How to have a happy birth
Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman
Release Date: 04/27/2017
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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...
info_outlineOn today's podcast I'm joined by journalist and radio presenter (and now best-selling author!) Beverley Turner. Bev is also the lady behind the The Happy Birth Club ante-natal classes that are run out of a pub in Chiswick, London.
I first heard Bev speak at the IMUK (Independent Midwives UK) conference last year where she spoke about the happy birth ante-natal classes that she runs alongside a dream team of birth professionals. When I heard her speak I knew I wanted to get her on the podcast to talk more about it. I've got a bit of a thing about childbirth education and it's this; it's so damn flakey!
If you seek out the free birth education option in your community it's usually run out of the hospital or local maternity unit, which by definition means that you're more lokely to learn abotu the medicalised view of birth. This in itself is a very narrow persepctive on birth so you will miss out on lots of important information that can help you to prepare.
The travesty here is that we actually NEED to seek out this information and education. Surely we should come out of school with a basic knowledge of childbirth that goes beyond the usual let's-put-teenage-girls-off-pregnancy-and-show them-the-scary-shit version. But we don't. So when we're pregnant, it's up to us to get off our bumps and educate ourselves.
Happy Birth Club classes
When Bev decided to create her classes, she made a point of seeking out the best in class, which admittedly, is probably easier in London than in other locations around the world, but at least it shows what can be achieved when taken seriously and done well. At £350 for a couple, it might not be the most affordable option for everyone, but that pales into insignifcance when compared to how much a happy birth is worth... and what you'd spend on other big days of your life like your wedding for example. You can never spend too much preparing for your birth, especially if it improves your chances of coming out the other end with a positive birth experience... and more importantly avoiding a difficult or traumatic birth and the horrid consequences such as post-natal depression.
During my chat with Bev, she talks through the things they share as part of her classes, but we also talk about a load of other stuff. Given that we're both into birth the conversation does indeed wander...
- What started her interest in birth
- Bev shares her perspective on the midwifery situation that is affecting women in the UK at the moment
- Why she wanted to write her book The Happy Birth Book
- Why she feels that women are made to "aim low" in birth and why this is wrong
- But, why aiming low in parenting is totally acceptable
- Her advice for pregnant mamas who want to have a happy birth
And more...
I hope you enjoy it!