Pregnancy & Birth Made Easy

Childbirth is a rite of passage and an essential part of the human experience… but it can often be confusing, scary, and sometimes, a little stressful. We all want to induce labor naturally, but most of us don't know how to go about it! Sit back and relax because today's episode is a guide to inducing childbirth without medical intervention. With a bit of consideration, you can increase...

We're all learning together. There isn't one way to create or raise a child and there's not even a 'right' way for every person, couple, or family to navigate childbirth and parenting.  It helps tremendously to find your voice as a mother or mother-to-be. In today's episode of My Essential Birth, we'll look into the importance of advocating for yourself during ch...

In this week's episode, I am joined by Nicole Scheitlin to bust the top 5 myths you've probably heard surrounding prenatal and postpartum exercise and wellness. Nicole is a Pre/Postnatal Performance Training Specialist and the founder of Strong Mama Wellness where she helps people train for a healthier pregnancy, postpartum, and motherhood. She has over 10 years experience in the industr...

As a mother of 3 and someone who has experienced postpartum depression and anxiety, I wish I had known about postpartum doulas sooner in my journey. Postpartum care, especially in the US, is absolutely vital. Despite the popular narrative, postpartum care is not just about holding your baby and delivering frozen dinner. While those things are amazing and can be so helpful, postpartum doulas come e...

Do you know how to tell if your provider is going to be a supportive part of your birth team? I see moms run into this issues a lot. You know how much I talk about the importance of a supportive provider BUT how do you know if you're provider is the right one?! One of the things I hope this episode does for you, is make some of your own assumptions about your provider's supportiveness, o...

This week I'm so excited to welcome Carly and her husband, Robbie who are sharing the story of the birth of their firstborn! Dive in to hear about how they navigated switching providers in the middle of their pregnancy from an OB, preparing for a  hospital birth, to a Midwife at a birth center and how they made it through the most challenging part of their labor, the final hour. Don't fo...

This week we are joined by Annie Roskelley, a mother to 3 kids, certified babywearing educator, and volunteer at Babywearing Weber/Davis County Utah. She's sharing all her tips for making babywearing easy and enjoyable no matter how old your baby is or how much experience you have with carriers. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @myessentialbirth and for even more great info head ov...

When it comes to giving birth, most people picture it going down in a hospital room. This is absolutely an option and there are more! That’s what we’re setting out to discuss on this week's podcast. Join us as we go over the different locations where you can have your baby, the pros and the cons, and share evidence-based information as well as real-life experiences in order to help you decide...

In this podcast episode we are interviewing David Arrell who is a dad, consultant and men's coach. He turned author with his book,  "Welcome to Fatherhood", in which he consolidates the lessons learned from his experience being a dad for the first time. Through the book, David encourages men to more actively step into their supportive roles during pregnancy, childbirth, and the four...

When I say, “Home birth,” what comes to mind? Is it comfortable and happy and warm? Is it uncertain and messy and unorganized? This week on the Pregnancy and Birth Made Easy podcast, we’re going to show you just what having a home birth entails, using the real-life story of my friend Kirsten. Kirsten is awesome! She experienced prodromal labor in the comfort of her home and together with her husba...

It's true that we love telling you all of the ways to have an easier, more comfortable, confident and empowered birth experience, but we decided to switch things up and get a little sarcastic so you can join us in some laughs while we give you all the top tips on what will cause more pain during labor.  Maybe you already know that being flat on your back and not having great support will leav...

As parents, you are more than capable of taking control and having a more comfortable birth. On this episode of the Pregnancy & Birth Made Easy podcast, you're going to receive an evidence-based guide along the journey from pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care. All along the way we'll be sharing important details to help you feel more confident, capable, and empowered as you progres...

The role a doula plays in childbirth is beautiful and sacred. A doula will offer her assistance, her guidance, and her loving support to a mother from pregnancy to birth to postpartum. Not only will she provide physical help, but she will also aid the parents mentally and emotionally. If you are wanting to hire a doula, or become one yourself, then this episode of the Pregnancy and Birth Made Easy...

“Have you ever wondered what males really know about pregnancy and birth?” The My Essential Birth podcasting team does an incredible job every week of filming, recording, and editing this podcast. They’re also primarily men. As you can imagine, they knew very little about pregnancy, the birthing process, and how women’s bodies function. This episode, my rockstar team of editors will share the epis...

Today we dive further into one of the 3 free exercise that we give to you on our website, that will prepare you and your body for giving birth. The forward-leaning inversion is an exercise that creates room in the uterus and allows the baby's head to be positioned correctly. Tune in to learn more about how to give your baby the room it needs to be in an excellent position for birth that will...

If you've ever wondered what the very best birthing positions for easier labor and delivery are, we've got you covered! And by "we," I mean my husband and I...so get ready! We’re going to go in-depth to these different positions and discuss how to find the one that works best for you, because we know that every birth is as unique as your baby and deserves care and attention tai...

This week on My Essential Birth, I welcome Serial Entrepreneur, Chiropractor, and Doctor Brandie Nemchenko. Brandie is the Founder and CEO of Experience Chiropractic, Clinical Director of Bloom at Experience, and Developer of the Bloom Philosophy. On top of all these accomplishments, she is the author of What You Don’t Expect When You’re Expecting , a brilliant book for helping expectant mothers f...

This week, on My Essential Birth, I delve into the natural ways to induce childbirth, answering questions about the processes and methods, their risks and benefits, and the options available to you. We’ll dive down the rabbit hole to understanding prodromal labor, its symptoms, and how you can cope. From there it’s Curb Walking 101, a simple exercise with giant benefits. In addition, we’ll cover t...

Today’s guest is Taylor, a new mom and student of My Essential Birth, who recently gave birth to the first baby in her family. In spite of rough symptoms in the first trimester, Taylor had an extremely positive experience being pregnant. As the life grew inside of her, she experienced a wide array of emotions, symptoms, and cravings (most strongly that of watermelon). Though visits to a chiropract...

Are you prepared for the very first step of the postpartum period? This week on the podcast, I talk about the golden hour—that crucial first 60 minutes following your baby’s birth. I’ll be going through why the golden hour is so important, how to get it (if it’s not immediately offered to you during your care), and exactly what you and your partner should be doing during that time. Tune in and enj...

Do you know what to look for to know it’s labor time?! This week on the podcast, I talk about what those things are but also give you some detail on how they can show up for moms because, let’s be honest, some moms may see certain signs and still wait a week or two before hitting active labor. Tune in and enjoy! Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @myessentialbirth and for even more great...

This week I had the pleasure of having  incredible home birth midwife, Angie, LM, CPM,  join me on the podcast. Angie, from the Long Beach, CA area, gives us some insight into what the process of taking care of a mother during pregnancy and birth is like as a home birth midwife. We also went a little deeper into birthing during a pandemic as well as the importance of informed consent. Informed con...

I can't wait for you to listen to this inspiring birth story with Anne, a My Essential Birth Course mama, who takes us through her journey from conception, pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum. It is a perfect story about what it's really like to walk through everything pregnancy, birth, and postpartum for the very first time. Her and her husband did an excellent job preparing and sup...

You’ve had the baby, now what? This has now become a 24 hour responsibility. In this episode, I walk you through what happens from the time you give birth, until you reach home, and even some tools that can be useful once you've brought baby home and start to manage your everyday life. My husband also share's his dad perspective of what it was like for him when welcoming our children hom...

Since it's the simple things that can trip us up the most when it comes to trying to create the birth experience we’re really aiming for, I want to throw a few "obvious" but not so obvious lies you will likely believe if you hear them during your pregnancy. I’m hoping as I give you some more details about each of these three lies your mind will start to sort through all of the infor...