Arielle went into her second birth planning for a birth center birth. She left with an unexpected hospital birth, a 13-minute pushing stage, and a deeper understanding of what it means to let go of the birth you planned without letting go of your power.

In this episode, Kristin sits down with birth doula, therapist, and mother of two Arielle Korn to talk about her unexpectedly fast labor, the moment she realized she wasn't going to make it to the birth center, and what it felt like to end up back in the same hospital and even the same room where she had given birth to her first baby. Arielle also shares what 13 years in birth work have taught her about birth plans, preparation, informed decision-making, and finding peace when birth doesn't go exactly as expected.

This one is honest, empowering, and deeply validating for anyone preparing for birth who wants to feel confident and informed without becoming rigidly attached to one outcome.

In This Episode:

• Planning a birth center birth after a previous hospital birth• What fast labor can actually feel like and why every birth can be different

• Realizing on the way to the birth center that the baby wasn't going to wait

• An unexpected hospital birth and a 13-minute pushing stage

• The emotional tension between disappointment and gratitude

• Why having a birth plan doesn't mean everything has to go according to plan

• How preparation and education can help you feel empowered when you have to pivot

• Asking questions, advocating for yourself, and slowing things down in a hospital setting

• Why confidence comes from preparation, not perfection

• The importance of support during birth and the fourth trimester

Resources:

• Learn more about Arielle's birth support, childbirth education, postpartum care, and maternal mental health services. Connect with Arielle through Arise Birth.

• Apply to be a guest on BirthNotes

• Follow BirthNotes on Instagram

BirthNotes is a podcast for real, raw birth stories from hospital births and birth center births to home births, unexpected turns, difficult experiences, and beautiful ones. If you have a birth story you'd like to share, we'd love to hear from you.

Planning a home birth often comes with one big fear: What if I have to transfer to the hospital?

In this episode of BirthNotes, birth doula Jessica Allison shares the powerful story of how a planned home birth unexpectedly became a hospital birth after her water had been broken for more than 24 hours. What could have felt disappointing instead became a peaceful, empowering experience that reminded her to trust her body, her birth team, and the process.

Jessica opens up about laboring with a sunny side up (OP) baby, making the decision to transfer to the hospital, navigating Pitocin without an epidural, and experiencing the incredible power of the Ferguson reflex as her body took over during labor.

As both a birth doula and a mother, Jessica offers an honest perspective on surrendering expectations, advocating for yourself during labor, and finding peace even when birth does not unfold exactly as planned.

Whether you are planning a home birth, a hospital birth, or simply looking for encouragement, this episode is a reminder that a positive birth is not defined by where your baby is born. It is defined by how supported, informed, and empowered you feel throughout the journey.

In This Episode

Why Jessica became a birth doula after her first birth

Planning a home birth after an induction

What happened after her water broke

Knowing when it was time to transfer to the hospital

Laboring with a sunny side up (OP) baby

Using Pitocin without an epidural

Experiencing the Ferguson reflex

Finding peace when birth takes an unexpected turn

Jessica's advice for parents preparing for birth

Connect with Jessica Allison

Jessica Allison is a birth doula and the founder of Restored Motherhood Doula Services, serving families throughout Little Rock and Central Arkansas while also providing virtual support nationwide. She is passionate about evidence-based birth education, informed decision-making, and helping families approach birth with confidence and peace. Stay connected with Jessica on Instagram here!

If you are enjoying BirthNotes, be sure to follow the show, leave a rating and review, and share this episode with someone preparing for birth. Every share helps more families discover real birth stories, trusted resources, and honest conversations about pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.

What does it look like to choose a home birth in a new country, far from family and familiar healthcare?

In this episode of BirthNotes, Sweetu shares her incredible journey from Florida to rural Panama, where she and her husband built a farm, welcomed their first child through a peaceful home birth, and ultimately created a motherhood community for other women navigating pregnancy, birth, and postpartum abroad.

Sweetu opens up about trusting her instincts when hospital care didn't align with her values, preparing for labor through education, using traditional vetiver root compresses during labor, and finding confidence in her body's ability to give birth. She also shares how her postpartum experience inspired her to help build a village for mothers living far from family and traditional support systems.

Whether you're considering home birth, planning on giving birth abroad, or simply love hearing empowering birth stories, this conversation is a beautiful reminder that every mother deserves informed choices, supportive care, and a community she can lean on.

In This Episode

• Sweetu's journey from Florida to rural Panama
• Choosing home birth after hospital care didn't feel aligned
• Preparing for labor through education and intuition
• A peaceful five-hour first birth
• Traditional vetiver root warm compresses during labor
• Recovering postpartum while living abroad
• Creating a motherhood collective in Panama
• Why every mother deserves a village

Resources

Mother's Journal: Capture your own motherhood journey with guided reflections and keepsake prompts.

Share Your Birth Story on BirthNotes: Have a story you'd love to share? I'd love to hear from you. Apply Here!

Home Birth in Panama Companion Guide: Explore Sweetu's inspiring birth story, learn about the traditional use of vetiver during labor, and discover the lessons she carried into postpartum.

Connect with Sweetu Shah on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desidoula/

If this episode resonated with you, follow BirthNotes and leave a rating or review. Your support helps more mothers discover real birth stories and honest conversations about pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and motherhood. Because every birth has a story worth remembering.

Naomi Mitchell shares her remarkable 20-year journey from an unexpected C-section to six successful vaginal births after cesarean (VBACs) and the home birth she'd always dreamed of. In this episode, she opens up about navigating a healthcare system with limited VBAC support, changing providers, learning to advocate for herself, and discovering the difference a supportive midwife can make during labor and birth. Naomi also shares how her own experiences led her to become a birth doula and La Leche League Leader in South Africa, where she now supports families as a birth doula through pregnancy, labor, birth, breastfeeding, and postpartum. Together, we discuss home birth after cesarean, finding a VBAC-supportive care provider, and why it's never too late to have the birth experience you've hoped for. Whether you're preparing for a VBAC, considering a home birth after a C-section, or looking for encouragement after a difficult birth, this conversation offers honest insight, practical wisdom, and hope for the road ahead.

In This Episode

Naomi's unexpected C-section and first birth experience

Her journey through six VBACs over 20 years

Achieving the home birth she'd always dreamed of

Navigating VBAC care in South Africa

Finding a supportive midwife and care provider

Becoming a birth doula after her own birth experiences

Breastfeeding challenges and becoming a La Leche League Leader

Advice for mothers pursuing a VBAC or healing after a difficult birth

Resources

Share your birth story on BirthNotes: Guest Application Link

Connect with Naomi and follow her birth work and stories: Naomi's Facebook Link

Learn more about La Leche League and find breastfeeding support near you: https://llli.org

If you enjoyed this episode, follow BirthNotes and leave a rating or review. It helps more mothers discover real birth stories and honest conversations about pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and motherhood.

This week, it's just me.

Before BirthNotes, before doula work, and before supporting families through pregnancy and postpartum, there was chronic illness, unanswered questions, and a search for healing. In this episode, I'm sharing how a functional medicine doctor and home birth midwife changed the course of my life, how I found my way into birth work, and why I felt called to create BirthNotes.

I also share the story of supporting my first birth, becoming a certified birth and postpartum doula, stepping away during the pandemic, and the vision behind this podcast.

In This Episode

• My chronic illness journey

• The practitioner who changed how I understood the body

• Supporting my first home birth

•  Becoming a certified birth and postpartum doula

• Building a doula practice in Charlotte

• Why I stepped away from birth work

• The story behind BirthNotes

Resources & Links

Apply to be a guest: Here

The Refining: A Mother's Journal: Here

Instagram: https://instagram.com/birthnotespodcast

 Substack: https://birthnotespod.substack.com

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the show and share it with a friend who loves birth stories, motherhood, and women's health conversations.

Amber came into her birth with a plan. She left with an emergency C-section and a tangle of grief, fear, and joy she needed time to sit with.

In this episode, Kristin sits down with therapist and mother Amber to talk about what it was like to give birth at the height of COVID restrictions, navigate an emergency intervention she never saw coming, and carry the quiet weight of a birth story that looked nothing like she'd hoped. Amber also shares how that experience shaped the way she now shows up for mothers as a mental health therapist working with the perinatal population.

This one is honest, emotional, and deeply validating for any mother who has ever mourned the birth she didn't get to have.

In this episode:

• Giving birth during COVID restrictions and what that isolation actually felt like
• Emergency C-section and navigating fear in real time
• The grief of a birth experience that didn't go as planned
• Postpartum anxiety, depression, and what recovery really looked like
• The pressure mothers put on themselves to feel okay
• How Amber's own story changed the way she supports women today

Resources:

• Read the companion Substack essay
• Explore The Refining: A Mother's Journal
• Apply to be a guest on BirthNotes
• Follow BirthNotes on Instagram

If you're struggling with postpartum anxiety, depression, or birth trauma, finding a perinatal mental health therapist is a good place to start: psychologytoday.com/us/therapists

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Morgan as she shares her full journey into motherhood, from an unplanned pregnancy and unexpected gender disappointment, to a hospital birth that left her doubting her body, to a redemptive home birth with her daughter, Evelyn, that changed everything.

This one is for every mother who has ever left a birth feeling like she failed.

You didn’t.

Your body already knew.

What she reached for:

• Earthley Postpartum Tincture

  Used to support postpartum recovery, including emotional shifts, cramping, and overall healing.

• Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

  Morgan’s most recommended book for birth preparation. Her tip: start with Part 2 to understand the physiology of birth and how to work with your body.

• The Refining: A Mother’s Journal

  A guided heirloom journal designed to help mothers process, reflect, and document both the messy and meaningful moments of becoming.

• Morgan’s Favorite Things to Have for Mastitis

  After experiencing mastitis multiple times postpartum, Morgan developed an at-home approach that helped her manage symptoms early. We’ve put together a complete guide with everything she shared.

  
  

Morgan and Kristin are not medical professionals. These are tools that worked for her experience. Always consult your care provider if symptoms worsen or you need additional support.

What happens when your entire labor lasts just two hours?

In this first episode of BirthNotes, Morgann, a mom of five, shares the story of her second birth, the arrival of her daughter Dillan eight years ago, during a precipitous labor that moved faster than anyone expected. What began as a planned hospital birth quickly turned into an unexpected home birth, reminding us just how powerful and instinctual the birthing body can be.

As both Morgann’s doula and her grade-school best friend, this story is especially meaningful to me. Together we talk about what it means to trust your body when there isn’t time to overthink, how the fetal ejection reflex can take over, and why birth can sometimes look loud, primal, emotional, and completely different than what we imagine.

This episode is a reminder that birth doesn't have to look perfect to be powerful. Sometimes it looks like deep breathing, unexpected laughter, primal sounds, and complete surrender to the moment.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What a precipitous (fast) birth is

• Morgann’s unexpected home birth after planning a hospital delivery

• Trusting your body during intense labor

• The fetal ejection reflex

• Why it’s normal to be loud, primal, and fully in the experience

• The importance of having a flexible birth plan

Resources Morgann loved + tools mentioned in this episode:

• J Breathing technique – Morgann’s favorite breathing method for staying grounded during intense contractions

• Horse lips breathing – a simple lip flutter technique often used in labor to help release tension

• The Guided Mother’s Journal – a prompted journal to help you reflect on and document your motherhood journey

• Apply to be a BirthNotes guest – share your own birth story on a future episode

• BirthNotes reflections on Substack – deeper written reflections on the themes from each episode 

Want the written reflection from this episode?

Instead of a traditional transcript, I share a written companion reflection for each episode on my Substack, where I explore the deeper themes from these birth stories and the emotional transformation that often follows birth.

Every birth changes a woman. Every story deserves to be heard.

Welcome to BirthNotes, a podcast where women share their real birth stories. The raw, the emotional, the unexpected, and the deeply transformative moments that shape the journey into motherhood.

After years of supporting women through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum as a birth and postpartum doula, I saw how every birth carries more than just a medical outcome. Each story holds growth, fear, strength, and transformation in ways we don't always talk about.

This podcast is a space for honest conversations about birth in all forms. Hospital births, home births, smooth experiences, complicated ones, and everything in between. Because while every story is different, the emotional journey often connects us in powerful ways.

If you love birth stories in their most real, messy, and transformative form, you're in the right place. And if you have a birth story you'd like to share, you can apply to be a guest here.

New episodes coming soon.