction at 40 weeks. The birth was a traumatic initiation into motherhood, leaving lasting repercussions for both her and her daughter. Before becoming pregnant with her second child, Hope discovered the concept of freebirth, and i...

Alexandra's story begins abroad in Italy, where she goes into labor around 25 weeks while pregnant with twins and delivers via emergency C-section. Devastatingly, one twin survives the ensuing NICU stay, while the other does not. Back in the United States later, Alexandra is thrilled to become pregnant again. She knows she wants a VBAC and achieves it in a hospital setting, although the experience...

Sabine shares her five birth stories, each one marked by increasing autonomy—from a hospital birth with her first child to freebirthing her fifth. No matter where she gave birth, Sabine describes each experience as profound spiritual work that taught her what kind of mother each child needed her to be. This is a story that will help dispel fears,  and leave you feeling inspired and excited about g...

Emily's first pregnancy was surprise twins! In some places, this would have severely limited her options for where and with whom she could give birth. Fortunately, Emily found a midwife who was willing to attend a twin birth at home.  After an uneventful pregnancy, she went into labor at home, but due to high blood pressure readings, the decision was made to transfer to the hospital. Once there, s...

Ava shares the sweet and simple story of choosing to birth her first baby at home (even while living with her in-laws!). Her confidence in home birth was shaped largely by growing up with a mother who spoke positively about her own natural birth experiences. Her story is a beautiful reminder that a first birth is not just a trial run! If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  ...

From a young age, Sophia felt a powerful calling to support babies entering the world. By the time she became pregnant with her first child, she was already deep into her midwifery training, and ready to welcome life, both professionally and personally. She gave birth at home, surrounded by care and familiarity, with a trusted colleague by her side. But soon after her son arrived, it became clear...

Norah's first birth experience was a medical induction that left both her and her husband traumatized. Despite this, she knew she wanted to have more children. The journey to her second baby, however, was long and difficult—marked by a miscarriage, an ectopic pregnancy, secondary infertility, and eventually, IVF. Norah ultimately conceived her second baby naturally and began preparing for another...

As a first-time mom, Melanie arrived at the hospital ready to simply trust the experts to manage her birth experience. What transpired was twenty-three hours on Pitocin, and an only narrowly avoided cesarean. In the weeks that followed, Melanie suffered with postpartum depression, something that she now, in retrospect, partially attributes to the prolonged use of Pitocin.  She had a long healing j...

As a young woman, Dana lost any blind trust she once had in the allopathic medical system after watching her father battle cancer within it. So when a popular TikToker introduced her to the concept of freebirth, it immediately resonated with her—a seed was sown. Today, Dana opens up about the strength it took to trust her body and follow her intuition as she brought her first child into the world....

Emily enjoyed a blissful wild pregnancy, completely outside the medical paradigm, and planned to freebirth her first baby. After several days of a marathon birth experience, her baby was finally born—perfectly healthy. Emily, however, immediately recognized that she needed medical support. She transferred herself to a local hospital, where she was treated for a retained placenta and postpartum hem...

Kelly is the oldest of three siblings. Her own birth was a hospital induction—an experience that led her mother to choose home birth for her subsequent children. The intergenerational thread of trauma from Kelly's birth carried forward into her own experiences with childbirth. With her first two children, she faced intense postpartum periods, and separation from her babies. The birth of Kelly's th...

Emily, a home birth midwife, shares her personal birth story after years of supporting others through theirs. While her birth didn't go as planned, she was able to advocate for herself and felt a strong sense of agency throughout the experience. We discuss a wide range of topics, including how a midwife can "midwife" herself during her own birth and how to navigate a hospital birth experience. We...

After a transformative homebirth experience, Olivia was shocked to discover an astonishing gift: she could communicate with spirit babies—the souls of our children before they come to Earth. She now uses her mediumship skills to guide women who have experienced baby loss or infertility through conception, pregnancy, birth, and beyond. Today, she shares a beautiful message from the spirit babies, e...

Megan's first birth was a traumatic and violating hospital experience. Afterward, her baby developed a serious infection—something Megan suspects was caused by a novel procedure performed during the delivery. Though she deeply desired another child, she knew she had healing to do. A pivotal moment in that healing journey came when she attended a friend's home birth as a doula. Witnessing a peacefu...

Joanna was deep in labor at home, attended by midwives, when she hit a breaking point and asked to transfer to the hospital. Nothing was medically wrong, but her labor was long, and she sensed the midwives were ready for it to be over. She gave birth shortly after arriving at the hospital and still got to experience the euphoric post-birth high she had hoped to feel at home. While her birth didn't...

Christina's first experience with pregnancy and birth was not what she had imagined, due to her son being diagnosed with a rare birth defect early in the pregnancy. You can (and should!) listen to that story in Part one of this series. When her first son was around 18 months old, Christina discovered she was pregnant again—and she knew immediately that this birth would be a redemptive, sovereign e...

Christina was 25 and living abroad in France when she fell in love, and unexpectedly became pregnant. She had spent years before this pregnancy immersing herself in homebirth and freebirth stories, always dreaming of giving birth at home. But those dreams were abruptly upended at her 12-week ultrasound, when her baby was diagnosed with gastroschisis —a rare birth defect in which the intestines dev...

Kayleigh's first two births took place in a hospital, but her third—at a birth center with midwives—was a turning point. The contrast in care, both during pregnancy and birth, sparked a passion for natural childbirth and ultimately led her to become a childbirth educator. Six years later, when she became pregnant with her fourth baby, Kayleigh knew exactly what she wanted: a peaceful home birth, s...