Born Free Method: The Podcast

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:

• Website
• Instagram

Reference from the show:

• Say Anarcha, by J.C. Hallman
• The Anarcha Archiv
• A short history of anaesthesia: from unspeakable agony to unlocking consciousness
• More information on vesicovaginal fistula
• Arguments of Sims’ apologizes
• Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, by Harriet A. Washington
• Nathan Bozeman wiki page
• Speak! Move! Change! Mbongi event
• J. Marion Sims was a b*tch t-shirts

Connect with Nathan:

• Instagram | Youtube
• Midwife in need of collaboration?
• Want to consult with Nathan?

My Online Courses:

• Born Free Method: Pregnancy and Postpartum Support
• Clear + Free: Your Holistic Solution to Persistent HPV

This episode was made possible by:

• Immune Intel AHCC® - code BELOVED10 for 10% off
• WeNatal - Free bottle of fish oil with purchase of Him + Her prenatals

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:

• Websites: The Prana Foundation & Conscious Death
• Instagram

Learn about Tamara's work:

• Website
• Let’s cope 
• Instagram 

References and Links from the show:

• Nora McInerney's TED talk
• Die Wise, by Stephen Jenkinson
• A new Course Launch called "Life's Limitations: Reframing Diagnosis & Loss in the Pregnancy and Pediatric Practice'
• Course Sales Funnel: reframingloss.com - the course is October 19th, 2024 (4 hours CE for some regulated health professionals)

Connect with Nathan:

• Instagram | Youtube | Tiktok
• Midwife in need of collaboration?
• Want to consult with Nathan?

My Online Courses:

• Born Free Method: Pregnancy and Postpartum Support
• Clear + Free: Your Holistic Solution to Persistent HPV

This episode was made possible by:

• Immune Intel AHCC® - code BELOVED10 for 10% off
• WeNatal - Free bottle of fish oil with purchase of Him + Her prenatals

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:

• the Divine Feminine and how the world’s religions have got it wrong
• how the comparison of masculine and feminine is fraught with disastrous outcomes
• postmodernity and the evolution of love and a new grammar of value through which a shared story of value can be developed in order to solve the world’s problems
• shame as the root of all evil and how a new sexual narrative - the sex erotic - is the only “cure” for shame
• the importance of these principles in addressing the myriad of issues that plague maternity care worldwide
• Limitations within the work of Jordan Peterson, Yuval Harari, Wilhelm Reich, and even Brené Brown

Brace yourself…you are entering the complex mind and heart of Marc Gafni…

Visit the show notes for more.

Connect with Marc:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• X
• TikTok
• Facebook

Learn about Marc's work:

• Free Unique Self Mini-Course
• Unique Self-Emergence Training Program
• Free Weekly Broadcast with Dr. Marc Gafni

References and Links from the show:

Marc’s books:

• A Return to Eros: The Radical Experience of Being Fully Alive
• Your Unique Self: The Radical Path to Personal Enlightenment
• The Erotic And The Holy: Kabbalistic Tantra for Everyday Living
• Join Marc in Holland for 5-Day Intensive Mystery School, November 13-17, 2024, at erosmysteryschool.com
• First Principles and First Values: Forty-Two Propositions on Cosmoerotic Humanism, the Meta-Crisis, and the World to Come

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:

• Instagram | Youtube | Tiktok
• Midwife in need of collaboration?
• Want to consult with Nathan?

My Online Courses:

• Born Free Method: Pregnancy and Postpartum Support
• Clear + Free: Your Holistic Solution to Persistent HPV

This episode was made possible by:

• Immune Intel AHCC® - code BELOVED10 for 10% off
• WeNatal - Free bottle of fish oil with purchase of Him + Her prenatals

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:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram

Connect with Shawnee:

• LinkedIn
• Instagram

Learn about their work:

• Website
• Instagram

References and Links from the show:

• Speak! Move! Change!
• The ARIAH Foundation
• The Spirit of a Woman Leadership Development Institute 
• The Anarcha Archive
• Black Americans’ views about health disparities, experiences with health care from the Pew Research Center
• Aftershock film (trailer)
• Restore Forward
• CDC data on Black fathers (versus other races)

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:

• Instagram | Youtube | Tiktok
• Midwife in need of collaboration?
• Want to consult with Nathan?

My Online Courses:

• Born Free Method: Pregnancy and Postpartum Support
• Clear + Free: Your Holistic Solution to Persistent HPV

This episode was made possible by:

• Immune Intel AHCC® - code BELOVED10 for 10% off
• WeNatal - Free bottle of fish oil with purchase of Him + Her prenatals

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:

• Website
• LinkedIn

Reference from the show:

• Info on Critical Access Hospitals
• Breech Without Borders
• Breech provider directory (Breech Without Borders)

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:

• Instagram | Youtube | Tiktok
• Midwife in need of collaboration?
• Want to consult with Nathan?

My Online Courses:

• Born Free Method: Pregnancy and Postpartum Support
• Clear + Free: Your Holistic Solution to Persistent HPV

This episode was made possible by:

• Immune Intel AHCC® - code BELOVED10 for 10% off
• WeNatal - Free bottle of fish oil with purchase of Him + Her prenatals

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:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

Connect with Nicole:

• Website
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Reference from the show:

• Dynamic Body Balancing by Dr. Carol Phillips
• Forward Leaning Inversion to help baby turn from breech to cephalic
• A Manual of Midwifery, 1886 textbook
• Levels of the Pelvis
• S.A.F.E. technique for breech (Adrienne Caldwell)
• Side-lying release to help with asynclitism
• Breath and the pelvic floor with Julie Wiebe, PT
• BIRTHFIT online programs (code BORNFREE for 10% off)

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:

• Instagram | Y
• Midwife in need of collaboration?outube
• Want to consult with Nathan?

My Online Courses:

• Born Free Method: Pregnancy and Postpartum Support
• Clear + Free: Your Holistic Solution to Persistent HPV

This episode was made possible by:

• Immune Intel AHCC® - code BELOVED10 for 10% off
• WeNatal - Free bottle of fish oil with purchase of Him + Her prenatals

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:

• Websites: Afrika Ikalafe Pluriversity & Afrika Ikalafe
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

Reference from the show:

• Dr. Motsei’s books
• Find out more about Dr. Motsei’s online course on the Afrikan Spirituality of Childbirth
• God is Not a Man interview with Aubrey Matshiqi (MOYA Podcast)
• The Power of Myth, by Joseph Campbell

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:

• Instagram | Youtube | Tiktok
• Midwife in need of collaboration?
• Want to consult with Nathan?

My Online Courses:

• Born Free Method: Pregnancy and Postpartum Support
• Clear + Free: Your Holistic Solution to Persistent HPV

This episode was made possible by:

• Immune Intel AHCC® - code BELOVED10 for 10% off
• WeNatal - Free bottle of fish oil with purchase of Him + Her prenatals

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

Guests:

Sevonna Brown is a doula and national director of Restore Forward

Haize Hawke is a midwife in southern California and co-founder of The Victoria Project and The Bridge Midwives

This conversation is exactly what the birth community needs to hear. Birthwork is the ultimate expression of some of human life's scariest yet most rapturous moments. One becomes the other, and, as such, birthwork itself is an initiation to sitting with the rite of passage of childbirth. In this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss initiation rites, ancestral lineages, and steps toward resolving horizontal violence in birthwork. A part of this requires we seek a definition of “expertise” beyond labels and credentials alone. Remember: death is on the line in any true rite of passage. What is the role of discomfort as we sit with birth? For us? For the families whom we serve?

Sevonna and Haize will be MCing ("weavers of resonance") the upcoming Born Free Twins-Breech Conference in Louisville this August. Come meet them in person! Visit the website and register

Visit the show notes for more.

Connect with Sevonna:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• X

Connect with Haize:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

Reference from the show:

• Film: The Business of Birth Control
• Film: The Business of Being Born

Learn more about Sevonna and Haize’s work:

• The Bridge Midwives
• Rooted Birth
• Restore Forward
• The Victoria Project
• Afrika Ikalafe online training in African spirituality in childbirth

Connect with Nathan:

• Instagram | Youtube
• Midwife in need of collaboration?
• Want to consult with Nathan?

My Online Courses:

• Born Free Method: Pregnancy and Postpartum Support
• Clear + Free: Your Holistic Solution to Persistent HPV

This episode was made possible by:

• Immune Intel AHCC® - code BELOVED10 for 10% off
• WeNatal - Free bottle of fish oil with purchase of Him + Her prenatals

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

You will absolutely love this one! Mike and I have known each other for several years now. I helped him in his journey from boy to father, providing remote support to Mike and his wife through the birth of their little man Luca, and, in the process, I fell in love with this guy. Mike is a former world champion athlete turned conscious father. In this conversation, we go deep into the needs of men in a world that provides few tools for showing up presently and consciously. 

Visit the show notes for more.

Connect with Mike:

• Website
• Podcast: The Path with Mike Salemi
• Instagram

Reference from the show:

• Sacred Hunting
• From the Core, by John Wineland
• Father-child play: A systematic review of its frequency, characteristics and potential impact on children’s development

Use code BORNFREE20 to get 20% of either of Mike’s online exercise programs (Kettlebell Lifestyle & Athleticism 4 Life), which are good for everyone, from beginners through enthusiasts. (link → www.mikesalemi.io)

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:

• Instagram | Youtube
• Midwife in need of collaboration?
• Want to consult with Nathan?

My Online Courses:

• Born Free Method: Pregnancy and Postpartum Support
• Clear + Free: Your Holistic Solution to Persistent HPV

This episode was made possible by:

• Immune Intel AHCC® - code BELOVED10 for 10% off
• WeNatal - Free bottle of fish oil with purchase of Him + Her prenatals

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.