How do you process when things don’t go the way you planned in your birth?

We deconstruct this question with mamas Amy and Mallory Caldwell in today’s episode by taking it back to the beginning of their pregnancy journey.

Both Amy and Mallory knew that they’d like to carry children at some point in their marriage and growing their family. So for their first, they made the decision for Mallory to go first as the gestational parent. They share the process of insemination, selecting a donor, and how they’re aiming to use the same sperm for their future children.

They made the decision to have a home birth around 16 weeks. They found a queer midwife who works largely in the LGBTQ community and fell in love with her. We also discuss the legality of home birth in their state of Ohio and what that looks like with cooperation of midwives and hospitals.

And hey - creative, business savvy people out there - there’s a huge opportunity for expanding the options in maternity clothing. For Mallory, it was quite frustrating to find clothing that she liked. Wearing primarily men’s clothing when she’s not pregnant, it was challenging and disappointing. It’s a simple and yet profound example of how there are variations of normal in how pregnancy looks and how gestational parents can be represented in the pregnancy and birth world of products and services.

We then get the full breakdown of the birth story, which includes an ECV (external cephalic version) procedure to flip baby from the breech position, and multiple trips back and forth from the hospital back to home. That’s all I’ll say here, and let you listen to get the rest of the story. It’s such a powerful and inspiring conversation, and we’re so grateful to Amy, Mallory and baby Sebastian for joining us on the podcast!

Show Notes:

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