Ashley Mariani is a trauma-informed couples therapist specializing in intimacy and relationship issues that arise during pregnancy and in the postpartum. She is one of those people in the trenches helping couples reorient themselves to sex and relating with the addition of a baby into the mix. This is not niche, this is not unique: every relationship experiences some degree of hardship after birth.

Connect with Ashley on Instagram. Want to work with Ashley? Email her at: [email protected]

[00:02:55] - When we get into arguments with our intimate partners (or anybody, really), the unmet needs of our inner child surfaces. This is especially relevant for men, who are often lacking guidance on managing and exploring the underpinnings of their emotional landscape.

[00:06:30] - We are storymaking machines, but are all of the stories that we write about our partners true?

[00:11:15] - Trauma in and out of the obstetrics model. Trauma can be inflicted in the obvious ways but also through dismissive behavior or language by your partner or practitioner. Moderating disagreements between partners around interventions in childbirth.

[00:17:13] - Nonviolent communication and seeking to fill the unmet need underlying every instance of emotional conflict.

[00:25:00] - How does birth trauma impact a couple’s connection/communication? When a partner doesn’t provide an anchor of safety during an act of obstetric violence, for example, this lack of felt safety may roll over into their relationship in the postpartum. Ashley has a very great exercise for couples struggling with shared decision-making as their birth approaches.

[00:35:00] - How can a couple begin to re-engage in penetrative intercourse and other forms of intimacy? (Pay attention men!)

[00:43:00] - Communicating needs to your spouse and prioritizing one-on-one time with a baby in the mix

[00:48:54] - Navigating struggles with the lack of intimacy and feeling of obligation to your partner sexually after giving birth. Men often struggle with feeling “third wheel” energy and appropriately grieving the changes can be an opportunity to flex your masculinity.

[00:52:26] - Intimacy troubles alongside co-sleeping. ALERT: It’s healthy and normal for you not to get right back to your pre-pregnancy sex life immediately postpartum. It could take years!

[00:59:00] - How do you manage being “triggered”, withdrawing, and shutting down in response to your partner?

Connect with Ashley on Instagram. Want to work with Ashley? Email her at: [email protected]

References from the episode:

* Nonviolent Communication: The Basics As I Know and Use Them, by Wayland Myers

* Fair Play Cards

* Hear Ashley and others (like Dr. Stu!) speak at the 2026 Reclaiming Birth Gathering

Related episodes:

* What He Never Learned: Repair, Responsibility, and Men’s Silent Longing for Connection with Ted Riter

* From Fighter to Sage: Kyle Kingsbury on Fatherhood and Fitness Beyond the Physical

* Edmund Knighton, PhD (Part 4) - Sacred Polarities: The Ra Material, Steiner, and a Man’s Work in Conception, Childbirth and Beyond

This episode was sponsored by Born Free Method.

The Born Free Method digital playground includes over 60 hrs of pre-recorded lessons (w/ slides) spread out over 180+ lessons when you enroll. You will also be invited to a Zoom call (recorded) every other week hosted by me, Sara, and both. We also often have guest speakers, and you will have access to recordings for all 100+ of our past calls/interviews. Enroll for your 7-day free trial!

More ways to work with Nathan:Support for Midwives | Private Consultation | Clear & FreeMedical Disclaimer: Born Free Method: The Podcast is an educational program. No information conveyed through this podcast should be construed as medical advice. These conversations are available to the public for educational and entertainment purposes only.

Music provided by RealMovieScores / Pond5

Born Free Method: The Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Eric Osborne is the founder of the first legal psychedelic mushroom church in the United States. He has been working with psilocybin mushrooms (and culinary mushrooms) for decades, feeling a pull from without him to continue on this journey despite legal troubles, jail time, and putting his family at risk of losing it all. And yet he persists, because he believes that psychedelic mushroom journeys could be the answer to many of the world’s woes. This passion led Eric to found Psanctuary, where people across the world can find community and engage in ceremonies led remotely by Eric and his team.

[00:20:00] - Why are psychedelics important to the world?

[00:21:05] - Like snakes, mushrooms can be both poisonous and beautiful. What is consciousness? How do psychedelics support reflection on the “big” questions?

[00:40:46] - Could psychedelics deepen your relationship to “God”?

[00:44:00] - Universal laws and codes of the universe exposed through DMT and lasers

[00:47:24] - What role do mushrooms play in the ecosystem and how might this also be beneficial for humans?

[00:49:50] - How have experiences with mushrooms and MDMA helped Eric become a better father?

[00:54:00] - Psychedelics can be confronting to societal mechanisms of control, which is probably why they’re illegal. Sitting in a jail cell with substance abusers who could be saved through psychedelics. The foundations of Psanctuary, the first legal mushroom church in the United States. What if the original eucharist was a mushroom?

[01:13:40] - How to get started using psychedelic mushrooms

https://www.psanctuary.org

References from the show:

* Danny Goler’s experiments with lasers and people on DMT

* The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name

by Brian C. Muraresku

Related episodes:

* Ancient Wisdom, Modern Minds: An Exploration of Death, Conception, Consciousness, AI, and the Song of the Jungle with Maestro Hamilton Souther

* The Voice as Sacred Instrument: Icaros, Plant Spirits, and Vocal Transformation

* Maestro Hamilton Souther: Plant Medicine, Sorcery, Shamanigans, and Liberation from Trauma

This episode was sponsored by Born Free Method.

The Born Free Method digital playground includes over 60 hrs of pre-recorded lessons (w/ slides) spread out over 180+ lessons when you enroll. You will also be invited to a Zoom call (recorded) every other week hosted by me, Sara, and both. We also often have guest speakers, and you will have access to recordings for all 100+ of our past calls/interviews. Enroll for your 7-day free trial!

More ways to work with Nathan:Support for Midwives | Private Consultation | Clear & FreeMedical Disclaimer: Born Free Method: The Podcast is an educational program. No information conveyed through this podcast should be construed as medical advice. These conversations are available to the public for educational and entertainment purposes only.

Music provided by RealMovieScores / Pond5

Born Free Method: The Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I am so glad that you are here!

There are a lot of birth- and pregnancy-related podcasts, and many do a great job of breaking down the clinical information pertaining to fertility, birth, pregnancy, and postpartum.

This is all fine and good…but I have still have questions despite being dual board-certified as an OBGYN and hospice and palliative care physician.

What is life?Where do babies come from?Does it matter how babies come in to the world?What is consciousness?What is intelligence?What happens to us when we die?These are the types of questions that keep my heart strumming! And every episode of Born Free Method: the Podcast aims to provide a small piece to the puzzle.

Enjoy!

www.bornfreemethod.com

Hamilton Souther has lived in the Peruvian Amazon for two decades, and it took him 14 years of intensive training to get to a place where he felt he could fully accept his role as a facilitator of plant medicine visionary experiences.I have learning through Hamilton’s online courses and private Telegram community how to conduct ceremonies for myself and others. He teaches from the perspective of a true master with the humility to admit that there is still so much to learn despite having gone through thousands of visionary plant medicine experiences himself. As such, Maestro Hamilton makes for a wonderful teacher and mentor for those interested in deepening their connection to the plants, holding space for healing, facilitating ceremony, and appreciating the complexity of “God”, the universe, the micro, the macro, consciousness, and life itself. And these are a few of the topics that we discuss in this very exciting conversation!

Visit BlueMorpho.org for Hamilton’s retreats and online course. You’ll find community, education, support, compassion, and new ways of looking at the world. Tell them Nathan Riley sent you.

[00:13:00] - Who is Maestro Hamilton Souther? What is Blue Morpho?

[00:15:30] - We’ve done so much damage to the Earth. Why would plants/fungi want to support us? Perhaps there’s a symbiotic relationship…

[00:22:40] - Did the plants perhaps have some role in the compulsion of shamans to make these medicines accessible to those who needed this symbiotic relationship (i.e. outsiders)? What is the cost to the “natural” world if Homo Sapiens is unable to acknowledge their relationship with the natural world? What would it be like to be a plant in the rainforest?

[00:31:08] - How do we bridge the gap between Western ideals and the interconnectedness that can be learned through shamanic technologies? The former are exclusive; the latter are inclusive.

[00:37:55] - What is “God”?

[00:47:06] - What happens when our physical bodies die?

[00:53:02] - Where babies come from? The passive creation process of nature is ongoing. Insights about conscious conception. And challenging the linear notion of ancestry.

[01:01:30] - What about this sense that many families feel regarding babies “trying to come through”? The myriad of feelings that emerge after miscarriage, not all of which are entirely negative. Value of dreams.

[01:09:10] - The beauty of acknowledging how little we actually know about life, the planet, and consciousness and the joy of exploring the nature of love. The medicine song of the jungle.

[01:21:16] - What role does technology play in the advance of society and community? Perhaps AI might liberate us from the need to always access our computational intelligence so that we might further develop other innate intelligences like our emotional intelligence. The Earth does not misplace its intelligence.

References from the conversation:

* Masters of the Living Energy: The Mystical World of the Q’ero of Peru, Joan Parisi Wilcox

* Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn

* Vocal Transformation

* Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin, by Robin Carhartt-Harris et al

* Saunaspace infrared bulbs and sauna (no financial affiliation)

Related episodes:

* Hamilton Souther: On the Use of Plant Medicines in Releasing Birth Trauma

* Maestro Hamilton Souther: Plant Medicine, Sorcery, Shamanigans, and Liberation from Trauma

* The Voice as Sacred Instrument: Icaros, Plant Spirits, and Vocal Transformation

This episode was sponsored by Born Free Method.

The Born Free Method digital playground includes over 60 hrs of pre-recorded lessons (w/ slides) spread out over 180+ lessons when you enroll. You will also be invited to a Zoom call (recorded) every other week hosted by me, Sara, and both. We also often have guest speakers, and you will have access to recordings for all 100+ of our past calls/interviews. Enroll for your 7-day free trial!

More ways to work with Nathan:Support for Midwives | Private Consultation | Clear & FreeMedical Disclaimer: Born Free Method: The Podcast is an educational program. No information conveyed through this podcast should be construed as medical advice. These conversations are available to the public for educational and entertainment purposes only.Icaro heart in intro and outro performed by Hamilton Souther

Born Free Method: The Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I met Maryn Azoff and Patrick Surdam through their Vocal Transformation program. Well…to be clear…my wife found them on Instagram and went to Costa Rica on a whim to workshop with them for a week, and it changed her life and mine as a result.

Maryn is a professional singer, and Patrick is a professional musician. Their goal? Help you reclaim what was rightfully yours at birth: your voice.

But their retreats aren’t necessarily a means of getting through to Hollywood on America’s Got Talent, although perhaps that could be the case for some. Their workshopping is a means of getting you out of your head and into your body.

When you are embodied, you have no problem using your voice, standing your ground, and moving your hips.

What does this have to do with birth?

Giving birth isn’t something we do in our heads. It’s a fully embodied experience. And yet…most women giving birth in our country are trying to think their way through this sacred archetypal transformation. When they reach out for support from birthworkers, the latter are also often stuck up in their heads.

What would it mean for the world if the women birthing babies and the birthworkers supporting this process weren’t totally caught up in their heads but rather embodied in the moment?

You can’t think your way into conception. Data can’t love you like your partner. And babies can’t feel safe because of some protocol devised in an Ivory tower. But our culture seems to think so.

None of this is your fault. So don’t do that thing that we all tend to do, where we whip ourselves for “not doing it right.”

When you were born, you didn’t apologize for how loud you cried. You didn’t apologize for coloring outside the lines as a toddler. But as you matured, Mother Culture - the parents, priests, and “leaders” who were there to guide you - compelled you to be small and “think before you speak”.

I have a vision for maternity care, and I suspect that it’s going to very hard to realize this vision if we remain stuck in the “mental” game of statistics, protocols, and procedures. We need to dis-member ourselves and re-member what a gift it is to be alive, to have a voice, to have legs and hips, and to use these tools of expression as boldly as possible.

This conversation is the beginning of something huge…

Please share this episode if anything resonates with you! And go check out all of Vocal Transformation’s offerings if you were inspired by this conversation!

[00:19:20] - Introduction to the professional musicians behind Vocal Transformation; sound is produced by and can harmonize the body (and world); music can help you transcend the material notion of “I”; the voice is your supreme instrument[00:28:41] - The spirits of plants (visionary or otherwise) can help us remember our connectedness to everything and everyone; if we are honest with ourselves, we don’t really know anything with 100% certainty - life is a mystery; plants can reinforce some uncomfortable truths that we’ve been taught about ourselves; dis-membering so that you can re-member; babies aren’t born with a sense of limitations (we edit and manipulate them to be quiet)[00:43:51] - The value of a connection to the Earth (Pachamama) for orienting our questions around the mysteries of life; the value of ancestry and lineage; the United States does, indeed, have a rich cultral heritage through the music that we’ve been producing for 100 years[00:57:14] - Icaros are songs taught to us by plants and that can be then used to call in the spirits of plants in ceremony; these songs can come to us at any time if we are listening[01:08:16] - The goal of Maryn and Patrick for those who attend a Vocal Transformation Expressions Retreat is to find your authentic “song” and to reawaken the body (drop from your head into your heart); Expressions is about “soul” and finding the beatGo check out all of Vocal Transformation’s offerings if you were inspired by this conversation!

Additional resources related to the conversation:

* Masters of the Living Energy: The Mystical World of the Q’ero of Peru

by Joan Parisi Wilcox

* Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

* Tribe of Love (Maryn is a vocalist is some their music is played in their ceremonies)

* One of my favorite songs by Cura Cura, “Dead Man”

Related episodes:

* Maryn’s first appearance on the podcast

* Hamilton Souther: On the Use of Plant Medicines in Releasing Birth Trauma

* Maestro Hamilton Souther: Plant Medicine, Sorcery, Shamanigans, and Liberation from Trauma

This episode was sponsored by Born Free Method.

The Born Free Method digital playground includes over 60 hrs of pre-recorded lessons (w/ slides) spread out over 180+ lessons when you enroll. You will also be invited to a Zoom call (recorded) every other week hosted by me, Sara, and both. We also often have guest speakers, and you will have access to recordings for all 100+ of our past calls/interviews. Enroll for your 7-day free trial!

More ways to work with Nathan:Support for Midwives | Private Consultation | Clear & FreeMedical Disclaimer: Born Free Method: The Podcast is an educational program. No information conveyed through this podcast should be construed as medical advice. These conversations are available to the public for educational and entertainment purposes only.Music provided by Cura Cura Music

Born Free Method: The Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Sara Rosser, CPM, and I (Nathan Riley, MD), reunited in Florida for an organizing meeting ahead of the 2026 Born Free Twins-Breech Gathering, which takes place in Austin, TX, November 12-15, 2026. While we were awaiting the rest of our amazing team, we sat down to discuss Sara’s recent home birth to which I was an attendant. There were a number of things that arose that could have resulted in a hospital transfer and probably c-section, but she knew herself and trusted her team. At the heart of her birth was workshopping between Sara, me, and Sara’s midwife, leading to this episode’s conversation around consent, disagreement, parenting, and more, such as vaccines. This conversation also gave us the opportunity to reflect on the value that we bring to our Born Free Method Community members on a daily basis.Follow Sara and Bornfreemethod on Instagram!If you’re currently pregnant, planning to have kids in the future, already parents, or if you’re a birthworker, come try out the Born Free Method for FREE.

[00:04:15] - Nathan attended Sara’s surprise breech birth; building a birth team that you trust; workshopping before hospital transfer

[00:20:15] - we must not let our fear of hospitals delay transfer, especially when a birthing woman senses something is off

[00:27:05] - exercising freedom requires that you also own the outcomes of your decisions (vaccines as a case study); a reminder on what it means for a family to provide consent; when parents disagree about interventions, who gets veto power?; struggling with pediatric decisions

[00:38:00] - you can’t undo decisions related to your child, so you must start working on your parenting styles as soon as you consider trying to conceive; the power of saying “not now” to interventions

[00:48:00] - advice for families risking social ostracization as the cost of exercising their autonomy; don’t presume that you know the position of your friends and family on various

Related episodes:

* Dr. Larry Palevsky: the Pediatrician You Didn’t Know You Needed

* Who Holds the Wisdom? Learning to Transgress Hegemony in Midwifery and Maternity Care

* In the Waters of Rememberance: Honoring an Obstetrics Hero

This episode was sponsored by Born Free Method.

The Born Free Method digital playground includes over 60 hrs of pre-recorded lessons (w/ slides) spread out over 180+ lessons when you enroll. You will also be invited to a Zoom call (recorded) every other week hosted by me, Sara, and both. We also often have guest speakers, and you will have access to recordings for all 100+ of our past calls/interviews. Enroll for your 7-day free trial!More ways to work with Nathan:Support for Midwives | Private Consultation | Clear & FreeMedical Disclaimer: Born Free Method: The Podcast is an educational program. No information conveyed through this podcast should be construed as medical advice. These conversations are available to the public for educational and entertainment purposes only.Music provided by RealMovieScores / Pond5

Born Free Method: The Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Ann-Emilie Augustinus is a Danish midwife or, in her native language, jordemoder, which literally translates to “earth mother”. Ann-Emilie and I connected as a consequence of ongoing limitations to midwifery practice in Denmark. At present, midwives are virtually inaccessible to families in Denmark.

Often European models of maternity care are hailed in contrast to the U.S. models, but from her story, you’ll be able to appreciate that midwifery is collapsing worldwide. In fact, another recent guest - Hadhee Jah, the Last Birthkeeper of the Maldives - shares a shockingly similar story.

How did a people found through Viking conquest and settlement based in freedom allow this to pass in Denmark? This is what we discuss in this episode. We also dive in to traditional practices pertaining to birth, many of which could still be practiced today, but these oral traditions are fading with the midwives.

00:06:30 - The collapse of midwifery in Denmark. What is a person to do if they aren’t permitted (legally) to attend childbirth. Why have the people of Denmark stopped trusting in their bodies to have babies? The modern day witch hunts.

00:24:20 - How did the Danes go from autonomous combatants of authority historically to following every rule passed down by authority figures? Thor, Völva, and more. What were midwives of older times like in Denmark?

00:32:50 - Origins of ljósmóðir (Light Mother), jordemoder (Earth Mother); traditional practices around birth in Denmark; how might the moon affect pregnancy and birth

00:53:56 - Birth and death was a normal part of Danish tradition and why is free birth on the rise? Corruption of midwifery through the legal system.

Follow Ann-Emelie on Instagram.

Related episodes:

* Whapio Bartlett: On Wisdom Keeping, with a Truly Legendary Midwife

* Hadhee Jah: Traditional midwifery is losing ground, a conversation with The Last Birthkeeper

* Carol Gautschi: Confronting Fear (and the Law) in Midwifery

This episode was sponsored by Born Free Method.

The Born Free Method digital playground includes over 60 hrs of pre-recorded lessons (w/ slides) spread out over 180+ lessons when you enroll. You will also be invited to a Zoom call (recorded) every other week hosted by me, Sara, and both. We also often have guest speakers, and you will have access to recordings for all 100+ of our past calls/interviews.All of this for just $200 per month.

More ways to work with Nathan:Support for Midwives | Private Consultation | Clear & FreeMedical Disclaimer: Born Free Method: The Podcast is an educational program. No information conveyed through this podcast should be construed as medical advice. These conversations are available to the public for educational and entertainment purposes only.Music provided by RealMovieScores / Pond5

If you feel like homeopathy is baloney, you’re not alone. This was my general position on this centuries-old “science” until I met Rudi Verspoor, one of the world’s leading scholars on the work of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathy. In collaboration with Steven Decker, Rudi undertook a decades-long re-examination of Hahnemann’s complete medical system — not merely homeopathy, but the broader framework Hahnemann himself called Heilkunst, meaning “the art of making whole.”As a result of the general failure of existing homeopaths and homeopathic schools to incorporate these insights, Rudi helped found the Hahnemann College for Heilkunst, which provides a four-year program internationally to train practitioners in Heilkunst. Rudi has written and co-written numerous books, including Homeopathy Renewed: A Sequential Approach to the Treatment of Chronic Illness, Homeopathy Re-examined: Beyond the Classical Paradigm, The Dynamic Legacy: Hahnemann from Homeopathy to Heilkunst, Autism: The Journey Back — Recovering the Self Through Heilkunst, and Scandal in Köthen: The Real Homeopathic Love Story, among others.At the heart of Verspoor’s work is the conviction that classical homeopathy, as widely practiced today, represents only a fragment of what Hahnemann truly envisioned — and that the complete system of Heilkunst, with its emphasis on causal prescribing, inherited disease, and the dynamic energy underlying health, offers a far more profound path to healing.Reach out to Rudi’s team if you want to work with one of the best: [email protected]

00:13:00 - How Samuel Hahnemann’s work has been distorted over the centuries; sustantive power versus generative power (duality of life force); vitalism has been largely ignored in western medicine; palingenesis versus homeostasis; heilkhunst; physician versus medician; bio-logic

00:34:15 - Law of similars; case study of china bark and arsenic; wesen = essence (everything living thing and thought and diseases has a wesen); Hahnemann’s dilutional experiments that crossed over from material to dynamics

00:49:00 - In the world of dynamics, we can start to treat emotional and traumatic wesens; how did homeopathy become a practice of merely palliating symptoms? Why hasn’t homeopathy performed well in randomized control trials? Remedies for chronic miasms; remedies for “being pissed off”

01:17:30 - Vaccination versus immunization drawing from Steiner and the history of small pox inoculation; vaccinations ultimately weaken the immune system; original antigenic sin; homeoprophylaxis

Reach out to Rudi’s team if you want to work with one of the best: [email protected]

References from this conversation:

* Rudi’s paper on chronic miasms (free after you create an account)

* 1796 white paper on homeopathy by Hahnemann

* THE DYNAMIC LEGACY: Hahnemann From Homeopathy to Heilkunst - An On-going Study of the Meaning in the Writings of Samuel Hahnemann within the Context of the Dynamic System of Thought Leading Thereby to a More Powerful System of Cure for Disease

Related episodes:

* Of Yarrow and Men: the Seasonal Alchemy of Huma Decay

Born Free Method: The Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This episode was sponsored by Born Free Method.

The Born Free Method digital playground includes over 60 hrs of pre-recorded lessons (w/ slides) spread out over 180+ lessons when you enroll. You will also be invited to a Zoom call (recorded) every other week hosted by me, Sara, and both. We also often have guest speakers, and you will have access to recordings for all 100+ of our past calls/interviews.All of this for just $200 per month.

More ways to work with Nathan:Support for Midwives | Private Consultation | Clear & FreeMedical Disclaimer: Born Free Method: The Podcast is an educational program. No information conveyed through this podcast should be construed as medical advice. These conversations are available to the public for educational and entertainment purposes only.Music provided by RealMovieScores / Pond5

Hadhee Jah is an Ayurvedic postpartum doula and birth sovereignty advocate originally from the Maldives, whose work bridges ancestral wisdom with the modern experience of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery. Rooted deeply in her Maldivian heritage, she has dedicated her life to reclaiming traditional approaches to motherhood and postnatal care.Hadhee’s path into birth work was profoundly shaped by her own birth story. During her labor, she experienced a deep spiritual connection with her grandmother — a transformative moment that awakened her commitment to honoring the wisdom carried across generations. That personal experience, along with the challenges she navigated in her own postpartum journey, became the foundation for her calling.Drawing on Ayurvedic principles and Maldivian communal birth traditions, Hadhee champions practices such as warm oil massage, belly binding, and nurturing postpartum rituals that prioritize the full recovery and emotional wellbeing of new mothers. Central to her philosophy is the belief that the postpartum period is not merely a brief recovery phase, but a sacred, lifelong journey — a perspective she describes as “birth sovereignty,” guiding women to birth and mother with fierce self-trust.Hadhee has spoken extensively on the importance of community-based, grassroots maternal care, advocating for mothers to reclaim their autonomy within healthcare systems. She advises women on choosing the right midwife and navigating hospital environments to create empowering, personalized birth experiences.She is the author of the book, Postpartum Is Forever, in which she draws on her Maldivian heritage to present a vision of postnatal care rooted in ancestral wisdom and Ayurvedic tradition. The book argues for viewing postpartum not as a medical milestone to complete, but as an ongoing dimension of a woman’s identity and health.Connect with Hadhee through her website, Instagram, and Youtube. Purchase her book HERE.

00:06:45 - Birth is completely medicalized in the Maldives, but there used to be a rich history of traditional midwifery. Traditionally, it was typical to “warm” the women postpartum for 40 days. This wisdom is still being passed on secondarily, “the wisdom wants to find somebody to carry it forward”.00:12:36 - What did traditional midwifery used to look like in the Maldives? The way in which babies come into the world holds great import for the future of the world. You are gifted with the experience of giving birth!00:23:28 - What was the impulse that provoked policy change around midwifery in the Maldives and what lessons might be learn for the future of midwifery care in the United States?00:27:55 - Hadhee’s free birth, and why she ended up in the hospital despite her baby being born happy and healthy00:43:00 - What are the detriments to childbirth of a woman feeling watched or observed?00:47:02 - Ayurveda, belly binding, and yoni steamingConnect with Hadhee through her website, Instagram, and Youtube. Purchase her book HERE.

References from the conversation:

* The Last Birthkeeper (Hadhee’s 10-minute documentary)

* Train with Hadhee’s teacher to become an Ayurvedic postpartum doula

Related episodes:

* Carol Gautschi: Confronting Fear (and the Law) in Midwifery

* Who Holds the Wisdom? Learning to Transgress Hegemony in Midwifery and Maternity Care

* In the Waters of Rememberance: Honoring an Obstetrics Hero

Born Free Method: The Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This episode was sponsored by Born Free Method.

The Born Free Method digital playground includes over 60 hrs of pre-recorded lessons (w/ slides) spread out over 180+ lessons when you enroll. You will also be invited to a Zoom call (recorded) every other week hosted by me, Sara, and both. We also often have guest speakers, and you will have access to recordings for all 100+ of our past calls/interviews.All of this for just $200 per month.

More ways to work with Nathan:Support for Midwives | Private Consultation | Clear & FreeMedical Disclaimer: Born Free Method: The Podcast is an educational program. No information conveyed through this podcast should be construed as medical advice. These conversations are available to the public for educational and entertainment purposes only.Music provided by RealMovieScores / Pond5

Hadhee Jah is an Ayurvedic postpartum doula and birth sovereignty advocate originally from the Maldives, whose work bridges ancestral wisdom with the modern experience of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum recovery. Rooted deeply in her Maldivian heritage, she has dedicated her life to reclaiming traditional approaches to motherhood and postnatal care.Hadhee’s path into birth work was profoundly shaped by her own birth story. During her labor, she experienced a deep spiritual connection with her grandmother — a transformative moment that awakened her commitment to honoring the wisdom carried across generations. That personal experience, along with the challenges she navigated in her own postpartum journey, became the foundation for her calling.Drawing on Ayurvedic principles and Maldivian communal birth traditions, Hadhee champions practices such as warm oil massage, belly binding, and nurturing postpartum rituals that prioritize the full recovery and emotional wellbeing of new mothers. Central to her philosophy is the belief that the postpartum period is not merely a brief recovery phase, but a sacred, lifelong journey — a perspective she describes as “birth sovereignty,” guiding women to birth and mother with fierce self-trust.Hadhee has spoken extensively on the importance of community-based, grassroots maternal care, advocating for mothers to reclaim their autonomy within healthcare systems. She advises women on choosing the right midwife and navigating hospital environments to create empowering, personalized birth experiences.She is the author of the book, Postpartum Is Forever, in which she draws on her Maldivian heritage to present a vision of postnatal care rooted in ancestral wisdom and Ayurvedic tradition. The book argues for viewing postpartum not as a medical milestone to complete, but as an ongoing dimension of a woman’s identity and health.Connect with Hadhee through her website, Instagram, and Youtube. Purchase her book HERE.

00:06:45 - Birth is completely medicalized in the Maldives, but there used to be a rich history of traditional midwifery. Traditionally, it was typical to “warm” the women postpartum for 40 days. This wisdom is still being passed on secondarily, “the wisdom wants to find somebody to carry it forward”.00:12:36 - What did traditional midwifery used to look like in the Maldives? The way in which babies come into the world holds great import for the future of the world. You are gifted with the experience of giving birth!00:23:28 - What was the impulse that provoked policy change around midwifery in the Maldives and what lessons might be learn for the future of midwifery care in the United States?00:27:55 - Hadhee’s free birth, and why she ended up in the hospital despite her baby being born happy and healthy00:43:00 - What are the detriments to childbirth of a woman feeling watched or observed?00:47:02 - Ayurveda, belly binding, and yoni steamingConnect with Hadhee through her website, Instagram, and Youtube. Purchase her book HERE.

References from the conversation:

* The Last Birthkeeper (Hadhee’s 10-minute documentary)

* Train with Hadhee’s teacher to become an Ayurvedic postpartum doula

Related episodes:

* Carol Gautschi: Confronting Fear (and the Law) in Midwifery

* Who Holds the Wisdom? Learning to Transgress Hegemony in Midwifery and Maternity Care

* In the Waters of Rememberance: Honoring an Obstetrics Hero

Born Free Method: The Podcast is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This episode was sponsored by Born Free Method.

The Born Free Method digital playground includes over 60 hrs of pre-recorded lessons (w/ slides) spread out over 180+ lessons when you enroll. You will also be invited to a Zoom call (recorded) every other week hosted by me, Sara, and both. We also often have guest speakers, and you will have access to recordings for all 100+ of our past calls/interviews.All of this for just $200 per month.

More ways to work with Nathan:Support for Midwives | Private Consultation | Clear & FreeMedical Disclaimer: Born Free Method: The Podcast is an educational program. No information conveyed through this podcast should be construed as medical advice. These conversations are available to the public for educational and entertainment purposes only.Music provided by RealMovieScores / Pond5