Healing Birth

Nuchal cords are very common, and very rarely an issue

Informed consent is important, and saying “no” only works when your birth team understands what consent means.

One of the most common things women tell me during their birth story integration sessions is “I should have said no” or “I know I had the right to refuse that, but I froze” and it always circles back to would it have made a difference in the behavior of the provider attending that birth? Providers acting without consent - or even communication - is perhaps the most common root of birth trauma I hear from women who entrust me with their sacred stories.

“No” looks a lot of different ways. It is body language, it is fear, it is the absence of a yes. When you’re birthing your baby, it is especially important for those around you to know how to recognize this.

Signing the admission paperwork (which is often given during active labor) doesn’t constitute your consent to anything and everything that might happen, so your team should already be checking in with you before every interaction. If they’re not already doing this, that’s a red flag 🚩on them, not on you.

Uff da! This is a big topic, but the nitty gritty is that while continuous electronic fetal heart monitoring is routine in US births, women who opt in have higher intervention births including higher surgical rates!

When compared to intermittent monitoring, an option that every woman can advocate for, the health outcomes of moms and babies are the same.

Oh - and did I mention that intermittent monitoring also improves the likelihood that you will have freedom of movement and position throughout labor - which is a HUGE asset for your birth process!

A question for mothers who love mothering:

Does the ache for another child ever go away?

Will there ever be time when I don’t secretly wish for another miracle in my womb?

Or want to breastfeed a baby again?

Or be so tired but so in love at the same time it doesn’t matter?

Does the desire I feel for another baby mean there’s a soul that desires my mothering too?

Or does it mean I’m not paying enough mind to the now, cherishing the moments with the children, no longer babies, that I already have?

Will I ever not miss the smell of a newborn babies’ head? The visceral, physical magnetism of it?

Will I no longer wish for this when I’m 80?

*actually asking*

Photos taken by beautiful

Sending massive love to anyone else who has experienced pregnancy loss. Mine was early, but it feels huge.

I’m sharing these words I wrote last night. It helps me feel less alone to share, and I hope you, too, feel less alone if you’ve been through it as well. It’s kind of the whole mission of the podcast and my work. Thanks for reading.

❤️Diana

Sending massive love to anyone else who has gone through a pregnancy loss. Mine was early but it feels big.

I’m sharing these words I wrote last night, hoping that it helps anyone else feel less alone. Sharing also helps me feel less alone. ❤️ Diana

My face says it all.

Seven years ago today I said no thank you to what the medical system had to offer me and gave birth to my VBAC baby, at home, in a state where it was not legal for midwives to attend me.

I found a way, because I knew it was the right way *for us.* I found the courage to trust myself and it changed my life forever.

Your right way might look different. Everyone’s path is different. But I can tell you, unequivocally, that your life will change if you trust in your intuition, your body, your inner knowing, rather than ANY external, perceived authorities of any kind.

The power I felt in this photo is how I want every woman to feel after giving birth, no matter how you choose to do it. It’s accessible to you too.

Happy birthday baby boy, thank you for the lesson. 💕

🎧 New episode of the Healing Birth Podcast!

The best definition I know of trauma goes something like this: Anything that was too much, too soon, and too fast for us to process and integrate. It causes elements of the past to get stuck in the biology of our bodies and our subconscious experience.

This story is a perfect example of how that can show up in birth.

You can follow Katie and

You can listen on , , and anywhere else you get podcasts.

🎧 New episode of the Healing Birth Podcast!

This episode is the first in a series exploring what it was like to give birth during the “C”pandemic (I’m not using the actual word to hopefully avoid censorship!)

Sondra, a former healthcare worker herself, shares her experience of navigating the healthcare system, and giving birth, during the C pandemic.

Her story is such a beautiful example of what is possible when we are spiritually prepared for birth. Even when the outcome is not what we desire (or perhaps, even what we fear the most), we can emerge from our birth experience empowered and avoid trauma.

Sondra now works as a doula, and you can follow her on IG , and find her at www.nursedoulabirthworker.com

You can listen on , , and anywhere else you get podcasts!

🎧 New episode of the Healing Birth Podcast!

Every now and then a story takes a twist I am not expecting during the interview - and it always makes for an even better story than the one I thought I would hear! This episode is a perfect example of that.

Rebecca shares two birth stories with us. First, a traumatic, unnecessarian (major kudos to whoever coined that term), and a redemptive, led by faith freebirth.

It is the extraordinary experiences around that second birth that gets us into talking about spiritual warfare, the spirit realm, and the truth that birth is designed to be a holy experience.

Check out Rebecca’s instagram for many beautiful reels that show images of her births

You can listen on , , and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

Join our online community! If you love the vibe of the show, the guests we have, and topics we cover, I’d love to get to know you more. We’ve created a beautiful and private space online to share about birth, mothering, and anything else on your heart. You can find the details to join at www.healingbirth.net/membership

If you gave birth in 2020 / 2021, and were affected by pandemic rules, restrictions, and changes in medical care, I’d like to record your story and share it on the podcast.

Also if you looked at your options and f*ck this I’m staying home to have my baby, I’d like to hear those stories too.

Books will be written about what we all just went through.

Please share this post ❤️

🎧 New episode of the Healing Birth Podcast!

After an unplanned pregnancy very newly into her marriage, Melissa planned a home birth, but was transferred out of midwifery care due to a pre-eclampisa diagnosis. She was given no other option than an induction in the hospital.

Overall, she was grateful to have not ended up with a cesarean, but there was so much that happened during that birth that was violating and unnecessary. After her baby was born, she started listening to birth story podcasts and realized that birth didn’t have to be that way.

During her second pregnancy, Melissa knew she wanted a different experience. She sought out a midwife with who had a wealth of knowledge about how to manage her blood pressure holistically in the event that she developed high blood pressure again.

Recorded at just 7 weeks postpartum, her second birth was full of joy, humor, and there’s a surprise twist at the end!

This is such a beautiful story!

Her high blood pressure prevention protocol:

• Passionflower tea
• Epsom salt baths
• Reducing stress
• Journalling

(Please note that I am never giving medical advice on this podcast, I am simply sharing women’s own stories!)

You can follow Melissa on Instagram

You can listen on , , and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

Join our online community! If you love the vibe of the show, the guests we have, and topics we cover, I’d love to get to know you more. We’ve created a beautiful and private space online to share about birth, mothering, and anything else on your heart. You can find the details to join at www.healingbirth.net/membership

🎧 New episode of the Healing Birth Podcast!

At just 21 years old, Trae’s experience giving birth to her first baby was a truly life threatening one. 

Although she is still processing the events of that day, Trae is very passionate about advocating for other mothers who experience traumatic births. She shares the whole story with us today, including ways she has found healing in the aftermath.  

Please note that this episode contains a description of a traumatic birth, and take care of yourself accordingly. 

You can follow Trae on instagram

You can listen on , , and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

Join our online community! If you love the vibe of the show, the guests we have, and topics we cover, I’d love to get to know you more. We’ve created a beautiful and private space online to share about birth, mothering, and anything else on your heart. You can find the details to join at www.healingbirth.net/membership

🎧 New episode of the Healing Birth Podcast!

 A Cesarean in Bali, A Freebirth in California

After a failed induction, a very long bout of prodromal labor, and getting ultimately kicked out of her birthing center, Ita’s first baby was born surgically, under general anesthesia, in Bali. After this birth experience, Ita had a hard time bonding with her daughter, and they struggled with their breastfeeding relationship. 

After that first tough year, and a move to the US, Ita became pregnant with her second baby. And as the pregnancy progressed, Ita felt increasingly called to freebirth this baby despite having initially hired a midwife. 

At 43 weeks and four days gestation (!) Ita birthed her baby in the sovereignty and safety of her own home. At the time of this recording, which was only 6 weeks postpartum, Ita says she can’t wait to give birth again. 

You can listen on , , and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

Join our online community! If you love the vibe of the show, the guests we have, and topics we cover, I’d love to get to know you more. We’ve created a beautiful and private space online to share about birth, mothering, and anything else on your heart. You can find the details to join at www.healingbirth.net/membership

🎧 New episode of the Healing Birth Podcast!

Samantha, a twin who was born at 33 weeks, wisely dealt with the trauma of her own birth before becoming pregnant herself. She says that the day she gave birth was truly the best day of her life, but that she worked really hard for it.

This is one of those stories where everything went right, but it wasn’t an accident or luck.

The most remarkable part of her story for me was the dreams she describes during her pregnancies which were clear communications from her babies' souls. I was totally blown away by them!

You can listen on , , and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

Join our online community! If you love the vibe of the show, the guests we have, and topics we cover, I’d love to get to know you more. We’ve created a beautiful and private space online to share about birth, mothering, and anything else on your heart. You can find the details to join at www.healingbirth.net/membership

🎧 New episode of the Healing Birth Podcast!

When survivors of sexual assault give birth, part two: Rebecca’s story

This is part two of a series exploring, through personal stories, how the experience of prior sexual assault can show up when we give birth.

Rebecca shares the incredible story of the birth of her fourth child, born at just 32 weeks, in a teaching hospital.

This is one of the most emotionally intense stories I have ever recorded, both in beauty and pain.

(Please note that while we do discuss sexual assault, this conversation does *not* contain a description of sexual assault).

You can listen on , , and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

🎧 New episode of the Healing Birth Podcast!

When survivors of sexual assault give birth, part one: Gemma’s story

This is part one of a two part series exploring, through personal stories, how the experience of prior sexual assault can show up when we give birth.

Just a few of the topics we cover:

-The freeze and fawn response, which is a common occurrence when survivors are under the care of medical professionals.

-the heightened difficulty of relinquishing control during birth.

-the importance of midwives and birthworkers to approach the topic of prior sexual assault with their clients.

(Please note that this conversation does *not* contain any description of sexual assault).

You can follow Gemma and www.wyldbirth.com

Listen on , , and everywhere else!

🎧 New episode of the Healing Birth Podcast!

The Wisdom of Breech Birth

What if breech birth is not the inherent emergency we are conventionally told, but rather, an expression of intelligent, deeply empathic, communication between mother and baby?

Jess shares her three birth stories with us  - actually four, as we begin with her own -  all of which carry the through line of breech presenting babies and maternal communication.

This is another one of those stories where ancestral and matrilineal healing come from a powerful reclamation of what it means to birth in sovereignty.

You can listen on , , and all other streaming platforms.

You can follow Jess .aralia

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