Doing It At Home: Our Home Birth Podcast

Ever heard any of these approaches to birth: couples birth, daddy delivery, husband and wife birth? Well today our guest Lynn Griesemer, who is a mother of 6, marriage coach, podcaster and author (among many other things) joins us for a conversation about including your partner in the birth experience. Giving them an active role and making birth a family-led experience.  We chat about some of Lynn’s own experience with 4 hospital births, followed by 2 unassisted births (or free births), as well as her insight into creating a safe and trusting environment for birth that can influence and empower later parenting experiences and decisions. This is a great resource for those families who want their husband or partner to be very involved in the birth experience.  Links From The Episode: https://www.marriagecoachlynn.com/  Offers From Our Awesome Partners: Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order Splash Blanket: https://bit.ly/3JPe1g0 - use code DIAH for 10% off your order Esem

What does a midwife do?  Might seem like an obvious answer if you’ve been in the birthing world for a while. But if you’re unfamiliar with different models of care or exploring home birth for the first time, it’s a very legitimate question with answers that could be very significant in your birthing journey. Today we’re joined by Sarah McClure and Charli Zarosinski, midwives of Hearth and Home Midwifery and hosts of The Homebirth Midwife Podcast.  We unpacked a lot of really great topics in this conversation including: The different routes to take to become a midwife  Explaining the midwifery model of care to someone new to the concept What’s an average day in the life of a midwife like? What support do midwives and birth workers need? How can clients be best informed and create the best relationship possible with their midwife? How to determine if your area is home birth-friendly Links From The Episode: Hearth and Home website: www.hearthandhomemidwifery.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/he

Meet Megan, 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 to grace, comfort and love.  By the time she was pregnant with Leonardo, Megan felt in full trust of

Were you surprised when your labor started? For mama Caitlin Thompson, she shares that even though she felt somewhat ready, there was still a part of her that didn’t expect it. Today’s home birth story is a followup to our interview with Caitlin back in episode 126 when we spoke to her about the emotional journey to conception for her and her wife Sho (definitely listen to that episode if you haven’t yet - it’s amazing). Now today we have Sho joining us (and even a little cameo from baby Florence!) to talk birthing day. From the moment they realized labor was starting to Caitlin taking a work call during contractions (Say what?! Go mama!) to baby Flo’s arrival. Plus their dogs hung out and provided emotional support. And they had a sweet friend offer to photograph the birth. Basically, it’s a magical story that you need to listen to right now. The whole crew agrees that home birth was “the most amazing thing we’ve ever done!” Links From The Episode: Part 1 of Caitlin and Sho’s story - https://p.podderapp.com

Any mamas out there who have birthed in multiple countries? Today’s guest, Lindsay Wolff shares her two home birth experiences with us. Her first with her daughter Isla was in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and her second daughter Marin was in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.  Both times Lindsay and her husband Jeremy had to navigate entirely new birthing communities, laws and care systems.  Some of the highlights of our conversation include her water breaking 5 days before labor starting in her first birth, along with 7.5 hours of pushing! And now 3 years as a doula, Lindsay has attended over 200 births and works to support women like herself.  Offers From Our Awesome Partners: Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order Splash Blanket: https://bit.ly/3JPe1g0 - use code DIAH for 10% off your order Esembly: https://bit.ly/3eanCSz - use code DIH20 to get 20% off your order More From Doing It At Home: Send us your birth story: https://bit.ly/3jOjCKl Doing It At Home book on

How do we prevent birth worker burnout? This is one of the great topics we dive into this week with Martha Lerner, birth doula and photographer.  Martha shares her wisdom with us around the following topics: some of Martha’s memorable moments from home births she’s attended in the birth worker role tips for those who want to get into birth work best practices for staying in birthwork long term how to balance/manage all the space holding as a birth worker and what the birth community collectively can do to support the birth workers out there Links From The Episode: Martha’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zenmamalove/ Martha’s Website: https://www.instagram.com/zenmamalove/ Doula’s Care Collective: https://doulascarecollective.com/ Offers From Our Awesome Partners: Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order Splash Blanket: https://bit.ly/3JPe1g0 - use code DIAH for 10% off your order Esembly: https://bit.ly/3eanCSz - use code DIH20 to get 20% off your order

We have a fun and little different kind of episode for you today. Katy emailed us after her great friend and fellow DIAH mama Katie McCormick (from episode 73) shared the podcast with her. Katy thanked us for what we’re up to with the show. As a “non-mom” (though she plans to be in the future), she’s always been fascinated by pregnancy and birth. She’s been exploring the option of home birth for herself when that time comes.  So we figured...let’s get on the phone, hit record and see what happens!  We believe that what Katy’s doing is an awesome example. If women who are not yet mothers are interested in exploring their future options, educating themselves, having conversations with other women at different stages of motherhood, then that means we have a lot more women empowered, confident and supported in their decisions. We are all for that! This doesn’t mean all women need to be doing this. It’s whatever works for you. We would just like to see more positive energy around conversations of pregnancy and bir

Would you consider using an enema during the labor process? In today’s birth story, we’re chatting with Alyssa Reeves, wife to Kirk and mama to twin boys Sam and Niko and daughter Zooey. And while there’s a lot more and totally magical elements to Alyssa’s story, she’s the first mama on the show to share her experience of using an enema during her transition phase of labor. We’re so grateful for her open and informative sharing on how helpful it was for her in preparation for pushing. So now other mamas listening to the show can learn from Alyssa’s experience and have another possibility for themselves if they have similar challenges during birth. As a long-time listener of the show, Alyssa was excited to pay it forward and be a part of the conversation that helped her in her own journey. We talk about her process of choosing home birth and the comparison between that and some of the traumatic elements of her first birth with her twins. Also the support of her birth team and a lot of the resources she used in

Has anyone ever felt like a failure because their birth didn’t go exactly the way they planned? We think this happens far too often. That’s why we’re happy we have conversations like the one we have today on the podcast. Allison Rich joins us to share her birth story.  After a false diagnosis of PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) medically mismanaged miscarriage, Allison and her husband Rafe wanted a different experience the next time they got pregnant.  Allison actually met with a group of midwives after her miscarriage (before becoming pregnant again) to talk about her experience, process and discuss what it could look like in the future for her.  Finally when she was pregnant again, she felt both excited and terrified at the same time. We go into her birth planning process and then the “incredible blur” of the birth. Allison talks about extending grace to yourself and realizing how hard we can be on ourselves when it comes to our births. This is a must listen for anyone nervous about hospital transfer or who

Warning: this is an amazing episode. Full of conversation around pleasurable, joyful, ecstatic birth. It may cause you to feel empowered and excited around birth. There, we gave you a heads up! But seriously, we are so honored to have Debra Pascali-Bonaro join us on the show. She’s another one of the powerhouses of the birthing community that we’ve been anxious to meet and chat with. She is the creator and director of the documentary, “Orgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept Secret.” She’s also the co-writer of “Orgasmic Birth: Your Guide to a Safe, Satisfying and Pleasurable Birth.” Oh and also a Lamaze International childbirth educator,  birth and postpartum doula trainer with DONA International. And the Founder & President of the revolutionary online childbirth class Pain to Power, which prepares expectant mothers, fathers, and partners to be positively prepared for birth and focuses on the intimate and sacred nature of birth. Debra’s passion comes from her over 30 years of working with women, men, midwives, doulas

How do you plan for a positive hospital birth experience, when you were originally intending to have a home birth? This is such a great topic to cover. For many who start out with a home birth plan, sometimes that changes for various reasons. Sarah Schade shares her story with us. From a diagnosis of an “incompetent” cervix (definitely not a term we’re fond of around here) to another diagnosis of IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction), Sarah and her husband Jeremiah went through a lot of ups and downs.  She shares all the thoughts and emotions that came up, and ultimately the arrival of her daughter Clementine.  Things we talk about in this episode: incompetent cervix, cervical cerclage, IUGR, D&C procedure for placenta removal, home birth plan, hospital birth From Sarah: “It was really difficult being labeled as “incompetent”, or “high risk”, especially because being healthy and active is something really important to me, and I never thought I would have any problems with my pregnancy, being so young and hea

Is one way to birth “better” than another? Sometimes there are misconceptions and unhealthy conversations floating about in the birth community around natural vs. medicated birth or hospital vs. home. That one is better than the other or there’s a sense of superiority or higher moral code to choose one over the other. And competition comes in as a factor, like there is something to prove or defy. This topic is relevant for the conversation we have today with Lillie Cooke, sharing her birth story with us. Lillie and her husband Josh planned for a home birth with their first child, son Judah. Along the way towards planning for the birth, Lillie noticed little things that indicated she wasn’t really connecting deeply with her midwife. There was also a big fear of going to the hospital, seeking to avoid that at all costs. This fear stemmed from, as Lillie put it “hearing terrible hospital stories and only fairy tale home birth stories from the homebirth community.” Labor began at 40 weeks and 6 days. After labori

What would you do if you really trusted yourself? This is a beautiful question that comes up in today’s episode, and I think everyone can take something from it and carry it into their lives. Mellisa Reeves of Motherbirth is sharing part of her journey with us. From some of the traumatic elements of her first hospital birth with her first son Aiden, a stillbirth in hospital at 41 weeks pregnant with her second son Rowan and two subsequent miscarriages, she brings us to the healing process and experience of her home birth with her daughter, Etney.  And along the way, Mellisa leaned into her passions and opportunities to help other women with loss. She started a podcast and online community called Motherbirth with her friend Laura, and has been coaching and providing resources for women and families. Links From The Episode: Mellisa’s website - www.motherbirth.co Offers From Our Awesome Partners: Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order Splash Blanket: https://bit.ly/3JPe1g0

What do you do when it’s difficult to come to terms with how your birth unfolded? In today’s episode, Katie Suder shares her journey with us. From her unexpected and joyful pregnancy to currently 9 months postpartum and still processing a lot of her birth experience.  While waiting the few weeks before she could see an OBGYN for her first appointment, Katie had time to reflect and research her options. This led her and her fiance Andrew to a home birth midwife.  Fast forward to birth, baby Andrew Michael was 13 days past the guess date. After laboring for 30 hours at home, Katie and her team transferred to the hospital. Katie and the supportive staff did everything possible to facilitate a vaginal birth. The cesarean, though necessary, was traumatic. Katie is beautifully honest about how she’s felt over the months and we know her story will touch the community and have a ripple effect of healing. Offers From Our Awesome Partners: Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order Spla

What do you do when you want a home birth, but life circumstances make it a bit challenging to create? Cami Harper is sharing her story with us and how she embraced her situation to make it beautiful, even though it wasn’t exactly what she wanted. Cami herself was born with the help of midwives, so she knew she eventually wanted a holistic and natural approach to birth.  She shares her process of both of her pregnancies with her sons James and Howie, along with the support of her husband Dustin. With moving in the middle of one of them, financial elements, challenges finding doctors and/or midwives and insurance changes, they decided on hospital births. With a powerful mindset, resources and support, Cami was able to create an empowering experience.  Offers From Our Awesome Partners: Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order Splash Blanket: https://bit.ly/3JPe1g0 - use code DIAH for 10% off your order Esembly: https://bit.ly/3eanCSz - use code DIH20 to get 20% off your order

What’s it like giving birth outside of your native country? It’d be understandable to have fears and/or reservations around birthing in a different country. But what if it could be normal, uncomplicated, supported and without fear? Our guest today is Amy Brown. Amy traveled from Chicago, Illinois to Peru in 2011 to work as a teacher, and hasn’t left since. After meeting her now husband Marco, she has since set up life in Lima. And she has given birth to her two children: daughter, Leah and son, Christopher in a birthing center in the city.  Amy walks us through her journey of desiring natural births without intervention, to selecting the birthing center (run by a German doctor now living in Peru), working with a doula from England (yes, quite the international birth!) and preparing for the birth experience with Marco. We talk about some of the birthing options and trends in her area, where cesarean rates are particularly high.  Then we get to hear details from both of her births, which took place in the Casa

In today’s episode we’ve got the whole family on the line - Meggie and Steve Andrews join us, along with their baby William, or Liam as they refer to him. Meggie reached out to us during her pregnancy, thanking us for what we’re doing on the show and sharing how helpful it had been for her as she planned for the home birth of her first child with her husband Steve (we’ve copied her original email below). And interesting fact - they weren’t planning on having children. But, surprise! So they worked through some of the mental and emotional adjustments that come with this huge unexpected life change. Meggie happened to have a friend who birthed at home, so after speaking with her and watching Business of Being Born, they explored the midwifery model of care. And then one of the biggest things throughout the pregnancy - they decided to move from Virginia to Michigan. So that meant finding different midwives, who could collaborate with each other and support Meggie and Steve as much as possible in making the trans

Do you feel confident in your ability to birth? Today’s birth story features Naomi Jardine, sharing her journey to home birth. Naomi felt a loss of control with her first birth of her daughter Jasmine, followed by some traumatic stitches to repair her tearing. She was left feeling disappointed, not at peace. For her second birth, she wanted to do something different. So she prepared more this time - she read, listened to podcasts (like DIAH!) and joined local groups to connect with other mothers. It gave her the opportunity to get clear on what she wanted and what she didn’t want.  For her home birth of her daughter Summer, it was a peaceful, powerful, transformative experience with the confidence and satisfying feeling of “I did it!” Links From The Episode: Naomi’s blog: https://beingyourmummy.com/ Offers From Our Awesome Partners: Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order Splash Blanket: https://bit.ly/3JPe1g0 - use code DIAH for 10% off your order Esembly: https://bit.l

Are you the type to research and look for evidence and information to support your decisions when it comes to your birth? In today’s episode, we’re chatting with Isis Rose, a PhD student, doula and mama to baby Xena. Isis shares her journey to home birth, which first entered her awareness during a doula training. She’s a PhD student studying birth and reproductive justice. Her husband Chris, a fellow academic, is a visiting professor at UIUC. So it makes sense that Isis took a very analytical approach to planning her birth. She searched for truth and wanted to make sure she was as informed as possible when it came to her options. We hear about her transition into home birth planning, finding midwives and working through the legality and costs associated with direct-entry midwifery being illegal in her state of Illinois. An African-American woman and survivor of emotional abuse, it was important for Isis to have the support she needed and to do things her way - like by keeping their plans to home birth private

How do we cope with the parts of our birth that didn’t go the way we envisioned? In today’s episode we chat with Cadyn about her birth experience. She and her husband planned a home birth, because (in her words) of “how special we consider our home and surrounding space to be, and that this was where it seemed that magical portal of birth was meant to open.” After a long labor, Cadyn transferred to the hospital. It was frustrating and heart-breaking. But after a period of time, she was able to get hydrated and rest. The staff gave time and space and honored her choices. She felt supported. Her husband was even able to assist in “catching” the baby. Cadyn describes the birthing as “the best moment I’ve ever experienced.” More from Cadyn: “My hospital experience was thankfully quite positive, and one student member of our midwife team remained with my husband/best-birth-partner-ever and me through the birth. I know now that nobody, especially myself, is to be blamed— only thanked— for the way our daughter came