Notes on Arrival

When Dodi got pregnant in 2020, a study was released about maternal mortality data for her demographic: Black women in the US are over three times more likely to die during childbirth than white women. Black babies are over two times more likely to die during birth than white babies. While she had an easy time conceiving and was excited to begin her journey as a mother, she dove head first into re...

Shortly after Ana passed the bar exam, she found out she was pregnant. She was entering her new career as a lawyer and soon found it tough to balance an ambitious career and her new growing family, and the baby hadn’t even arrived yet! After an appointment with a particularly painful cervical check, Ana's water broke while she was shopping at the Apple store. From there, a long and difficult b...

Gwen's husband Gennaro joins her to share what it was like to become a dad. He talks about his experience learning about childbirth alongside Gwen as she prepared for her first birth, and how his role shifted to become her primary birth companion during the birth of their second child. Curious about how to involve your partner in your pregnancy and birth prep journey? Are you a dad-to-be who w...

Laura is the only person that we know who has four kids under two. That's right, she became a mom of four in the past two years by giving birth to two sets of twins. And unlike so many twin moms in our country, Laura had all of her babies vaginally. When her first doctor indicated that a twin pregnancy meant an automatic c-section, she began her search for a doctor who was skilled and confiden...

During Natalie’s 8 week OB appointment, the care providers said if they couldn’t find a heartbeat the following week, she should schedule a DNC to end the pregnancy. She knew in her gut this was not a reasonable suggestion and that it was clear that she needed a new birth team. Natalie switched to midwives at a birth center, who empowered her and brought excitement to her birth planning. Natalie h...

Notes on Arrival Co-Host Gwen is back to tell the birth story of her daughter. A month after moving across the country, Gwen found out she was pregnant again and had to find a whole new birth team to support her wish for an out-of-hospital birth. She shares how her experiences differed from a hospital to a birth center, and what it's like to give birth twice in the span of less than two years....

Curious what it's like to birth medicated versus unmedicated? Or recover from a vaginal birth versus a c-section? Erin has had 3 births, all of which were completely different. She experienced an induction and epidural for her first, a c-section for her second and her third was completely unmedicated. Follow along Erin's motherhood journey to hear how her 3 experiences differed, and how sh...

TW: Severe Birth Injury While Emily was going through transition during her labor, her medical team left the room. The nurse who remained in the room yelled at her to stop pushing while her son was crowning, giving Emily no choice but to go against her body's natural birthing process. After her son was born, she immediately knew that something was wrong, but was continuously denied confirmatio...

Only 2% of pregnant women go under general anesthesia, and only 1% of women metabolize epidurals at a rate that makes them ineffective. Kerry is in both that 2% and 1% of women. She didn't have the luxury of enjoying the growth milestones and excitement of pregnancy, because every step of the way was a new medical complication that was any expecting mother's nightmare. From placenta previa...

Should I get a doula? Should I work with an OB? Is it too late to switch my birth team? Gwen & Margo discuss how to approach building a birth team. Learn about the differences between midwives and OBs, when and how to hire a doula and how to approach financial decisions about your birth team. Notes on Arrival is a podcast for women to share their pregnancy and birth experiences. This podcast d...

Birthing in a hospital is something that never occurred to Sophia. She viewed birth as a biological event, something her body would do best at home in a calm and private setting. But when her first labor was going on day 5, her midwife discovered that the baby's position was not what they had thought. After getting to the hospital, an ultrasound showed that her baby was breech and immediately...

TW: Pregnancy Loss Before giving birth to her second child, Kaitlyn went through a traumatic miscarraige in her second trimester. Although the early part of her second pregnancy was normal, Kaitlyn found out at 14 weeks that her baby's heartbeat had stopped. Given no explanation from an inadequate care team, Kaitlyn learned that she had to do her own research and advocate for herself if she wa...

Are you afraid of the first poop? Not sure what happens after the baby comes out? Gwen & Margo discuss their experiences becoming moms for the first time. They shed some light on adjusting to baby's sleep schedule, getting the hang of breastfeeding, how they handled family involvement and so many other topics that shake your world after the baby arrives. Resources Bringing Up Bebe Brain Ru...

Kim started her pregnancy planning to go unmedicated at a birth center, but ended up with a c-section at 36 weeks. When medical complications turned her birth plan upside down, she realized that her plan all along had been simple: Don't die. After weeks of diagnostic testing and uncertainty, find out how Kim took the power back and regained control of her birth with one simple decision. Notes...

Margo shares the story of her 40 hour labor with her son. She talks about how her passion for women's reproductive health impacted her choices during pregnancy and planning for her birth. Find out how emotional release finally induced her labor more than a week after her due date.  Notes on Arrival is a podcast for women to share their pregnancy and birth experiences. This podcast does not off...

On episode one, Gwen and Margo talk about how they met in 2014 and decided ten years later to create the Notes on Arrival podcast. Gwen shares the story of her first pregnancy and birth. Learn why the switch to midwives impacted her birth story in a huge way and how this period in her life started her passion for childbirth. Notes on Arrival is a podcast for women to share their pregnancy and birt...