The keyword is who is going to 'Sit with you' through it all with your choices and decisions and be nurturing in your journey! That's where the foundation is laid!

As a trainee midwife and a practising doula as well as a lactation counsellor, I do a lot of home visits, have pregnancy support group meetings where women physically meet and discuss pregnancy, postpartum , breastfeeding and more.

I began calling my way of serving women as community care , an established term but i often have to explain my practise to people. So here's a short solo episode on it which explains how this works and is beneficial always in the long run! 

Just as a note:
Community care refers to a model of healthcare that emphasizes providing services and support within the community, rather than in institutional settings. 

Tune in to understand my version!

Reach out through www.birthagni.com if you are in Delhi /NCR for the next Support Group Meeting!

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• Why a home birth , you may ask? 
• Why a home birth despite risks?

What if you have worked in the medical system and chose to home birth realising that is the best option for you?

That's Baneen Karachiwala, a Public Health Researcher,  Baneen has been associated with various organisations at the national and international level for the last 19 years, providing support in research, documentation and programmatic interventions in the fields of health and development across India. Her special interests lie in the areas of human rights, maternal and child health. 

She moved to Goa 7 years ago and now has shifted focus to the areas of hospitality and interior design.

In this episode, Baneen walks us through the various challenges we face today both in public and private maternal healthcare system including respectful maternity care as a precursor to her home birth story where placenta accreta was known in advance.

We discuss:

• The gaps that could be improved in the entire spectrum of maternal healthcare to ensure a healthy outcome and a good experience both for the mother and baby.
• The absorption of traditionally trained and experienced workforce of Dais (Indian Traditional Midwives) into the system as against starting a new cadre of support system from scratch. 
• Baneen's story of Home Birth, working with the contractions, handling an emergency with an experienced midwife and more..
• The healing community care model of Prenatal and Postpartum Support
• Birth and taking responsibility - the downsides of blaming your midwife or provider.

There are so many beautiful nuggets that Baneen has shared over the course of her story . Hope it inspires some of you to explore the options you may have around you to birth the way you desire!

Reach out to guest:
Baneen Karachiwala

Support the show

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We all like to see things as linear so as to find a conclusive way to work at them. 
In the product and consumption world , we are taught how to plan to achieve a desired goal, to achieve something exactly how we want it! 

This is the opposite of how 'Birth' works. It is uncertain. It is unknown. It is being in the moment and the moment as your guide. All the knowledge helps and should be directed to teach you to surrender! It is pretty much a way of living 'Life'. 

I wish this wisdom was taught to us and surrendering and trusting the body that we were miraculously born with was imbibed in our upringing wherein all of our schooling was about praising a science that was mightier than nature. It is a lie. 

In this part we discuss, 

1. The wisdom of staying home and how it helps birth progress
2. The events leading up to stalling of labor , the role of mind over body in birth
3. The events that aid progress
4. How Aparna felt in this journey as she made it to the other side.

PS: I do not beleive in stalling of labor as a reality , birth is not linear , yes it is affected by the circumstances we are in, not all of which can be predicted or planned. Birth is a non linear emotional and personal journey of a woman, a break sometimes is much needed. 

Also available on ytmusic now!

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This episode is supported and made possible by podcast recording and hosting tool Zencastr, it is impeccably made!

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As a first time mother, Aparna knew that she wanted a Normal Delivery but did not know what decisions could maximize her chances.

Register for Prenatal Village here https://forms.gle/a5cAyPgoLaXwz2K88

Instinctively, she knew she did not want to choose a fancy hospital , she was wary decisions would be made to increase the bills and it may not necessarily be based on her  health. She even enquired at a government hospital knowing it has better rates of normal birth than the major private hospitals.

Fortunately, she was suggested a birth center in Kerala by a friend. She felt aligned but there began another battle to convince family. With the family convinced, came on the labor, the pre labor, she was sent home twice and the second time her labor stalled.

Listen to part I of this episode to learn about

1. How Aparna convinced the family with her decision of a birth center?
2. What midwifery care made her realise about birth?
3. Experience of early labor and what she learnt through it?

In part II we will listen to her experience of active labor and giving birth in detail.

About the guest: Aparna Ajayan, a former Architect, is a yoga practitioner turned yoga trainer. She has undergone several training programs to specialise in Pre and Postnatal Yoga and is a certified Prenatal & Postnatal Trainer under Yoga Alliance, USA (100 Hrs) and World Yoga Organization (50 Hrs). She is also a Childbirth Educator (Lamaze International), currently passionate about making Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga accessible to as many pregnant women and new moms as possible. 

Support the show

Sign up for Childbirth Preparation Programs! visit https://birthagni.com/services#childbirth-preparation-programs

https://birthagni.com/copy-of-services#breastfeeding-preparation-program

This episode is supported and made possible by podcast recording and hosting tool Zencastr, it is impeccably made!

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• ...

This episode is a part of our conversation on Obstetric Emergencies which are critical situations during pregnancy, labor, or the postpartum period that require immediate medical attention to safeguard the health and well-being of the mother and/or baby. But are these really emergencies or is there more to it?

In Part I of this episode we discussed, Large for Gestational Age babies and its link with Gestational Diabeties with Senior Midwife KL Goode who  is a Hawaain traditional midwife with over 53 years of experience and having assisted over 1400 births. Her transfer for surgery rate has been as low as 4% . She has served in India on and off and is currently based in Kolkata. She is currently training a batch of traditional midwives aka birth keepers.

If you have not yet, hear part I first: Listen to Part I

Today, we discuss Small for Gestational Age Babies (SGA) and IUGR (Intra uterine growth retardation, we speak about the following:

1. What is the difference between SGA and IUGR?
2. Is SGA really just an unnecessary label?
3. Is IUGR something one should seriously look at?
4. Can Ultrasoud detect any of these fully?
5. What do the research papers say?

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Obstetric emergencies refer to critical situations during pregnancy, labor, or the postpartum period that require immediate medical attention to safeguard the health and well-being of the mother and/or baby. But are these really emergencies?

Many women today are being told they either have a Large for Gestational Age Baby (LGA) or Small for Gestational Age Baby (SGA). IUGR is another term thrown around independently that needs fixing. It is important to note that these issues are often figured out at a scan at 36 wks or so and one diagnosis is often considered as the standalone complexity and women are then presented with options to fix it, mostly an Induction.

Now, big babies have all been born through history vaginally without any issues. Similar is for small babies, why is then these are seen as problems?

We sit down today with KL Goode, a Hawaain traditional midwife with over 53 years of experience and having assisted over 1400 births. Her transfer for surgery rate has been as low as 4% . She has served in India on and off and is currently based in Kolkata. She is currently training a batch of traditional midwifes aka birth keepers.

She takes us through the following significant points in Part I of this discussion

1. Is Big baby or Small Baby really an issue?
2. If not, when is it that it becomes an issue?
3. What's the truth behind the claim that big babies can't fit through the pelvis?
4. What has Gestational Diabetes to do with a Large Baby?
5. What is a  midwife's way of working with a  Large or Small Baby

Tune in to learn more.

In Part II , we discuss Small for Gestational Age babies and IUGR at length and conclude our discussion.

We would also like to thank our supporters, Dr Sreenath and Giridharan co founders of Nasobuddy for supporting the production of this episode and enabling a special discount for its listeners. They are the pioneers in making natural and non invasive baby products for one of the most daunting baby issues early postpartum such as sleep, colic, cough and more. They have a wide range of products, my favorite being the nipple healers! Visit www.nasobuddy.com to know more!

Support the show

Sign up for Childbirth Preparation Programs! visit https://birthagni.com/services#childbirth-preparation-programs

https://birthagni.com/copy-of-services#breastfeeding-preparation-program

This episode is supported and made possible by podcast recording and hosting tool Zencastr, it is impeccably made!

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• ...

• Does your baby have fussy evenings?
• Are you concerned about you baby or toddler's sleep ?

If you are looking at the internet for answers, know that the Internet is flooded with inappropriate information about training babies to sleep.
The various methods that include crying of the baby are suggestive of treating a baby , a whole human , like a machine, incapable of thinking for itself or feel in the least. This is not gentle and it is not developmentally healthy as well.

In this episode, we sit down with our expert, Dr Sreenath,  who walks us through some common questions regarding baby sleep, helping calm a fussy baby, reduce colic or working with nasal congestion , swinging , swaddling and holistically treating baby sleep.  Dr Sreenath has done an extensive study on natural and indigenous methods that make parenting easier in the earlier days.

Coming from his own experience of not being able to find a suitable and 'convenient' solution for sleep issues when he became a dad, he decided to  find the answers himself and built Nasobuddy , a baby products company essentially started to solve Sleep Issues in Children and has now been helping women with other issues including breastfeeding.

He also answers a few community questions ! If you answered to the insta poll and are a part of my community who sought an answer, hear this out now!

About the guest:
Dr Sreenath is an experienced dentist  and entrepreneur with 16 years of clinical experience. He is the visionary founder of Nasobuddy®, a brand born from a simple yet profound idea: making parenting easier and safer. Along with Mr Giridharan,  a childhood friend and MBA graduate, they started Nasobuddy®, which specializes in offering natural, evidence-based solutions to common parenting concerns, providing parents with peace of mind. 
He also holds the title of a sleep expert. His dedication extends to helping babies sleep better, further emphasizing his commitment to improving the well-being of families through his diverse expertise and innovative solutions.
When he's not busy with all of that, Sreenath is happily married to Janani and is also a loving dad to an 11-year-old son.

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This episode is supported and made possible by podcast recording and hosting tool Zencastr, it is impeccably made!

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A woman never forgets her birth  experience. This has more to do with how she was made to feel than the sequence of events or the mode of birth. Sometimes when it is the  events leading to a traumatic Birth experience, it deeply affects her .

Trauma gets stored in the body and has physical expression as well . In this episode, we see that trauma is not necessarily a result of one event. It is an amalgamation of the entire history of a woman's life.

It has to do with the culture, the life experiences, current family settings , the support system and a lot more

Here in we discuss with Somatic Healer and Nervous System Therapist Sangheetha Parthasarathy, about

1. Birth Trauma
2. Birth as a cultural event.
3. Indian Family culture and Birth Trauma
4. PTSD, Depression and its physical expression. 
5. The beginning steps to incorporating healing
6. How Somatics work with Birth and Postpartum Trauma

Tune in to know more..

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In the first part of Sara and Khan's Birth story , we went over their decision to free birth , the factors influencing it and the entire experience of labor and birth.

If you have not heard the first part , hop on to EP 84 and come back to this 

In this episode:

We go over :

• Placenta tinctures
• Breastfeeding
• Postpartum Care 
• Parenthood and more..

Tune in to know more...

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Sara conceived Zion at the age of 35 , a perfectly healthy young woman , active and a firm believer in the universe's power on us humans and everything life. 

It was the time of the Covid fading in 2020, she had to renew her visa to continue her stay in India. She chose to go to the hospital to help with paper work but she was seen as a high risk case almost decided for a surgery after a shortwhile, slowly being compelled through subtle coercion. 

Sara and Khan decided to take things in their autonomy and decided to Free Birth. They prepared for it through childbirth classes and learning about birth emergencies   They birthed their baby and the placenta and have been nurturing the new soul with wisdom and love.

In part I of this episode, we discuss:

1. System's view of a person based on stats as against the individual person.
2. How Sara and Khan decided to Free Birth.
3. Their preparation for it and the emergencies
4. Detailed description of labor and birth
5. Detailed description of the birth of placenta

Tune in to know more...

Support the show

Sign up for Childbirth Preparation Programs! visit https://birthagni.com/services#childbirth-preparation-programs

https://birthagni.com/copy-of-services#breastfeeding-preparation-program

This episode is supported and made possible by podcast recording and hosting tool Zencastr, it is impeccably made!

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Support the show:

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• ...