Free Birth - Exploring Autonomy In Childbirth

Today on the show we have Kristie from Manitoba, Canada. Kristie has free birthed all three of her children. She shares the story of how she registered for a midwife with her first pregnancy and quickly discovered she wanted to opt out of the system and instead be the leader of her own experience. We talk about lotus birth, using Fertility Awareness Method for conceiving, and intuitive self prenatal care.

Today on the show we have Lorena from South Carolina. After a less than desirable hospital birth that included an unconsenting episiotomy and having her baby taken away, Lorena sought to have her second child at a birth center. Towards the end of her pregnancy, her midwives dropped her with little explanation. Left with no other options, Lorena settled into the reality that she was going to free birth at her home. She educated herself and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Lorena had a quick and wonderful birth with her husband by her side.

Today on the show we have Kiara from Queensland, Australia. She tells her story of first having an induction with her twins in hospital, to a birth center in hospital with her next. Kiara then describes the impact a miscarriage of a second set of twins had on herself and her family - that ultimately led her to free birthing her last baby, Percy. Kiara shares how her faith both tested her and carried her through to have the strength and trust to birth Percy at home with her family.

Today on the show we have Sirgun Kaur Khalsa from Arizona, who after a homebirth transfer with her first child, decided to free birth her second child with just her husband. After carrying past 42 weeks, her nervous midwife called 911 towards the end of her birth and Sirgun experienced a dramatic transfer resulting in unnecessarily intervention and obstetrical abuse. Thankfully, following her intuition with her second pregnancy she tells the story of her healing and powerful birth at home, on her terms.

This week on the Free Birth Podcast we have Sarah from Georgia who shares the story of birthing her first child. She tells the journey that led her to choose free birth and the shock of having an unexpectedly quick labor.

Today on the show we have Aileen from North Carolina with quite the story to share. From losing a premature baby to hospital interventions as a teenager, Aileen went on to experience both a traumatic abortion and then an abusive hospital birth. Finally, with just her husband, outside at their home, she Free Birthed her daughter, drumming the night away as she labored, finally able to fully claim her body, baby, and birth experience.

We have a special episode this week with an insider look at Emilee's journey with pregnancy. She is joined by her husband, Jonny, who offers his perspective of supporting an autonomous pregnancy and Free Birth. Together, they share the story of their conscious conception, the challenges of the different trimesters, their decision to move to Hawaii, and how they are both feeling so close to the birth.

Today on the show we are welcoming in 2018 with our first episode of the new year! We have Eleanor from the Big Island of Hawaii, sharing her story of free birthing her first born. After carrying her baby for 43 long weeks, she was surprised by a precipitous 3 hour labor and delivery. I was struck by Eleanor’s sense of self authority and brutal honesty as she shares her story of the rawness of her birth and postpartum.

Today on the show we have author and mother Kimberly Johnson with her new book on postpartum titled “The 4th Trimester”. Kimberly shares her personal story of birthing in a foreign country and suffering from a serious injury and how that led to her own self healing and life’s work. Her book on the sacred postpartum time came out this week. I couldn’t recommend it enough.

Today we pivot to directly discuss hospital culture and the regularly violated legal and human rights of women. I am privileged to be joined by an incredible lawyer and human rights activist Hermine Hayes-Klein, founder of Human Rights in Childbirth. She worked for five years to organize international conferences of maternity care stakeholders to discuss women’s fundamental rights in childbirth. Hermine is a huge force in advocating and shifting the focus on the huge gap in care between honoring legal rights in the medical field and the reality of todays modern day birth culture. We also talk about what’s a doula to do, understanding client legal rights, the ethical obligation of doulas, the problematic of scope of practice, and the downside of professionalism.

This week I’m joined by Kristin from Orange County, California who shares her intimate story of self discovery through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. I particularly love Kristin’s story because she chose to work with a regulated midwife and created a way to still be the captain of her pregnancy and birth. Kristin also shares about her struggles postpartum with breastfeeding due to her son’s lip and tongue ties, and speaks to how the postpartum period is a true journey of the underworld.

Who knows what a FBA5C is? That’s a free birth after 5 c-sections. This episode goes out to all the moms with previous c-sections being told that subsequent surgery is the only way. Carrie, from Southern California tells her story of needing to find a better way. Pregnant with her sixth baby and having no one in the medical models willing to support her, she decided to stayed at home with her husband and birthed her baby in her bath tub. Carrie is freshly postpartum at the time of this recording, basking in the ease of recovery and the newfound joy of breastfeeding after her first vaginal birth.

Katya Nova's Birth Journey: Part 2 by Free Birth Society

I’m super excited to be releasing a two part episode with my new dear friend Katya who just recently had her Free Birth in the Dominican Republic about a month ago. Part one dives into the depressing birth culture of Dominican Republic and Katya's pretty wild first birth, where she had to spend the majority of her labor driving six hours to reach home and had a traditional birth attendant waiting for her. Katya also shares her list of fearful possibilities she had to come to terms with in order to free birth her second baby.

What would our society look like if males and females of all ages understood the basics of fertility? What if growing up we were taught truths instead of lies about sex and pregnancy? We have to start somewhere so this episode is for anyone who doesn’t yet know the ABC’s of how to track and understand fertility. I’m joined by birth worker and science nerd Jessica Austin from Vancouver, Canada who goes through the simple steps of how to use FAM to both conceive a child and to not conceive a child. I do want to note that we do not discuss STD’s in this episode, Fertility Awareness Method is simply a tracking method to understand when a woman is fertile and when she is not. It does not in any way protect people from sexually transmitted diseases. FAM should be used in alliance with proper STI screenings and communication with partners.

Today on the show we have writer Jennifer Margulis from Oregon. Having four children of her own, she has birthed in hospital, at home with both licensed midwives and a traditional midwife, and free birthed her last baby. Author of the books Your Baby Your Way & The Vaccine Friendly Plan, Jennifer offers both a professional and person insight into birth culture today.

Today on the show we have the incredible Patrice from New Jersey. Patrice walked into her first birth experience at 20 years old feeling confident in her body and in her ability to have a normal unmedicated birth. She was quickly silenced and given pitocin without her consent or knowledge. Patrice was forced to stay in bed in excruciating pain for 30+ hours, denying the epidural laying there suffering. Somehow deep within her, Patrice knew this wasn’t right and that this wasn’t her body’s fault. She left the hospital knowing she would never go back. She then went on to have two midwife assisted births and five miscarriages. Finally with her fourth, and then fifth, Patrice had family centered free births. We also can’t help but get into an in depth conversation about midwifery regulation, eating placentas, and the questionable ethics of doulas. This interview is one for the books.

Today on the show we have Melissa from the UK. After a wonderful first birth with midwives in hospital, she became obsessed with birth and was left shocked to realize how uncommon a positive birth in hospital was. Pregnant with her second, Melissa chose to stay at home and have a free birth, to then be harassed by child protective services and even had the cops bust into her home. After a wonderful home birth Melissa was quickly left traumatized by being attacked by social services for almost a year. Pregnant again with her third, Melissa blazed her own path and made her birth her own.

Today on the show we have Jenny Hatch, who you may say has experienced it all. From having a full on mental break down after her first birth, to a c-section due to breech presentation with her second, she went on to fire her doctor while having her VBAC, then had a postpartum hemorrhage at her first home birth. Finally with her fifth child, Jenny gets to experience an uncomplicated ecstatic free birth. Jenny’s journey is quite the wild tale offering tons of insight and wisdom into the journey of a mother.

Our first VBAC show! Today we have Diana from Seattle, Washington with a true story of victory. Diana shares how her emergency c-section was caused by the interventions she received in her birth experience. Diana says, “I'd like people to know about how the cascade of interventions causes an emergency c section. The cascade being anesthesia > pitocin > heart decels from the pit and therefore causing an emergency and of course then needing a c-section to "save the baby”. When Diana found herself pregnant again she knew she needed to do everything she could to have a vaginal birth with her second, which was beautifully accomplished at home on her own terms, in the bed where her child was conceived. This is a true tale of overcoming fear, and learning to trust in ones ability to birth vaginally and naturally after a surgical birth. This is a healing and triumphant story.