076: Road to Surrogacy, - Part 2
Birth Education Center
Hey everyone! Welcome back to the second episode of our chat with Jamilah. Last week, we heard both of her birth stories and now we're moving into her incredible journey towards surrogacy. Her own births led Jamilah birth photography, putting her want for being a doula on the backburner for a whole other profession. It was at a networking event that the surrogacy opportunity presented itself and the pieces began to line up. Jamilah’s story gives a lot of information for people wondering about the surrogacy process in helping people become parents. Her journey to this baby had its ups and...
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075: The Road to Surrogacy, Part 1
Birth Education Center
We are excited to introduce you to Jamilah in today’s show. Ashley and I just had our headshots taken by Jamilah and her story is just too good not to share! Jamilah is almost due with her surrogate baby and we are discussing the backstory as to why she moved towards surrogacy. In this show, Jamilah shares the inspiring stories of her two birth experiences and how her mindset of fearlessness, instilled by her mother, helped her embrace labor without fear. She shares the birth of her daughter Hazel, navigating through labor with a strong sense of determination and trust in her body. Some...
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074: Kasondra and Zach’s Natural Birth Story
Birth Education Center
The video for YouTube and Spotify will be up shortly! For now, please enjoy our audio version. In this episode, we have a birth story featuring Zach and Kasondra, a couple who recently welcomed their newborn into the world. In Hypnobirthing class we learned about their love of surfing and always being in the water. Kasondra is also an opera singer so she came into class with expectations on how her breathing techniques would go during labor – and they worked with an added surprise. Throughout the podcast, Kasondra discusses her decisions along the way to support the natural birth she wanted....
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073: Doulas - The Art of Holding Space and Allowing
Birth Education Center
In this episode, Ashley and I are talking about the sacred aspects of being a doula and how the ultimate role is to 'hold space' for birthing families.What IS holding space? Since it’s different for everyone - we want you to define it for yourself and how it works for each family you serve. We have found over the years that it’s incredibly hard to hold space if we find ourselves needing or wanting to control birth outcomes, come into birth work with a savior complex, or if we can’t embrace the discomfort that comes with witnessing labor and birth. We share personal experiences and...
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072: Embracing the Intensity of Labor
Birth Education Center
This episode is a workshop-style conversation designed to help you tackle your fears and equip yourself with the tools and mindset needed for a positive birth experience. I’m not gonna lie - this conversation got juicy with ideas and information to reshape your thoughts about pain and gathering the courage to use your abilities to become what you have not. Ashley was on fire in this conversation! In our Hypnobirthing series we challenge the common narrative of avoiding pain, asking why we steer clear of the lessons pain brings. What if you were to accept the pain or discomfort...
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071: Surrendering: Hannah and Cooper's Hypnobirthing Story
Birth Education Center
In today’s show, I interview with Hannah and Cooper, former Hypnobirthing students, to talk about their incredible birth story. From navigating fears of low pain tolerance and the unknowns of labor, Hannah shares her powerful experience of surrendering to the birth process. Low pain tolerance comes up A LOT when women talk about wanting to have a natural birth. In fact, tune in next week because we decided to do a full episode on it. Hannah had some awesome insights in hindsight as to how her birth played out. We also talked about her early pelvic floor therapy, the importance of having a...
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070: Processing Fears: Nikki's Fertility Journey
Birth Education Center
I begin with a mini disclaimer about the audio and video quality due to the last day of Mercury retrograde. Despite the production challenges, we have an important and heartfelt conversation for you today. I want you to meet Nikki, who is joining my Hypnobirthing series, and this is our first face-to-face talk. Nikki shares her deeply personal and emotional fertility journey, which includes unexpected pregnancies, miscarriages, and the associated medical experiences. Nikki is still early in her pregnancy and so she came today to get some early help in reducing the fears she has around...
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069: April’s Hypnobirthing Birth Story
Birth Education Center
In this episode, I welcome April to share her labor denial birth story and the journey of overcoming fears related to pregnancy. April opens up about her past struggles with an eating disorder and how it impacted her initial fears of weight gain during pregnancy. This is an issue that many women face in pregnancy and isn’t talked about enough in my opinion. April emphasizes the importance of mental health, surrendering control, and trusting one's body and baby throughout the process. She put in the work to figure these things out for herself before labor began. She also talks about the...
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068: Courtney's Induction Birth Story: From Hypnobirthing to Life Skills for Parenting
Birth Education Center
I can’t wait for you to hear Courtney’s incredible birth story. From her experiences with pregnancy, labor, and postpartum, to raising her seven-year-old, Courtney's journey is filled with resilience and practical life skills. Courtney shares her initial vision of a natural birth with a midwife, through her unexpected medical diagnoses of gestational diabetes, cholestasis, and preeclampsia, and the necessity of induction. She discusses navigating the steep changes to her birth plan with the help of hypnobirthing, her husband, and her steadfast community support. Expected challenges...
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067: Hannah and Greg's Inspiring Natural Birth and NICU Journey
Birth Education Center
In this episode, we have an incredible birth story for you. This is a story where Hannah’s natural birth was quickly overshadowed by an extensive NICU stay with their son. Hannah and Greg took my Hypnobirthing class early in her pregnancy and did extensive preparation. What started as a planned birth center birth became a hospital transfer due to the baby’s early gestation. Hannah had become the “planner for the unplannable” due to her knowing her birth ideals well over a year before she became pregnant. Little did she know that all of that thinking ahead helped her establish great...
info_outlineThe video for YouTube and Spotify will be up shortly! For now, please enjoy our audio version.
In this episode, we have a birth story featuring Zach and Kasondra, a couple who recently welcomed their newborn into the world.
In Hypnobirthing class we learned about their love of surfing and always being in the water. Kasondra is also an opera singer so she came into class with expectations on how her breathing techniques would go during labor – and they worked with an added surprise.
Throughout the podcast, Kasondra discusses her decisions along the way to support the natural birth she wanted. Zach, talks about what he learned in childbirth classes that helped him create a solid role as a support system during Kasondra's labor.
The couple emphasizes the importance of thorough preparation, maintaining a calm and positive attitude, and trusting the process, while highlighting the significance of active communication and teamwork throughout pregnancy and childbirth. They kept things light and fun throughout the unexpected turns of their labor, celebrating joyful moments despite the inherent unpredictability.
We end the episode with insights on postpartum recovery and advice for expectant parents, coming back to the power of knowledge, preparation, and a supportive partnership during this transformative life experience.
Let’s connect: Have questions or comments for this episode?
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