By Nathan Riley
The podcast currently has 203 episodes available.
Maternity care in the United States needs a re-boot. Our induction rates are rising, our c-section rates are rising, pregnancy complication rates are rising, fertility rates are declining, postpartum depression rates are rising...the list goes on.
What are we going to do about it?
Most people see the answer as simple: more pharmaceuticals, more technology, more "science".
But what is science? The scientific method is quite simple: ask questions, make guesses at the answers, test our guesses, and then draw conclusions. Repeat ad infinitum.
Most physicians and healthcare professionals aren't using their brains to their full capacity because they are too occupied documenting, billing, and following rules. This will get us nowhere...We need to be curious and start asking hard questions.
Furthermore, do physicians hold the answer to our maternity woes? Unlikely. In fact, I would argue that a multi- or transdisciplinary approach to maternity care, with midwifery-led care becoming the default in any country is a major part of the solution.
Born Free Method: The Podcast is hosted by Nathan Riley, MD, a dual board-certified OBGYN, and the conversations here extend beyond the hospitals, beyond the clinics, beyond the profession of "medicine". It implores you to get back to what matters most: birthing families.
On this podcast, you'll enjoy conversations with those inside and outside the medical industrial complex. You'll enjoy clinical summaries of ACOG's practice bulletins (formerly heard at the Obgyno Wino Podcast). You'll enjoy personal essays from Nathan himself on the nature of birth(work). And you'll enjoy occasional recordings of guest appearances to the Born Free Method's twice monthly community calls.
Be loved!
Work with Nathan:
Beloved Holistics | Born Free Method | Clear & Free | Twins-Breech
Medical 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 AudioKraken / Pond5
The Episode was made possible by Immune Intel AHCC® & WeNatal
In the 19th century, a young surgeon named J. Marion Sims headed to Montgomery, Alabama, seeking a route to fame and power. He saw an opportunity in a highly morbid condition known as vesicovaginal fistula, whereby a false passage between the bladder and vagina forms as a consequence of difficult childbirth, and began experimenting with techniques to find a cure. The issue was that nobody in their right mind was willing to volunteer for this type of surgery, so he coerced Black enslaved women. The first of his patients to have been presumably “cured” was Anarcha. If this is the first time that you have heard her name, you are likely not alone. This conversation gives a voice to the Mothers of Gynecology, an appropriate moniker for the women who suffered at the hands of surgeons like J. Marion Sims and whose sacrifices led to the advent of the profession of gynecology.
Visit the show notes for more.
Connect with J.C. Hallman:
Reference from the show:
Connect with Nathan:
My Online Courses:
This episode was made possible by:
Medical Disclaimer: The Holistic OBGYN 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 EdvardGaresPremium / Pond5
Send me a voice message.
The Episode was made possible by Immune Intel AHCC® & WeNatal
I met Teshna while attending a birth in Albany, NY. My friend for whom I had traveled to Albany to assist with the birth of his fourth child had recommended I check out her practice. It was a very modest chiropractic studio, but the experience with Teshna was anything but ordinary. She introduced me to a unique blend of classical chiropractic care and other techniques meant to help me clear my limiting beliefs. She had me say out loud various phrases about my life and how I perceive love in my life, and then she used muscle testing to determine if I “really believed” what I was saying. As it turns out, I’ve been lying to myself about much that I held in my world. And then the magic trick…She corrected these incongruencies using simple touch, red light, and a few other techniques. It was like magic, and I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t experienced it myself. Meet Teshna Beaulieu, who is likely the most unusual healer I’ve ever met.
Visit the show notes for more.
Connect with Teshna:
Reference from the show:
Connect with Nathan:
My Online Courses:
This episode was made possible by:
Medical Disclaimer: The Holistic OBGYN 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 EdvardGaresPremium / Pond5
Send me a voice message.
The Episode was made possible by Immune Intel AHCC® & WeNatal
Are you ready for a power hour? You are likely already familiar with my guests on today’s episode, but if not, meet Lily and Lisa. Lily Nichols is the author of two of the most important nutritional books ever written pertaining to pregnancy: “Real Food for Pregnancy” and “Real Food for Gestational Diabetes”. Lisa Hendrickson-Jack is the author of “The Fifth Vital Sign”. Lily’s work has been most relevant once you’re already pregnant; Lisa’s work has been beloved by those trying to conceive. Naturally, Lily and Lisa have combined forces to write the new bible for fertility: “Real Food for Fertility”. Guys, when I say I have found my new favorite reference, I mean it with over 2400 citations, “Real Food for Fertility” combined nutritional and metabolic science with fertility awareness tracking. We could have chatted for 6 hours in this interview, but we had to keep it to 60 min, so we dive deep into lifestyle modification and nutrition to improve egg and sperm quality, and you’re going to be wowed!
Visit the show notes for more.
Connect with Lily Nichols:Reference from the show:
Connect with Nathan:
My Online Courses:
This episode was made possible by:
Medical Disclaimer: The Holistic OBGYN 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 EdvardGaresPremium / Pond5
Send me a voice message.
The Episode was made possible by Immune Intel AHCC® & WeNatal
Babies die. Fetuses die. We all die. And yet, we are so death illiterate that even seasoned veterans in the health professions often struggle with how to show up when death inevitably shows up on the doorstep. This topic is especially challenging - but even more important - when the “D” word arises in the context of pregnancy and childbirth. Join me in this very heartfelt conversation with Tamara MacIntyre, an end-of-life architect and retired chiropractor about death, grief, souls, loss, and love.
Visit the show notes for more.
Connect with Tamara:
Learn about Tamara's work:
References and Links from the show:
Connect with Nathan:
My Online Courses:
This episode was made possible by:
Medical Disclaimer: The Holistic OBGYN 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 EdvardGaresPremium / Pond5
Send me a voice message.
The Episode was made possible by Immune Intel AHCC® & WeNatal
I don’t think I have prepared for any interview as hard as I prepared for this one. My guest today is Marc Gafni, former rabbi, Hebrew mystic, and author of a number of books, most notably “A Return to Eros”, “Your Unique Self”, and his most recent book, “First Principles and First Values: Forty-Two Propositions on Cosmoerotic Humanism, the Meta-Crisis, and the World to Come”. I recommend you take his writing in through small sips versus trying to binge any of them on a weekend. They are potent.
In this conversation, we discuss:
Brace yourself…you are entering the complex mind and heart of Marc Gafni…
Visit the show notes for more.
Connect with Marc:
Learn about Marc's work:
References and Links from the show:
Marc’s books:
2024 Born Free Twins-Breech Conference:
Join 150 birth workers and 20+ amazing presenters in Louisville, August 8-11, to learn some new skills, make some new friends, and show up holistically for your birthing clients!
Visit the website and register
Connect with Nathan:
My Online Courses:
This episode was made possible by:
Medical Disclaimer: The Holistic OBGYN 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 EdvardGaresPremium / Pond5
Send me a voice message.
The Episode was made possible by Immune Intel AHCC® & WeNatal
Shawnee and I met through a 2023 trip to South Africa with Restore Forward and Sevonna Brown. She then introduced me to the film Aftershock, which highlights the ripple effect that results from a woman dying in childbirth, and it was Shawnee’s daughter, Shamony, whose death inspired the film. Shamony is survived by Omari and their two little children. Shawnee and Omari are thus no stranger to the lived experience of losing another black woman at the hands of the most cumbersome and expensive healthcare system on the planet. Why are black families suffering in ways that white families will never have to understand? What can be done to rectify the system? How do we heal as a collective? We do our best to answer these questions in this humbling conversation…
Visit the show notes for more.
Connect with Omari:
Connect with Shawnee:
Learn about their work:
References and Links from the show:
2024 Born Free Twins-Breech Conference:
Join 150 birth workers and 20+ amazing presenters in Louisville, August 8-11, to learn some new skills, make some new friends, and show up holistically for your birthing clients!
Visit the website and register
Connect with Nathan:
My Online Courses:
This episode was made possible by:
Medical Disclaimer: The Holistic OBGYN 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 EdvardGaresPremium / Pond5
Send me a voice message.
The Episode was made possible by Immune Intel AHCC® & WeNatal
I left the conventional medical model because I was worried about being punished for prioritizing patient autonomy over my institution's liability. I thought that the only way that I could reasonably offer vaginal breech birth support for families in need was in the home. But after I met today’s guest, my presumptions were drawn into question. Denny Hartung is an OBGYN and FACOG happily working within a small, community hospital in Wisconsin, and he’s doing just fine. How is this possible? Why aren’t his privileges being questioned? Tune in to find out…And if you want to meet Denny in person and work through some simulations with this walking legend, join us at the 2024 Born Free Twins-Breech. Grab your ticket before we fill up!
Visit the show notes for more.
Connect with Denny:
Reference from the show:
2024 Born Free Twins-Breech Conference:
Join 150 birth workers and 20+ amazing presenters in Louisville, August 8-11, to learn some new skills, make some new friends, and show up holistically for your birthing clients!
Visit the website and register
Connect with Nathan:
My Online Courses:
This episode was made possible by:
Medical Disclaimer: The Holistic OBGYN 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 EdvardGaresPremium / Pond5
Send me a voice message.
The Episode was made possible by Immune Intel AHCC® & WeNatal
My guests today are some of the more important voices in birthwork in the United States today. Gail Tully is the founder of Spinning Babies®. Nicole Morales is a Spinning Babies® instructor and author of several books. Both of these women attend home births, and both fully embody informed consent and an individualized approach to maternity care. In this conversation, we get into positioning, movement, and breath to have a more easy birth, methods for getting your baby situated in the pelvis appropriately, and we even get into a soft debate around dogmatic concepts like “cardinal movements” and breech being a “variation of normal”. I love both Gail and Nicole so dearly, and I’m so excited that they’re going to be educated at the upcoming 2024 Born Free Twins-Breech. Grab your ticket before we fill up!
Visit the show notes for more.
Connect with Gail:
Connect with Nicole:
Reference from the show:
Join 150 birth workers and 20+ amazing presenters in Louisville, August 8-11, to learn some new skills, make some new friends, and show up holistically for your birthing clients!
Visit the website and register
Connect with Nathan:
My Online Courses:
This episode was made possible by:
Medical Disclaimer: The Holistic OBGYN 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 EdvardGaresPremium / Pond5
Send me a voice message.
The Episode was made possible by Immune Intel AHCC® & WeNatal
Dr. Motsei was one of my guides during a recent trip to South Africa to sit in a ceremony with Indigenous midwives through a program offered by my friend Sevonna Brown, National Director of Restore Forward. Sevonna has also been on the podcast. Mmatshilo is a prolific author, healer, and educator, and she will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming Born Free Twins-Breech Conference in Louisville. I am enrolled in her online program “African Spirituality of Childbirth”. In this flowing conversation, we talk about racism, colonization, and spirituality on her continent, using these themes to explore issues within maternal health and birthwork. This was one of my favorite interviews so far…
Come, see, and hear from Dr. Motsei and a range of other educators at the 2024 Born Free Twins-Breech. Grab your ticket before we fill up!
Visit the show notes for more.
Connect with Mmatshilo:
Reference from the show:
2024 Born Free Twins-Breech Conference:
Join 150 birth workers and 20+ amazing presenters in Louisville, August 8-11, to learn some new skills, make some new friends, and show up holistically for your birthing clients!
Visit the website and register
Connect with Nathan:
My Online Courses:
This episode was made possible by:
Medical Disclaimer: The Holistic OBGYN 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 EdvardGaresPremium / Pond5
Send me a voice message.
The podcast currently has 203 episodes available.