Birth Kweens

On this episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast, Karly and Ali talk with Amy Medling, the PCOS Diva. Amy is a certified health coach who specializes in working with women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or PCOS, who are frustrated and have lost all hope when the only solution their doctors offer is to lose weight, take a pill, and live with their symptoms. In response, Amy founded PCOS Diva and developed a proven protocol of supplements, diet, and lifestyle programs that offer women tools to help gain control of their PCOS and regain their fertility, femininity, health, and happiness. Here’s an overview of exactly what is covered in this episode:

• The definition of PCOS, including symptoms and how PCOS is usually diagnosed (including the fact that 50% of women who have PCOS are misdiagnosed!)
• Amy’s own journey with PCOS and how she struggled with symptoms for years before actually being diagnosed in her 30s (when she began struggling with secondary infertility)
• The various nutrient deficiencies that women with PCOS commonly deal with and some possible reasons why they exist
• How and why Amy began seeking alternatives to western medicine to treat her own PCOS
• The essential role that diet plays in treating PCOS and how important it is to understand blood sugar and the impact that different foods have on blood sugar regulation
• How inflammation is really at the root of PCOS and the role that dietary changes play in reducing inflammation
• How mental and emotional healing and growth is an essential part of effective PCOS treatment
• The longevity of PCOS – it’s not something that will ever go away so treatments must be sustainable
• The role that supplements play in treating PCOS (click here if you’re interested in purchasing some of Amy’s own line of supplements!)
• Click here to enroll in Amy’s amazing PCOS Diva program. She’ll guide you through the process of treating your PCOS in a natural and holistic way. Do NOT miss out!!!
• Click here to buy Amy’s book Healing PCOS: A 21-Day Plan for Reclaiming Your Health and Life with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

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The Birth Kweens get down to the nitty gritty of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and women’s health. For more from us, visit birthkweens.com. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback.

In this episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast, Karly and Ali sit down with Monet Combs to discuss elimination communication (EC). Monet is a doula and certified Go Diaper Free coach in San Diego, CA. She has both personal and professional experience with EC and she shares her infinite wisdom with the Kweens! Here's an overview of what you'll hear about in this episode:

• What exactly is elimination communication?
• How to decide whether EC is right for your family
• Common misconceptions about EC, including how EC doesn't have to make your life more difficult (and, in fact, if it IS making your life harder, then you're doing it wrong!)
• The difference between EC and potty training and how EC-based techniques can be used to help kids older than 18 months who are potty training
• Monet's personal journey with EC – when she started it with her daughter and what it's been like for them.
• How a baby communicates their need to go to the bathroom and how their care takers can learn those cues
• The practical steps involved with learning and implementing EC with your baby
• How working families can incorporate EC into their lives
• The environmental benefits of EC
• Products mentioned in this episode:
  • If you're interested in reading Go Diaper Free by Andrea Olson (aka - the 'bible' of EC), click here. (**this is for babies 0-18 months)
  • Click here to read The Tiny Potty Training Book by Andrea Olson (**for kids 18 months and up)
  • If you want to buy the Potette Plus, click here
  • You can find the Baby Throne (a seat reducer for infants) here
  • Click here to find the top hat potty and tiny trainers baby underwear
  • Buy the squatty potty for babies (aka – the Squattypottymus) here
• If you'd like to check out Monet's website to learn more about her consultation services or sign up for her upcoming "Intro to EC" class, click here.

Thanks for listening to another episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast! As always, we'd love to hear from you so shoot us an email ([email protected]) or reach out to us on Instagram (@birthkweens) to give us your feedback about this episode and share your own experience with EC. Cheers, kweens!

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Did you like this episode? Please subscribe, rate, review, and share!

The Birth Kweens get down to the nitty gritty of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and women's health. For more from us, visit birthkweens.com. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback.

In this episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast, Karly and Ali sit down with Monet Combs to discuss elimination communication (EC). Monet is a doula and certified Go Diaper Free coach in San Diego, CA. She has both personal and professional experience with EC and she shares her infinite wisdom with the Kweens! Here’s an overview of what you’ll hear about in this episode:

• What exactly is elimination communication?
• How to decide whether EC is right for your family
• Common misconceptions about EC, including how EC doesn’t have to make your life more difficult (and, in fact, if it IS making your life harder, then you’re doing it wrong!)
• The difference between EC and potty training and how EC-based techniques can be used to help kids older than 18 months who are potty training
• Monet’s personal journey with EC – when she started it with her daughter and what it’s been like for them.
• How a baby communicates their need to go to the bathroom and how their care takers can learn those cues
• The practical steps involved with learning and implementing EC with your baby
• How working families can incorporate EC into their lives
• The environmental benefits of EC
• Products mentioned in this episode: 
  • If you’re interested in reading Go Diaper Free by Andrea Olson (aka - the ‘bible’ of EC), click here. (**this is for babies 0-18 months)
  • Click here to read The Tiny Potty Training Book by Andrea Olson (**for kids 18 months and up)
  • If you want to buy the Potette Plus, click here
  • You can find the Baby Throne (a seat reducer for infants) here
  • Click here to find the top hat potty and tiny trainers baby underwear
  • Buy the squatty potty for babies (aka – the Squattypottymus) here
• If you’d like to check out Monet’s website to learn more about her consultation services or sign up for her upcoming “Intro to EC” class, click here.

Thanks for listening to another episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast! As always, we'd love to hear from you so shoot us an email ([email protected]) or reach out to us on Instagram (@birthkweens) to give us your feedback about this episode and share your own experience with EC. Cheers, kweens!

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Did you like this episode? Please subscribe, rate, review, and share!

The Birth Kweens get down to the nitty gritty of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and women’s health. For more from us, visit birthkweens.com. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback.

This episode of Birth Kweens features the amazing Nicole Jardim, The Period Girl! Nicole is a Certified Women's Health Coach and the creator of Fix Your Period which is a series of programs that empower women to reclaim their hormone health using a method that combines simplicity and sass. Her incredible work has impacted the lives of thousands of women around the world in effectively addressing issues like PMS, PCOS, infertility, amenorrhea, and many more. Nicole is also the co-host of The Period Party, a top-rated podcast on iTunes—be sure to tune into that if you want to learn more about how to fix your period—and she's the co-creator of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition's hormone health continuing education course. Nicole was generous enough to take time out of her busy schedule to chat with the Birth Kweens about all things menstruation! Here's an overview of what you'll hear about in this episode:

• Nicole's background and how her own period problems led her down the career path that she's on now
• The issues that can arise for women as a result of taking the birth control pill
• The multitude of women's health issues that can be addressed through Nicole's Fix Your Period program, such as severe PMS symptoms, heavy or painful periods, irregular cycles, infertility, PCOS, endometriosis, and so much more!
• Why having balanced hormones is essential, even if you aren't worried about your fertility!
• The unique fertility challenges that postpartum women face and how the commonly prescribed mini pill might be doing more harm than good
• A few hilariously embarrassing period stories
• Some relatively simple diet and lifestyle changes that can drastically improve hormone health (and overall quality of life!)

If you are interested in signing up for Nicole's amazing Fix Your Period program, click here! And be sure to follow Nicole on Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date with all of her amazing work!

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Did you like this episode? Please subscribe, rate, review, and share!

The Birth Kweens get down to the nitty gritty of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and women's health. For more from us, visit birthkweens.com. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback.

This episode of Birth Kweens features the amazing Nicole Jardim, The Period Girl! Nicole is a Certified Women’s Health Coach and the creator of Fix Your Period which is a series of programs that empower women to reclaim their hormone health using a method that combines simplicity and sass. Her incredible work has impacted the lives of thousands of women around the world in effectively addressing issues like PMS, PCOS, infertility, amenorrhea, and many more. Nicole is also the co-host of The Period Party, a top-rated podcast on iTunes—be sure to tune into that if you want to learn more about how to fix your period—and she’s the co-creator of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition’s hormone health continuing education course. Nicole was generous enough to take time out of her busy schedule to chat with the Birth Kweens about all things menstruation! Here’s an overview of what you’ll hear about in this episode:

• Nicole’s background and how her own period problems led her down the career path that she’s on now
• The issues that can arise for women as a result of taking the birth control pill
• The multitude of women’s health issues that can be addressed through Nicole’s Fix Your Period program, such as severe PMS symptoms, heavy or painful periods, irregular cycles, infertility, PCOS, endometriosis, and so much more!
• Why having balanced hormones is essential, even if you aren’t worried about your fertility!
• The unique fertility challenges that postpartum women face and how the commonly prescribed mini pill might be doing more harm than good
• A few hilariously embarrassing period stories
• Some relatively simple diet and lifestyle changes that can drastically improve hormone health (and overall quality of life!)

If you are interested in signing up for Nicole’s amazing Fix Your Period program, click here! And be sure to follow Nicole on Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date with all of her amazing work!  

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Did you like this episode? Please subscribe, rate, review, and share!

The Birth Kweens get down to the nitty gritty of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and women’s health. For more from us, visit birthkweens.com. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback.

In this episode of Birth Kweens, Karly and Ali talk with Genavie and Colt Stevens about the birth of their 6th child, Tabitha. Karly was lucky enough to be the midwife for their home birth and Ali has a great time interviewing the three of them about Tabitha's birth. The highlights of this episode include:

• A quick overview of Genavie's first 5 births, which included 4 medicated vaginal deliveries and 1 emergency cesarean
• What it was like to recover (both physically and emotionally) from the emergency cesarean with baby #5
• How Colt had a vasectomy after baby #5 because they were SO SURE that they were done having kids
• The issues that Colt had with the vasectomy (can anyone say ACHY BALLS!?) and how Gen and Colt came to the decision to reverse the vasectomy and try for another one
• The process of deciding to have a VBAC at home for baby #6
• Gen and Colt's expectations of how Tabitha's labor and birth would go (quick and relatively easy) vs. how labor ACTUALLY went (long, challenging, and full of dad jokes)
• Gen and Colt's feelings about home birth and what it was like to have a baby in front of their 5 older kids

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Did you like this episode? Please subscribe, rate, review, and share!

The Birth Kweens get down to the nitty gritty of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and women's health. For more from us, visit birthkweens.com. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback.

In this episode of Birth Kweens, Karly and Ali talk with Genavie and Colt Stevens about the birth of their 6th child, Tabitha. Karly was lucky enough to be the midwife for their home birth and Ali has a great time interviewing the three of them about Tabitha’s birth. The highlights of this episode include:

• A quick overview of Genavie’s first 5 births, which included 4 medicated vaginal deliveries and 1 emergency cesarean
• What it was like to recover (both physically and emotionally) from the emergency cesarean with baby #5
• How Colt had a vasectomy after baby #5 because they were SO SURE that they were done having kids
• The issues that Colt had with the vasectomy (can anyone say ACHY BALLS!?) and how Gen and Colt came to the decision to reverse the vasectomy and try for another one
• The process of deciding to have a VBAC at home for baby #6
• Gen and Colt’s expectations of how Tabitha’s labor and birth would go (quick and relatively easy) vs. how labor ACTUALLY went (long, challenging, and full of dad jokes)
• Gen and Colt’s feelings about home birth and what it was like to have a baby in front of their 5 older kids

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Did you like this episode? Please subscribe, rate, review, and share!

The Birth Kweens get down to the nitty gritty of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and women’s health. For more from us, visit birthkweens.com. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback.

There are so many amazing things about being a birth worker – supporting strong women as they work hard to birth their babies, witnessing families be born, the list goes on and on! But there's another side of the story that isn't talked about as much… the less-than-glamorous parts of the job. In this episode of the Birth Kweens, Karly and Ali tell some of their best stories about the most challenging and exhausting parts of their jobs and what they do to stay healthy, happy, and relatively sane in the midst of it all. As always, there's lots of laughs (because what's a better coping skill than humor!?!?). Enjoy!

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Did you like this episode? Please subscribe, rate, review, and share!

The Birth Kweens get down to the nitty gritty of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and women's health. For more from us, visit birthkweens.com. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback.

There are so many amazing things about being a birth worker – supporting strong women as they work hard to birth their babies, witnessing families be born, the list goes on and on! But there’s another side of the story that isn’t talked about as much… the less-than-glamorous parts of the job. In this episode of the Birth Kweens, Karly and Ali tell some of their best stories about the most challenging and exhausting parts of their jobs and what they do to stay healthy, happy, and relatively sane in the midst of it all. As always, there’s lots of laughs (because what’s a better coping skill than humor!?!?). Enjoy!

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Did you like this episode? Please subscribe, rate, review, and share!

The Birth Kweens get down to the nitty gritty of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and women’s health. For more from us, visit birthkweens.com. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback.

Karly and Ali talk with the incredible Kimberly Johnson about the importance of women being nurtured and supported throughout the 'fourth trimester', or the postpartum period. Kimberly is a Sexological Bodyworker, Somatic Experiencing trauma resolution practitioner, birth doula, and single mom who specializes in helping women prepare for birth, recover from birth injuries and birth trauma, and heal from sexual trauma. She is the founder of Magamama.com, an international holistic women's health care resource for expectant and new mothers. She is the co-founder of the STREAM School for Postpartum Care, where she trains birth professionals, yoga teachers, somatic therapists, and bodyworkers to help women prepare for birth and recover from birth. She is also the author of The Fourth Trimester: A Postpartum Guide to Healing Your Body, Balancing Your Emotions and Restoring Your Vitality. Kimberly talks with the Birth Kweens about her own difficult postpartum experience and how that led her down the path of birth work and trauma healing. Here's what you'll learn about in this episode:

• Kimberly's own birth and postpartum experience with her 10 year old daughter, particularly how unprepared she was for the postpartum period
• How the physical trauma she experienced from her birth resulted in years of pain and pelvic floor dysfunction which ultimately led her down a path of seeking out alternative, non-surgical modalities of healing
• The huge gaps that exist in postpartum care, particularly regarding the lack of training and knowledge that midwives and obstetricians have about treating scar tissues and pelvic floor dysfunction
• The importance of addressing the mind AND the body to achieve complete postpartum healing
• The reason Kimberly was driven to write her book and what she's hoping to accomplish with it
• A few other helpful books about postpartum healing that Kimberly used in her journey to healing:
  • Click here for Natural Health After Birth: The Complete Guide to Postpartum Welless by Aviva Jill Romm
  • Click here for The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother by Heng Ou
  • Click here for Nurture: A Modern Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, Early Motherhood - and Trusting Yourself and Your Body by Erica Chidi Cohen
• The 5 universal needs of every postpartum woman and why meeting these needs will heal us on a societal level.
• Click here to buy Kimberly's wonderful new book, The Fourth Trimester: A Postpartum Guide to Healing Your Body, Balancing Your Emotions and Restoring Your Vitality
• Click here to see the promo video for the book.
• Click here to listen to Kimberly podcast MAGAMAMA

Thanks for listening to another episode of the Birth Kweens Podcast!

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Did you like this episode? Please subscribe, rate, review, and share!

The Birth Kweens get down to the nitty gritty of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and women's health. For more from us, visit birthkweens.com. Follow us on Instagram @BirthKweens and email us at [email protected] with your questions, suggestions and feedback.