In this week’s episode I chat to Natalia @wildearthexpeditions about her two home water births with her daughters Estelle and Coco. Natalia’s story encapsulates her connection with her Indigenous family, the Ngarrindjeri people of South Australia. During her first visit to country she learnt to weave with her elders, a traditional ritual to welcome a woman into motherhood and only three months later she was pregnant. She embraced Indigenous rituals for her births and later buried the placentas on country in the same place her ancestors had buried theirs. Natalia tells a rich, beautiful story of birth and culture and speaks so eloquently about the mind body connection during labour that it’s honestly hard to capture it in words. Go listen, there’s so much learn from her.

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In this episode, I chat with Katherine about her journey to motherhood through IVF and her birth experience with daughter Zendaya. Katherine shares her story of discovering her partner Aaron's rare diagnosis of azoospermia (where there is sperm in the body but none in the ejaculate), their IVF journey, and her eventual birth at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne.

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Check out Katherine's business People Haircare here and connect with her on Instagram here.

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In this week's episode, I chat with Gemma, a writer and Pilates instructor living on the lands of the Awabakal and Wurrumi people in Newcastle, NSW. Gemma shares her three distinctly experiences, culminating in a healing VBAC after two caesarean births. 

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In this week's episode, I chat to Sarah about her three very different birth experiences spanning five years. Sarah lives in Sydney with her partner Jad and their three children – Remy (5), Navy (3), and newborn Hugo (just two weeks old). Her story beautifully illustrates how birth experiences can evolve with knowledge, preparation and support, taking us from a highly medicalised first birth to an empowering water birth with her third baby.

EPISODE SPONSOR:

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In this extraordinary episode, Prue shares her remarkable 11-year journey to motherhood, culminating in becoming the third woman in Australia to give birth following a uterus transplant. Her story is one of incredible perseverance, medical innovation, and the profound desire to become a mother against seemingly impossible odds.

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In this week's episode, I chat with Bonnie about her two positive birth experiences. Bonnie lives on Sydney's Northern Beaches with her husband Ben and their two-and-a-half-year-old son Will, and three-week-old Oscar. Her story beautifully illustrates how knowledge, confidence and the right support can lead to empowering birth experiences, even when things don't go exactly to plan.

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Mother of three Laura shares her journey through IVF, a physiological first birth, and the unexpected arrival of identical twins. After marriage in early 2019, Laura and her husband Yanni embarked on their path to parenthood, facing challenges with irregular periods that made conception difficult. "I was getting very irregular periods. And so it was really hard to time your cycle and figure out when to conceive," Laura explains of this period.

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In this episode Allison takes us through her journey to motherhood and subsequently, her empowering and enlightening autism and adhd diagnosis. She weaves in and out of her pregnancies to share information about music therapy and the brain and how music – rhythm, tempo, mantra – is one of the best soothing tools we can teach our children and use for ourselves. Allison details the sensory overwhelm of pregnancy and breastfeeding, her experience with endometriosis, parenting an autistic child and her recent miscarriage which she honoured with a distinct period of rest and reflection. If you are neurodivergent or you think that you may be, this episode will be the comfort and guidance you need. I consider it essential listening, especially for perinatal health specialists caring for neurodivergent people in pregnancy and postpartum.

Pre-order our new book: The Complete Guide to Postpartum: A mother-focused companion for life after birth

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In this episode, teacher and first-time mother Emily shares her experience of managing type 1 diabetes during pregnancy and her challenging birth at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth. Emily has lived with diabetes since she was just 14 months old, bringing a unique perspective to her journey to motherhood.

If you'd like to listen to more birth stories involving type 1 diabetes, check out episode 488 (another Emily) and episode 227 (Sarah Leverton).

For more support, explore our free resources on Labour Tips For Birth Partners, Mastitis, Postpartum Fatigue and much more HERE

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In this episode, Carla Hackett shares her three very different birth experiences - from a hospital birth with her first son Raph, to an unexpectedly rapid home birth with her second son Noah, and finally a beautiful water birth with her daughter Maeve.

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Download our free guide: Labour tips for birth partners

What is a birth support partner? A birth support partner offers physical and emotional support throughout labour and birth. Your birth partner should be mentioned in your birth plan, particularly in regards to how they will advocate for you to your midwife or doctor.
If you are a birth partner, don’t forget that she will be relying on you throughout all stages of labour and birth to offer words of encouragement, hold her hand, guide her through breathing techniques and remind her, most importantly, that she is safe.

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