After the OB she loved left the office a month before her due date, Felicia was left having to advocate for her birth plan when the new doctor attempted to scare her into an early induction. She was finally induced at almost 42 weeks. After Cervidil didn’t change anything overnight, Felicia received a small amount of pitocin, which jumpstarted what ended up being her ideal birth without an epidural.

Melody shares her hospital birth using a midwifery practice in Toronto, Canada, as well as experience with postpartum anxiety.

Grace had an unmedicated hospital birth with an OB. She prepared for her unmedicated birth by hiring a doula and taking Bradley classes during her pregnancy. She also had the added bonus of having her sister as her L&D nurse throughout her entire birth!

Tiara shares her experience being pregnant while serving active duty in the Navy and planning a home birth.

When Bryn got pregnant with her third child, she planned for another unmedicated birth in a birth center. The plan changed when she was diagnosed with Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy(ICP) at 33 weeks and risked out of the birth center.

After 2.5 years of trying as well as a miscarriage in 2018, Susanna and Will found out they were pregnant with their rainbow baby in February 2019. They learned halfway through the pregnancy that Susanna would be induced due to high blood pressure. She went in at 39 weeks to be induced, hoping to avoid pain medications.

Liz moved to a new city just outside of NYC right before the Coronavirus outbreak really set it. It turned out that her new city of New Rochelle was a hotspot for COVID19 and quickly earned the label of "containment zone."

Naria and her husband, Luther, received unexpected news of their first pregnancy in January 2019. Though unexpected, years of being exposed to pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experiences through family and education had prepared Naria to make informed decisions about the birth experience she wanted.

Today's episode is a rebroadcast of Christine McNabb's episode from the archive. Christine had three girls and then found out she was pregnant with a boy. The idea of raising a black boy in America caused Christine extreme anxiety and depression throughout pregnancy and postpartum. She shares how that affected her bonding with her son, how she overcame it, and how she's helping women today.

Today I'm replaying an episode from Denene Millner, who shared her experience with pregnancy and childbirth as a black woman in America back in 2016 on The Birth Hour. But first I'm going to share some clips from NPR's Code Switch podcast which recently covered this topic.

Angela planned for a birth with hospital midwives. Her birth plan included an epidural and support from her partner who was a hospital employee.

Britt shares her birth story and discusses breastfeeding and postpartum depression.

Madeline shares about giving birth during COVID-19 and discusses ICP.

Shannon shares her birth story and discusses her peripartum anxiety.

During a very healthy, normal pregnancy, Karissa was unexpectedly sent to the hospital at 29 weeks with preterm contractions. They determined that she was not in labor and sent her home after a night of observation and medication to bedrest for the next five weeks.

Emily shares her birth story and also discusses breastfeeding.

Laura is a faculty member in public health whose research focuses on quality and equity in maternity care. She shares the story of birthing her fraternal twin girls, their NICU stay, and breastfeeding.

Lauren's episode first aired in Mach 2016.

Gabey shares her two birth stories with the same midwife group in a hospital.

I interviewed Rebecca Dekker from Evidence Based Birth on April 13, 2020, for an expert interview bonus episode exclusive to our patreon listener-supporters. We scheduled that interview months in advance before Coronavirus was on anyone's radar in the U.S. She was so generous to stick around for an extra conversation about the existing evidence/research around COVID-19 and I wanted to make sure that portion of the interview was available to our entire audience.

Katie shares her three birth stories, focusing on her most recent, an unassisted car birth with a positive postpartum experience in the hospital.

Katie shares her three birth stories, focusing on her most recent, an unassisted car birth with a positive postpartum experience in the hospital.

Katie shares her three birth stories, focusing on her most recent, an unassisted car birth with a positive postpartum experience in the hospital.

Melanie discusses preparing for her c-section twin birth and the how COVID-19 affected her pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.