Birthful

During labor, you want contractions that are longer, stronger, and closer together. But why? Dr. Sarah Buckley and Adriana take a deep dive into the amazing and fascinating hormonal dance that happens during the birthing process, and how interventions such as synthetic oxytocin or an epidural can lead to a cascade of interventions that negatively impact the process for both the birthing person and their baby. They also talk about ways to support the physiology of birth (regardless of what path it takes) in order to help fill any ‘hormonal gaps’ that may occur.

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.  

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Your Baby, The Mammal and our episode on How to Avoid a "Cascade of Interventions".

You can connect with Sarah on Facebook at drsarahbuckley. You can connect with us on Instagram at @BirthfulPodcast and email us at [email protected]. 

If you enjoy what you hear, download Birthful's Postpartum Plan FREE when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! You can also sign up for Adriana’s Own Your Birth online BIRTH preparation classes and her Thrive with Your Newborn online POSTPARTUM preparation course at BirthfulCourses.com.

Follow us on Goodpods, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Celeste and Claudiu Bancos share their perspectives of their son’s birth (who chimes in too!), often surprising each other with moments the other didn’t remember or knew about. Ultimately, Celeste achieved her birth goals of not whining and avoiding getting an epidural, with the help of a veterinarian’s memoir book from the 30s, strong vocalizations, a crisis of confidence, realizing how well her hormones were working, and the live narration by Claudiu of her baby’s beautiful emergence into the world.

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page, and you can find the Labor Support Toolkit mentioned on the episode at Birthful.com/toolkit.

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Rethinking the Pushing Stage and our episode on Straight Talk About the Effects of Electronic Fetal Monitoring on You and Your Baby  Vaginal Rehab. 

You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at [email protected]. 

If you enjoy what you hear, download Birthful's Postpartum Plan FREE when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! You can also sign up for Adriana’s Own Your Birth online BIRTH preparation classes and her Thrive with Your Newborn online POSTPARTUM preparation course at BirthfulCourses.com.

Follow us on Goodpods, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Rhea Dempsey is one of the foremost thinkers on the topic of working with pain in childbirth. She shares with Adriana the physiological purpose of pain during labor, why it gets such a bad rap, and suggests the pain relief paradigm is a medical construct that undermines our capacity for peak performance and body potency that ultimately facilitates birth. In other words: bring it on!

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Working with Childbirth Pain and our episode on Epidurals and Breastfeeding. 

You can connect with Rhea on Instagram @rheadempseybirth. You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at [email protected]. 

If you enjoy what you hear, download Birthful's Postpartum Plan FREE when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! You can also sign up for Adriana’s Own Your Birth online BIRTH preparation classes and her Thrive with Your Newborn online POSTPARTUM preparation course at BirthfulCourses.com.

Follow us on Goodpods, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Megan Othling explains how birth can happen as much in your head as in your body and how facing the unexpected feelings she was having during the birth of her third child was just what was needed for them to be born. She shares with Adriana the profound growth and transformation she experienced through her four births and postpartum experiences, and how she stepped into the vulnerability of accepting all her feelings–even the unpopular ones.

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.  

If you liked this episode, listen to our short episode, A Quick Guide to Triage, and our interview on Hemorrhages Explained.

You can connect with Megan on Instagram at @meganothlingdoula, and you can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at [email protected]. 

If you enjoy what you hear, download Birthful's Postpartum Plan FREE when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! You can also sign up for Adriana’s Own Your Birth online BIRTH preparation classes and her Thrive with Your Newborn online POSTPARTUM preparation course at BirthfulCourses.com.

Follow us on Goodpods, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Pregnancy is a great time to realize what the heck motivates your choices as you venture into the great transformation of birth and becoming a parent. Nekole Malia Shapiro shares with Adriana how using the embodied approach of connecting with yourself and your body can help you find your own best expert birth guide, while also building the awesome habit of bringing more oxytocin into your life. 

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.  

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on How Your Nervous System Impacts Your Pregnancy and Birth and our episode titled Birth Principles, Better than a Birth Plan

You can learn more about Nekole Shapiro at Nekole.com. You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at [email protected]. 

If you enjoy what you hear, download Birthful's Postpartum Plan FREE when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! You can also sign up for Adriana’s Own Your Birth online BIRTH preparation classes and her Thrive with Your Newborn online POSTPARTUM preparation course at BirthfulCourses.com.

Follow us on Goodpods, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Hailey McHone’s first birth was what her OB called "a textbook hospital delivery," which came with an epidural-Pitocin combo, and, frankly, little consent. She talks with Adriana about getting more intentional with her wishes and choices for her second birth and ending up with a confidence-boosting, self-affirming, physiological experience that included a concoction of grape juice and papaya nectar, some much-wanted chicken nuggets, and waiting for her sister to arrive. 

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.  

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Informed Consent and our short episode on Real Talk About Vaginal Tears and Episiotomies. 

You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at [email protected]. 

If you enjoy what you hear, download Birthful's Postpartum Plan FREE when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! You can also sign-up for Adriana’s Own Your Birth online BIRTH preparation classes and her Thrive with Your Newborn online POSTPARTUM preparation course.

Follow us on Goodpods, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

We try to make birth practical by measuring, overseeing, and monitoring it… when really, it’s an experience that flows seamlessly from one stage to another, taking the birthing person deep into their physiology and intuitive altered states. Whapio Diane Bartlett shares with Adriana how to better describe what the laboring person goes through, by explaining the Holistic Stages of Birth.

In this second episode of a two-part series, we go deeper into the Quietude, to then finally emerge into immediate postpartum and the life-long weaving of the story. Make sure you listen to Part One, if you haven’t already.

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.  

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Healing Your Birth Story and our episode titled Are you Meditating Yet?

You can connect with Whapio on Instagram @whapio_and_thematrona. You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at [email protected]. 

If you enjoy what you hear, download Birthful's Postpartum Plan FREE when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! You can also sign up for Adriana’s Own Your Birth online BIRTH preparation classes and her Thrive with Your Newborn online POSTPARTUM preparation course at BirthfulCourses.com.

Follow us on Goodpods, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

We try to make birth practical by measuring, overseeing, and monitoring it… when really, it’s an experience that flows seamlessly from one stage to another, taking the birthing person deep into their physiology and intuitive altered states. Whapio Diane Bartlett shares with Adriana how to better describe what the laboring person goes through, by explaining the Holistic Stages of Birth.

In this first episode of a two-part series, we start with embarking into labor, and just past what is usually considered as transition. In Part Two, we move through the Quietude phase, all the way to the birth of the baby, the magic that happens in the first moments, and the weaving of the story that goes on forever.

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.  

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Dealing with Birth Fears and our episode on Straight Talk about the Effects of Electronic Fetal Monitoring on You and Your Baby.

You can connect with Whapio on Instagram @whapio_and_thematrona. You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at [email protected]. 

If you enjoy what you hear, download Birthful's Postpartum Plan FREE when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! You can also sign-up for Adriana’s Own Your Birth online BIRTH preparation classes and her Thrive with Your Newborn online POSTPARTUM preparation course.

Follow us on Goodpods, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, and anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Welcome to the Best of Birthful. Creator and host Adriana Lozada curated and edited each selection in this playlist of the show’s most popular episodes. It's a tailored introduction to the expansive catalog she amassed over the first five years of Birthful's 300+ episodes (which is now in its 9th year!).

Whapio, a midwife and founder of The Matrona, explores the modern management of pushing, and challenges our preconceived notions in the process. She gets into pushing’s effects on the baby, and on the perineum, which receives most of the exertion. And what can you do to be prepared for this stage of the birthing process.

Here's the original episode in full.

You can connect with us on Instagram @birthfulpodcast and email us at [email protected].

Download Birthful's Postpartum Plan FREE when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! Don't miss even more tips, insights, and news from Adriana and her guests! 

Welcome to the Best of Birthful. Creator and host Adriana Lozada curated and edited each selection in this playlist of the show’s most popular episodes. It's a tailored introduction to the expansive catalog she amassed over the first five years of Birthful's 300+ shows (which is now in its 9th year!).

Leading high-risk pregnancy expert and mind-body health specialist, Parijat Deshpande, discusses the anxiety that comes with high-risk births. She offers tips on how to manage these feelings by making the mind-body connection work for you.

Here's the original episode in full.

For more Birthful, visit the our website. For new episodes out each week, subscribe to Birthful. You can connect with us on Instagram @birthfulpodcast and email us at [email protected].

Download Birthful's Postpartum Plan FREE when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! Don't miss even more tips, insights, and news from Adriana and her guests!