050 - Rochelle | Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, early miscarriage, meconium, ARM, labour ward, high blood pressure, pethidine, epidural, episiotomy, triple feeding
Release Date: 09/05/2024
071 - Maria | ectopic pregnancy, positive induction, hypnobirthing, 3rd degree tear, closing the bones
Birth Tales
In today’s episode I’m chatting to Maria about her two pregnancies. Her first was very sadly an ectopic pregnancy and she shares her journey of expectant management, which left her feeling very lonely and anxious. When she conceived again and got through the first trimester, Maria loved her second pregnancy. She planned to birth her baby at home but ended up accepting an induction at 42+2. She talks about her experience of a 3rd degree tear, the amazing postnatal care she received and how healing her birth felt following her loss. I’m so grateful to Maria for sharing so honestly about...
info_outline
070 - Tassy | small baby, hypnobirthing, planned c-section, breastfeeding challenges
Birth Tales
In this week’s episode I chat to Tassy about her planned c-section. She conceived quickly after coming off the pill and Tassy really enjoyed being pregnant and learning about birth. At 32 weeks her midwife flagged concerns around her baby’s small size and after accepting some additional growth scans she quickly realised the birth centre birth she had hoped for was becoming increasingly unlikely. Tassy shares how empowering it felt to choose a caesarean over the induction she was being recommended and how ultimately it felt like a really special and positive way to birth her baby. This is...
info_outline
069 - Serena | 2nd baby, homebirth, doula, waterbirth, continuity of care, hypnobirthing, physiological birth
Birth Tales
In today’s episode I’m sharing my own story of birthing my second son, Sidney. I talk about how I experienced pregnancy with a toddler in tow, the choices I made differently this time and how much I loved birthing my baby at home. After a long and physically exhausting previous birth, this labour challenged me mentally so I share all the coping techniques and comfort measures that helped me through when self-doubt arose. Throughout pregnancy and labour I was cared for by the most awesome midwife Annie, so a strong theme of my birth story is how incredible it was to receive continuity of...
info_outline
068 - Laura | 2nd baby, homebirth, post dates pregnancy, big baby, spinning babies, doula, waterbirth
Birth Tales
In this episode we’ve got Laura back on the podcast to share her second birth story. After a long back to back labour in the hospital with her daughter, Lauren knew she wanted to approach things differently this time and planned to birth to her baby at home. She shares how different her experience of conceiving was second time around, why hiring a doula was the best decision she made and how she dealt with the immense pressure she felt to accept an induction once she passed 42 weeks. She trusted her instincts and went on to have an amazing homebirth for her surprisingly big baby boy! ...
info_outline
067 - Beth | type 1 diabetes, induction, ARM, ventouse, episiotomy, breastfeeding
Birth Tales
In today’s episode Beth shares her experience of conception, pregnancy and birth with type 1 diabetes. She talks us through the support she received from a fellow nutritional therapist, the preparation she undertook for her son’s birth and the implications of her condition. Whilst induction wouldn’t have been her preference, Beth managed to create a plan that both aligned with the recommendations of her care providers and also felt good to her, so despite the challenges that arose during her labour she came away from the experience feeling positive. I’m so grateful to Beth for...
info_outline
066 - Alice | homebirth, hypnobirthing, waterbirth, physiological birth, continuity of care, meconium
Birth Tales
In today’s episode we’re hearing from Alice. She always knew she wanted a homebirth so when she found out she was pregnant it felt like the obvious choice. She shares how she prepared in the lead up to birth; what she read, how she loved science behind hypnobirthing and how supportive she found affirmations for her mindset. Alice’s patience was tested with a few days of latent labour, but after chatting to some helpful midwives she was able to relax into it and once things got going her son ended up being born pretty quickly. This is such a lovely story of first time homebirth and the...
info_outline
065 - Bec | traditional birthkeeper, wild pregnancy, freebirth, OP baby, waterbirth, physiological birth
Birth Tales
In this episode Bec shares her wild pregnancy and freebirth. As a traditional birth keeper she had plenty of experience supporting women choosing to birth outside the system, so this felt like the obvious choice for her own pregnancy. From the moment she conceived she had no tests, scans or interaction with the maternity system and she talks about how she worked through the range of emotions that came up throughout the process. Bec takes us step by step through her blissful final few weeks of pregnancy, labouring in the woods with her partner and pushing for an intense 6 hours before her...
info_outline
064 - Anna | 2 births, unplanned c-section, reflexology, gestational diabetes, independent midwife, planned c-section, breastfeeding
Birth Tales
In this episode I’m chatting to Anna about the birth of her 2 little boys. She shares how much she enjoyed pregnancy and the healing effect it had on her relationship with her body. After going into spontaneous labour shortly before 40 weeks, her baby was born via c-section due to concerns around his heart rate and whilst this wasn’t what she’d hoped for, she still found the birth to be really positive and amazing. Anna was hoping to experience a vaginal birth second time around and threw herself into preparing for that, but for various reasons ended up having a repeat caesarean. She...
info_outline
063 - Shanna | 2 births, induction, post dates pregnancy, sterile water injections, shoulder dystocia, homebirth, doula
Birth Tales
In today’s episode we’re hearing about Shanna’s two births; one at the hospital and the other at home. Throughout her pregnancy she had a very clear idea of what she was and wasn’t comfortable accepting in terms of intervention and she was very confident in her intuition around the birth. She explains how she resisted the pressure to accept an induction until she was nearly 43 weeks and shares how her birth was managed when her baby was born with a shoulder dystocia. Her first labour and the way it left her feeling massively impacted the decisions Shanna made when preparing for her...
info_outline
062 - Annie | 2nd baby, IVF, HBAC, prodromal labour, doula, foetal ejection reflex, BBA, PPH, 3rd degree tear
Birth Tales
In this episode we’re hearing from Annie about her amazing HBAC. This is Annie’s second time on the pod so you might remember her first birth story; a lengthy induction that lead to a c-section. Today we’re hearing how that experience heavily influenced the choices she made this time around. She knew that birthing at home would give her the best at the VBAC she wanted, so she gathered her support team, researched the risks of a vaginal birth following a caesarean, and focussed on building up trust in her body and her intuition. After a tough pregnancy filled with intense nausea and...
info_outlineIn today’s episode we’re hearing from Rochelle about the birth of her son, Jude. Despite having had a previous early pregnancy loss, she felt confident and intuitively very positive right from the beginning of her pregnancy. Thanks to minimal symptoms she was able to stay busy with work, but as a result feels she might not have prepared for the birth as much as she would have liked.
When her labour began a few days after her due date, Rochelle noticed meconium in her waters so was advised to attend the hospital. Whilst her labour had been progressing nicely at home, things slowed down after a long wait in triage so she had her remaining waters released to help things along. After some concerns around her blood pressure and the baby showing signs of distress, Rochelle accepted an epidural and Jude was born not long after.
Rochelle shares how positively she feels about the experience despite things deviating so far from what she hoped for, plus a little about Jude’s feeding complications in the early days. And as she was 38 weeks pregnant at the time we recorded, she tells us a bit about her plans for the upcoming birth of her second child.
Rochelle’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/roshiimcinscottii/
My website: www.serenalouth.com