What You Didn't Expect in Fertility, Pregnancy & Birth: Real Stories & Expert Insights

In today's episode I interview a woman who was in graduate school studying nutrition during her first sustained pregnancy; she experiences a lot of lapses in care, both for the miscarriage that precedes her first pregnancy, for the first trimester, and more during her first labor; but she learns a great deal about herself and the process. She shares: * What she thinks first trimester care sho...

Today I finish my conversation with Charlotte. We talk about her next two births, one which involved an issue with the placenta, the second of which was a precipitous labor--contractions and birth within an hour--and how those experiences taught her to accept the help on offer from her community.

In this episode my guest talks about a host of challenges she managed during her pregnancy including PCOS, miscarriage, an unexpected appendicitis that leads to a preterm birth.  Through it all, she perseveres, learning something from each challenge: * the benefits of preparation * the benefits of hospital care * the limits of her own control over pregnancy  and takes these ideas into her reproduc...

Today's guest is a well known author who wrote a book called Eleven Hours which follows the labor experience of a pregnant woman and her nurse. It's beautifully written and we discuss the author's own experience and how that did and did not impact her approach to the beautiful novel she wrote. One thing to note: we reference the old name of the podcast, War Stories from the Womb a f...

Last week Jennifer talked about the different emotions she experienced when she unexpectedly got pregnant. That crowd of differing emotions follows her through the birth and into postpartum.  Her experience is one that many of us can relate to and giving voice to all the different aspects of the sometimes wonderful/sometimes painful or boring aspects of the transition from being an individual to s...

Today's guest shares her experience of an unintended pregnancy. With almost every pregnancy women are expected to narrow range of reactions, from excited to ecstatic. But stepping into pregnancy is such an enormous change that the limits to what we are expected to feel doesn't make sense. In the first part of our conversation we talk how today's guest managed the mass of feelings th...

This week I finish my conversation with Becky.  She's a fertility mindset coach using hypnosis to help women who are struggling with their fertility, a technique she was drawn to learn after it helped her get pregnant after six years of infertility. At first blush, this may sound woo woo (Becky's term), but when you dig into some of the details, it's understandable how mindset could...

In today's episode I talk with a woman about her very intentional trek through infertility--not intentional in that she was looking for it, but in the ways she managed all the OB, fertility and surgical issues that arose for her.  She talks about the importance of educating yourself and advocating for yourself . These are both lessons learned when the absence of both education and advocacy ha...

In today's episode we hear the rest of Emily's story.  She shares how she ultimately managed her first birth--a home birth that became a hospital birth, and tells us about the art her experience inspired, and how it's helping other women who unexpectedly experience a C section.  We also hear briefly from Dr. Young, the OB/scientist who is working to better understand and measure ute...

In today's episode I talk with a woman whose pregnancy was straight forward, and who was aimed at a home birth with a midwife.  She talks about why she decided on a home birth How the home birth was progressing and her strategies for managing it What sent her to the hospital the ways that she managed the unexpected progress of her labor. We also here from an OB/scientist who is working to dec...

Today we'll take a bit of a dive into the mechanics of how a uterus contracts .  This is actually really important because drawing meaning from patterns of uterine contractions is how many doctors and midwives manage labor.  I'm talking with Dr. Roger Young today, an OB scientist who studies, among other things, the details of how a uterus contracts. Dr Young's paper on Uterine cont...

Today I finish my conversation with Caitlin, the registered dietician who focuses on women's fertility issues.  She shares the rest of her story about managing the challenges of PCOS. She addresses changes she made to: *her diet *her exercise *her mindset *her ability to manage stress  and how these changes led to  three children (and stay tuned, maybe more?)...we pick up where we left off la...

Today's guest shares her journey through infertility generated by Poly cycstic ovarian syndrome. She is a clinical dietitian and talks about things to consider when taking birth control.  She gives a number of tips on what you can do to improve your fertility, but note: this is not medical advice. What follows is the first part of our conversation. possible side effects of hormonal birth cont...

In today's episode:  I finish my conversation with Jess.  We talk about : * how her research prior to the third postpartum set her up for a significantly better experience. She describes concepts like constructive rest and matrescence * practical tips on how much physical work should be done in the early weeks * a useful time line to set your expectations  we pick up where we left off last we...

I talk to a woman who shares the story of her transformative births:  in particular : how the postpartum and aftermath of the second birth changed the way she viewed herself and her career.  Its an impactful and inspirational story that I think many of us can relate to. What follows is the first part of our conversation. hyperemesis and anxiety https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14767058...

Today we'll talk with Dr. Carl Weiner, MD, MBA He has been working on  developing testing that can PREDICT PREMATURITY and EARLY ONSET PREECLAMPSIA as early as 12 weeks into the pregnancy. *If it is detected, WHAT can be done? *What  are his hopes for the FUTURE of PREGNANCY You can find Dr. Weiner here: https://www.creighton.edu/campus-directory/weiner-carl-p

In this week's episode we hear the rest of Hannah's story:  *we hear about the premature birth of her son  * how she manages his care during his long stay in the NICU and *how he's doing now. We also hear more from Dr. Weiner, who is working on a test that can predict both prematurity and early onset preeclampsia to try to prevent these issues from arising in a pregnancy.  We pick u...

In today's episode I speak with a woman who was very much caught off guard by a condition called PPROM--preterm premature rupture of membranes when she was 22 weeks along. She talks about how she managed all the twists and turns of her experience, and despite all the hard things that happened, many things made her feel lucky. We also hear from an OB/scientist who is working on a test that can...

In today's episode we hear the rest of Corinne's story. In particular:  *What she learned in her repeated trips to the ER *What she took away from the challenging things she experienced. *What she'd do differently next time .We'll also hear from Dr. Chapa , a clinical assistant professor of obstetrics & gynecology at Texas A&M College of medicine, who shares some of his...

In today's episode : we hear the story of a first time mother who has a by the book pregnancy which slides off the tracks in delivery and postpartum. In this first part of our conversation, she shares: * how she and her husband managed the uncertainty that seemed to come without much warning. We'll also hear from a fantastic OB ( Dr. Hector Chapa ) who gives a wider medical context to th...

In today's episode, I finish my conversation with Angie. She's a mindset coach and worked in early interventions from birth to three . we talk about parenting the son that she initially fostered and then adopted; how her training and experience led to a new approach, both in her own life and her work. She talks about how important mindset is and how to manage our mindset You can find Ang...

In today's episode I speak with a MINDSET COACH about her experience with pregnancy and with fostering and then adopting a child. She talks about what she learned with respect to colic and tongue tie and some of the challenges she met in this process and how she, someone trained in early interventions from birth to three, ultimately had to change the way she approached parenting. What follows...

his week I finish my conversation with Suzzie. She shares: * how the second birth felt like a redemption of the first one * all the things she did between the first and second births to make that outcome more likely, including: * more birth education * facing her fears *managing her expectations.  We pick up where we left off last week. Suzzie has spent hours contracting and waiting and ultimately...

This week's episode features that story of a woman who had two nearly opposite experiences of birth.  Like many of us, the FIRST one was ROUGH--including anything but gentle treatment at the hospital and an unpleasant C section; The SECOND was a vast improvement, which started her on a journey to learn more about birth and to become what she needed that first time around: an excellent DOULA;...

In todays episode we hear the end of Tanya's story. To remind everyone, last week we left Tanya: *She's spent the whole pregnancy on a boat with her 4 other children & husband *the boat is docked in Sarasota Florida for the birth *Although it's her 5th birth, it doesn't go quickly *The midwife sends her to see an acupuncturist during her stalled labor *Tanya is terrified of...