Ann’s first pregnancy, at the age of 21, started out as many do: visiting her traditional OB/GYN and making plans for a hospital delivery. But when Ann met a woman who opted for a home birth with a midwife, a whole new world of possibilities opened up to her. Ann began to study everything she could about child birth, learning and growing and becoming more and more excited by what she discovered her body could do on its own, naturally, without drugs or other interventions. She ran into a big stumbling block when her physician failed to support her plans wholeheartedly, but she was determined to continue with her goal of utilizing the Bradley Method. As it turned out, her midwife’s wisdom and Ann’s own intuition may have saved her son’s life.
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.
Those first 24 hours after birth are crucial to getting off on the right foot with breastfeeding. We have all the info you need for a great start!
Natalie is the Pied Piper of twin families around the globe. Founding Twiniversity — the world’s leading support network for multiple birth families — in 2009, she’s become the global influencer for this small niche community. Reaching over a million families a week through Twiniversity’s Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube channels, moms and dads of twins flock to Twiniversity to find resources, ask questions, explore new products, and find community and support from other twin parents. Natalie is a true connector, bringing parents from all walks of life together, breaking past cultural differences, to share in the highs and lows of parenting twins. Natalie’s book, “What To Do When You’re Having Two” is a global bestseller in Twins & Multiples Parenting.
Phylicia is a full-time wife, mommy, & beauty + lifestyle blogger. She loves to travel the world, create and share meaningful content via social media, and hang out with her dogs. She currently resides in Denver, CO.
This episode is sponsored by Expectful, a digital platform that makes meditation easy for expectant and new moms. Each one of their guided meditations has been created to support you throughout your pregnancy and motherhood journey.
Their mission is to give babies the best start in life, and that begins with you. If you’re pregnant or a new mom, go to expectful.com and sign up for their 30 day free meditation trial. It may just change your life.
Setting boundaries with your loved ones is one of the tricky things about having a baby that no one really talks about in childbirth preparation. But Stephanie and I have both personally dealt with this and we know how important it is so we want to go over how to get on the same page with your partner and how to approach issues with your extended family. Be sure to grab my favorite free printable download yet that goes over some of the questions you should be asking each other and tips on how to navigate and set postpartum boundaries.
Ashley shares the story of the loss of her twins, followed by a miscarriage, and then the birth of her rainbow babies. Her daughter Cates was born early and spent 33 days in the NICU; and, her son Rett and daughter Liza were both born full-term by scheduled cesarean. She shares how her faith affected the way she processed her losses, and how it all impacted her subsequent pregnancies and births.
Sasha, the daughter of a midwife, planned for a home birth with her first son, but after 24 hours of labor and being stuck at 8cms for nine hours the decision was made to transfer to the hospital. Her son was born three hours after they arrived into his grandma’s hands.
Sasha felt a lot of disappointment in herself that her birth didn’t go the way she had envisioned. She started trying for baby #2 just after her son turned one. In a matter of eight months she experienced two miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy. When she finally got pregnant with her second son she planned for another home birth. She went into spontaneous labor 10 days past her due date and her rainbow baby was born into her arms on her bedroom floor after one hour of labor. She wants women to know that your first labor does not dictate future labors. Every baby and every delivery is so different.
Worrying about giving birth and what your vagina will be like afterwards is completely normal. Naturally, most of us want to do everything possible to reduce the risk of tearing, so today we are discussing this very topic! Be sure to grab your free download that shares techniques to help reduce your risk of tearing in childbirth!
Chelsea has had three epidural births in the hospital, each one a little different. With her first baby, she was induced a few days after 40 weeks and her son was born less than 8 hours later. With her daughter, she had a scheduled induction at 39 weeks, and was in labor 12 hours before her daughter was born. Chelsea experienced a few days of prodromal labor with her third baby, then went into labor on her own at 39 weeks. Chelsea gave birth to her third baby 7 hours after arriving at the hospital.
Allyson Downey is an entrepreneur, MBA, writer, and parent who has built a career on the power of trusted advice. In 2013, she launched weeSpring, a Techstars-backed startup that helps new and expecting parents collect advice from their friends about what they need for their baby. weeSpring has received accolades from TechCrunch, Mashable, CNBC, and the Daily Mail, and it was heralded as “Yelp for baby products” by InStyle magazine.
She is also the author of Here's the Plan: Your Practical, Tactical Guide to Advancing Your Career During Pregnancy and Parenthood, the pregnancy-and-parenting guide to your professional life. Her writing has been featured in The Atlantic, Time, Fortune, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and others; and, she has appeared on ABC World News Now, Power Pitch on CNBC, and other outlets. Allyson has an MBA from Columbia Business School, an MFA from Columbia University's School of the Arts, and a BA from Colby College. She serves on the board of Democracy Prep Public Schools, one of the country's top charter management organizations, and lives in Boulder with her husband and two children. She can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @allysondowney.
Nearly every woman that labors in some capacity will need to cope with contractions unmedicated at some point. You aren't automatically hooked up to an epidural the moment you feel that first contraction! So even if you are planning for an epidural, you will find useful tips in this bonus episode and free download!
After months of Corinne worrying that the adoption and birth would somehow happen the same day, Desmond was 9 days late. Corinne's water leaked late at night, and she went to the hospital early the next morning. After spending 6 hours in the hospital with no progression, Corinne's doctor fully broke the water bag. Corinne was hopeful there would be no additional intervention, and thanks to coaching from her Mom, and constant massaging by both her Mom and husband, she was able to persevere. After 8 hours of back labor, Corinne gave birth to Desmond at 11pm. Ben ordered pizza and a turkey sandwich, Corinne's favorite foods, and everyone lived happily ever after.
Amy Morrison is the founder of Pregnant Chicken, an online resource and blog for expectant and new parents featuring advice, information, and tips to keep your pregnancy fun.
In her former life she was a creative director at an ad agency but decided to quit and go freelance as an art director/graphic designer in 2004. She and her husband have two little boys (born in 2006 and 2008) and live in Toronto. She shares both birth stories in this episode—a cesarean birth and an Induction VBAC birth.
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QUIZ! Where Should You Give Birth Based on Your Personality Type?
Elle the founder of Solly Baby shares her four birth stories. Solly is also generously offering $5 off your order with the code BIRTHHOUR at www.sollybaby.com.
Read more on the show notes page.
When it comes to dealing with unsupportive hospital staff or conflicting information it can be easy to feel overwhelmed or stunned, especially in the moment.
Today Stephanie and I are talking about key phrases to use when you find yourself in one of these situations and other tips to keep in mind so you are prepared for all of the different potential scenarios. Stephanie is a doula, lactation consultant and certified childbirth educator so you will definitely want to soak in all of her amazing knowledge!
Grab your free download — How to Handle Tricky Situations with Hospital Staff
Still have questions? Submit them and we will do our best to answer all of them on our Facebook Live this week on 10/4/17 at 1pm CST.
Have you taken our quiz?! I have been so surprised by the results so far! Where Should You Give Birth Based on Your Personality?
After a miscarriage, Anna and Kevin were thrilled to learn they were expecting a baby girl. Anna had a wonderfully healthy pregnancy (for which she largely credits the Pure Barre classes she took up until 41 weeks) and was hoping for an intervention-free birth. Baby girl Maggie, as it turned out, was in no rush to make her big debut into the world; and, as the days passed by without progression, Anna started worrying that an induction was in store and might throw off her birth plans. She ended up having to get induced, but Maggie’s birth was ultimately a far faster and better experience than Anna even knew to hope for.
In December 2015, Paige LoPinto had a beautiful home birth. It went so well that she decided to follow in April the Giraffe's foot steps and stream her second home birth on Facebook Live. Over 8,000 people (95% moms, doulas & midwifes) followed her journey. Fun facts about her recent birth:
Since the birth of sweet Savvy Fae, Paige has made an (unexpected) impact in the birth world. After streaming her birth LIVE on Facebook, women all over world have followed in her footsteps and are also streaming their birth live in the BirthTUBE Facebook group. Check it out!
When it comes to finding a hospital, there are some key things to look for to ensure you will be setting yourself up for the most mother-baby friendly care possible!
Today Stephanie and I are talking about questions you can ask on the tour you take of the hospital prior to choosing where you will give birth. Because many doctors only have privileges at certain hospitals, you may want to look into the hospitals early on in your care when choosing a doctor. Stephanie is a doula, lactation consultant and certified childbirth educator so you will definitely want to soak in all of her amazing knowledge!
Natalie's first pregnancy (conceived with clomid) ended in a miscarriage. For her second pregnancy, she started right away with progesterone and blood thinning shots (she has factor v leiden). She knew for years that she wanted a home birth. She also knew the risks of home birth with her blood clotting disorder—she knew she may transfer at some point for hemorrhaging, but hoped against a placenta abruption. Her hematologist said that taking thinning injections helped cancel out that risk. She prepared for a home birth and anticipated it with so much joy. She wanted a home birth so badly. She couldn't wait to experience that 'meeting moment' she had assisted so many times as a birth photographer.
Natalie's birth began on a Tuesday morning, May 31. She labored and labored and labored. On Wednesday morning, her contractions became irregular. Wednesday night around 11 pm she transferred to the hospital, hoping to get her body back in order. Epidural didn't work. Pitocin didn't work. Her body metabolized the medicine. Thursday she pushed for over 4 hours. She was sure she was going to push him out. He was asynclitic (when a baby's head is tipped towards one shoulder) and had swelling of the scalp (caput succedaneum). Her birth ended in a cesarean. She kept imagining meeting him, how it would be worth it. Her body metabolized the medicine, once again, so they had to put her under general anesthetics. She was asleep. Then when she woke up and was in a whole world of pain.
Christine had four C-sections. The first one was an emergency C-section and the rest were repeats. Christine’s first three children are girls and her last child is a boy. When Christine found out she was pregnant, she wasn’t happy. She just didn’t feel prepared. When Christine told her husband, he was thrilled. As time went on Christine began to enjoy her pregnancy and started to get ready for the changes in their home. When Christine and Brandon went to the doctor to find out the gender of their baby, the world came to a standstill. They found out they were having a baby boy. Brandon was super excited. He started talking about matching outfits, golf outings, and playing football with his son. Christine was in shock. See, when Christine found out they were having a boy, it was around the time a black boy was shot in the back by a police officer. Christine’s anxiety went through the roof.
After baby Brandon was born, Christine did not bond with him. She was sad and had a very hard time holding him. Christine was ready to leave her kids and her husband because she was broken and had no idea of what was going on. Christine’s husband Brandon, recognized something was going on and took her to the doctor right away.
Christine was diagnosed with Postpartum Depression.
When it comes to finding a doctor, does it ever make you feel completely stuck? How do you know if they will be right for you?
Today Stephanie and I are talking about why we recommend finding an evidence based care provider and how you can tell if the person you're interviewing (YES, you should absolutely be interviewing your doctors!) is practicing evidence based care. Stephanie is a doula, lactation consultant and certified childbirth educator so you will definitely want to soak in all of her amazing knowledge!
Grab your free download — Guide to Finding an Evidence Based Doctor!
Still have questions? Submit them and we will do our best to answer all of them on our Facebook Live this week on 9/20/17 at 1pm CST. We'll be discussing the major warning signs that your doctor might not be practicing evidence based care and answering YOUR questions.
Have you taken our quiz?! I have been so surprised by the results so far! Where Should You Give Birth Based on Your Personality?
At 31 weeks, Kelly’s perfectly healthy pregnancy and planned home birth took a drastic change when her water broke and it was bright red blood. Even though Kelly spent a week in the hospital and saw dozens of specialists seen, she didn't receive a firm diagnosis. She was only told that she may have had a minor placental abruption accompanied by AROM which then resealed itself. With little other information, Kelly was put on bed rest for 8 weeks and ultimately decided to change her birth plan and deliver at the hospital instead of at home. At 39 weeks and 6 days Kelly went into labor naturally, going from 5 to 10 centimeters just 20 minutes after arriving at the hospital. She had an unmedicated hospital birth with and episiotomy - just 12 hours of labor total. Her second son, and rainbow baby after 2 miscarriages, Stellan James, was born at home at 41+3 in just under 2 hours of labor.
Jennifer documents births as a birth photographer and believes that birth stories are love stories. She is also the co-founder of Birth Becomes Her and mama to two feisty girls. Jennifer grew up in the Midwest, living on a lake and loves the water. She has birthed two babies and describes her labors as sensual, and brave. She is a VBAC mama, and says she relate well to those who are working to achieve a VBAC. You can connect with her on her website and Facebook.
Erin didn't do a lot of research before her first birth, although she wanted to have a natural birth since her mom had done so. She ended up being induced with pitocin, getting an epidural, and then an episiotomy which led to a 4th degree tear. For her next two births, she hired a doula, gave birth in the hospital with midwives, and had the natural births she wanted.