Holy Wild Birth

In this short series, we're speaking with women who have been freebirthing long before it became trendy, back when it was called Unassisted Birth and there weren't very many resources devoted to it, let alone a society devoted to it. Each of these women chose free birth for reasons that essentially come down to their faith. In part 1, we're joined by Bree Moore, a mom of 7 (5 of them free birthed)...

In this lighthearted and sort of all over the place episode you’ll hear us talk about herbal drinks and our lack of tea (again), what we’re watching and reading, Brooke’s growing Anglophile tendencies, Lauren’s recent fiascos, the app that’s helping us reduce our phone usage, high heels, bangs, and more. You’re getting some snippets of our silly sides here, so buckle up.  Mentioned in this episode...

Arianna — mother, birthkeeper, HJ grad, and wise woman — joins Brooke on the podcast today to talk her journey in birthwork and motherhood, the ways she has served and learned in each season thereof, and about a subject she’s especially passionate about these days: community building.  Here are some of the topics that came up in our conversation:  Honoring cycles and seasons Well-rounded birth wor...

In this episode, Lauren sits with Leah -- a mama she served as a midwife in 2023 for her vaginal home birth after 2 cesareans. You'll hear her first birth stories and then about how she moved into a stance of renewed self-responsibility which she carried with her into her next pregnancy. During that pregnancy and birth, she dealt with many rounds of discouragement but met them with resilience by g...

Distortions and lies that detract from the application of the gospel can slip in even to our birth choices. This episode explores the similarities between purity culture and freebirth perfectionism, prosperity gospel and home birth ideals, and the ways that the same temptations presented to the first humans in the Garden of Eden and to Jesus in the wilderness reverberate into even our birth choice...

Welcome to a new season of Holy Wild Birth, which also represents a revitalization and recommitment to this podcasting project. In this casual conversation with Brooke and Lauren, you'll hear all about what we have in store for you! One of those things is this new "genre" of episode where we offer you our "Cup of Tea" and simply jabber about things going on for us or of int...

Elizabeth’s free birth story includes surprises and grief so entwined with one another that they are inseparable. Be ready to smile with delight and cry with each twist and turn in her story. As Elizabeth wrote when she applied to be a guest, “It is honestly a wild story that is heartbreaking but also beautiful and full of God’s handiwork. A story of how God can use the worst circumstances for goo...

Holy wild births begin with holy wild conceptions. In this episode, Lauren and Brooke are diving into a holistic, multi-faceted conversation about what it looks like to nourish the soil of our wombs to be ready to grow new life. We apply the steps in The Way of the Hearthmother, too. Whether you’re in the stage of life when you’re looking forward to a hopeful pregnancy, in between babies and looki...

In this episode with Anna, we get to hear about her early losses and then her first full-term pregnancy and unassisted home birth.  Anna chose an unassisted birth and also a “wild” pregnancy, rooted in the firm belief that it is God alone who sustains her baby. Along the way she and her husband had to address fears, endure an unexpected more, and handle the disapproval of family members regarding...

Show Notes: Adriana is a mom saved by grace in more ways than one. Saved out of witchcraft and unto the Lordship of Christ, she experienced a disappointing and difficult birth and postpartum with her first child. But as she grew, she experienced Jesus' gracious leadership and said YES to Him as it pertained to growing her family. You’ll hear about how that one YES resulted in myriad miracles w...

If you've been here any amount of time, you'll know that we are all about autonomy when it comes to pregnancy and birth work. The other side of the coin is responsibility. Sometimes both pregnant women and birth attendants can act irresponsibly with their autonomy, and that's what this episode is about. Mentioned in this episode: Hearthmother Journey Past episode on Autonomy and Radica...

Ever wish you could attend a home birth with Lauren and Brooke? Well, in this episode, you'll get a taste of that experience. Full disclosure: we ourselves would also love to attend a birth together, but with states between us we haven't been able to. We wrote up a hypothetical home birth scenario for a fictional character named Josephine, and in this episode, we walk you through how we&#3...

Vince and Christina are an incredible example of a healthy marriage and an amazing union and teamwork during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Together these two Embrace Birth Journey grads and longtime podcast listeners tell their two Spirit-led home birth stories and then issue a [much-needed, fresh] invitation to the fathers among us. Mentioned in this episode: Happy Homebirth Podcast episode w...

Ok, so maybe you wouldn't expect to hear a conversation on Holy Wild Birth about the educational choices we've made for our kids. It doesn't seem immediately relevant, we know. But it is. Because we got requests for this, we're going to passionately get on our soapboxes about the beauty of the unschooling lifestyle and it's benefits for children. And then we're going to bri...

In this episode we discuss finding the balance of showing up in a birth space with skill and confidence while also respecting the process enough to not disturb it with unnecessary interventions. Its not always the easiest thing to navigate the use of our "handy dandy" tools/skill sets but we do believe that some times doing nothing is the very something that we ought to be doing, while a...

Here we pick up from the previous episode with the grand finale of Willow & Wren's pregnancy and their birth story! Hear about how Lauren chose her birth team, the challenges she faced physically at the end of pregnancy, and the wild ride of giving birth to them. Remember, Embrace Birth Journey is available for $50 off using code TWINS at checkout now through Sunday 4/28 only. CONNECT Emai...

In this very special episode, our very own Lauren Hall shares a very personal story -- the story of the birth of her twin girls, Willow and Wren on Palm Sunday 2024. She begins at the very beginning -- even before the beginning -- by telling the story of her son Levi, the born-too-soon twin of her daughter Leela, followed by the story of the Lord opening her heart to conceiving a baby... and then...

This episode with the beautiful Katherine DeGroot -- a MN mama to 4 young children all born outside the hospital -- covers not only her four birth stories (with a special emphasis on the 4th) but also went down some delightful rabbit trails, which I did NOT edit out because I believe you'll find them very worthwhile to listen to. Some of what we covered: How each birth was a different “era” fo...

In this conversation with Staci -- a midwest mom to five -- you'll hear about themes like: How she learned to trust herself and authentically know her own preferences  Having a mother who bcame a midwife after she had grown up The slow evolution from being people who would never be crazy enough to have their babies at home to ultimately choosing unassisted birth for their fifth baby Her proces...

Christina is a Catholic mom of three, who came into marriage "late" and has joyfully received 3 sons, all via homebirth, into their family. In this episode she shares all three of her birth stories, with a particular emphasis on the final one, at which she experienced a greater degree of surrender and worship than ever before. By the way, she sites the Faith Filled Home Birth Intensive as one of t...

In this episode we invite you to listen in on a conversation with Lauren and Kathy Bryan, The Founder and CEO of The Genesis Project. Kathy is a respected international speaker/trainer, consultant, mentor, and author, who works tirelessly to communicate the stark truths of trafficking. She has trained thousands of professionals on how to identify and respond to those victimized by human traffickin...

Birth plans. You've probably been told you need one. But we'd like to pick it up, shake it around, and see what comes out as we re-examine this now-common practice of writing hand-over birth plans to your birth team. There are some shortcomings that we think you should know about. But don't worry: we won't leave you hanging there. We'll also present a fresh take on how to get t...

Was it a Free Birth, Sovereign Birth, or Unassisted Birth...? How do you identify the birth you are planning or had? Who is defining these concepts and terminology? Do these terms have owners or authorities presiding over them? Join Brooke and Lauren as they discuss the current hot topic of defining birth terms. Prayerfully, this can be a jumping-off point to help us all come to a place of unity a...

If you've gone most of your menstruating history seeing it as an annoying inconvenience at best or a painful torture session you'll want to tune in for this episode. We'll explore: the deeper meaning and symbolism of our cycles what it means to be a cyclical being (our menfolk too!) similarities between cycles phases in our bodies and in creation as a whole how God "sees us"...

Hello, sisters! It's been a while but we're baacccckkk. So let's catch up! Lauren has some big life changes to update us on, the story of which so perfectly illustrates what a good leader and Father YHWH is. And then we get to give you the latest on the doula and birthkeeper training we have been working on, the reason we had this podcast on pause all summer. It's our 40th episode,...