Healing Birth

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a connective tissue disorder that presents differently in each individual. For Emily, it significantly affected her digestive system. During her first pregnancy, she struggled with severe hyperemesis, unable to keep any food down at all.  In this episode, Emily shares one of the most unique and challenging stories of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum I have ever enco...

After two hospital births—one of which was extremely traumatic—Laura decided to homebirth her third baby.  During her 20-week anatomy scan, a velamentous cord insertion was discovered. Laura's main concern with this complication was the risk of intrauterine growth restriction. She chose to closely monitor her baby's size through ultrasounds, and by 35 weeks, it was clear she was carrying a large,...

I open season six of the podcast with the jaw-dropping story of a family who fled France after the authorities targeted them for freebirthing their baby.  Katie initially planned a homebirth for her first child, but during labor, her midwife transferred her to the hospital, where she was given no option but to have a cesarean section. When Katie became pregnant with her second child, her family ha...

Katie's journey with birth has been one of both trauma and triumph. It begins with an excruciating, 3-day Pitocin induction, ending in a c-section, which left her devastated and later diagnosed with postpartum PTSD. She endured months of nightmares, flashbacks, and depression. In contrast, Katie later experienced a second trimester loss, and says that her experience in the medical system managing...

Julia became pregnant in December of 2019, right before the world shut down. She spent that pregnancy isolated, alone, and made to go to her prenatal appointments without her partner. Beginning at just 36 weeks, she was pressured to have a c-section, because her baby was breech. Deep down, Julia knew her baby was healthy, still growing, and perhaps still had time to turn. But after several weeks o...

Patience is a doula and birth keeper, and was quite familiar with birth when it was time to have her first baby. She chose to give birth in a midwife-run birth center, but her labor progressed so fast that they never made it inside, and the baby was born in the doorway! When she became pregnant with her second baby, she wanted a more autonomous experience, and chose to birth at home with just her...

Molly planned to give birth to her first baby at a birth center, but when she hit 41 weeks, she was bait and switched into a hospital induction. The Pitocin-induced birth was traumatic and excruciating, and ended with a week long NICU stay for her son. In retrospect, Molly believes the induction, and the trauma to her and her son, was completely unnecessary.  It wasn't until she began therapy at o...

Molly planned to give birth to her first baby at a birth center, but when she hit 41 weeks, she was bait and switched into a hospital induction. The Pitocin-induced birth was traumatic and excruciating, and ended with a week long NICU stay for her son. In retrospect, Molly believes the induction, and the trauma to her and her son, was completely unnecessary.  It wasn't until she began therapy at o...

Molly planned to give birth to her first baby at a birth center, but when she hit 41 weeks, she was bait and switched into a hospital induction. The Pitocin-induced birth was traumatic and excruciating, and ended with a week long NICU stay for her son. In retrospect, Molly believes the induction, and the trauma to her and her son, was completely unnecessary.  It wasn't until she began therapy at o...

Molly planned to give birth to her first baby at a birth center, but when she hit 41 weeks, she was bait and switched into a hospital induction. The Pitocin-induced birth was traumatic and excruciating, and ended with a week long NICU stay for her son. In retrospect, Molly believes the induction, and the trauma to her and her son, was completely unnecessary.  It wasn't until she began therapy at o...

Lea is the content creator behind the popular Instagram account @trusting_life_ , and host of the Wise Woman Diaries podcast. In this conversation, we go deep. Lea shares candidly about how a ten-year preconception journey has been the path that led her to soul, and, paradoxically, into true trust in her body. She shares what inspired her to create both Trusting Life and Wise Woman Diaries, despit...

Alice was induced at the end of her first pregnancy, which ended with a forceps delivery and an episiotomy. The trauma and intensity of this experience profoundly affected both Alice and her baby, who was bruised and cut from the forceps. In the aftermath of this birth and postpartum time, Alice's marriage ended - in part because of how difficult that first year was for them. But Alice found love...

During Delainey's third birth (her second freebirth), her baby experienced a true shoulder dystocia at his emergence - a complication that is almost never heard of in home or free births, and can be one of the few, rare, actual obstetric emergencies. His head was out for eight whole minutes before the rest of his body was born, and Delainey could feel exactly where his shoulder was stuck. Impressi...

Emily, a former nurse of 13 years, shares the sweet story of the homebirth of her first born son. Since entering that rite of passage, her heart and soul mission has become focused on using her cumulative life experiences to walk alongside women and their families as they too cross the threshold. She helps to facilitate the deep inner work needed to prepare mothers for an empowering, physiological...

The medical system couldn't offer Tiffany the kind of birth she wanted for her twin boys, so she fired her doctor, and planned to birth them at home.  Needless to say, this was a choice that took a great deal of courage, trust, and consciousness. All along the way, Tiffany was shown signs from the universe that she was on the right path, and was in alignment with what was right for her and her bab...

Lindsey begins her motherhood journey with the experience of an ectopic pregnancy, which she - amazingly -   resolved without taking medication or having surgery. Despite her being told by medical professionals that it would hard for her to conceive again, she did, easily.   Her first baby was born in a hospital, and this experience left her knowing that she would never give birth in a hospital ag...

Maiken always knew a hospital birth wasn't for her. When she welcomed her first child, it was at home, with only her partner and a doula present, embracing the power of her body in an intimate, natural setting. Her journey through pregnancy and birth wasn't just life-changing—it was deeply healing. The experience reshaped how she saw herself, teaching her profound lessons about strength, letting g...

Tia's first two birth experiences were hospital inductions. By the time she was pregnant with her third, she knew she wanted a more empowering and natural experience, so she hired a midwife, and planned a home birth. But around twenty-one weeks into that pregnancy, Tia went into preterm labor. She was rushed to the hospital where she delivered not one, but two babies. Tragically, this was how she...

Amber shares the vulnerable and intimate experience of getting pregnant, and giving birth, at fifteen years old. Her experience with what was ultimately a traumatic birth, and post-partum depression, was the catalyst that compelled her into the important work she does now to support other mothers. She is now a board-certified lactation consultant, functional nutrition practitioner, and certified d...

Step into paradise with me this week as my friend Taylor opens up about her deeply transformative journey from an unexpected cesarean with her first child, to the empowering experience of a homebirth on the beautiful island of Kauai with her second. Taylor's story is one of resilience, healing, and the power of trusting your body. Find Taylor on Instagram @mahina.risssing If you love the show, I w...

During Carey's first pregnancy, her baby was diagnosed with Intra Uterine Growth Restriction (a fairly subjective label that means the baby is thought to be small, and it is not known why). Because of this, she was subjected to multiple ultrasounds during the last few weeks of her pregnancy, and highly pressured to induce. Carey refused to be induced, and went into labor spontaneously. The labor e...

From the very beginning of her first pregnancy, Aeriel encountered discouragement and doubt from medical providers about her ability to birth naturally. Unbelievably, she was even repeatedly encouraged to end her (unplanned, but wanted) pregnancy multiple times by the first doctor she saw. Reasonably shook by this, she sought other care and found a birth center mid-pregnancy. Due to going to 42 we...

From the moment she knew she was pregnant, Hari felt an extraordinary, intuitive bond with her baby. Guided by this inner knowing, she knew she would   freebirth—believing this was the path her baby's soul desired. But at 34 weeks, things took an unexpected turn when Hari went into labor. Faced with the unforeseen, she chose to embrace trust over fear, staying true to her plan of giving birth at h...

Midway through her pregnancy, Hope's baby was diagnosed as growth restricted (IUGR), but despite concern from her doctors, Hope's intuition was telling her the baby was okay. Her baby was also breech at that point, and never did turn. She was recommended to have a planned cesarean at 37 weeks due to both the IUGR diagnosis and the breech positioning, but this never sat right with her. She kept ask...

At fifteen weeks into her first pregnancy, Caroline began experiencing kidney pain, and was eventually diagnosed with a swollen kidney. Fear started to take root as she saw different specialists, all with different opinions as to how to resolve it.     After a horrible experience with a nephrostomy bag (a bag to drain the kidney of pee that is attached to one's back), Caroline consented to   corre...