077: The Road to Surrogacy, - Part 3
Birth Education Center
We’re back with Jamilah for the final chapter of her surrogacy journey! In this episode, Jamilah shares the emotional and physical experience of delivering her surrogate baby. From the anticipation and pressure of reaching 40 weeks for herself and the Intended Parents, to advocating for herself in the hospital, to the powerful moment of birth. And there’s an unexpected plot twist here that wasn’t planned but pulled things in full circle. She also shares about the unique postpartum experience of going home without a baby—Jamilah’s story is full of insight for anyone curious...
info_outline
076: The 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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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....
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outlineWe’re back with Jamilah for the final chapter of her surrogacy journey! In this episode, Jamilah shares the emotional and physical experience of delivering her surrogate baby. From the anticipation and pressure of reaching 40 weeks for herself and the Intended Parents, to advocating for herself in the hospital, to the powerful moment of birth.
And there’s an unexpected plot twist here that wasn’t planned but pulled things in full circle. She also shares about the unique postpartum experience of going home without a baby—Jamilah’s story is full of insight for anyone curious about surrogacy, birth, and the bonds formed along the way.
Thank you for joining us for this moving conclusion to Jamilah’s story. If you missed Parts 1 and 2, be sure to check them out for the full journey!
𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀!
Let’s connect: Have questions or comments for this episode?
Work with Care or Ashley: 858-251-4204
Join us on Socials:
Instagram: @BirthEducationCenter
TikTok: @BirthEducationCenter
YouTube: @BirthEducationCenter
LinkedIn: @CareMesser
Online Courses:
For Doulas Only - Ebook and Visualization