Hot+Brave

Send us Fan Mail Content note: this episode includes grief, suicide loss, racism, obstetric violence, medical emergencies, family conflict and birth trauma. Please care for your heart while you listen. In this season finale of Hot and Brave, Bianca takes you behind the glossy Instagram version of birthwork and into the real stories that shaped her as a doula.  She shares ten client stories from he...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Bianca breaks down the three pillars every doula needs to build a sustainable, heart centered business: clarity, visibility, and community. She shares the stories we all live through in that first uncertain year, the places we get stuck, and the quiet shame that grows when nobody has ever taught us the basics of business or mission building. You will learn the dif...

Send us Fan Mail Most doulas think they don’t have an audience... but you already have a network filled with potential clients who know, like, and trust you. In this week’s Hot + Brave , Bianca shares how to tap into your existing community to fill your roster with dream clients without feeling salesy or awkward. Learn how to reach out authentically, reframe visibility as care work, and finally st...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Bianca Sprague invites the birth world into a critical and overdue conversation: the end of the weekend doula training model. The weekend era served an early purpose. It opened the door to formalized doula work, community support, and advocacy inside medical systems. Yet birth work has evolved, and the expectations placed on doulas have grown dramatically. Today’s...

Send us Fan Mail You can be the best doula in the world, compassionate, skilled, and deeply dedicated, but if people don’t know you exist, they can’t hire you. In this episode of Hot + Brave , Bianca dives into what she calls The Invisible Doula Problem - why so many incredible birthworkers struggle to get noticed, and how visibility can become an act of care instead of something that feels salesy...

Send us Fan Mail Your calendar’s quiet. The DMs are dry. You’re doing the work, showing up online, and still hearing crickets. So… what gives? In this episode of Hot + Brave , Bianca Sprague shares the five essential steps to move your business from invisible to booked out . You’ll learn why more content isn’t the answer, what clients are actually paying you for, and how to build real systems that...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful follow-up episode, Bianca sits down once again with Bobette from Uzuri Birth in Ghana to go even deeper into the realities of birthwork in West Africa. Together, they explore what birth really looks like in Ghana today: from systemic challenges and cultural beliefs about danger in birth, to the power of traditional practices that are still alive (and those being r...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever answered a 3 a.m. text about pineapple or found yourself chasing unpaid invoices, this one’s for you. In this episode, Bianca Sprague gets real about boundaries: the messy, hard, business-saving kind. You’ll learn exactly what to say in those tricky moments with 12 copy-and-paste scripts for your doula practice. These are the words that protect your energy, your inc...

Send us Fan Mail Want to support the pod? Click here we SO appreciate it!  This episode is not neutral. Oh, and we cuss. A lot. Bianca Sprague brings rage, grief, and truth to the mic, naming fascism, Gaza, Trump’s lies about Tylenol, and the systems failing families. In a world flooded with disinformation, birthworkers are the antidote. You’ll hear why doulas are not just supporting births, they...

Send us Fan Mail Money stories run deep… and for so many of us, they carry shame, fear, and generational wounds. In this episode of Hot + Brave , Bianca sits down with Jalisa Hardy, the founder of the Healed Money Movement , to explore what happens when we decide to heal our relationship with money. Jalisa shares her own journey of untangling money wounds and offers a fresh perspective on what fin...

Send us Fan Mail Bianca is joined by Alyssa Coleman, founder of Nurture the Journey , to talk about her thesis project on Maternal mental health and nature-based retreats. They dive into the connection between rest, nature, and healing, and how these practices can support pregnant folks and families. This episode is an invitation to rethink how we approach burnout and mental health,  and to imagin...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Hot + Brave , Bianca Sprague sits down with Lindsay McCoy, co-creator of the Body Ready Method® , to talk about what birthing bodies are trying to tell us… especially through tightness, clenching, and restriction. They explore how emotional holding patterns show up somatically, why birth prep is about nervous system safety as much as physical alignment, and how...

Send us Fan Mail Send us a text What does it mean to turn personal tragedy and systemic injustice into a powerful calling? In this episode of Hot + Brave , Bianca sits down with Nia Ashay, a graduate of bebo mia’s Maternal Support Practitioner (MSP) program, to talk about her journey into birth work. From her mother’s stillbirth due to medical negligence to the impact of the Trayvon Martin trial,...

Send us Fan Mail Should you offer sliding scale pricing in your doula business? This solo episode of Hot + Brave dives into the heart of that question with honesty, nuance, and strategy. We’re unpacking the roots of sliding scale, how race and gender shape expectations around care work, and what it actually takes to build an accessible and sustainable birth business. We’ll look at: The origins of...

Send us Fan Mail What does birth look like in Ghana today? In this powerful episode, Bianca sits down with Bobette, founder of Uzuri Birth, to explore how ancestral knowledge, global education, and personal experience collide in modern Ghanaian birthwork. From her early life in Congo to training in Europe and Canada, and finally returning home to Ghana, Bobette shares her journey of becoming a bir...

Send us Fan Mail In this tender and powerful episode of Hot + Brave , I’m joined by Jillian Marchand, founder of Exploring Embodiment, for a deep dive into breathwork, reproductive health, and the cultural disconnection so many of us carry in our womb space. We talk about how shame, trauma, and discomfort get stored in the body and how breath can be a gentle way home. Jillian shares accessible too...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Hot + Brave , Bianca breaks down the essential (but often overlooked) topic of backup doulas: how to choose one, how to be one, and why this role is a vital part of building a sustainable, ethical doula practice. We’re covering: What makes a great backup doula How to prep your clients without fear Setting clear agreements, payment terms, and expectations Why hav...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Hot + Brave , we’re joined by Anna Lundqvist of Sacred Birth International (www.sacredbirthinternational.com) to explore one of the most profound and often overlooked shifts in a woman’s life: the transition from maiden to mother. Anna shares how birth can be reclaimed as a sacred rite of passage, what gets lost in our over-medicalized systems, and how we can ho...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Hot + Brave , Bianca Sprague is busting a huge myth in the birth world... the myth that you need a bag full of fancy tools to be an effective doula. Spoiler: the best doula tools are already within you . From your hands and your breath to a rolled-up hospital towel and a sturdy chair, Bianca shares the free, practical ways you can support laboring clients with w...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Hot + Brave , Bianca Sprague breaks down common birth terms you’ve probably heard, like effacement, dilation, VBAC, golden hour, and more... but maybe never fully understood. Whether you’re brand new to doula training, pregnant and preparing for birth, or a birth nerd who loves decoding medical lingo, this episode is a calm, clear, and judgment-free guide to the...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Hot + Brave , Bianca Sprague breaks the silence around one of parenthood’s biggest taboos: not loving the newborn stage. From hormonal crashes to sleep deprivation, from identity loss to emotional overload, this episode explores why the early weeks of postpartum feel so overwhelming for so many, and how toxic messages like “soak up every moment” and Instagram-pe...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Hot + Brave , Bianca Sprague breaks down why the birth world’s obsession with “natural vs. medicated” is a distraction, and how the real issue isn’t the epidural itself, but the lack of choice, support, and honest information surrounding it. We’re talking about in this episode: The myth of the “better” birth What epidurals really do (and what they don’t) What’s...

Send us Fan Mail In this powerful episode of Hot + Brave, Bianca Sprague unpacks the damaging myth of the “perfect” birth...and why it’s time to let it go. From unmedicated water births to curated Instagram stories, the fantasy of a flawless birth experience is leaving too many people feeling like they failed. Bianca breaks down where this narrative came from, who it leaves out, and how it fuels s...

Send us Fan Mail What if I told you most due dates are based on a formula from the 1800s?  Or that you’re still being told not to eat during labor because of a study from 1946 ? Or that the system profits when you’re too scared to ask questions? In the latest episode of The Hot + Brave Podcast , I’m breaking down the top birth myths...and the actual truth behind them. 👉🏽 Epidurals 👉🏽 Big babie...

Send us Fan Mail Giving birth in a foreign country comes with surprises, challenges, and a whole lot of translation errors. Maternity mentor and expat mama Hannah Preil shares what it’s really like to navigate pregnancy, birth, and postpartum abroad. Plus, how to build a support system when family is an ocean away. Find our more about Hannah here: www.hannahlouisematernitymentor.com ⭐️  We have s...