Tayla shares her three birth stories.
After a disempowering birth with her first son that nearly ended in tragedy, Erica vowed to have a different experience when she got pregnant again.
On this episode, Mia shares her two birth stories: a c-section and VBAC.
Mari became pregnant with her second child in September of 2018. After an anxiety-ridden fearful c-section 2 years prior, due to failure to descend, she was determined to have a VBAC! She experienced a lot of push back from doctors, family, and her partner. Ultimately after facing her anxiety, getting her partner on board and breaking down all her VBAC fears, she was successful in birthing her son via VBAC in May of 2019. She shares the journey of her healing birth, including breaking up with two doctors in her both her second and third trimester and her empowered labor and delivery with a full female staff.
Larissa shares two birth stories: a non-emergency c-section w/ a traumatic week of complications following birth; and, a redemptive, healing VBAC birth w/ zero complications.
Rachel's first birth was an emergency c-section, due to baby's dropping heart rate and failure to progress after many long hours of labor. He ended up being a large baby (9 lbs, 8 oz) with a huge head. Her 2nd birth was a successful VBAC 18 months later to a smaller, healthy boy (8 lbs even). It was another long labor, but it went smoothly. Her 3rd birth was a VBAC birth to a baby girl, a much quicker and easier labor lasting only 6 hours. Baby weighed 8 lbs, 1 oz. Her 4th and last birth was a VBAC birth to a baby girl. Labor was a bit longer than the previous birth (12 hours) due to her water breaking and labor taking a while to get started but it was a smooth and relatively easy delivery. Baby weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz. She and her husband fostered a little boy 2 separate times (once during her 4th pregnancy, and again when that baby was a few months old) and his adoption was finalized last summer.
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.
Alexandra Barretta is from Queens, NY. After struggling with infertility she was able to get pregnant after several IUI's and 2 IVF's. Her son was born 6 weeks early due to a placental abruption via c-section. The C section was a very difficult recovery, so she knew she definitely wanted to attempt a VBAC for her second pregnancy. She was told not to get her hopes up about having a VBAC by her high risk doctors, but that they would entertain the idea of it. She successfully delivered her daughter via VBAC after challenging the on call doctor at the hospital that morning.
Elizabeth Quinn is married to Percy and they are raising their children in Jackson, Mississippi. Her daughters are Chesley Cox, 7 years old, Anderson Lillian ‘Anders’ 5 years old, and Adella Calhoon 2.5 years old and they just had baby number four — a son, Sims McCallum! Elizabeth Quinn returns to The Birth Hour to share her most recent birth story with baby Sims. Elizabeth had two cesareans and then a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and is really involved in the birth community in Jackson. She is super passionate about being educated about birth and helping women who have had c sections to know their options.
Erica Fleischer lives in Chicago and is a mom to two girls ages 4.5 and 21 months. Her first daughter was born via c-section and Erica had a difficult emotional recovery from it. She quickly found ICAN and 3 years later had a successful unmedicated VBAC. With both babies she suffered from low milk supply but found different ways of handling it with each baby. In this episode she shares both of her birth experiences and how they affected her both physically and emotionally.
Erica's day job is as government policy analyst but she truly enjoys helping other moms as a co-leader of ICAN of Chicago and through writing. You can see links to Erica's published writing on her website ericafleischer.com
Kacey shares the birth stories of her two boys. After her first birth resulted in an unplanned c-section, Kacey felt that so much was missing from her birth experience. It wasn't until she found out that she was expecting again that she realized just how traumatic that experience was and how badly she wanted to have a vaginal birth the second time, if possible.
In this episode, Monica shares the birth stories of her two births. Her son was born via cesarean section and after much preparation and research her daughter was a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) birth. Listen to Monica tell her stories in her own words.
Michelle tells the story of her empowering and inspirational VBA2C. She is a mum to 3 boys. Her first two children were born via EMCS (emergency c section), and her third was a vaginal birth that left her feeling so strong. She had always been fascinated by birth but the experience left her fascinated not only by birth but by its unspoken power and left her completely in awe. Giving birth ignited a passion within Michelle too strong to ignore. She now campaigns for women to be given the unbiased information needed to make informed choices throughout their maternity experience and to have their rights respected.
Welcome to The Birth Hour! In this episode, Elspeth shares her VBAC success story. Elspeth had an unexpected C section with her first birth and was planning her VBAC on her way into the operating room. She did lots of research and found support from a local ICAN group and a doctor who supported VBACs. Her story is a beautiful and empowering birth story that I know all listeners will benefit from hearing but especially those who may be planning for a VBAC.