Birth Matters

Adriane shares her very unusual fertility journey story as well as her distinctive choice to, following IVF, give birth to her first baby at home. Adriane is not only a mom of two, but is also a babywearing expert, postpartum doula, breastfeeding counselor, and the former owner of a baby boutique in Greenpoint, Brooklyn now called The Wild. She’ll share her 2nd IVF and birth story later on the season as we begin the series on fertility journey challenges.

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SEASON 1 FINALE! 

Today we have another home birth story for you. Actually, this episode is two home birth stories. And it’s shared by the dear friends of the couple from the last story whom Sarah mentioned.

The day before Nora’s & Michael’s firstborn’s 4th birthday, and about a week before their 2nd born turns 1, they share both of their stories of uncomplicated births at home. Listen to hear details of thoughtfully choosing the birth location and birth team that would be most likely to honor their hopes to have a peaceful and physiological birth both times. You’ll hear the benefits of prenatal physical training through the lens of Michael’s expertise as a personal perinatal trainer. They will both share the specific benefits of hiring a doula for both births, and will advise listeners to think carefully about what family members or others you’ll invite to be present for your labor through the tense dynamics they experienced the second time around. 

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Today, we continue our cesarean birth stories series; this episode completes a 2-part story and is the grand finale to the series. We continue this EPIC birth warrior story that goes in all kinds of unexpected directions told by Sarah and Chris. This story feels like several birth stories wrapped into one. Sarah & Chris share their story of a very long, planned home birth that eventually transfers to the hospital and after DAYS of labor (literally, days) ultimately, Sarah gives birth via c-section after her waters have been ruptured for 90+hours. Get ready for a taste of how unknowable and unpredictable birth can be, and listen to the amazingly positive attitude this couple has through it and on the other side of it. These episodes provide a poignant lesson in how important mindset and flexibility are, keeping in mind it’s your baby’s birth, not yours, choosing a great birth team that hears you and gives you choices, among many other valuable lessons. Even if birth doesn’t go “as planned”--which it hardly ever does, but this one goes off-plan in almost every possible way!--Sarah & Chris share strategies for averting feelings of trauma and for, instead, still feeling good about the birth. 

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Today, we continue our cesarean birth stories series; this episode begins a 2-parter and grand finale to the series. You’re in for an EPIC birth warrior story that goes in all kinds of unexpected directions told by Sarah and Chris. Quite honestly, this story feels like several birth stories wrapped into one. Sarah & Chris share their story of a very long, planned home birth that eventually transfers to the hospital and after DAYS of labor (literally, days) ultimately, Sarah gives birth via c-section after her waters have been ruptured for 90+hours. Get ready for a taste of how unknowable and unpredictable birth can be, and listen to the amazingly positive attitude this couple has through it and on the other side of it. These episodes provide a poignant lesson in how important mindset and flexibility are, keeping in mind it’s your baby’s birth, not yours, choosing a great birth team that hears you and gives you choices, among many other valuable lessons. Even if birth doesn’t go “as planned”--which it hardly ever does, but this one goes off-plan in almost every possible way!--Sarah & Chris share strategies for averting feelings of trauma and for, instead, still feeling good about the birth. 

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In today’s episode, we return to our cesarean birth stories that were scheduled for last month’s Cesarean Awareness Month following our 3-week detour to share birth stories taking place during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Do be sure to give us a follow over on Instagram or Facebook (both @birthmattersnyc) for some educational content on this topic that we posted last month.  The month of May will be the last few episodes of our first season, as we'll be going on hiatus for the summer to prepare lots more great content for the fall. 

Today, Amanda & Grant share their firstborn’s birth story. Amanda describes how she developed cholestasis during her pregnancy, which is a medical indication for induction. She’ll describe the reasons that the way her labor played out led to baby needing to be born via cesarean. While this was not what Amanda had wanted after she had planned for an unmedicated birth with a midwife and doula, it was still an overall positive birth experience for her due to the compassionate care she received from everyone around her, including her partner, Grant. Get ready for all the feels when you hear both Grant and Amanda express love, admiration, and appreciation for each other throughout this momentous life experience and how this aspect helped everything feel like an overall sweet memory. Amanda will also share a bit about the early challenges she and baby faced as they started breastfeeding. 

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Just before their due date, Sarah & Spencer receive an urgent call from their obstetrician saying they need to be induced immediately if they want Spencer to allowed to support Sarah in labor. Not wanting to give birth without support, they heed the call and head to NYC’s NY Pres Weill Cornell for an uncomplicated vaginal birth. They describe the ways in which the environment was different in light of the pandemic, including testing, wearing masks, the hospital feeling quieter than normal, and more. They both share that, while they were grateful that Spencer was able to be present to support Sarah through labor and to be present for the birth of their baby, it was very disappointing that Spencer wasn’t allowed to go with her and baby to the postpartum unit and how Sarah regretted agreeing to the default shared room after birth. Sarah also shares how she would have gone home with baby sooner, but baby didn’t pass the first hearing test so she did have to stay for the standard 2 days before being reunited with Spencer at home. They share a bit, too, about the first ~3 weeks of parenthood and adjusting to life with baby.

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Amidst the growing Covid-19 pandemic and stay at home orders, Natalie & Jackson share the stress they experienced late in her 3rd trimester when they learn that their hospital is no longer allowing partners to accompany the laboring person. They scramble to advocate for the decision to be reversed at Mt. Sinai East and are interviewed by multiple reporters along the way. They share how they were surprised when Natalie’s water broke a few weeks before the due date. Thankfully, baby waited to come just long enough for Governor Cuomo to issue an executive order requiring partners to be allowed in labor & the immediate postpartum. They’ll share aspects of the hospital environment across Natalie’s time in the hospital that will be relevant to anyone giving birth during a pandemic, such as there being very little traffic getting to the hospital, being tested for Covid upon admission, the hospital being uncrowded, and having to wear a mask the whole time they were there.

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When the Covid-19 pandemic starts getting real in March, Jackie & Michael try everything they can near their due date to help labor to start when their doctor wouldn't agree to induce until after her due date. A few days before her due date, Jackie's surprised when her water breaks. Because she sees meconium in the fluid and she was Group B Strep positive, they head to the hospital. They describe how both the induction and the pushing stage surprise them when it progresses more quickly than most. You'll hear the different ways that, in mid-March when Jackie gave birth, hospital precautions were ramping up moment-by-moment in one particular way that directly affected them. They also share the ways their pediatrician office's protocols changed across their first 3 visits. Jackie & Michael also talk about how valuable hiring doulas was through this journey into parenthood, even when it had to be virtual support for the actual labor.

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In today’s episode, Christine learns in her 33rd week of pregnancy that her baby has flipped to breech, or heads up, position. She scrambles to change care providers in hopes of having closer to the kind of birth she and her husband, Omri, wanted. While she wasn’t able to have the vaginal, unmedicated birth she had hoped for -- because it’s nearly impossible to find any care providers who are trained to safely deliver breech babies vaginally -- she opts out of the recommended scheduled cesarean and waits for labor to start spontaneously before having a surgical birth at Metropolitan Hospital (NYC). She and Omri advocate for specific things in the surgery that mattered to them, and their doula helps them know the smart questions to ask along the way. This is a story of strong self-advocacy and making informed choices, as well as building in support, to have as positive and healthy a birth as possible.

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 A few days before celebrating their daughter’s first birthday, Nissa & Brit share the story of an unexpectedly quick first labor with the support of a doula. You'll hear about how a preexisting condition Nissa has, Crohn's Disease, caused confusion when she actually went into labor. She shares the emotional challenges of a cancer diagnosis her mom got in the middle of Nissa’s pregnancy and mentions a therapeutic method that was helpful to her. She details how she thinks her background and training in acting was helpful in giving birth, while Brit explains how being a parent has helped him become a better, more present professional actor. They describe what it was like to meet their daughter for the first time, go through some of the ways they worked together as a team in the early weeks, and point out strengths they've seen in each other as they've become parents. 

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