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The Birth Hour - A Birth Story Podcast

Whether you are pregnant and looking for inspirational birth stories through your pregnancy, trying to conceive, breastfeeding, or postpartum; if you're a first time mom or a veteran parent of multiple children, you can learn, laugh and maybe even cry a little at these moving childbirth stories from those willing to share one of the most intimate moments of their lives.
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Now displaying: Category: Birth Center

Welcome to The Birth Hour! New and expecting mothers love hearing birth stories and for most moms, sharing a birth story is a positive way to connect with other women. Every birth story is different and each one is beautiful and empowering in its own way. This podcast was designed to serve as a safe haven for women to share their stories with other women and connect over the life-changing event of giving birth.

Jun 10, 2021

Today's birth story comes from mom of two, Monet Moutrie, who shares her experience giving birth at a birth center in Denver, Colorado. Monet comes to birth with the unique perspective of having photographed hundreds of births as a birth photographer—in other words she's pretty much seen it all! 

May 13, 2021

A few days before Jenny was 41 weeks with her fifth baby, she came to the Midwife Center to start a natural induction - pumping and walking. After a few hours, her water broke and her labor began.

Dec 8, 2020

Amanda had a smooth, yet uncomfortable, pregnancy but then had to navigate giving birth and finding support during the pandemic. She experienced a day of prodromal labor before real labor started the day after her due date. After arriving at the birthing center, she labored most of the day in the water supported by her husband and sister. Labor was intense yet peaceful and she progressed steadily throughout the day. She delivered her baby on a birth stool and after a short scare with the baby not immediately breathing, they had an immediate bond. Postpartum was the happiest time of her life and loved breastfeeding from the start. She had a significant tear but had a great experience working with a pelvic floor physical therapist to heal. 

Nov 19, 2020

After a fast labor with her first child (episode 397), Megan expected to labor quickly with her second, but she was unprepared for just how fast things would happen. Megan was in labor for just under 3 hours and struggled to avoid pushing for the 30-minute car ride to the birth center. She delivered her daughter just 2 minutes after walking barefoot into the birth center.

Aug 20, 2020

Nijsha shares her birth story, and discusses the support of her partner, doula, and midwives who helped her get through 18 hours of labor.

Apr 17, 2018

Tori shares the story of her peaceful, unmedicated birth at Mountain Midwifery in a birthing pool. After laboring at home, she and her husband made the drive to the center to meet her doula. Spending a majority of the time in the water, Tori drew on her Hypnobabies wisdom, physical support of her husband and emotional support of her doula. After a few hours of labor and transition she pushed 3 times and her son was in arms. Hours after that, the family of 3 returned home for post-partum bonding.

Jan 16, 2018

Birth of Vienna—December 08, 2015: Amber planned an unmedicated hospital birth with her first daughter Vienna using Vanderbilt Midwives & a volunteer doula. She found herself in the midst of transition feeling ill-prepared for coping through the pain & highly disappointed with the lack of care from the midwife on call. With the help of her doula, she pushed through transition using guided breathing.

However when it came time to push, her baby's heart rate began to decelerate & a resident doctor stepped in with no introduction or warning to perform an aggressive rectal intervention where he inserted his hand into her rectum to force a fast delivery of the baby's head. It was very painful & left her feeling traumatized for months. A different midwife later apologized to Amber and affirmed that the doctor's actions were aggressive & unnecessary. That experience ultimately set Amber on a journey to have an empowered fear-free natural birth at a Birth Center with her second, as well as to become a Birth & Postpartum Doula herself.

Oct 31, 2017

The minute Nijsha found out she was pregnant was an instant shock to her and her partner, as they were not actively trying to conceive. They knew it was a blessing though, and that for them there was no real perfect time to start a family. Nijsha had heard stories from her own mother about how her birthing experiences were extremely difficult; and, Nijsha had always wanted her experience to be different. When she did find out she was pregnant she began to do her own research. She wanted to have an unmedicated birth with no interventions in an out-of-hospital setting.

Her partner was not completely sold on the idea of a home birth (fearing a medical emergency) so they made the decision to meet in the middle with a birthing center. Nijsha read books, listened to The Birth Hour podcast, and watched birth videos on YouTube to prepare. She went into labor the day after her due date on March 21st and had the support of her partner, doula, and midwives who helped her get through 18 hours of labor. She used all the breathing and active laboring techniques to help bring her beautiful daughter Gia Ryan earth side on March 22nd, 2017 at 3:51PM. Gia weighed 6 pounds 8.5 ounces and was 26 inches long.

Dec 29, 2016

Tiffany lives in rural South Carolina running a farm with her husband. They recently welcomed their first child, a daughter named Florence at the Baby+Company birth center in Cary, NC. Tiffany is passionate about natural living and left her birth feeling powerful and confident with the support of her midwives and husband. Connect with her on Instagram.

 

Dec 8, 2016

Alexis shares the birth story of her son, Sebastian, which took place at Growing Families birthing center in St. Augustine, Florida.  With her fiancé as her birthing coach, and Misti Balzar as the midwife (guardian angel) assisting the delivery, Sebastian arrived Thanksgiving Day 2014.  Approximately 9 hours of labor produced an 8 lb. 13 oz. healthy baby boy.  The birth wasn’t at all easy or painless, but she views the experience as a wright of passage.

Nov 22, 2016

Today's guest, Caitlyn, shares her experience giving birth at a birth center in Cary, NC called Baby+Co. She chose this birth center after not feeling supported in her hospital birth experience with her first child. Caitlyn had an amazing experience for her second and third children's births at the Baby+Co birth center, and it was so great to hear her most recent birth story along with her midwife, Beth.

Oct 6, 2016

Today we have a unique episode featuring a mom, Gisyra, and her midwife, Margaret, sharing Gisyra's birth center birth story together. It's really neat to hear the perspective of the mom and her midwife and the beautiful bond they seem to have formed throughout her prenantal care and birth.

Sep 20, 2016

Jenn shares the story of her daughter's birth which took place at a birth center in Montana. Her baby actually arrived within minutes of getting to the birth center. When she came out the cord was wrapped around her twice and she needed attention, an ambulance was called and she spent 9 days in the NICU. It was a very intense experience and there were a lot of unknowns but Rosemary is a very healthy one year old today! Jenn wanted to share her story to encourage other women who are walking the path of a NICU mom.

Sep 15, 2016

Today's birth story comes from mom of two, Monet Moutrie, who shares her experience giving birth at a birth center in Denver, Colorado. Monet comes to birth with the unique perspective of having photographed hundreds of births as a birth photographer—in other words she's pretty much seen it all! 

 

Aug 4, 2016

Lauren Hartmann shared her daughter's birth center birth and her son's homebirth on Episode 11 of The Birth Hour. Her son Clive's birth was 19 hours long with 4 hours of pushing and he weighed over 10.5 pounds with a 15 inch head! After Clive's birth Lauren felt defeated and didn't have that same sense of empowerment that she did after her first birth. When she found out she was expecting baby number three, she knew that giving birth at home no longer felt right to her after what she had been through with Clive's birth. She explored possibly giving birth at a hospital but didn't appreciate the model of care there so she ended up going back to the birth center where she had had such a beautiful birth with her daughter, Fern.

Despite a very stressful pregnancy where she and her husband were informed half way through that their daughter had some soft markers for Downs Syndrome, Lauren made it to her due date and was ready to meet their baby girl. She tells this third birth story as being redemptive in so many ways and restoring her beliefs about birth.

May 17, 2016

Karyssa and her husband grew up in the Seattle area and are now raising their own family in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Karyssa has known she wanted to be a mother since she was very young so she and her husband started trying for a family right away and now have two girls who are currently 2.5 years and 8 months old. After giving birth to her babies, Karyssa became fascinated with what women's amazing bodies are capable of and she hopes to become a doula herself.

 

See pictures and read more here.

 

Follow on Instagram for updates and gorgeous birth photos on the regular! 

May 5, 2016

In this episode of The Birth Hour, Christy shares Grace and Finn's birth stories and the reasons that she is so passionate about maternal health. She says, "I became a global maternal healthcare advocate the day I became a mother 12 years ago. That was the day I also became a statistic. Within an hour of delivering my daughter I hemorrhaged. If not for the competent care of a team of providers that included a doula, midwife nurses and backing OB, I might not be here today."

Mar 24, 2016

Rachel is a new mom to a little boy named Rónán and she owns and operates a small batch hand spun, plant dyed yarn business on Etsy called 44Clovers. In this episode, Rachel shares the story of the birth of her son, who was 3 weeks and 3 days early. She delivered in a wonderful birth center in the nearest town called The Birthplace with a doula, midwife, nurse and her husband.

Mar 15, 2016

Today's guest is Jamie Dorobek who is sharing the birth story of her son Maxwell who was born at a birth center in Austin, Texas. Jamie discusses her decision to have a natural birth and the speedy delivery of her son after arriving at the birth center. Jamie shared this story while she was VERY pregnant with baby #2 and has since given birth to a daughter as well!

Feb 2, 2016

Dori Varga is the mama to Noah and wife to Adam. Originally from Hungary she is living in California where she founded TRIBE de MAMA, now a global movement. Dori tells the story of her son's birth which was planned to take place within a birth center and after 30 hours of labor she was transferred to the adjoining hospital.

Nov 26, 2015

Paige Rangel of The Love Designed Life shares the birth of her son Diego born at a birth center.

Sep 29, 2015

Welcome to The Birth Hour! In this episode, Leah shares the story of her fifth birth, which took place at a birth center surrounded by supportive women. The Red Tent was a hideaway that women in ancient Christian culture retreated to during their periods or to give birth. In these tents, it is said that women shared secrets and traditions of womanhood and motherhood, and cared for each other during times of need. Leah's midwife named Leah's recent birth a "Red Tent Birth" and you will soon find out why.

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