By Serena Louth
The podcast currently has 53 episodes available.
In today’s episode we’re hearing from Velika just 10 weeks after giving birth to her son Elio. At the start of her third trimester, having hired a doula and learned about hypnobirthing, Velika opted for a homebirth to guarantee her access to a birth pool. She laboured at home until she was fully dilated, at which time her contractions started to become less frequent.
When labour didn’t pick up again despite her best attempts, Velika decided to transfer in to hospital for additional support. An internal examination showed her baby’s head was no longer engaged so the decision was made to head to surgery for a c-section.
Velika shares how she managed to get herself into a positive mindset about the birth despite it being so far from what she wanted, about the challenges she faced with breastfeeding and how she is still coming to terms with their feeding journey looking different to how she had hoped.
Velika’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/vileh/
My website: www.serenalouth.com
My IG: https://www.instagram.com/serenalouth/
In today’s episode we’re hearing from Olivia who gave birth to her daughter Sienna in the midwife lead unit. Following a diagnosis of endometriosis, adenomyosis and PCOS it took her years to conceive, so she shares all about her conception journey and the things she did to support the process.
She had a busy pregnancy; travelling, moving house and working on her business so admits she didn’t think much about the birth until her waters released just before 37 weeks. She laboured on the birth centre using the pool and gas and air for comfort before birthing her baby with the help of a ventouse and episiotomy.
Olivia feels she had a really positive experience despite needing a little assistance towards the end, but shares how the first week of Sienna’s life was challenging as she was hospitalised with jaundice.
Olivia’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulsoulstudio/
Olivia’s website: https://mindfulsoulstudio.com
My website: www.serenalouth.com
My IG: https://www.instagram.com/serenalouth/
In today’s episode we’re hearing from Rochelle about the birth of her son, Jude. Despite having had a previous early pregnancy loss, she felt confident and intuitively very positive right from the beginning of her pregnancy. Thanks to minimal symptoms she was able to stay busy with work, but as a result feels she might not have prepared for the birth as much as she would have liked.
When her labour began a few days after her due date, Rochelle noticed meconium in her waters so was advised to attend the hospital. Whilst her labour had been progressing nicely at home, things slowed down after a long wait in triage so she had her remaining waters released to help things along. After some concerns around her blood pressure and the baby showing signs of distress, Rochelle accepted an epidural and Jude was born not long after.
Rochelle shares how positively she feels about the experience despite things deviating so far from what she hoped for, plus a little about Jude’s feeding complications in the early days. And as she was 38 weeks pregnant at the time we recorded, she tells us a bit about her plans for the upcoming birth of her second child.
Rochelle’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/roshiimcinscottii/
My website: www.serenalouth.com
My IG: https://www.instagram.com/serenalouth/
In today’s episode we’re hearing from Katie about the first of her two births. She conceived just before the pandemic hit so her pregnancy and birth were both heavily affected by the restrictions; from the antenatal classes she could attend to how much her partner could be with her during labour. Due to her Ehlers-Danlos syndrome Katie experienced a lot of leg and hip pain, as well as some joint dislocations during her pregnancy so was put on crutches.
As she neared the end of her pregnancy, after several days of mild period cramps and multiple trips to and from the hospital for monitoring, Rory was born swiftly at 37 weeks. Katie shares how useful she found the information she had learned through hypnobirthing, how living with chronic pain positively impacted the way she viewed the intensity of childbirth and how having an attentive, supportive birth partner was the most amazing thing for boosting her own self-belief throughout the process.
Katie’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/___luscious_lavender___/
My website: www.serenalouth.com
My IG: https://www.instagram.com/serenalouth/
In today’s episode Chantal reflects on the birth of her little girl just 3 weeks postpartum. In her third trimester it was suspected that her baby was measuring large for gestational age, so Chantal’s care providers were keen to monitor baby’s growth and potentially induce her before her due date. An elective C-section was booked and having accepted a few sweeps to try and get things moving, Chantal’s labour began as she was nearing 39 weeks. After a few days of irregular contractions, she opted for an induction but was quickly rushed into a C-section when her baby’s heart rate dropped.
Chantal shares how whilst it wasn’t her dream birth, it was an incredible experience and she reflects on the highs and lows of the last few weeks.
Chantal’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/chantal_bar/
My website: www.serenalouth.com
My IG: https://www.instagram.com/serenalouth/
In this episode I’m chatting to Chloe about her son’s water birth. As a hypnotherapist, Chloe was well aware of the mind-body connection and the importance of a good mindset when preparing for birth, so she did lots of reading, took various classes, learned hypnobirthing, hired a doula and practised visualisation and affirmations. Having always assumed she was very sensitive to pain she was convinced she would need an epidural, but her confidence grew the more she learned and her mind was opened to the possibility that her birth experience could be different from how she imagined.
Chloe birthed her baby in the water in the MLU with the support of her doula and her partner Aiden - despite finding the birth hard she remembers having a strong sense that she could do it and now feels very grateful for the experience. And she shares how doing something you’re scared of can really shift your self-perception which is a very powerful thing.
Chloe’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/chloebrotheridge/?hl=en-gb
Chloe’s Website: https://www.calmer-you.com
My website: www.serenalouth.com
My IG: https://www.instagram.com/serenalouth/
In today’s episode I’m speaking to Helena who birthed her daughter Bonnie 9 months ago. Having worked as a TV producer on a birth show Helena was lucky enough to have witnessed a variety of births first hand which helped her to feel prepared in the lead up to her own. She planned to birth her baby at home, but on the day her contractions began she received a message from the homebirth team saying they were taking a few days off due to illness. So she laboured at home for as long as possible and by the time she arrived at the birth centre she was fully dilated and went straight into the birth pool. After birthing her baby in the water, Helena experienced a postpartum haemorrhage and she shares how vulnerable she felt receiving treatment for this when all she wanted was to cuddle up with Bonnie. Luckily things were resolved relatively quickly and it wasn’t long before she had her baby in her arms having her first feed.
Helena’s story is such a joy to hear, I think its so important we share positive accounts of pregnancy and birth so that pregnant people are made aware of how magical it can be, so I’m sure you’re going to love this episode.
Helena’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/helenabrandon/
My website: www.serenalouth.com
My IG: https://www.instagram.com/serenalouth/
Today we’re hearing from Arron Suzzette who was told at 21 she would be unlikely to have children due to having endometriosis and PCOS; amazingly she fell pregnant naturally just as her and her partner were about to start looking into their options. After an early diagnosis of gestational diabetes at 9 weeks pregnant, Arron Suzzette suddenly found both her diet and birth options restricted, so she threw herself into researching both how to manage her blood sugar and her rights regarding her birth choices.
As part of her preparation she took an online hypnobirthing course which she found to be invaluable when so much of her pregnancy and birth felt out of her control; it helped her to manage her mindset, prioritise her non-negotiable birth preferences and to stay calm whilst making tough decisions when her labour took an unexpected turn. Despite her birth not going as she had hoped, Arron Suzzxette said she wouldn’t change it and she shares all about the amazing support she received from family and a very special health care visitor in the early days after her c-section.
Gestation Diabetes Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gestationaldiabetesuk/
Arron Suzette’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/arronsuzzette/
My website: www.serenalouth.com
My IG: https://www.instagram.com/serenalouth/
Today I’m chatting to Anna about her daughter’s birth in the midwife lead unit. Anna grew up hearing her mum speak positively about her own birth experiences so she was excited to throw herself into preparing for her own and she shares about the different courses, books and exercises that helped her through her pregnancy.
Anna’s contractions started a few days before her estimated due date and she laboured in the birth centre with the support of her husband, using gas and air and the birth pool to help her manage the sensations. After baby Bella was born, Anna needed some stitches, but when her bleeding continued longer than her midwives were happy with, she transferred in to the hospital to have the stitching redone in theatre.
Anna’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/annabee_x/
My website: www.serenalouth.com
My IG: https://www.instagram.com/serenalouth/
In this week’s episode we’re hearing from Leonora just 8 weeks after the birth of her daughter. She shares about her conception journey including the difficulty of her 4 early losses and the anxiety that came with her subsequent pregnancy; midway through which Leonora was diagnosed with an incompetent cervix. She underwent a cervical cerclage to prevent her going into preterm labour and was put on bed rest, and then house rest, which she understandably found very isolating.
Leonora chose to birth her baby via c-section which she describes as the best experience of her life! She shares a little about recovering from the surgery, the early days of motherhood and how she is finding breastfeeding so far with the help of nipple shields.
Leonora’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/leo.downes/
My website: www.serenalouth.com
My IG: https://www.instagram.com/serenalouth/
The podcast currently has 53 episodes available.