Birth Matters
211 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 days ago - ★★★★★ - 29 ratingsThe Birth Matters podcast is here to lessen your overwhelm on the journey into parenthood by equipping you on all things birth, fertility, pregnancy, postpartum & parenting. We'll interview parents about their experiences & birth pros on their expertise so that you can have an empowering, CONFIDENT journey into parenthood!
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Episodes
111: A Pediatric ICU Nurse’s 3rd Preemie
April 14, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 54.5 MBEllen, who shared her first two babies’ birth stories in Episode 26, returns to share her son’s preterm birth story following a relocation from NYC to California where they are now homesteaders growing toward self-sustainability. She had wanted an unmedicated birth with midwives, but due to her history of two premature births, she stays with a high-risk OB who provides midwife-like, compassionate care. At the 20-week scan, Ellen learns their son has a cleft lip, like his dad. Despite this, h...
110: A Yogi's Unmedicated Hospital Birth
April 01, 2024 10:00 - 55 minutes - 38.5 MBDonna and Sandy share their 7-year-old daughter’s birth story. They had hopes for an unmedicated birth, and investigate switching from a hospital OB to a homebirth midwife toward the end of pregnancy. Ultimately, due to it being so soon before baby was coming, they end up sticking with their OB despite increasing signs of misalignment. Fortunately for them, they labor at home and arrive at the hospital just in time for pushing and the birth of their daughter, who was born en caul, or without...
109: A Black Doula’s 2 Unmedicated Hospital Births
March 17, 2024 12:00 - 1 hour - 53.6 MBToday, a Nigerian-American doula based in New York named Theresa Lasbrey-Peters shares her two experiences giving birth in her 40s in a hospital without medication or interventions. As she narrates her journey through two pregnancies, she explains how important research, informed decision-making, and self-advocacy were for her. She exudes a refreshing level of confidence in refusing medical interventions during births. She also details a bit on her experience using Hypnobabies. Losing her mo...
108: An Unbelievable Night in Harlem
March 03, 2024 20:00 - 1 hour - 54.8 MBIn a bustling city teeming with ambition and dreams, Alexis - an actress, dreamer, and now mother takes us on her journey into motherhood. From the grand stages of New York City to the intimate confines of a 5-story Harlem walk-up, Alexis prepares for the role of a lifetime. As she immerses herself in prenatal yoga, pores over all the books, and engages in birth classes, her transition is magnified by music, art, and deep-rooted determination. Facing an accelerated birth amid apprehensive pa...
107: 3 Transformative Births, Pt 2: Empowering VBAC & Express Homebirth
August 30, 2023 20:00 - 1 hour - 50.7 MBIn this 2nd episode of a 2-parter, Kaitlin shares her 2nd and 3rd babies’ birth stories. After having a traumatic first birth, Kaitlin finds her voice and makes every effort to help things go differently. This includes finding a VBAC-supportive provider since she was aiming to have a vaginal birth after cesarean, seeking out lots of education and hiring a doula for support. She contrasts the ways in which her 2nd baby’s birth was redemptive and empowering, and then shares her very efficient ...
106: 3 Transformative Births, Pt 1: Traumatic Induction to Cesarean
August 14, 2023 17:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBToday’s story is the 1st episode of a 2-parter. In it, the founder of Be Her Village, a baby registry that provides a way to give the gift of support instead of far less important baby gear, shares her first of 3 babies’ birth stories. Kaitlin’s 3 births couldn’t be more different from each other. In this episode, Kaitlin shares planning for a birthing center birth with midwives that shifted to a hospital induction and, ultimately, an unplanned cesarean. She shares how it was traumatic not b...
105: Body Confidence Reclaimed in 2nd Birth
August 05, 2023 02:00 - 1 hour - 67.3 MBMelissa had her first baby as a teen but second baby 15 years later with a different partner and with an early pregnancy loss in between. Each journey was very different, and she shares in today’s episode how and why she made quite different choices for her most recent birthing process. This included switching from obstetrical care to hospital midwifery care to, ultimately, have an unmedicated birth in a freestanding birthing center in Washington state. She shares feeling instant love for he...
104: An Endurance Athlete's Desire for an Unmedicated Birth (Part 2)
July 31, 2023 20:00 - 54 minutes - 37.8 MBIn part 2 of this 2-episode birth story, Jessica shares the rest of her unmedicated birth story with midwives in an NYC hospital. She details the contrast of her very positive birth experience to the postpartum care experience, discusses some initial breastfeeding challenges in which an IBCLC provides stellar support and addresses a lip tie & tongue tie her son had. She also shares how important a postpartum virtual support group the our doula collective offered was for her as a new parent a...
103: An Endurance Athlete's Desire for an Unmedicated Birth (Part 1)
July 23, 2023 02:00 - 1 hour - 47.4 MBJessica learned about midwives and doulas in a college class, which planted the seed for her desire once becoming pregnant for an unmedicated birth. As a runner, she made connections between how empowering and satisfying running a race can be to her desire to have an unmedicated birth. In this episode, Jessica shares her story of alternative conception while planning a wedding, switching care providers twice to find an ideal match with hospital midwives, hiring a doula and educating herself ...
102: Proactive Steps for Unmedicated Hospital Birth
June 21, 2023 23:00 - 1 hour - 45 MBBettina prides herself on being a thorough researcher. She carries that into pregnancy and interviews 6 doulas before choosing one, switches from an OB to midwifery care when she doesn’t feel aligned, gets prenatal breastfeeding support due to having inverted nipples, and more. At the end of pregnancy, talk of induction arises due to concerns of fetal growth restriction due to baby measuring small. Knowing that she and her partner are healthy but fairly petite people, she trusts her baby is...
101: No Rush to Hospital When Water Breaks for Empowering Birth
May 16, 2023 01:00 - 1 hour - 65.6 MBFollowing an early pregnancy scare, Taylor proceeds to have a healthy pregnancy. Feeling frustrated when she passes her due date and isn’t showing much change toward going into labor, Taylor tries all the things to start labor and avoid induction. Once her water breaks, she has a super efficient unmedicated birth in which she labors at home for as long as possible until she starts feeling pressure and arrives at the hospital just in time to push and give birth. She and Joey share how educati...
100: When Baby Prefers Car Over Waterbirth
April 11, 2023 02:00 - 1 hour - 66.5 MBSierra envisioned a waterbirth for her baby, but was disheartened to find it’s hard to find a birthing location where that’s possible and also hard to find birthing center options in NYC. With the help of her doula, she finds the one birthing center in all of NYC and switches her care. Working with midwives, Sierra immediately feels much more cared about, seen and heard than she ever did with her hospital OB. Listen to hear this exciting story of how Sierra’s son had very different plans for...
99: Strong Circle of Support for Unmedicated Birth & Beyond
April 01, 2023 01:00 - 1 hour - 62.8 MBDespite the fact that EmJ has always had a self-professed low pain tolerance, she finds instinctive coping mechanisms that work for her to have the unmedicated birth that she had hoped to have in a Manhattan hospital. Part of what helps this happen was how EmJ receives uncommonly doula-like support from the nurses that helps her to manage well when things were at the most intense points. After the birth story, EmJ details navigating breastfeeding, and ultimately, exclusive pumping, in light ...
98: Belly Birth for Breech with Bicornuate Uterus
March 11, 2023 21:00 - 1 hour - 46.6 MBAs a teenager, Crystal learned she has a bicornuate uterus which significantly affected her menstrual cycle. So it’s no small miracle years later when she conceives naturally twice after being told she’d probably need to use IUI or IVF. When her son doesn’t seem to have room to flip from breech to vertex (or head up to head down), and because doctors are rarely trained to deliver a breech baby vaginally, Crystal has a belly birth. She shares a few bumps along the way including an allergic re...
97: Signing an AMA to Labor at Home Despite Anxiety
March 01, 2023 02:00 - 1 hour - 45 MBCally’s hopes were high for an unmedicated birth. She gets thrown a curve ball when her membranes rupture as the first sign of labor. Knowing that an important strategy for a healthy birth is to labor at home for as long as possible, she doesn’t rush to the hospital. When she does go many hours later, she bravely signs an AMA (“against medical advice”) form in order to go back home after learning she’s barely dilated or effaced and baby is still high. When she later goes to the hospital and ...
96: A Pelvic PT Delays Induction
December 13, 2022 06:00 - 1 hour - 57.7 MBAs a doctor of physical therapy specializing in pelvic health, Nidhi is quite well-informed during her pregnancy, and had hoped to have an unmedicated birth with limited or no interventions. As her pregnancy develops, Nidhi learns she has gestational diabetes and goes on insulin and baby has an abnormal quad screen. In light of these things, her OB pushes to induce at 39 weeks, but she advocates to delay the induction until the fluid tests low a day before her estimated due date. She agrees ...
95: A Jewish Doula's 2nd & 3rd Unmedicated Hospital Births
November 18, 2022 06:00 - 1 hour - 59.7 MBIn today’s episode, Jewish doula and mental health therapist Chana Diamond returns to share her 2nd and 3rd babies’ birth stories. She shares the details of two more unmedicated, uncomplicated vaginal births in a hospital attended by the same midwife as her first. Her babies were born healthy, despite a bit of concern due to identifying the rare Kidd antibody for both her 2nd and 3rd pregnancies. Chana also reflects on and describes some of the meaningful Jewish customs and rituals she obser...
94: When Prep & Advocacy Pay Off
October 31, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 52.8 MBMillennials & die-hard Queens natives Suzanne & Edgar share the many smart things they did to prepare for the journey into parenthood and in hopes of having a healthy pregnancy & unmedicated birth: pre-conception couples therapy, going back on mental health meds in the journey to conceive, physical prep with exercise including yoga, nutritional support, chiropractic, acupuncture, meditation & mindfulness practices, hiring a doula, carefully choosing care provider, taking birth class, attendi...
93: Empowered Induction for Preeclampsia
October 13, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 47.6 MBHallie and Eric had a long 3-year journey to conceive their son. Along the way, previously undiagnosed conditions PCOS and Hashimoto’s are identified. Hallie eventually decides to seek out complementary therapies in her pursuit to conceive such as acupuncture, which seems to make a big difference. She conceives on the first IVF transfer and immediately seeks out doula support and an OB who specializes in endocrinology. She also dives into research to develop her preferences. Though she desir...
92: A NYC Dancer’s Homebirth
September 28, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 53.7 MBWhenever Hannah tried to reconcile her background as a professional dancer with the idea of pregnancy and birth, it felt like the two were incompatible. Yet when she does get pregnant, she finds ways to beautifully integrate the two. While pregnant, Hannah obtains a grant to both create and perform a dance work that tells the story of her journey into parenthood and to hold dance & journaling classes to create a community of support for fellow pregnant people. Ultimately, she chooses to give...
91: Arriving at Hospital Just in Time to Push
August 31, 2022 04:00 - 52 minutes - 35.9 MBKelly eagerly educated herself and prepared for giving birth in all the ways – prenatal yoga, hiring doulas and a midwife, taking birth class, strategic nutrition, acupuncture, seeing a pelvic floor therapist. Because she’s a self-professed “jaded” professional working in the medical field, she made very intentional choices surrounding her care provider and support team. Kelly’s surprised when, just before her due date, her water breaks during a prenatal visit with her midwife. From there, l...
90: A Runner’s Fast Labor
August 18, 2022 04:00 - 54 minutes - 37.5 MBKaley did everything she could to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle throughout her pregnancy. She continued her running habit, then around 20 weeks she needed to shift to swimming and also did prenatal yoga. Toward the end of her healthy pregnancy, she’s told that her cervix is already 4 centimeters dilated and 90% effaced, yet her labor wouldn't start for another 3 weeks. When she experiences some bleeding at nearly 40 weeks, she checks into the hospital to get checked out. They tell ...
89: Loving Laboring at Home Too Much
August 04, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 48.9 MBMara & Dylan did lots of great prep for birth in pregnancy – acupuncture, massage, birth class, hiring a doula, yoga, and more. Having heard her stepmom share how beautiful her own home birth was, this planted a seed of trust in the birthing process. When the time comes for her own baby’s birth, she feels most in her element laboring at home, using the shower for hydrotherapy almost nonstop. In fact, she was so in her element that she labored at home almost too long, and their doula diverts ...
88: An Aussie’s 2nd Unmedicated Hospital Birth
July 19, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 46.9 MBLauren’s first time giving birth was pre-pandemic in Australia in a very different healthcare system. So when she and her husband Shaun relocated to the NYC area to suburban New Jersey and wanted to conceive again, she began listening to this podcast as a way to get to know the local birth environment. Today she shares her experience of having an unmedicated birth for a second time but in a New Jersey hospital. Lauren tells us she gleaned wisdom from listening to some of the birth stories sh...
87: In Labor at a Seder
July 12, 2022 04:00 - 59 minutes - 40.7 MBJewish doula and mental health therapist Chana decides to get off medications for depression and anxiety during her pregnancy. This results in a recurrence of both, including pretty severe insomnia and her family strongly encourages her to get back on medications. She gets back to feeling more well for the rest of her pregnancy, but then her beloved grandmother dies when Chana’s 38 weeks pregnant, closely followed by Passover. Chana goes into labor at a large Seder family gathering and goes ...
86: Managing Anxiety with Birth Team Choices
July 05, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 63.7 MBMichelle knew all of her life that she experiences medical anxiety and convulsive syncope. So, when she started thinking about her deep desire to grow a family, she started educating herself and preparing strategically. Knowing herself and her anxiety challenges, she started planning for an unmedicated birth. Along the way, her strategies included eventually changing OBs who would be more supportive of her preferences and needs, hiring a doula, doing lots of research and taking birth class. ...
85: Will Early Labor Ever End?
June 28, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 42.5 MBWhen Brooklynites Megan & Ted decide to try to get pregnant around the beginning of the pandemic, they’re surprised to conceive immediately. After seeing an OB and desiring less rushed time and more holistic care, they eventually land on giving birth at Brooklyn Birthing Center with midwives and a doula. Megan’s taken aback and challenged when she experiences 3 days of prodromal early labor with very little sleep. Eventually, labor kicks into gear once her water breaks. After pushing for 3+ ...
84: Self-Advocacy When Being Gaslighted
May 17, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 41.9 MBWhen Becky and her transgender husband decide to grow their family, it’s a long, winding road to meeting their baby. First step: make very careful adjustments to her depression & anxiety meds in order to conceive as safely as possible. Next step: the tedious process of seeking out a sperm donor. Then they had to go through 7 emotional rounds of IUI and finally IVF before they could even start a viable pregnancy. Today Becky shares all of those details plus her baby’s birth story, which start...
83: Precipitous Pushing: A Doula’s Quick Thinking
May 10, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 42.9 MBAs a person working in both the wellness and fashion fields, Nadia had intentionally pursued a healthy, fit lifestyle with an active meditation and breathwork practice. However, she discovered she had to ease up on those expectations in pregnancy and be gentle with herself. Early on in her pregnancy and at the recommendation of a friend, she hired both a doula and switched from working with an OB to a hospital midwife practice to feel more nurtured and heard. Soon after graduating from birth...
82: An Afro-Caribbean Psychotherapist’s Homebirth
May 03, 2022 04:00 - 53 minutes - 36.7 MBToday, Bronx-based Dominican couple, Ana Rosario & Josmar Rojas, share their son’s uncomplicated homebirth story. Ana’s background as a social worker had opened her eyes to the challenges Black/BIPOC folks face giving birth in a hospital setting, so she’d decided previously in her first pregnancy, which unfortunately resulted in loss, to give birth at home. They detail specifics of the holistic, nurturing, very safe care their homebirth midwife provided through their journey of pregnancy los...
81: Breech Belly Birth & Embracing Your Weird
April 26, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 56.9 MBLiza & Jon are surprised when they conceive much more quickly than expected. Toward the end of an uneventful, happy pregnancy, they learn their son is breech. They try almost everything to get their breech baby to flip, but baby was happy as a clam sitting on her bladder. With cesarean scheduled, Liza goes into labor spontaneously a week early and labors for a day and a half before heading to the hospital for the cesarean surgery. She shares about the beautifully respectful care they receive...
80: A Rainbow Breech Baby’s Belly Birth
April 19, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 56.7 MBAfter Amber experienced both a pregnancy loss and subsequent challenges conceiving a second time, she and her husband eventually conceive their rainbow baby on the first try with IUI. At 18 weeks, they learn their baby is breech, and she continues to be persistently breech, despite trying a number of things to help baby flip. Amber has to make a mental shift in expectations from desiring a physiologic birth to normalizing the necessary cesarean and comes to the realization that it can also b...
79: Baby Debuts Early to Beat the Pandemic
April 12, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 52.4 MBToday, Joanna & Tony share their son Felix’s birth story. They were due after the Covid shutdown in NYC but, fortuitously, gave birth just shy of 37 weeks shortly before the shutdown. They show up to a prenatal visit almost 6 cm dilated (technically called “active labor”) yet not even feeling any labor sensations. Their doc tells them they need to go straight to the hospital, where they spend many hours in the waiting room and triage but then proceed to have an unmedicated labor and birth. J...
78: [BIRTH] A Pelvic PT’s Curve Balls in Pushing
April 05, 2022 04:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBAs a pelvic PT, Helene started off pregnancy with unique and applicable skills that informed her decision to pursue an unmedicated delivery in a hospital. She shares about the various things that helped her have mostly the kind of labor and birth she had hoped for, including support from her husband and doula, breathwork, a peanut ball, hydrotherapy, and more. When it comes time for pushing, both the position and the technique she ends up using are not ones she ever would have guessed she’d ...
78: A Pelvic PT’s Curve Balls in Pushing
April 05, 2022 04:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBAs a pelvic PT, Helene started off pregnancy with unique and applicable skills that informed her decision to pursue an unmedicated delivery in a hospital. She shares about the various things that helped her have mostly the kind of labor and birth she had hoped for, including support from her husband and doula, breathwork, a peanut ball, hydrotherapy, and more. When it comes time for pushing, both the position and the technique she ends up using are not ones she ever would have guessed she’d ...
77: Transferring Care for a Peaceful Homebirth
March 29, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 50.7 MBJaymie started off her pregnancy under OB care but came to realize that the medical setting wasn’t the right choice for her birth, so she transferred her care to a home birth midwifery team. She shares about what helped her prepare for her physically demanding labor at home and how her husband and team of midwives supported her throughout labor. She also shares about her experience breastfeeding and working with some lactation consultant friends. Show notes at birthmattersshow.com Subscrib...
77: [BIRTH] Transferring Care for a Peaceful Homebirth
March 29, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 50.7 MBJaymie started off her pregnancy under OB care but came to realize that the medical setting wasn’t the right choice for her birth, so she transferred her care to a home birth midwifery team. She shares about what helped her prepare for her physically demanding labor at home and how her husband and team of midwives supported her throughout labor. She also shares about her experience breastfeeding and working with some lactation consultant friends.
76: When Your Mom is an L&D Nurse
March 22, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 44.2 MBAstoria resident Eileen chose her birth place on Long Island because it was where her Labor & Delivery nurse mother works and had relationships that would lend themselves to things going as well as possible and having her preferences honored. She also did all the things to prepare as best as possible for a healthy pregnancy and birthing experience. Today, she shares the details of a surprisingly long and intense 36-hour labor which included thinking her water broke early on, laboring a long ...
76: [BIRTH] When Your Mom is an L&D Nurse
March 22, 2022 04:00 - 1 hour - 44.2 MBAstoria resident Eileen chose her birth place on Long Island because it was where her Labor & Delivery nurse mother works and had relationships that would lend themselves to things going as well as possible and having her preferences honored. She also did all the things to prepare as best as possible for a healthy pregnancy and birthing experience. Today, she shares the details of a surprisingly long and intense 36-hour labor which included thinking her water broke early on, laboring a long ...
75: [BIRTH] Daddy, Catch the Baby on the Sidewalk!
March 15, 2022 04:00 - 48 minutes - 33 MBLisa and Clint share the details of their unexpectedly fast first labor experience that results in Clint catching their baby on the sidewalk right outside Weill Cornell hospital in Manhattan in the dead of winter. They also discuss the realities of navigating postpartum at the start of a global pandemic and the importance of giving yourself lots of grace and flexibility when parenting in these challenging times.
75: Daddy, Catch the Baby on the Sidewalk!
March 15, 2022 04:00 - 48 minutes - 33 MBLisa and Clint share the details of their unexpectedly fast first labor experience that results in Clint catching their baby on the sidewalk right outside Weill Cornell hospital in Manhattan in the dead of winter. They also discuss the realities of navigating postpartum at the start of a global pandemic and the importance of giving yourself lots of grace and flexibility when parenting in these challenging times. Show notes at birthmattersshow.com Subscribe for email updates Show notes (t...
74: A NYC Doula's Home VBAC after Cesarean for Breech
March 08, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 43.2 MBSophia’s first birth was a planned homebirth that needed to transfer to the hospital for a cesarean due to baby’s position. Today she shares how she was determined to try for a vaginal birth after cesarean, also known as VBAC, at home. Sophia details lots of smart insights based on both her own journey as well as her knowledge as a doula. We talk about kinds of things that can help both parent and baby thrive through the journey to, through and beyond birth such as acupuncture & moxibustion,...
74: [BIRTH] A NYC Doula's Home VBAC after Cesarean for Breech
March 08, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 43.2 MBSophia’s first birth was a planned homebirth that needed to transfer to the hospital for a cesarean due to baby’s position. Today she shares how she was determined to try for a vaginal birth after cesarean, also known as VBAC, at home. Sophia details lots of smart insights based on both her own journey as well as her knowledge as a doula. We talk about kinds of things that can help both parent and baby thrive through the journey to, through and beyond birth such as acupuncture & moxibustion,...
73: [BIRTH] Feeling Heard When Birth Doesn’t Go as Planned
March 01, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 53.2 MBToday’s season 3 premiere episode shares a birth story with birth class students and podcast listeners, Lucy & Cam. They share how Lucy had hoped for a physiological birth and how surprised she was in coming to the U.S. from the UK that midwifery isn’t the default standard of care. As she goes through her pregnancy working with an OB, over time she realizes she’d prefer more patient-centered care so she switches from OB care to a hospital midwifery practice. Once she has something to compare...
73: Feeling Heard When Birth Doesn’t Go as Planned
March 01, 2022 05:00 - 1 hour - 53.2 MBToday’s season 3 premiere episode shares a birth story with birth class students and podcast listeners, Lucy & Cam. They share how Lucy had hoped for a physiological birth and how surprised she was in coming to the U.S. from the UK that midwifery isn’t the default standard of care. As she goes through her pregnancy working with an OB, over time she realizes she’d prefer more patient-centered care so she switches from OB care to a hospital midwifery practice. Once she has something to compare...
72: Gratitude Through a Well-Supported Hospital Induction
May 25, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 50.4 MBIn this final episode of Season 2, we'll hear a theme of gratitude. Laura communicates lots of it in today’s birth story as she shares the story of a well-supported metamorphosis into motherhood, her matrescence. Laura’s story is another pandemic birth story in which she equipped herself and her partner with birth doula support early in pregnancy and then also hired a great postpartum doula to support her for several weeks afterwards. She shares how, while the birth didn’t play out totally a...
72: [BIRTH] Gratitude Through a Well-Supported Hospital Induction
May 25, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 50.4 MBIn this final episode of Season 2, we'll hear a theme of gratitude. Laura communicates lots of it in today’s birth story as she shares the story of a well-supported metamorphosis into motherhood, her matrescence. Laura’s story is another pandemic birth story in which she equipped herself and her partner with birth doula support early in pregnancy and then also hired a great postpartum doula to support her for several weeks afterwards. She shares how, while the birth didn’t play out totally a...
71: A Dancer-Trainer’s Waterbirth & Pelvic Recovery
May 18, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 51.2 MBWhen Evelyn & James conceive their baby, they have no idea they’ll be giving birth during a pandemic. As a dancer and trainer, she even keeps touring for a while with her dance company and teaching Pilates classes for part of pregnancy and just before Covid gets real. Once the pandemic hits, they decide to abruptly leave NYC to be closer to Evelyn’s family to give birth down in Houston, never thinking that it might just be a permanent move away from NYC. Ultimately, they decide to give birth...
71: [BIRTH] A Dancer-Trainer’s Waterbirth & Pelvic Recovery
May 18, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 51.2 MBWhen Evelyn & James conceive their baby, they have no idea they’ll be giving birth during a pandemic. As a dancer and trainer, she even keeps touring for a while with her dance company and teaching Pilates classes for part of pregnancy and just before Covid gets real. Once the pandemic hits, they decide to abruptly leave NYC to be closer to Evelyn’s family to give birth down in Houston, never thinking that it might just be a permanent move away from NYC. Ultimately, they decide to give birth...
70: [BIRTH] Low-Income Folks Deserve Homebirths, Too!
May 11, 2021 04:00 - 49 minutes - 34.1 MBScharisse felt like she was getting lackluster care in her pregnancy at a hospital under Medicaid but thought she just had to deal. She was being told she should just schedule a cesarean because of her age and being overweight, and it didn’t sit right with her. Then one day, when she was around 30 weeks pregnant, she encountered a doula who encouraged her that she deserves to have respectful care and a great birth. This empowered her to switch to giving birth at home -- something she never t...