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How partners can support women during pregnancy & birth

Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman

Release Date: 08/22/2022

Erin’s Tokophobia Healing Journey show art Erin’s Tokophobia Healing Journey

Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman

I'm thrilled to share with you another incredible tokophobia healing journey. As the host of the Fear Free Childbirth podcast, I have had the profound privilege of connecting with many incredible women, each on her unique path to overcoming the fears and anxieties that accompany pregnancy and childbirth. Today, I want to share with you one of the most touching and inspiring stories to grace my podcast – the profound journey of Erin, a woman who bravely faced her tokophobia and emerged with newfound confidence and strength. Tokophobia, an intense fear of childbirth, is more common than many...

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Overcoming Birth Trauma: Heather's Journey Positive Birth show art Overcoming Birth Trauma: Heather's Journey Positive Birth

Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman

In today's episode, I am joined by Heather to dive into her incredible journey from a fear-filled first birth to two positive and empowering experiences. Heather shares her deep emotional work in overcoming the negative feelings from her traumatic first birth and the steps she took to prepare herself mentally and emotionally for her second pregnancy.   From therapy to Emotion Code, to Head Trash Clearance and hypnobirthing, Heather explores the various tools she used to transform her mindset and approach childbirth with a newfound sense of confidence. Here are some of the things we talked...

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Celeste's Journey from Tokophobia to Inner Peace show art Celeste's Journey from Tokophobia to Inner Peace

Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman

In this episode, I sit down with the inspirational Celeste to delve deep into her transformative journey of overcoming fears and phobias related to childbirth and pregnancy. Throughout the episode, Celeste candidly shares her profound and life-altering experiences, providing invaluable insights for anyone navigating similar challenges.   This episode is for you if you want to have a peep under the bonnet to better understand what it looks like EXACTLY to clear your head trash (tokophobia, anxiety or indeed anything else) using Head Trash Clearance.   We get down to brass tacks and...

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Periods & Pregnancy: Learning to love your cycle show art Periods & Pregnancy: Learning to love your cycle

Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman

In today's episode, I have a thought-provoking conversation with Elizabeth Tidwell, a menstrual cycle coach, as she shares her journey of healing and embracing the power of her menstrual cycle. I wanted to talk about periods because even though they're not front and centre of the pregnancy and birth experience - they are! We obsess over when they stop - are we pregnant??? - and then we obsess over when they start again. They are a HUGE part of this. And, more importantly, I wanted to talk about them because I don't think that we appreciate our periods much. There's lots of negativity around...

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Solo Parenting: Steph's Choice show art Solo Parenting: Steph's Choice

Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman

In this episode, we dive into a powerful and inspiring conversation with my guest, Steph Bennet, as she shares her experience of choosing to solo parent. Steph's story is a testament to the strength and resilience of women who navigate both career success and motherhood on their own terms. Join us as we explore the challenges, triumphs, and joys of Steph's unique journey into motherhood. Steph made the decision to prioritise a career that allowed her to have control over her work without judgment. She is a strong advocate for not compromising but optimising her life to create a balanced and...

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Transforming Birth Culture: Resolving Conflict in the Birth Space for Improved Maternity Care show art Transforming Birth Culture: Resolving Conflict in the Birth Space for Improved Maternity Care

Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman

Birth is a profound and transformative experience, but unfortunately, conflicts and disagreements within the birth space can sometimes overshadow the joy and empowerment that should be at the forefront.   In this episode of the Fear Free Childbirth podcast, Jenny Koslow, a perinatal educator with four decades of experience, sheds light on the issues of conflict and tension within the birth world.   Understanding the Birth Space: Jenny begins by sharing her wealth of knowledge and stories gathered from birth workers around the globe. She highlights the conflicting views and struggles...

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How Puberty Trauma Shapeshifts into Fear of Pregnancy and Body Image show art How Puberty Trauma Shapeshifts into Fear of Pregnancy and Body Image

Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman

Today's episode is a deeply insightful conversation between Alexia and a previous guest, Ramona who recently shared her story of overcoming tokophobia. They share personal experiences and explore the connection between puberty trauma, body dysmorphia, and the fear of pregnancy and childbirth, known as tokophobia. In this thought-provoking episode, we delve into our own experiences during puberty, our struggles with body image, and the impact it has on our adulthood, especially as they transition from maiden to mother. Here are some of the things we touched on during this conversation; ...

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From Phobia to Calling: From Fearful Mama to Confident Midwife show art From Phobia to Calling: From Fearful Mama to Confident Midwife

Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman

In this episode, I have an incredible story of transformation to share with you. My guest, Jessica, was once plagued with fear when it came to pregnancy and childbirth. However, she conquered her fears and had a positive birth experience that inspired her to make a bold career change.   Jessica talks about her journey from fear to becoming a midwife. It's a remarkable turnaround that showcases the power of overcoming our deepest fears and embracing new paths in life.   But before we delve into Jessica's inspiring story, I want to share with you a tale that highlights what can happen...

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Conversations with Spirit Babies show art Conversations with Spirit Babies

Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman

In this episode, my special guest is Emma Moon, a cosmic fertility guide and a spirit baby medium. Emma's unique background includes a Bachelor of Science in nursing and expertise as an integrative health practitioner. She blends both science and spirituality in her work, supporting women through their fertility journey, pregnancy, and conscious birth. Emma's approach involves connecting with the energy and spirit of her clients, helping them navigate emotional and spiritual blocks that may affect their fertility. Through a combination of nutrition, lifestyle changes, and intuitive guidance,...

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Measuring Healing Progress in Pregnancy and Birth show art Measuring Healing Progress in Pregnancy and Birth

Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman

Welcome back to Fear Free Childbirth! In today's episode, I want to delve into the fascinating concept of the Map of Consciousness. Have you ever invested time and energy into courses, therapy or retreats to bring about a change in how you feel, only to wonder if they're really making a difference? We all have, right? Today, I want share a powerful tool that you can use to measure the effectiveness of these activities in overcoming fear, anxiety, and finding calm and peace. Once I discovered this method of measuring healing progress I decided to revisit my own healing journey around overcoming...

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The one idea that inspired and motivated me when I started working in the birth and pregnancy space was this: the birth moment is a sacred one that has ripple effect that impacts so many people.

The moment of birth creates a ripple that affects many

Birth doesn't just affect the mother and the baby being born, it affects the father and/or the mother's partner too. And it affects the professionals present; the midwives, the doctors or OB-GYNs, the consultants, the doulas, and the nurses.

But it doesn't stop there. Depending on how the birth goes, it will will also affect the baby's siblings, and other family members.

Then there's the life of the baby as he or she grows up. Our births create an emotional blueprint that we carry with us our whole lives. Our fears, our patterns of behaviour, our stresses and our anxieties are all rooted in our birth experience. If we experienced a traumatic birth, then this will affect in all sorts of mysterious ways as our fears and traumas play out.

I say 'mysterious' because many people don't realise that they struggles they are afflicted with as adults probably have their roots in their birth experience. The WAY we are born - c-cection, vaginal birth, ventouse etc - can impact us too, as I've covered already quite a bit on the podcast. Anna Verwahl has done incredible work in this area if you're interested in finding out more.

If, as a baby, we experience our birth as challenging or traumatic then as adults we might not go on to have children as our trauma creates fears or phobias in us. In my work supporting women in overcoming tokophobia, for many of my clients the trauma of their arrival in the world is often the trauma that is at the root of their phobia.

The moment of birth has far-reaching consequences. And it's for this reason that I want to help people to improve the chances or that moment being as wonderful as possible.

Birth is sacred

You see, when you take a closer look, the moment of birth is a sacred one. But it's not simply because it affects so many. It's because it is the creation of life. It's the moment when we exist for the first time outside of our mother and it carries such potency. The first time we look into our babies eyes is a powerful moment that can stay with you forever. Those first few hours with your baby can be like nothing you've ever experienced. But sadly, these are experiences that can be missing for those whose births are difficult.

When a birth experience is a difficult one, the impact of this is far-reaching and does not only affect the mother and child. The father or partner is affected, as are the professionals present. And so the ripple expands. By focusing our energy on preparing to create the space for a wonderful birth experience to take place, we are creating the possibility for lots of people to benefit in important ways from this one birth.

Conscious preparation is not just for mothers-to-be

But this conscious preparation is not limited to the mother-to-be, although she can often feel like it's all on her shoulders. The father or partner also needs to be part of this, and while they might know that, it might not always be immediately obvious HOW they can support the mother.

If this is you - wondering how you can best support your partner as you prepare for the arrival of your baby - then this interview is a must listen.

Conversation with Souvereign

In this interview I chat with Souvereign who helps dads to prepare for the arrival of their baby. During this conversation Souvereign shares;

  • how his experience of the arrival of his first child made him decide to do things differently for his second
  • how he views birth and its sacred nature
  • practical ways on how men can support their partners during pregnancy
  • his experience on being asked to cut the cord made him feel
  • his fascinating perspective on the cutting of the cord and why we need to wait as long as possible
  • why he is a strong advocate of natural birth

About Souvereign

Souvereign is a well known Syntropy expert in the Regenerative Practitioner world.

"For 10 years I have studied and applied Regenerative Agricultural Practices and now I am using the same principles to create Regeneration in Human Ecology. Bringing the Syntropic Ethos into the inner healing space is powerful and important because when we deal with trauma or healing of any kind, our Human Nature is always part of that equation. Doing this work myself on myself has transformed, up-levelled, and empowered me to teach, train and coach others in “Syntropic Embodiment”. I work (mostly) with women in their sunset years who are ready to go deep and do the inner cleaning that meditation or yoga never addressed.

This is deep healing of early childhood wounds related to the World of Man or the patriarchy and restores a love-filled wholeness from within. As a strong voice for Lotus Birth and Natural Birthing Advocate, I teach men around the importance of Natural Birth & pregnancy practices and how they can show up even more effectively and powerfully during pregnancy and birth. I teach men simple and yet insightful ways that help them become the fathers they want to be without repeating the damage they themselves experienced being young. In that, I am a stand for the sacredness of Birth, Women’s healing with the World of Man and Trauma Transformation. I simply offer people this: Let me help you Remember your Nature. The healing, albeit transformational will be All Natural. "

Souvereign can be reached at https://souvereignsharing.net/

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IG: awakening_sovereignty
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