Doing It At Home: Our Home Birth Podcast

In this episode we're sharing tips that we've picked up from talking to home birth moms who chose to have their kids present at their siblings birth. A number of moms on the show had their kids present when their siblings came into the world, and we thought it would be a great idea to share some of the creative ways they prepared their kids for childbirth. We're sharing 5 simple tips for preparing your kids for homebirth. We reference a few previous episodes in this podcast, including episode 49 - The 11 Pound Home Birth Baby with Natalie Bancroft and Laura Fifield, and an episode with Laura Drury which has yet to publish (but keep a look out for it). If you had your children present at your home birth, and have any additional advice for fellow listeners, we'd love to hear it! You can reach out to us at hello@diahpodcast.com.  Links: Our new "Doing It At Home" book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098GVJ9KL?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 Our website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ Facebook Group: https://

In today's episode we're talking to mama Emily Lucchino about giving birth at a birth center, being a natural mama, and how chiropractic practices factored into her prenatal care. Meet Emily, chiropractor, doula-in-training, mama to Ava Grace, wife to Joe, and lover of all things natural. Emily grew up on a farm and familiar with what it’s like to live off the land. She shares that when they weren’t feeling well in her home, they used hand-picked herbs, flowers and other natural remedies for healing. It makes sense that Emily was drawn to school for chiropractic care, being in alignment (pun intended!) with natural healthcare and living. Her husband Joe had a more modern upbringing. So when it came time to decide what to do when they became pregnant, it was a big test of their marriage. To set the scene, Emily and Joe got pregnant just after getting married, at the same time their careers were taking off. So here they are with multiple new life experiences and figuring out how to navigate it all. They asked t

In this episode we're talking about mommy guilt, comparison and shame. We're kicking off a brand new series on the Doing It At Home podcast. Normally we talk about home birth, healthy pregnancy, and share home birth stories. But we also want to bring conversations about new parenthood because that's extremely relevant to many of our listeners (and also to ourselves).  On episode 45 Matthew and I interviewed new mom Monica Smith, and me and Monica really hit it off. So much so that we started having weekly phone calls where we opened up to one another about the challenges we were facing in new motherhood. The conversations were so honest and raw that we decided to record them for you all, because we know we're not the only ones with these feelings. So what you're hearing is a recorded conversation between Monica and myself. There is no structure to the call, we're simply sharing from our hearts how we're feeling in the moment. In this episode we talk about mommy guilt, comparison and shame. Links: Our new "Do

In today’s episode we’re talking with Kimberly Huck, a new mama who used the Bradley Method during her water birth at home. Kimberly is mama to Henry and wife to Dan. And we have a special connection with Kimberly. We live near each other and...we used the same midwives! So the same women who helped deliver baby Maya, delivered baby Henry just a few months earlier. Kimberly and I connected after she posted a cool home birth related article on Facebook that happened to make its way into my awareness (article link in the show notes). Kimberly is a chiropractor, and she and her husband Dan own a fitness studio in Marietta, Georgia called American Row House. They met while attending Life University, while Kimberly studied chiropractic and Dan studied sports health science. The Huck household is very into health and fitness, healthy habits and lifestyle and living as natural and toxin-free as possible. Kimberly grew up in a natural home, being unvaccinated herself. She became interested in home birth after working

In today's super special episode of the Doing It At Home podcast, we are interviewing our own moms about our birth stories! In this show we interview tons of moms and families on their home birth stories, and so we thought we'd switch things up a bit for Mother's Day and hear about how each of us came into the world from the women who ushered us earth side. Derry Bivens is mother to Matthew, and Kathryn Russell is mother to Sarah. Both moms have beautiful birth stories filled with courage, strength, determination and joy.  Enjoy this super special Mother's Day episode of the Doing It At Home Podcast! Links: The Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098GVJ9KL?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 Our website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3jKtIYv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/ DIAH YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGoKeBfEZ143sWU7V9I5Gdg DIAH Store: https://yoursuccessfulhomebirth.com/ DIAH Merch: https://bit.ly/3qhwgAe  Donat

In this episode, we’re chatting with Kim Newing - a teacher, intuitive coach and creator of hypnotic meditations for women who want more from their lives. I found Kim from a Facebook post of a video of her home birth (link to video is in our show notes on our website). This video brought me to tears and I knew we had to have her on the show. The video was the home birth of her third daughter, Harper. Kim is mother to two other girls, Charlotte and Page. Kim, her husband Jess and their girls live in Brisbane, Australia (if you haven’t noticed, we’ve had quite a few amazing interviews with women from Australia - it’s rising steadily to the top of our list of places we need to visit!). Kim was a life coach for 11 years, and then her business took a slightly different trajectory after experiencing a miscarriage. Since then, she’s found a way to acknowledge the divine synchronistic events of life, and to birth something beautiful from the experience. Then, Mama Goddess was born! Mama Goddess is Kim’s movement - a

In this episode, we’re talking with Catherine about her home birth. Catherine is a spunky, energetic mom of 2 from Canada. You can feel her enthusiasm through the speakers. Her lively nature and passionate storytelling captivates you. Catherine has a the perspective of hospital birth and a home birth. Cool fact: she got to use the same midwife for both births! And we’re honored to share that our show helped influence and support Catherine and her husband Carmen (who wasn’t so convinced to start off with) to choose a home birth. Their preparation process involved a lot of trust-building with the intention to protect the reverence of the birth experience. Isn’t that beautiful? And get this - Catherine and Carmen strategically chose not to tell anyone of their intentions to home birth. So everyone found out after baby arrived! We find this to be totally badass - being bold and true to yourself and going about things the way that resonates most with you. Catherine talks about how her home birth gave her the oppor

In today’s episode we’re talking with Natalie Bancroft and Laura Fifield, two amazing women who are linked with a quite famous recent birth story. You see Natalie, a birth photographer and doula as well as a mama of 3, gave birth to her third baby earlier this year at home. And baby Simon weighed 11 lbs. 2 oz!!! And Laura, Natalie’s friend, birth photographer and mama of 2, was there to document the experience. Some of the amazing photos from the birth, namely one that features Natalie holding her newly birthed bundle of adorable squish with this elated, shocked, goddess-like expression of “wow!” has been featured far and wide. Publications like Today Show, Hello Giggles and even People have featured the image on their sites.  We were so grateful and excited to speak with these awesome women. They share insights from the birth photography community, which is small in their city of Spokane, WA. We get to hear about some of the memorable births they’ve been able to document. Natalie talks about her journey to h

In today's episode we're commenting on a few recent news articles that center around home birth. The first comes from Huffington Post (now HuffPost) and is titled "Home Births Safe For Most Woman, But Not All, Says New Study". The second is an article from AL.com and is called "House approves Bill to allow midwives to legally practice in Alabama". Both of these articles speak to the progress being made for the home birth community, both online and locally.  In the first article, the author Chloe Tejada cites a study that finds that home birth is safe for most women. We had a reaction of "Duh!", but that's not the point. The point is that a major media outlet is reporting something positive about home birth! That's a huge step forward for the homebirth community as a whole. The article goes on to state things that are probably not surprising to most: in women who are low risk, and even some who in the past have been deemed moderate risk (like over 35 years of age, have had a previous cesarean), can have favora

In this episode we’re talking with Katie Holman about her two home births at The Farm (yes that The Farm...the one founded by Ina May Gaskin). Meet Katie. She lives outside of Nashville with her husband, Jimmy and her two sons Cash and Elon. Katie is our first DIAH mom to have a birth story from The Farm! If you’re not familiar with The Farm, prepare to get acquainted. Founded in 1970 by a group of powerful and conscious people, looking to return the natural and sacred act of birth to the family, and have it in an environment that supported women and families. Ina May Gaskin, a juggernaut in the natural birth, home birth and midwifery world, was a founding member. Most anyone who explores natural or home birth has heard of Ina May Gaskin and has been influenced by her work and her writings. Back to Katie. Katie had watched The Business of Being Born documentary and read Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth. The message of Ina May really resonated with Katie, and that lead her to the decision to have both of her chil

In today’s episode we speak with Dr. Sarah Buckley on the science of natural and undisturbed birth. Dr. Buckley is the author of the best selling book Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering, the author the report Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing, and all around natural childbirth expert. We are honored and grateful to have Dr. Sarah Buckley join us on the Doing It At Home Podcast for many reasons. To start, her book "Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: A Doctor's Guide to Natural Childbirth and Gentle Early Parenting Choices" was a huge influence on us during our pregnancy. Sarah (our Sarah...Sarah Bivens that is) started reading Dr. Buckley's book while we were still planning for a birth with an OBGYN in a hospital. We learned about Dr. Buckley from her appearances in a DVD series called "Happy Healthy Child" (another resource we highly recommend and link to in the show notes.) Dr. Buckley's extensive research and evidence based information on pregnancy and birth, along with her own accounts of her 4 home births left

In today's episode we're talking to mama, Monica Smith. Monica and her husband Matt welcomed their son Rocky into the world 7 months ago, and they’re such a beautiful family (pictures on our website confirm this so check those out). Both chiropractors, Monica and Matt are used to environments that support home birth and back it up with the philosophy of trusting the body and its amazing ability to heal. Monica is a well of knowledge. She’s also incredibly insightful. Her perspectives on the body, women and birth are enough to get you pumped up and inspired to take on the world! We cover all kinds of topics like tiny house (she and Matt lived in a 275 sq. ft. home for a period of time!) and simplified living, which has transferred over into their parenting styles. We explore what happens when your birth vision does not match up with the actual experience (and how that can be a great thing). Monica also went 42 weeks and 6 days into her pregnancy! Holy mama, right?! Not to mention, she ties in the value of chir

In today's episode we're reading a truly amazing listener email from Brianna. Now, Brianna is a totally badass mama (which you'll hear in the episode). She had planned to birth her daughter in a birth pool at a birthing center, but after pushing for literally the entire night with no real horizon in sight, they decided to transfer her to a hospital, and that's where the story really picks up! Brianna connected with us on Instagram (which you can do @diahpodcast), and emailed me a detailed account of her amazing birth story. I read and re-read her story because it was just too inspiring. As you'll hear, Brianna is a really courageous and strong woman who was determined to bring her baby into the world.   If you would like to email your birth story to us, either to read on the podcast or simply to share it, we'd love to receive it! You can email us at hello [at] diahpodcast [dot] com. You can also reach us on Instagram at @diahpodcast. Links: Our new "Doing It At Home" book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp

In this episode we have another home birth story for you! This time we're talking with soon-to-be mom Jennifer Sanchez. Jennifer lives a vegan lifestyle and so we were super curious about how that has played into her pregnancy and home birth planning. Jennifer was a lot of fun to talk to and we're excited to have her on the Doing It At Home Podcast. Jennifer is currently 6 months pregnant and planning for her first child. Her passion is about “helping others to live healthier, more compassionate and eco-friendly lives through the power of making plant-powered choices.” This has also influenced her process of choosing home birth. After making the shift into self-improvement and personal development about 7 years ago, she’s been more focused on being informed and doing research when it comes to life decisions. She watched the Business of Being Born (like a lot of our home birth moms...Ricki Lake if you’re out there, we want to talk with you!), and thought, “this is what it’s supposed to be like, this is motherh

In this episode, Matthew and I talk about 8 specific things I did before and during my pregnancy, which helped me remain strong, focused, powerful and centered during our home birth.  Links: Our new "Doing It At Home" book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098GVJ9KL?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 Our website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3jKtIYv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/ DIAH YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGoKeBfEZ143sWU7V9I5Gdg DIAH Store: https://yoursuccessfulhomebirth.com/ DIAH Merch: https://bit.ly/3qhwgAe  Donate to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we're talking with Charlotte Knee -- a brand spanking new mom, hailing all the way from Ireland, who welcomed her little bundle of joy in a home birth. In this episode we get to hear some perspective on home birth in Ireland! Charlotte was kind enough to chat with us while her 6-week old baby daughter Iza hung out in the background. We understand the life of fresh parenthood, and we know time is one of the most precious things at this state. So we consider it an honor that she spent some of it with us to share her awesome story. Charlotte’s story is an example of how we continue to stay fascinated with birth in general, especially home birth. Because it’s so different everywhere you go. Living in the states, you just tend to hear about the variations in laws and practices from state to state. But there’s a whole big world out there! Charlotte has never been a big fan of hospitals. And get this - she was born at home! So continuing the tradition, she hired a private midwife and she and her husb

In today's episode we're answering listener email. This one comes to us from Hannah who is looking for feedback on how she can amicably part ways with her OBGYN.  Matthew and I LOVE our listener emails. Seriously, they energize us and inspire us to keep bringing you all awesome content. On the days when we’re feeling under the weather (like Matthew is in this episode - notice the deep, raspy voice) and sleep deprived, we remember your questions and beautiful words of affirmation. They remind us of our mission - to create empowering conversation around home birth and to inspire other moms and families to choose the birth plan that resonates most with them after understanding their options. Enter a great listener email from Hannah. Hannah and her husband were going the hospital birth route, until the details and stipulations around the birthing plan didn’t jive with them. On top of that, they’re exploring how to have the conversation with their general doctor on moving forward with care for baby after birth. Yo

In this episode we chat with mom-to-be Katie about her journey to home birth, and the days ahead. At 39 weeks pregnant, she’s prepped and ready for birth day! And this episode has a surprise special guest - Katie’s husband Chris! He joins us for the call, a first for the show. We were super excited to hear from him and get his perspective on the whole process. Both were heavily influenced by The Business of Being Born, and knew they wanted to have labor and birth be on their own terms. A self-described “birth nerd,” Katie loves to dive into researcher mode. Their pregnancy was no exception. They searched their options for a local midwife and never looked back. Katie and Chris feel like old friends to us. The conversation was effortless, fun, light and empowering. They set a great example for doing what feels best to them and creating a loving, welcoming space for baby to enter into. We can’t wait to chat with them once baby is earthside! Links: The Business Of Being Born Our new "Doing It At Home" book on A

In this episode we're talking with Megan Kibling as she shares her empowering home birth story with us. Megan is mom to 6-year-old Aurelia and 19-month-old Leonardo Iztali from Denver, Colorado. We connected with Megan via another DIAH mom, Marissa (whom we interviewed a few weeks before). Megan had sent a banner to Marissa to decorate her home in preparation for home birth. The same banner has made its way to other mamas since then, and Megan plans to continue to send it to friends as they want it. Besides supporting other women in their home birth journeys, Megan has an amazing story of her own. After having a great experience with her first birth in a birthing center, she felt inspired to move into home birth for the next time around. She says she felt empowered and knew a home birth was the next step. In between Aurelia and Leonardo, Megan experienced a miscarriage at 10 weeks. Megan shares openly on the fear and guilt that crept in during that time, and how she embarked on a journey of forgiveness, back

In this episode we're talking with Christina Benton - birth photographer, birth and postpartum doula, mom and wife. Christina shares her beautiful home birth and hospital birth stories, from behind the lens, and she shares why moms and families should highly consider hiring a photographer for their homebirth.  This is a first for the Doing It At Home Podcast: an interview with a birth photographer! We were very excited to chat with Christina Benton, a doula and birth photographer. For starters, we didn’t have a formal birth photographer. If you’ve listened to our birth story you know that most of our birth team came equipped with their camera phones, which we are extremely grateful for, however it meant a bunch of lights and phones up in my business at different points in time, and the pictures themselves are scattered in their composition and quality. We weren’t really aware of birth photography and its value until after the experience. So chatting with Christina was as much for us and it is for our listener