Motherbirth
87 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 74 ratingsJoin me and inspiring guests as we share the stories, wisdom and transformation of motherhood…. And invite you to step courageously down the path of your own birth as a mother.
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Episodes
Becoming Us: Your Relationship After Birth —036
December 04, 2017 13:00 - 1 hour - 39.4 MBElly Taylor and her husband thought they were prepared for having their first child but quickly realized they faced unexpected conflicts. When Elly started counseling other parents, she realized most couples were experiencing the same challenges. She began researching the stages parents went through and how having children transformed relationships. When Elly became pregnant with her third child, she wrote her book, Becoming Us, with the hope of preventing postpartum anxiety, postpartum depr...
Becoming Us: Your Relationship After Birth —036
December 04, 2017 13:00 - 1 hour - 39.4 MBElly Taylor and her husband thought they were prepared for having their first child but quickly realized they faced unexpected conflicts. When Elly started counseling other parents, she realized most couples were experiencing the same challenges. She began researching the stages parents went through and how having children transformed relationships. When Elly became pregnant with her third child, she wrote her book, Becoming Us, with the hope of preventing postpartum anxiety, postpartum depr...
Empowering Homebirth After Cesarean (HBAC)—035
November 27, 2017 13:00 - 1 hour - 43.8 MBDespite being a believer in out-of-hospital births, Page Rose ended up giving birth to her first two biological children in a protocol-driven hospital. Pregnant with her first child, Page went to the hospital due to back pain, where she was shocked to find out she was in preterm labor at just 33 weeks. There was no known medical reason for Page to be going into labor. Even though the doctors told her she was having contractions, she couldn't feel them. As things unfolded, fear and disappo...
NICU Nurse Becomes NICU Mom—034
November 20, 2017 13:00 - 1 hour - 73.8 MBAn experienced NICU nurse faces her worst fears when her second daughter is born prematurely via c-section with unexpected respiratory failure and struggles to survive.
72 Days in the NICU—033
November 13, 2017 13:00 - 1 hour - 68.1 MBAfter an emergency cesarean at 26 weeks, a first time mother faces an agonizing NICU stay while her daughter fights for her life.
Mellisa's Story: 56 Hours of Labor—032
November 06, 2017 13:00 - 1 hour - 58.1 MBPart 2 of her story, co-host Mellisa Reeves shares about the difficult and grueling labor with her first son, complicated by severe postpartum anxiety and a long road to recovery.
Mellisa's Story: Stillbirth at 42 Weeks—031
October 30, 2017 12:00 - 1 hour - 65.2 MBCo-host of the show, Mellisa Reeves, shares the devastating story of the unexpected stillbirth of her son Rowan, and how grief changed her life.
Grieving Goldie—030
October 23, 2017 12:00 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MBChrista Black Gifford had no idea that her daughter, Goldie, had anencephaly until the moment she was born at home, delivering in one push since she only had a partial skull. She shares about the time they spent with Goldie before saying goodbye and what her healing journey has looked like.
Preterm Birth and Loss (Sweet Afton)—029
October 16, 2017 20:00 - 1 hour - 58.1 MBLindsay Ostrom of Pinch of Yum shares her moving story of delivering her son at 23 weeks, how she chose to spend their few precious hours together and what healing has looked like since saying goodbye.
When Hello Means Goodbye (SIDS)—028
October 11, 2017 12:00 - 46 minutes - 43.5 MBA mother shares the haunting story of waking up to find her 2 day old son having passed away of SIDS, and how she found healing and strength in her life as a mother.
Medical Providers Choosing Birth at Home—027
October 02, 2017 12:00 - 58 minutes - 54.4 MBFilmmaker Jessicca Moore (Documentary - Why Not Home?) shares her story as a nurse practitioner of choosing a homebirth after researching her options and realizing that more and more medical providers are making the same choice.
Birth With PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome)—026
September 25, 2017 12:30 - 56 minutes - 52.3 MBAfter years of menstrual irregularities and difficulty getting pregnant, a women is finally diagnosed with PCOS and begins her journey through several IUI losses to finally meeting her daughter.
Unmedicated, Pain-Free Homebirth—025
September 18, 2017 12:00 - 1 hour - 71.3 MBA mother has an accidental unassisted homebirth without any pain after preparing using Hypnobirthing in Sweden.
Of Sperm Donors, Cesareans and VBAC's—024
August 26, 2017 04:00 - 59 minutes - 54.7 MBA mother shares her journey of conceiving through a sperm donor, of her homebirth turned c-section and what she learned from two very different experiences of birth.
Birth on Two Different Islands—023
August 19, 2017 04:00 - 1 hour - 63.4 MBAfter experiencing two totally different births as a military expat, a mother discovers her love for helping women find the support they need as they transition to motherhood.
Reluctant Motherhood—022
August 12, 2017 18:00 - 54 minutes - 50.9 MBA mother shares her journey from being unsure about ever wanting kids due to her independent lifestyle and personal goals to experiencing how surprisingly rewarding and enjoyable being a mother was.
Globally-Minded Mother—021
August 07, 2017 09:30 - 1 hour - 55.9 MBA mother shares her experiences of birth and motherhood with the perspective of raising globally-minded children no matter where you live.
Mothering with Baggage—020
July 31, 2017 09:00 - 54 minutes - 50.8 MBA mother and doula shares her journey through a troubled childhood with a mentally ill single mom through to the empowering experience of birth with her second that led her to pursue non-judgmental birth support.
Birthing Abroad—019
July 24, 2017 09:30 - 1 hour - 59.2 MBAn American Expat talks about giving birth in Guatemala and navigating the cultural differences in birth and motherhood.
Unplanned Vaginal Birth—018
July 17, 2017 09:30 - 53 minutes - 49.3 MBA mother who had planned an advised c-section for her second birth is shocked when her water breaks at 38 weeks and her baby is born within 3 hours.
Spirit Birth—017
July 10, 2017 12:00 - 1 hour - 56 MBLauren's interest in the mystery and power of feminine wisdom began when she was pregnant with her son many years ago. Feeling awakened to her true self for the first time, she began to explore her intuition and found herself drawn to creating space for women undergoing the transformation of motherhood. Lauren shares with us her incredible perspective on the identify shift that women experience when they become mothers, and seeing the season of early motherhood as a time of creativity an...
Discovering Your Worthiness—016
July 03, 2017 12:00 - 56 minutes - 52.4 MBThis weeks guest shares her long journey to believing that she is enough, just as she is, as a mother. When her first son was born, she struggled with resentment and grief as she felt the pressure to be perfect and knew she couldn't be. Over the years she struggled more and more with her relationship with her son, reaching a point where she felt there was something wrong with her because she didn't want to be around him. It wasn't until years after Kelly's son was diagnosed with Asperger...
Creating a Birth Plan - Part II—015
June 26, 2017 12:00 - 41 minutes - 39 MBIn Part II of our Birth Plan episode, Laura and Mellisa get deep into what happens when things don't go as planned. Using the BRAIN evaluation tool for making choices during childbirth, we help you explore both your philosophical approach to labor as well as how you handle changes of plan. If nothing else, we want to get across the concept of holding your birth with open hands - this frees you from the possibility of being disappointed in yourself, your care providers, or the outcome ...
Creating a Birth Plan - Part I—014
June 19, 2017 12:00 - 38 minutes - 36 MBIn this episode, Laura and Mellisa dive deep into the why, what and how of a birth plan. We talk both about the birds eye view and the nitty gritty - and how a birth plan can be relational instead of confrontational. Part 1 of a 2 part episode, this conversation will get you thinking about your motivations and beliefs about birth, as well as reframing what the benefits of "planning" ahead really are. It's our goal to get you thinking about what's important to you about birth, helping yo...
The Roller Coaster of Fostering & Adoption—013
June 12, 2017 12:00 - 1 hour - 61.8 MBAfter years of unfertility and wondering why this wasn't happening for her, Megan and her husband finally did testing and had to face that having children wasn't going to happen easily. For a time, they decided not to do anything other than wait and see. Inspired by a few different people, the couple eventually made the difficult decision not to pursue fertility treatments but instead to open their home to foster children. They knew that this would be a challenging and often heartbreakin...
Infertility, Loss and Survivors Guilt—012
June 05, 2017 12:00 - 1 hour - 60.4 MBRebekah knew early on that her inability to get pregnant wasn't just a fluke that would easily pass. And as time went on and testing didn't reveal anything clear, they were left without a lot of hope or clarity as they began to explore options. She went through a long season where coping with the continual disappointment and pain was incredibly hard to deal with. This was time was also hard on her relationship with her husband. Facing this was so raw and she had a hard time reaching out...
The Infertility Sample Platter—011
May 29, 2017 12:00 - 1 hour - 57.3 MBJess's brush with death in her early 20's and subsequent management of lupus and stage 4 kidney disease set the stage for fertility challenges when she was finally ready to become a mother. Faced with the choice to do emergency chemotherapy knowing that there wasn't time to harvest her eggs and she would likely never be able to carry a child, she moved forward: "you can't be a parent if you aren't alive". With a lot of determination and heart, not to mention no small amount of heartbreak,...
The Moment We Knew Things Would Never Be "Normal"—010
May 22, 2017 12:00 - 55 minutes - 51.7 MBStephanie was excited, like any mother, to see her baby at her 20 week ultrasound. When the ultrasound tech showed concern and then called in a doctor, Stephanie and her husband knew their world was about to change. They learned that their daughter had a rare congenital condition called Fibular Hemimelia, where the fibula bone is short or missing (along with associated bone length discrepancies). The news that their daughter would likely have to have her leg amputated early in life was v...
Navigating Family Expectations—009
May 15, 2017 12:00 - 57 minutes - 53.5 MBCarolina had heard all about what it would be like to have a baby from her grandmother - and had no idea how it was setting her up to have her expectations sorely disappointed. As she struggled through the initial months of motherhood, she found herself confronting these expectations one by one. In this episode, we talk about trying to fit your family (and child) into a mold that doesn't actually work for you, and learning to accept who your child is and what's going to work for your uniq...
Choosing Your Birth Team—008
May 08, 2017 12:00 - 1 hour - 57.6 MBIn today's episode, Laura and Mellisa do something a little different - we have a one-on-one conversation sharing our thoughts on how to choose who you want to be at your birth. This episode gets at the heart of why labor support is important and how much of an impact who is present and how they show up can have... We talk about the pros, cons and personal considerations of anyone you may choose to have at your birth - from mothers-in-law to children, and even go deep on the sensitive su...
When Birth Goes Upside Down—007
May 01, 2017 12:00 - 54 minutes - 50.3 MBThis week’s episode features Danielle Mayfield. Her unique journey to motherhood began with an experience that can only be described as what happens when things go upside down. Danielle’s pregnancy wasn’t as dreamy as she had heard it would be - in fact, she kind of hated being pregnant. When she was around 33 weeks pregnant, she wasn’t feeling well and was sent to the hospital by the urging of neighbors and her midwife to discover she was in hypertensive crisis that developed into HELLP sy...
Coming Back from Postpartum Psychosis—006
April 24, 2017 12:00 - 59 minutes - 54.8 MBWhen Lisa gave birth to her daughter, she had no idea that within a few weeks she would be admitted to the psychiatric ward due to severe postpartum psychosis. In this week's episode, we explore her story of hitting rock bottom, finding hope and health, and learning to understand her own needs so that she could be there for her daughter as well. Lisa is passionate about maternal mental health and setting mothers up for success during the intense transition after birth. She advocates for ...
Body Love & Plus Size Birth—005
April 17, 2017 12:00 - 59 minutes - 55.1 MBThis weeks guest is a body love advocate and childbirth educator whose passion is creating resources and community for plus size moms after her own experience of pregnancy and birth as a plus size mom. When Jen was pregnant she was shocked to realize that there weren't any positive or supportive online resources for plus size pregnancy, and that navigating health care relationships and choices was tremendously difficult due to the biased assumptions that care providers made about her and h...
Finding Balance as a Working Mom—004
April 10, 2017 12:00 - 1 hour - 64.8 MBIn this week's episode, we get into the nitty gritty of being a working mom with Steph Crowder, a mom and entrepreneur who was fed up with the images she saw of motherhood in the workplace and decided she wanted to carve out her own space as a working mom. Steph was always drawn to meaningful work, and while building her career she wasn't sure how she'd be able to balance also being a mother, or if she even wanted to. Later, when she knew she did want to be a mom, she knew she wasn't will...
Choosing Homebirth—003
April 03, 2017 12:00 - 59 minutes - 55.1 MBThis week, we talk with Amber Christopher, a mother of two girls in Portland, OR who delivered both of her babies at home. For some this would warrant a very important question; WHY? Why would you have a baby at home when you could be SAFE and in a HOSPITAL? Amber, like many women exploring options for birth, felt that having her baby at home is what would be best for her and her family. She is not alone: "the rate of birth at home increased by 20% in the U.S. in the 2000s" accordin...
Surviving Postpartum Depression and Anxiety—002
March 27, 2017 13:00 - 1 hour - 68.9 MBThis week's episode features speaker and writer Nish Weiseth, who shares the story of suffering with severe postpartum depression when her first child was born, resulting in a near suicide attempt. Nish was able to get help and begin the journey of managing her mental health as a new mother. Later, with her second child, she experienced postpartum anxiety. She shares her insights on the differences between these two common postpartum mood disorders, and her heart for mothers to find the ...
A Tale of Two Births—001
March 20, 2017 12:00 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBTune in to this week’s episode to hear the courage and strength this woman displayed in her two birth stories and different roles as a mother. On this week’s episode, we are talking with Beka Overby. As you will see in her story, Beka’s journey as a mother has taken many unexpected turns. Birth as a teenager and birth as a thirty-year-old are bound to be polarizing but Beka’s huge heart and vulnerability in this episode is what makes her story so special. Beka lives in Portland, OR wi...