The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast

On this week's listener series episode, Jess shares with us her birth story with her second of four children. In her c-section, Jess started to have a lot of trouble breathing and her heart rate started to sky rocket. Jess was taken to the cardiac Cath lab as soon as possible after Amelia's birth. An impella was inserted in the midst of CPR being administered to Jess and she had to be tr...

This week we welcome Dr. Jasmine, PharmD, PMH-C. Jasmine is a clinical pharmacist and a maternal mental health advocate. We talk all things only children and Jasmine's journey to making the decision to have an only child after her experience with postpartum depression. We dive deep into what it means to either have to make this choice or have this choice made for you and all the feelings and...

On this week's Listener Series, we welcome Rachel to share her experience with us. Rachel had a high-risk pregnancy due to gestational diabetes and her son having an EIF on his heart. Her birth included several complications: severe reaction to IV pain medication, failed epidural, hours of pushing turned to an emergency vaccum-assisted birth, and a low Apgar score. With a history of stillborn...

On this week's episode, we welcome Katie Taylor, CEO & Founder of Child Life On Call - a support and resource provider to families & care teams through strategic partnerships with healthcare organizations. Child Life On Call enhances care & support with innovative, trauma-informed, and child life specialist-based solutions tailored ensure every family feels like an empowered part...

On this week's episode, we welcome Kali Dayton, DNP, AGACNP. Kali is a critical care nurse practitioner and a podcast host as well as a consultant for critical care teams. Kali and I have an in-depth conversation around the ICU experience for patients who are sedated. There is so much that we are still learning about sedation procedures and Kali has some incredible insight to this and ways we...

On this episode, Kayleigh is joined by Nikki Wilson of Make Birth Better, a UK organization that was created to end the suffering from birth trauma. Make Birth Better provides support, training, and campaigning related to both birth and vicarious trauma. We dive into a lot of advocacy and awareness in this discussion as well as hearing about Nikki's own personal experience of how she came to...

On this week's Listener Series, we are joined by Sami - an elementary school classmate of Kayleigh's. Kayleigh and Sami reconnected in 2020 because of birth trauma. Sami shares about her pregnancy and birth experience during the height of COVID and how it took an unexpected turn with a diagnosis of Vasa Previa required a hospital admission at week 30 until her baby way born. She shares a...

On this episode, we briefly dive into all things parenting after birth trauma. This is a topic that continues to come up in our space, especially as we see our kids getting older. There is so much to cover with the topic of parenting after birth trauma. There is complex childhood trauma, the trauma of a birth experience or pregnancy or postpartum and the impact that it has on the way we parent and...

On this week's episode, we welcome Erika to share her story. Erika had a mostly uncomplicated first pregnancy and had her son at 39 weeks 6 days and was taken to the NICU. The nurse told her to "give him a kiss goodbye" and she thought she would never see him alive again - the phrase alone was traumatic. After EMDR, raising her son and getting pregnant again, her 2nd pregnancy resul...

On this week's episode, we welcome Sabrina Fletcher - known as the TFMR Doula. Sabrina helps bereaved parents in the aftermath of a heartbreaking decision to terminate a very wanted pregnancy. We have very important conversations about what a TFMR, support, and awareness and the need for abortion policies to be protected. EDIT: The intro should say TFMR happens in *up to* 80,000-90,000 pregna...

On this week's Listener Series, we welcome Stephanie to the podcast. Stephanie had an emergency induction for sudden hypertension at 40 weeks and 1 day. Her daughter ended up needing a NICU stay and Stephanie put her own health on the back burner until 6 days postpartum her health took a turn for the worst an she experienced multiple organ failure and postpartum HELLP syndrome. On this episod...

On this week's episode, we welcome Elizabeth Earnshaw, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Liz is a couples therapist, writer, and content creator. This episode is full of so many nuggets like how to encourage therapy for your parter as well as themes that are often present in relationships after both kids and trauma. We hope you find this episode so helpful! On this episode, you will h...

On this week's episode - we are doing a special re-release in honor of Father's Day coming up. Join me and my husband, Steve, as we answer your questions on partner trauma and the impact of birth trauma on relationships. For more birth trauma content and a community full of love and support, head to my Instagram at @thebirthtrauma_mama . Learn more about the support and services I offer...

On this week's episode, we welcome Allie. She shares about her pregancy, which was picture perfect until she was 12 hours into her induction. Her baby's heart rate dropped and she had to have an emergency c-section under general anesthesia due to an inadequate epidural. Her baby needed CPR at birth and Allie had the most hemorrhages her doctor had ever seen on the OR table.  On this epis...

On this week's episode - we are doing a special re-release in honor of Father's Day coming up.  Details of a traumatic birth are included in this episode.  In this episode, my husband, Steve joins me to discuss his perspective on Cal's birth and the impact it had on him, as well as our relationship.  For more birth trauma content and a community full of love and support, head to my...

On this week's episode, we welcome Mandy Irby, @thebirthnurse . Mandy is a board-certified labor nurse with 12 years of experience. Through her own birth experiences and her years at the bedside she has recognized the desperate need for trauma-informed care, not just for the benefit of patients, but also for nurses. Mandy joins us to discuss the importance of trauma-informed for a culture cha...

This week's listener story, we welcome Kate. Kate found out that they were having identical triplets and how her delivery took a quick turn. Kate experienced severe postpartum hemorrhages and her triplets had a NICU journey, which she shares on the isolating experience that all of that entailed. On this episode you will hear: - identical triplets - multiple hemorrhages - surreal experience of...

On this week's episode, we welcome Jamie Agunsday. Jamie is a registered nurse from New Jersey, experienced in L&D and is so passionate about reducing maternal mortality rates, teaching nurses, and helping reduce health disparities in the maternal healthcare.  On this episode, you will hear: - understanding patient safety in obstetrics - importance of psychological safety - implementation...

On this week's listener series we welcome Brittany. She found out they were pregnant in 2022 after dealing with several early losses. Nearing the end of her pregnancy, Brittany started to notice some symptoms that weren't normal and she was diagnosed with the flu - however, something felt off even after that. They returned to the hospital after she noticed her face was drooping and she w...

On this week's episode, we welcome Erica Djossa, MA of Momwell. Erica's new book - Releasing the Mother Load - is available now and we discuss the concept of the load we carry as moms, we dive into gender norms and expectations, and how we can tackle the stigmas we face as moms on top of dealing with trauma experiences. On this episode you will hear: - impact of the Invisible Load on men...

On this week's listener episode we welcome Claire from Australia. Early in her pregnancy, Claire started to experience pelvic girdle pain and was in chronic pain for the remainder of her pregnancy. She shares about how this played a large part in her mental health journey with her birth experience. As a healthcare worker, Claire recognized immediately after her delivery that the attitude in t...

On this week's episode, in honor of National Nurses Week we talk about Labor & Delivery nurses. So many of the L&D nurses play such a significant role in what someone experiences in their birth experience. I dive deep into acknowledgement, validation, and advocacy in this episode. On this episode you will hear: - the power of L&D nurses and preventing birth trauma - the importance...

On this week's listener series episode, we welcome Kayla to share her story with us. Her first pregnancy and delivery of their daughter was traumatic with developing severe preeclampsia. They found out that they were pregnant with their son Brooks on Mother's Day in 2022. At their anatomy scan, Brooks was diagnosed with hypo plastic left heart syndrome, critical aortic stenosis, and seve...

On this episode, Kayleigh is joined by Emily Oster, Brown University economics professor and Best-Selling Author to discuss her new book, The Unexpected. This book will be a go-to for those in the birth trauma community who  have experienced complications and are able/interested in having more children. Join us as we discuss the importance data plays in conversations with providers, especially aft...

On today's listener series episode, we welcome Lakshmi. Lakshmi is a dentist and also comes from a family with a long history of working in the medical field and a history of birth trauma. She shares about her experience and how having so much medical knowledge and family resources played into her processing what she was experiencing. On this episode you will hear: - PCOS - elective induction...