In this episode we get a glimpse of what it is like to birth in Germany. Women's pregnancy and postpartum care is greatly different from what it is like here in the U.S. Aleksandra opted for a birth center for her first but ended up giving birth in the hospital. Her second was a fast home birth. She talks about how important her mindset was for getting pregnant the second time and how managing her stress  and seeking help from a therapist was what allowed her to become pregnant.

Shannon is fellow NC mom of six. Her first four hospital births were very traumatic which is what lead her to chose home birth for her most recent two. She thought home birth was "illegal" in NC so she opted for unassisted/freebirths. 

Dr. Rebecca is a classmate of Dr. V's from Chiropractic school and she shares about all of the extensive work, both mentally and physically, that she did to prepare for her home birth. She had a fairly long birth process with a 4 hour pushing phase before welcoming her son earth side. 

In this episode we interview another member of our MaxLiving family. We cover her four birth stories, a traumatic home birth experience, people you invite into your birth space, the innate power of the human body and much much more. This episode is packed with wisdom for all women, whether you're having your first baby or fifth. 

What an amazing conversation we had with Karen, who is the woman behind the very popular Instagram account Pain Free Birth. She has had 3 pain free home births and shares her birth stories as well as how she did it. Karen now teaches other women how to use their minds to achieve a pain free birth. 

Shelby is a first time mom who started her prenatal care in the medical system but switched gears and decided to birth at home after having one too many cold, sterile and impersonal appointments. Not to mention she wasn't about to give birth in a mask. 

Sara had an extremely traumatic first birth in the hospital. She was given an episiotomy and her baby was vaccinated, both without her consent. Her second birth was also an unpleasant hospital experience. Her third and fourth births were both at home (but in different countries) attended by an amazing midwife @angelamidwife. Sara's UK midwife came to the US to attend her last home birth! 

Lindsey shares with us how the birth of her first born was traumatic but didn't realize it until she "went down the rabbit hole" when her son was 8 months old. She learned that what she experienced was unnecessary and violated her as a woman. She decided to take back her power and went on to have a wild pregnancy (no medical care) and freebirth (no midwife) for her next baby. 

For Jena's first baby she decided to birth at a midwife center. It came very close to resulting in a hospital transfer, but with Jena's determination and support from her husband, her son was born without transfer. Her second and third were both born at home very quickly, simply and perfect. Jena also shares with us how she decided not to receive the RhoGam shot despite having a negative blood type.  

Emily was diagnosed with Hashimotos and was told she would never be able to have kids. She didn't accept this as her future and sought out a second opinion from a more holistic doctor. She quickly became pregnant and decided to birth at home with a midwife.