After a surgery, an 8 week recovery, and battling an infection, Caroline Wynne felt her body was out of control and feared for her son’s life. A mother’s womb should be the safest place for her growing baby, but Caroline felt the complete opposite. Miraculously, she had a very positive induction experience and delivered a healthy baby boy despite all the health obstacles.
19 months later, Caroline found herself pregnant again with a sweet little girl. After a (blissful) uncomplicated pregnancy, Caroline decided to have another elective induction since her first experience was so positive!
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I really enjoyed talking with Erica all about which exercises are safe during pregnancy and postpartum, and the fundamentals of healing your core after baby.
Erica also has a podcast called Core Connections and here are some of the episodes that are especially relevant to our discussion today if you want to hear more from Erica!
Erica also has an online course called Knocked Up Fitness and Core Rehab for Postpartum that I have personally enjoyed as have many members of The Birth Hour community!
Teisia shares the story of her unmedicated birth with a midwife.
Aleck shares the stories of her medicated and unmedicated hospital births and postpartum recoveries.
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Meriankh was planning an unmedicated birth at a birth center. However, due to a very last minute gestational hypertension diagnosis, she ended up delivering in a hospital, with an epidural, and having a very positive experience.
Elise shares her two cesarean birth stories.
When A’briel became pregnant with her first child, she was quite surprised as one OBGYN had previously assured her that she’d need fertility treatment in order to conceive. She immediately sought out doula support and started to build a birth team full of strong African American women.
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Jen McLellan is a published author and founder of Plus Size Birth and the Plus Mommy blog. She helps people navigate the world of plus size pregnancy, shares tips for embracing your body, and laughs her way through the adventures of parenthood. Her work has been featured in major publications such as Yahoo Shine, Huffington Post, Everyday Feminism, and International Doula. She authored My Plus Size Pregnancy Guide and co-wrote the Amazon bestseller, The Peachie Moms Guide to Body Love for Moms. Jen is also a childbirth educator, skilled patient advocate, professional speaker, wife, and mother.
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.