Bearing Birth

In this heartfelt continuation of Abby’s story, Jordan and Sophie sit down with Abby to explore her second pregnancy and birth experience. Abby opens up about navigating a series of unexpected challenges, including a velamentous cord insertion, a bilobed placenta, and a breech baby, which ultimately led to a planned cesarean birth. 

With vulnerability and humor, she reflects on her hopes for another vaginal birth, the emotional complexity of a C-section, and the invaluable support she received from her doula, care team, and family. The conversation also touches on twin resorption, advocating for oneself in medical settings, and the tender chaos of transitioning to life as a parent of two. Full of warmth, insight, and honesty, this episode is a moving testament to resilience, informed decision-making, and the power of postpartum support.

Content Warnings Include: pregnancy loss, twin resorption, velamentous cord insertion, bilobed placenta, a breech baby, C-section surgery details, epidural details, medical attempts to manually turn the baby (ECV,) separation during and after surgery

Website: bearingbirthpodcast.com
Instagram: @BearingBirthPodcast
Email: [email protected]

Free Bearing Birth Podcast Resources

• Birth Planning Guide
• Postpartum Support Plan
• Perinatal Resources & Information

To learn more about Jordan or her work as a postpartum doula, family photographer, or infant sleep specialist: bunandbundle.com

To learn more about Sophie or her work as a perinatal mental health therapist: midmaplestherapy.com

Share your birth story!
If you are interested in sharing your birth story with our podcast, please get in touch via email or DM us on Instagram! We’d love to hold space for your unique perspective. We can accommodate guests in-person or virtually from any location in the world!

Join us in Part 1 of our conversation with Abby, where she candidly shares her whirlwind of a birth story for her first birth. Abby walks us through the highs and lows of her labor and beyond. With humor and vulnerability, she reflects on the chaotic beauty of birth and the unexpected journey of reclaiming her identity as a new mom. 

Stay tuned for Part 2 on April 16th, where we hear Abby’s second birth story and more reflections on what it’s like to be a parent of two kiddos. Thanks for listening!

Content Warnings: miscarriage, DNC procedure, physical pain in labor, postpartum anxiety, and tearing during labor. 

Website: bearingbirthpodcast.com
Instagram: @BearingBirthPodcast
Email: [email protected]

Free Bearing Birth Podcast Resources

• Birth Planning Guide
• Postpartum Support Plan
• Perinatal Resources & Information

To learn more about Jordan or her work as a postpartum doula, family photographer, or infant sleep specialist: bunandbundle.com

To learn more about Sophie or her work as a perinatal mental health therapist: midmaplestherapy.com

Share your birth story!
If you are interested in sharing your birth story with our podcast, please get in touch via email or DM us on Instagram! We’d love to hold space for your unique perspective. We can accommodate guests in-person or virtually from any location in the world!

Picking up where the previous episode left off, Samantha shares the outcome of her high-risk fetal surgery. While the medical intervention was necessary, the results were devastating—one of her twins sadly did not survive.

She opens up about the emotional complexity of grieving one baby while still carrying the other, the medicalized journey that followed, and the struggles of balancing loss with hope as she continued her pregnancy.

The episode also explores the birth of her surviving daughter, her hospital induction experience, NICU considerations, and the emotional recovery process.

Through it all, Samantha reflects on advocating for her babies, the importance of support, and the resilience required to navigate loss and new life simultaneously.

Content Warnings: Pregnancy loss, grief, medical trauma, NICU stay, Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS), and rapid labor.

If you'd like to get in touch with Samantha directly, you can find her on Instagram @samasaurus_leusink. She felt very isolated when she was going through the TTTS diagnosis and wants to be there for folks who need support and community when facing TTTS. 

Website: bearingbirthpodcast.com
Instagram: @BearingBirthPodcast
Email: [email protected]

Free Bearing Birth Podcast Resources

• Birth Planning Guide
• Postpartum Support Plan
• Perinatal Resources & Information

To learn more about Jordan or her work as a postpartum doula, family photographer, or infant sleep specialist: bunandbundle.com

To learn more about Sophie or her work as a perinatal mental health therapist: midmaplestherapy.com

Share your birth story!
If you are interested in sharing your birth story with our podcast, please get in touch via email or DM us on Instagram! We’d love to hold space for your unique perspective. We can accommodate guests in-person or virtually from any location in the world!

In this episode, Samantha Leusink shares her first pregnancy and birth story, describing a smooth and empowering experience at a local Portland birth center. She reflects on postpartum struggles, breastfeeding challenges, and the transition into motherhood.

As Sam and her husband decide to expand their family, they receive an unexpected surprise: twins. Initially overwhelmed yet excited, their joy is quickly overshadowed by a shocking diagnosis of Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS)—a rare and serious condition affecting identical twins sharing a placenta. Samantha details the emotional weight of the diagnosis, the medical risks, and the difficult decisions ahead.

The episode ends as she and her husband prepare to undergo a high-risk fetal surgery, leaving listeners on edge about the fate of their twins.

Content Warnings: Breast-Feeding Challenges, Tongue-Tie, High-Risk Pregnancy, Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS)

If you'd like to get in touch with Samantha directly, you can find her on Instagram @samasaurus_leusink. She felt very isolated when she was going through the TTTS diagnosis and wants to be there for folks who need support and community when facing TTTS. 

Website: bearingbirthpodcast.com
Instagram: @BearingBirthPodcast
Email: [email protected]

Free Bearing Birth Podcast Resources

• Birth Planning Guide
• Postpartum Support Plan
• Perinatal Resources & Information

To learn more about Jordan or her work as a postpartum doula, family photographer, or infant sleep specialist: bunandbundle.com

To learn more about Sophie or her work as a perinatal mental health therapist: midmaplestherapy.com

Share your birth story!
If you are interested in sharing your birth story with our podcast, please get in touch via email or DM us on Instagram! We’d love to hold space for your unique perspective. We can accommodate guests in-person or virtually from any location in the world!

In this heartwarming episode, Sophie's Grandma, Maxine, shares her birth stories spanning from the 1960s to the 1970s. She reflects on her experiences with minimal pain management, evolving gender roles in parenting, and the emotional complexities of breastfeeding without modern support systems. The conversation touches on the profound joys of motherhood, intergenerational wisdom, and the transformation of birth culture over five decades. Listeners will hear tender reflections on family, humor-filled anecdotes about diapering with cloth, and the enduring beauty of watching children and grandchildren grow.

Content warnings: episiotomy, miscarriage, minimal medical consent, outdated medical practices

Website: bearingbirthpodcast.com
Instagram: @BearingBirthPodcast
Email: [email protected]

Free Bearing Birth Podcast Resources

• Birth Planning Guide
• Postpartum Support Plan
• Perinatal Resources & Information

To learn more about Jordan or her work as a postpartum doula, family photographer, or infant sleep specialist: bunandbundle.com

To learn more about Sophie or her work as a perinatal mental health therapist: midmaplestherapy.com

Share your birth story!
If you are interested in sharing your birth story with our podcast, please get in touch via email or DM us on Instagram! We’d love to hold space for your unique perspective. We can accommodate guests in-person or virtually from any location in the world!

Britnee Spring returns to recount the dramatic, vivid, and often hilarious story of her labor and birth experience—including extreme back labor and unique birthing positions. She also reflects on postpartum recovery, hormone shifts, and the joy of early motherhood. From placenta smoothies to bedsharing with her son, this episode offers an honest, heartwarming look at transformation through birth and the lessons of motherhood.

Content warnings: homebirth, tearing, blood loss, prodromal labor, painful fundal massage, and hemorrhoids

Website: bearingbirthpodcast.com
Instagram: @BearingBirthPodcast
Email: [email protected]

Free Bearing Birth Podcast Resources

• Birth Planning Guide
• Postpartum Support Plan
• Perinatal Resources & Information

To learn more about Jordan or her work as a postpartum doula, family photographer, or infant sleep specialist: bunandbundle.com

To learn more about Sophie or her work as a perinatal mental health therapist: midmaplestherapy.com

Share your birth story!
If you are interested in sharing your birth story with our podcast, please get in touch via email or DM us on Instagram! We’d love to hold space for your unique perspective. We can accommodate guests in-person or virtually from any location in the world!

In this episode, Britnee Spring shares her pregnancy journey,  from her unexpected conception to managing relentless nausea and navigating workplace accommodation challenges. She reveals her thoughtful decision to have a home birth with a male midwife and her mother as her doula as well as how she set up a peaceful birthing space. Tune in for an inspiring conversation on pregnancy preparation, mindset, and trusting your instincts!

Website: bearingbirthpodcast.com
Instagram: @BearingBirthPodcast
Email: [email protected]

Free Bearing Birth Podcast Resources

• Birth Planning Guide
• Postpartum Support Plan
• Perinatal Resources & Information

To learn more about Jordan or her work as a postpartum doula, family photographer, or infant sleep specialist: bunandbundle.com

To learn more about Sophie or her work as a perinatal mental health therapist: midmaplestherapy.com

Share your birth story!
If you are interested in sharing your birth story with our podcast, please get in touch via email or DM us on Instagram! We’d love to hold space for your unique perspective. We can accommodate guests in-person or virtually from any location in the world!

In today’s episode, your hosts Jordan and Sophie reflect on one year of their birth story podcast being live! They ask each other questions including what the podcast has meant to them and how they have grown as birth story listeners and podcast hosts. 

To celebrate one year and to thank our incredible guests, you get to hear a little snippet from each of them! At the end of every episode we ask our guest: what advice do you have for someone about to give birth or become a parent? This episode includes a cumulation of everyone’s answer. Hearing all of our guests impart thoughtful advice, wisdom and encouragement is so powerful! 

Website: bearingbirthpodcast.com
Instagram: @BearingBirthPodcast
Email: [email protected]

Free Bearing Birth Podcast Resources

• Birth Planning Guide
• Postpartum Support Plan
• Perinatal Resources & Information

To learn more about Jordan or her work as a postpartum doula, family photographer, or infant sleep specialist: bunandbundle.com

To learn more about Sophie or her work as a perinatal mental health therapist: midmaplestherapy.com

Share your birth story!
If you are interested in sharing your birth story with our podcast, please get in touch via email or DM us on Instagram! We’d love to hold space for your unique perspective. We can accommodate guests in-person or virtually from any location in the world!

Join us for Part 2 with our very own Sophie! If you missed the first half of Sophie’s birth story on November 6th, make sure to go back and listen there first. In this episode, Sophie walks us through the rest of her challenging birth experience where she reaches the pushing stage but ultimately ends up needing an emergency c-section. 

Sophie finally gets to meet her daughter and then navigates early c-section recovery in the hospital. She details her experience dealing with processing a complicated mix of emotions after birth including relief, devastation, and grief. 

Sophie shares with us what it was like to finally make it home with her little family, and what it was like to process her birth overtime.   

Content Warnings include high blood pressure, preeclampsia, unintended hospital stay, transfer of care, PUPPP rash, and emergency c section. We will share some important resources below. 

Thank you so much to Sophie for being so vulnerable and sharing this important story with us!

Resources:
Birth Story Processing with Libby Mukhi

How to find a perinatal therapist:

Postpartum Support International

Psychology Today 

Postpartum Support at Baby Blues Connection 

Website: bearingbirthpodcast.com
Instagram: @BearingBirthPodcast
Email: [email protected]

Free Bearing Birth Podcast Resources

• Birth Planning Guide
• Postpartum Support Plan
• Perinatal Resources & Information

To learn more about Jordan or her work as a postpartum doula, family photographer, or infant sleep specialist: bunandbundle.com

To learn more about Sophie or her work as a perinatal mental health therapist: midmaplestherapy.com

Share your birth story!
If you are interested in sharing your birth story with our podcast, please get in touch via email or DM us on Instagram! We’d love to hold space for your unique perspective. We can accommodate guests in-person or virtually from any location in the world!

Join us for a very special episode today…our very own Sophie gets vulnerable and shares her birth story! In part 1, Sophie talks with Jordan about her experience with pregnancy and what it was like navigating scary and abrupt changes to her birth plan. Sophie describes what informed her beliefs surrounding birth and how learning “too much” about birth in a doula training created the perfect conditions for trauma exposure. 

Sophie walks us through her fears around giving birth, especially in a hospital setting, and shares with us how she tried to grasp agency and take as much control as possible in a crisis situation. This episode takes us through Sophie being admitted to the hospital with high blood pressure, ending up with a preeclampsia diagnosis, and how the beginning of her induction process panned out. 

Content Warnings include high blood pressure, preeclampsia, unintended hospital stay, transfer of care, PUPPP rash, and emergency c section. We will share some important resources below. 

Part 2 with Sophie will be out on November 20th where we will hear the rest of her challenging birth experience, what it was like to finally meet her daughter, and how she transitioned into motherhood. 

Resources:
Birth Story Processing with Libby Mukhi
How to find a perinatal therapist:
Postpartum Support International
Psychology Today
Postpartum Support at Baby Blues Connection 

Website: bearingbirthpodcast.com
Instagram: @BearingBirthPodcast
Email: [email protected]

Free Bearing Birth Podcast Resources

• Birth Planning Guide
• Postpartum Support Plan
• Perinatal Resources & Information

To learn more about Jordan or her work as a postpartum doula, family photographer, or infant sleep specialist: bunandbundle.com

To learn more about Sophie or her work as a perinatal mental health therapist: midmaplestherapy.com

Share your birth story!
If you are interested in sharing your birth story with our podcast, please get in touch via email or DM us on Instagram! We’d love to hold space for your unique perspective. We can accommodate guests in-person or virtually from any location in the world!