Doing It At Home - The Home Birth Pod...
Doing It At Home - The Home Birth Podcast is a weekly podcast about home birth and our decision to go from a traditional hospital birth with an OBGYN to a natural birth at home with midwives. This is a raw and honest show that explores homebirth from every angle. We talk about the fears and judgements thrown at you when you choose home birth. We share resources that we found tremendously helpful for understanding our birthing options. We confess the magic and craziness in preparing for pregnancy, home birth, motherhood and fatherhood. We talk about having sex while pregnant and maintaining your connection and intimacy as a couple. We reveal how to stay centered and not lose yourself through pregnancy, and tons more! This show is all about adding an empowered conversation to the topic of home birth and natural birth, while keeping it real, grounded and fun. So strap in and join us as we’re doing it at home!
26
Is Home Birth Messy?
In today’s episode we address the question, “Is home birth messy?”
22 min
27
When Things Don’t Go As Planned: Leonie’s Hones...
Today’s episode was inspired by a listener email. Leonie, listening all the way in Australia, reached out to share her birth story. She had planned for a minimal intervention birth in a midwife led public hospital program (way to go Australis!) but things didn’t go exactly as anticipated. Her email was amazing - raw, honest and transparent - and at the end she had a few questions for me about home birth, my connection to Maya, and more.
44 min
28
Picking Your All Star Home Birth Team
A lot goes into creating a badass and powerful team. You want a team that works together and has synergy. You want individual members who can hold their own yet contribute to the totality of the group. You want to be able to trust everyone’s competence and commitment to the overall goal. These teams win championships, seal the deals, and set the example for all other teams. Now when it comes to choosing your team for your home birth, how do you go about creating the ultimate, most awesome group of people to support you in such an amazing, magical experience? That’s exactly what Matthew and I talk about in this episode. Maybe you haven’t even thought about having a birth team and this is a new concept for you. We’re here to help give some context around it.
31 min
29
An Intimate And Unforgettable Message From My H...
In this episode, I invite you into a precious and intimate moment. You see, during the early parts of birthing time (labor), we placed a recorder in the room - to capture the experience and be able to listen back to it later on. While I was moving through my birthing waves (contractions) in the bathtub, Matthew tended to me by bringing me water and snacks along with affirming me and contacting our midwife with updates. I would later find out that during one of the times Matthew left the room, he took the recorder with him. And he would then record one of the most amazing pieces of audio I’ve ever listened to.
12 min
30
Seriously?!? Dealing With Unsolicited Pregnancy...
I had always heard pregnancy can be a vulnerable time. You’re dealing with a lot of changes - physically and emotionally. Not to mention, the more pregnant you become, the more obvious your circumstance is to anyone who lays eyes on you. There comes a time when you can’t walk through the grocery store without being approached with a question or comment on your pregnancy. It’s kinda like a weird form of celebrity. And while some of it is sweet and affirming, others make for an uncomfortable encounter. Listen to more of our story on traversing the challenges of unsolicited comments and advice on pregnancy and birth from the strangers of the world.
22 min
31
Our First Home Birth Story: Star Wars, Kiddie P...
This is it, folks! The episode you’ve all been waiting for….our birth story! Matthew and I sit down (in bed, as always) with our first guest - less than a week old baby Maya. She lies quietly (for the most part, you might hear some coos and little grunts in the background at times) on Matthew’s chest while we recount the story of our home birth, while it’s still fresh in our minds.
75 min
32
The In Between Stage: The [Agonizing] Final Day...
“We are not a culture that waits for anything, nor are we believers in normal birth; waiting for a baby can feel like insanity.” In this episode, Matthew and I talk about our own experience with the “between,” being that we are technically past our “due date.” We share how this is a beautiful time to practice patience, surrender, and enjoy the moments that we have together before moving into the roles of parents for the first time. We also acknowledge, however, that it can seem excruciating - like you’re walking around waiting for a timer to go off that you really have no control or knowledge of its plans.
32 min
33
The 10 Best Things We Did For Our Home Birth Pr...
Today we’re talking about our top 10 list for prepping for our home birth. We found that these were the things that helped us throughout pregnancy - from the mental prepping to physical activity to some natural products and even spiritual and energetic exercises.
36 min
34
Sex While Pregnant: The Ins, The Outs, The Reac...
Let’s talk about sex, BABY! Not just the kind that makes the babies, but the kind you continue doing while the bun is in the oven.
37 min
35
Reactions To Home Birth From Family, Friends an...
When you’re expecting, it’s very common to hear the question, “Where are you delivering?” If not that specifically, people generally ask about your doctor or your doctor visits. Whether it’s close friends and family or total strangers, most will insert some sort of advice or personal experience to whatever birth plan it is you’ve chosen. It can be even more interesting when you share that your birth plan involves a home birth. Queue awkward silences, uncomfortable jokes and even sometimes downright judgement. That’s what we’re talking about in this episode: what we’re calling the “pushbacks.” They are the often well-intentioned but poorly executed gestures and words to share varying degrees of care and concern for yours and your baby’s well-being.
33 min
36
Watching Home Birth Videos
Remember the horrible films you’d watch in sex ed classes featuring a scary, screaming, bloody mess of a woman giving birth in total agony (probably because she had sex before marriage and was birthing the baby out of wedlock - I went to Catholic school so I’m convinced those videos were purely to warn off pre-marital sex rather than educate on the miracle of childbirth)?
21 min
37
A Father’s Perspective: Wrestling With the Fear...
Many pregnancy and birth resource focus on the mother or the baby, for reasons that are quite obvious. But there’s typically another partner involved who is feeling all sorts of things, but isn’t always asked or encouraged to share and express the roller coaster of thoughts, fears, hopes, beliefs that they’re experiencing. I wanted to change that in today’s episode, and so I interviewed my husband Matthew on his experience of going through pregnancy with me, how he initially felt about a home birth, and how he managed his fears and emotions of finally settling on an out-of-hospital birth. It’s an amazingly open and honest conversation about all of the things that came up for him through this journey. Matthew, as always, is honest and transparent, and that brings an amazingly refreshing perspective to the conversation of pregnancy and home birth.
31 min
38
Our Back and Forth Journey to Deciding on a Hom...
When we began our pregnancy adventure, home birth was pretty far from our mind. We kicked things off the traditional way: going to see an OBGYN at a great hospital that would usher our baby into the world the way that 98% of families in the US do it. But three months later we parted ways with our OBGYN, partnered up with a midwife group working out of their home, and began our home birth journey. In this episode you’ll hear our full story on how we went from traditional hospital birth with an OBGYN, to a shiny new birthing center with all the bells and whistles, to having our daughter in our very own bedroom.
29 min
39
A Loving Yet Raw Dialogue On Home Birth
“We’re doing it at home!” That’s the response my husband and I gave when people asked us about our birth plans. 3 months into our pregnancy we decided to ditch the traditional hospital birth with an OBGYN, for a birth that aligned more with the experience we wanted to create for ourselves and our little one. Home birth suited us well, and we dove in. But not without fears, judgements, conversations, decisions, research, planning, and everything else you can imagine. This podcast is about our home birth journey.
13 min
40
494: Reflecting on Eight Years Of Doing It At H...
Here we are, folks. This is the final new episode that we’ll be putting out for Doing It At Home. It’s been a magical 8 years! We sat down to share some of our thoughts, memories and takeaways with you all. Thank you for supporting this space, whether you’ve listened to every single episode or this is your first time tuning in, we’re grateful that you’ve been along for the journey.
44 min
41
493: From Hospital to Birth Center to Home Birt...
What influences your birth choices? It’s helpful to look at this, to see what matters to you when it comes to birth, and how you can create a birth environment and culture around you that supports you best. Today we’re chatting with Martina Cifiello about her birth journey. From a hospital birth with her first child to a birth center with her second to a home birth with her third, Martina walks us through the factors that inspired the changes and evolutions of her births along the way.
49 min
42
492: Finding Your Midwives and Releasing Fear w...
Marissa is a mom of 2 from Utica, NY, with both a hospital and home birth story. Marissa experienced intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) with her first pregnancy. That, along with some early signs of labor made for a hospital birth that included a lot of intervention and fear. The way she sees it, baby Maxwell just wasn’t ready yet. She planned for a home birth again with baby number two, Miles. With positive reinforcement from resources like Ina May Gaskin and Birth Without Fear, Marissa went into her second birth tuned in to her intuition and gut feeling (and we’re not just talking about the contractions!).
46 min
43
491: 53-Hour Labor, Hospital Transfer and a Bad...
When asked a question by a care provider, do you have to respond right away? Most of us don’t know or realize that we have choice. And especially when it’s not an emergency, we can take time to process and decide what we want to do and even refuse what doesn’t work for us. This is a powerful message from our guests in today’s episode, who experienced this firsthand during the birth of their son while in the hospital after transferring from their home birth plan. And it’s a special treat because we got to speak with both mom and dad, Bekah and Jesse Carroll.
45 min
44
490: Birth as a Rite of Passage: Messages for B...
Where will you hear about home birth story details, the difference between modern and traditional midwifery, what to do when you are inspired to enter birth work and the connection of birth with sexuality and spirituality? This episode of the podcast, that's where! Today we’re joined by Blyss Young, LM CPM. Blyss is a home birth midwife, teacher, circle facilitator, energy healer, reiki practitioner, mother, yoga teacher, entrepreneur, breathwork facilitator, placenta encapsulator and natural living consultant.
64 min
45
489: The 40-Hour Home Birth That Almost Wasn't ...
How can you utilize the power and intention of prayer for your birth? Regardless of your faith, setting intentions for your birth experience can be a big part of preparation for the experience. Today’s guest, Josephine Breen, weaves her faith into her birth story of her daughter Myriam. Josephine was born at home, and always remembers her mother being positive and open around the topic of birth. Then at 12 years old, Josephine got to witness the birth of her sister.
49 min
46
488: Trust, Surrender and the Magic of Home Bir...
Melissa Thormahlen knows how to give me “all the feels.” I knew her story would impact many when her first email to me about her birth story had me tearing up. She experienced most of her birthing experience at home with her first baby Emeline, before transferring to a hospital and having a beautiful birth. For Tyler, baby number 2, she knew she wanted to go for a home birth again because she trusted her body and her amazing birth team. In Tyler’s birth story, Melissa explains the trust and surrender to the process. She also took time to be close and intimate with her husband, Paul in the time before active labor.
44 min
47
487: Having a Victorious HBAC with Christina Wi...
“Is my body able to give birth?” This is one of the questions that Christina Winsnes asked herself as she prepared for the home birth of her second child, after an unplanned cesarean birth with her first child Emma. With the support of her husband Yeti and the rest of her team, Christina took time during her second pregnancy to deal with fears and concerns. Also to come to a place of peace and acceptance that a non-vaginal birth was not a failure.
45 min
48
486: From Hospital to Birth Center to Home to P...
How does the experience of one birth influence the plans for births that follow? Today we chat with Emilee Petrill, and we pack a lot into a sub-hour conversation. Emilee has experienced a hospital birth with her first son Corbyn, a birthing center for her son Penn and finally a home birth for her son Moxy. She walks us through the processes and decisions around each of those experiences.
51 min
49
485: A Christmas Day Home Birth Full of Statist...
Can you approach birth from both a statistics and research-driven mind as well as with an intention to connect more deeply spiritually? YES! And our birth story today is an example of that. Ashton Parker shares her home birth journey with us. First with a good hospital birth for her first child, which included 5 hours of pushing. Then considered another hospital birth for her second child, but after some research and statistics, landed on home birth.
70 min
50
484: Talking Home Birth and Placenta Encapsulat...
We’re entering a new phase of the podcast! In addition to our episodes that feature Matthew and me discussing some topic related to home birth, we’re publishing our conversations with moms and families who have experienced home birth along with professionals and thought leaders on the subject. First to kick off this endeavor is our chat with Jenny DiPietro. Jenny is a mom of 4, who has experienced both home and hospital birth.
32 min