Sandra is a life lover living in Umeå in the north of Sweden. She is a mother of three boys, Shambo 5, Noah 2 and Moses 4 months. Her first two births took place at home and the third in a hospital.
Sandra is a teacher and forever student of yoga, and she in training to become a birth doula. She is also in the process of launching her website lifemother.com, a place to share, inspire and connect with other women on the sacred journey of motherhood. You can check out Sandra's new website LifeMother or connect with her on Instagram.
This episode of The Birth Hour features Nicolette Gawthrop who was on the podcast previously sharing her first birth story. You can listen to that birth story and read her bio here, you can connect with her on Instagram @ozarkmamadeer. Nicolette just had her third birth, another planned homebirth which was rather fast with baby Maribell arriving before Nico's midwives arrived. They arrived shortly after and were there for the afterbirth care. In a lovely Instagram post after her birth, Nicolette talks a bit about how important midwifery care is and was to her even though in the actual moment of birth it was just her and her husband.
Paul is a mother, doula, yoga teacher, meditation guide and facilitator of women circles living in Venice, California.
When she was pregnant with her daughter, Madeleine, and traveling on her own journey into motherhood, something shifted within her. She experienced a spiritual awakening that allowed her the opportunity to choose a more conscious way to approach her life as a woman and mother. In her yoga practice, she blends together her experience as a mother, her expertise as a doula and her extensive training in yoga, as a meditation guide and facilitator. Sharing what she knows and supporting women as they make their own journey into motherhood is her deepest passion. You can connect with her on her website or Instagram.
Bethanne Wanamaker is a certified holistic nutrition educator, and the founder of Edible Goddess, an international conscious lifestyle brand that cares deeply about your empowerment. She teaches progressive strategies that awaken you to your highest potential by following the body's inherent wisdom, and with an intentional mindset, daily self-care rituals, and radical self-love. Be sure to check out the show notes page, and follow us on Instagram.
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!
Amanda Moon Callahan lives in the woods with her family on a small farm in Upstate SC. They grow chickens, pigs, donkeys, and on the occasion, babies. Their first child, Aria Daphne is 3.5 and she just had her second. Other than farming and parent life, Amanda works full time at the local domestic violence shelter and spends all her free time cooking up delicious home grown food.
In April I attended the 4th Trimester Bodies Project's conference Body.Breast.Baby in Portland, OR and recorded mini sessions with a bunch of the attendees to put together this special episode of The Birth Hour.
In this episode they all answer the same three questions:
What is the first moment you felt like you'd become a mother?
What one moment do you remember most from your birth?
What's one piece of advice you'd give to a pregnant or new mother?
Listen to this compilation of all of their responses! We'll be back on Thursday with another full birth story episode.
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."
Today's guest is Joni Edelman, who shares the story of her mostrecent birth which was a planned homebirth that ended in a hospitaltransfer. She talks not only about the labor and birth but aboutthe emotions behind not having the birth that she had dreamed of.She recently iwrote an article titled My Labor And Birth Didn't Go As Planned — And No,I'm Not 'Over' It and received quite a bit ofbacklash for it.