Yes, we're talking to a couple again today! Meet Giulia and Charles.

Giulia's first birth in Paris had one tool: a bathtub. When that was taken away, she had nothing left.

Her second birth, at home in Ericeira, was different. She had movement, hypnobirthing, a tense machine, mantras on the wall, drawings of the baby's position, a projector with waves on the beach, and two extraordinary midwives. She had spent months building a toolbox, one that could work no matter what happened.

And then, at midnight, contractions started. The pool was still being inflated. Her waters broke above the toilet. And Vasco arrived in less than ninety minutes, before anyone had time to send the midwives a WhatsApp message!

In this episode, Giulia and her partner Charles talk about what preparation really means, how they negotiated a home birth when Charles was completely against it, and what it looks like when a woman truly trusts her body.

And how Charles, who was not supposed to be anywhere near the birth itself, ended up catching his son in the bathroom.

"Our superpower is not about strength. It is about what happens when you trust and let it flow."

🎙️ Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/
Midwife Sónia Sofia de Carvalho Henriques Ferreira Lima & Verónica de Oliveira Cardoso Figueiredo: https://www.instagram.com/home_birth_
OBGYN Dr. Diogo Bruno: https://www.instagram.com/dr.diogobruno/

Giulia wrote down the toolbox she used:

Movement

•⁠ ⁠yoga ball

•⁠ ⁠⁠few positions to do on the bed that would not require too much efforts so I can est but would still help the baby go down his way

•⁠ ⁠⁠I did not had time to do yoga for example even though I wanted but I made a point to stay active all along the pregnancy (walking, riding or taking care of the horses, playing with my toddler) to be in the capacity of delivering intense effort on a long period of time

•⁠ ⁠⁠a birth pool

Environment

•⁠ ⁠candles

•⁠ ⁠⁠soft blankets and comfortable socks in case I was cold

•⁠ ⁠⁠an area with floor mattress and cushions

•⁠ ⁠⁠playlist with upbeat music I like

•⁠ ⁠⁠playlist with meditative music

•⁠ ⁠⁠playlist with hypnobirthing tracks

•⁠ ⁠⁠projector with a beach / island with the sounds of waves

•⁠ ⁠⁠walls were filled with mantra / drawings of the different phases of the baby going down to try to visualize what is happening inside and understand the sensations / timeline with average hours for each phase so I have an idea where I stand

•⁠ ⁠⁠finger snacks so I don’t have to spend energy digesting it but I can feed my body in case it needs it

•⁠ ⁠⁠drinks I like and could energized me (homemade lemonade, smoothies)

Bonus : learn how to poop without pushing 🤣

Did you know that having the same person support you through your entire pregnancy, birth and postpartum dramatically reduces the need for interventions? Fewer C-sections, less medication, shorter labour. Not because of a medical procedure, but because of one person who knows you and stays.

Catharina Ooijens spent over a decade proving exactly that. As the first clinical doula in the Netherlands, she guided almost nine hundred births inside one of the largest academic hospitals in Amsterdam. She did the research, she collected the data, and she changed the way an entire hospital thought about birth support.

In this episode she shares the BRAINS method, a simple decision framework you can use in any moment during your pregnancy or birth when something is being proposed to you.

She also talks about what she learned from those nine hundred births, why women withhold information from their doctors and what to do instead, and how to write a birth plan that actually works in your favor.

This episode comes with one clear message: you are allowed to ask questions, you are allowed to take your time. And you are allowed to say, can we discuss this first?

Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/
Website Catharina Ooijens (Mama bevalt goed) (ENG): https://mamabevaltgoed.nl/doula-catharina-english/
Instagram Catharina Ooijens: https://www.instagram.com/mamabevaltgoed/

You deserve a village. But in Portugal, finding the right people around you during pregnancy and birth can feel overwhelming. Where do you even start?

In this episode, Aviva shares what she wished she had known when she was pregnant in Portugal, and why she decided to build the thing that should have existed all along.

Borntobewild.pt is a directory of verified perinatal practitioners in Portugal, built entirely on real recommendations from parents who have been there. No algorithms, and definitely no ads. Just the voice of parents!

We also connect this to something that happened last week at the International Congress of Midwives in Lisbon, and what the latest research tells us about the one thing that changes birth outcomes more than almost anything else: being well surrounded.

Because the first step to a respectful birth is knowing who to call.

Borntobewild.pt launches July 1st! 

www.borntobewild.pt 

Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/
Facebookgroup Positive Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum in Portugal: https://www.facebook.com/groups/positiveperinatalportugal/
The Great Birth Rebellion Podcast by Dr Melanie Jackson: https://open.spotify.com/show/3gQRikeOcaHkJjWTtcT1B1
The Golden Month, by Jenny Allison: https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Month-Caring-Mothers-Childbirth/dp/0995142327
Another book we can recommend about the golden month:
The First forty days, by Heng Ou: https://www.fnac.pt/The-First-Forty-Days-The-Essential-Art-of-Nourishing-the-New-Mother-Heng-Ou/a1089608

Do you want to advertise in this podcast? Send an e-mail to [email protected] 

Mara never planned to become a mother. At thirty she was living in New York, chasing her career, with motherhood nowhere on her radar.

Then her partner gifted her something she never asked for: egg freezing. The morning after the procedure, he still hadn't called. So she checked his Uber account. That is how she found out... well, listen to the podcast!

It took her a year to rebuild. Then she met Sebastian. At 44, they used the eggs she had frozen years earlier. And then things happened quickly.

In this episode, Mara talks about conscious motherhood, choosing the right partner, and the postpartum that broke her in ways nothing prepared her for.

"If I can have it, you can have it."

Mara Liz Meinhofer: https://www.instagram.com/maralizmein

Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/

Isabel had a plan. Home birth, the right midwife, months of preparation....

Then, at 36 weeks, pre-eclampsia changed everything.

What she did next is what makes this story so powerful. Because even inside that hospital, Isabel stayed in charge. She refused interventions she didn't need. She vocalized through every contraction while the nurses asked Pepe to keep it down because the dad next door was getting scared. And when Agostinho was born and didn't cry, she knew exactly what to do!

This is a story about what becomes possible when you trust yourself, even when nothing goes according to plan.

"It is possible to be in the hospital and have a respectful birth. But you need to be prepared."

--> Isabel and Pepe initially asked midwife Raquel Cajão to be present at the birth of their son. Listen to episode 5 for her story.

🎙️ Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/

Sara Arruda is a nurse, a midwife, a health coach, and the author of Cuida-te. She is also a mother of three boys. All three born premature. And all three completely different births.

Her first started with a helicopter evacuation at 26 weeks. She woke up after the C-section not wanting to open her eyes. Because she did not know if her baby was alive...

Twelve years later, she tried again. And again! Until her third birth went exactly as she had visualized it, every single day of her pregnancy.

In this episode, Sara also talks about the postpartum of postpartum. The long stretch after the six weeks that officially marks the end, where so many women are still quietly struggling, and where nobody is really looking anymore.

And about self-care that has nothing to do with spa days. Self-care as the foundation of everything, including the way you show up for your children.

"This will pass. I got you and you got this."

Sara Arruda: https://www.instagram.com/enf.sara.arruda/ Book Cuida-te: https://www.wook.pt/livro/cuida-te-sara-arruda/33415138

Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/
Irene Jaspers: https://www.instagram.com/irenejaspers

There is a word that most women have never heard. But the moment they do, something shifts.

The word is matrescence.

It describes the complete transformation a woman goes through when she becomes a mother. Not just physically. but also eurologically, emotionally, spiritually, and socially. All of it at once!

Hannah Staunton is a somatic and yoga psychotherapist who specializes in supporting mothers through this process. She lives in Lisbon, she birthed her son here in Portugal, and in this episode she is honest about what that experience was like. Being treated badly. Shouted at by a pediatrician. Left alone at two in the morning shaking. And how that became the most important turning point in her work.

She talks about what becoming a mother does to the nervous system. Why birth trauma goes unrecognized so often, even by the women who are carrying it. And why preparing for postpartum matters more than preparing for birth. And also, what the beliefs you are holding in your subconscious right now might be doing to your experience of motherhood.

This episode is for every woman who has ever felt lost and wondered if something was wrong with her.

"Nothing is wrong with her. She is just in the birth canal."

Question list for moms (to be): https://hannahstaunton.myflodesk.com/mama-mindset-workbook
Website: https://www.hannahstaunton.com/
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/hannah__staunton/

Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/
Birthmode: https://www.instagram.com/birthmode/

Rita always knew she wanted to become a mother. What she didn't know was how long that road would be, or how many times she would have to start over.

Three miscarriages. IVF, alone, in a foreign country. A premature birth that left her with joy and grief at the same time. And a second pregnancy that forced her to make one of the hardest decisions of her life.

Rita did her homework. She asked questions. She pushed back. And eventually she found what she was looking for.

In this episode, she tells us everything. And what she says about her final birth stayed with us for a long time...

This episode contains open conversations about pregnancy loss and birth trauma. Please take care of yourself before listening.

Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/
Birthmode: https://www.instagram.com/birthmode/

Filipa Piedade became a midwife because of her own birth. And that birth was one of the hardest experiences of her life. Being a nurse, she thought she knew what to expect, but... she didn't. The birth of her daughter turned out to be traumatic. She had no idea that what happened to her had a name. That it wasn't her fault!

But instead of just carrying that with her, she used it. She stepped back into the very system that had let her down, and she started changing it from the inside. One birth (plan) at a time.

In this episode, Filipa also talks about what it really costs to be a midwife in Portugal. The impossible workload, the burnout, and the moment she finally said: no more.

This is a story about turning your own wound into a reason to fight for others. About what happens when someone who has been invisible decides to make sure no one else ever has to feel that way again.

"I want every woman to feel like a goddess while giving birth to their child."

Filipa Piedade: https://www.instagram.com/filipamaedaluz/
Parto Consciente: https://www.instagram.com/partoconsciente_homebirth/
Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/
Birthmode: https://www.instagram.com/birthmode/

Raquel Cajão has been attending home births in Portugal for over eleven years. She didn't touch the last baby she delivered. Why? She didn't need to!

In this episode, Raquel talks about what it really means to support a physiological birth. Not as a technician managing a process, but as someone who knows how to read a room, a breath, a small movement, without saying a word. She calls it rhythm, focus and inwardness. And once you hear her describe it, you will never think about birth support the same way again.

She also challenges one of the most common assumptions about safety in birth. And she makes the case that sometimes, the most powerful thing a midwife can do is nothing at all.

But this episode is also personal. Raquel is the midwife who got on a plane to attend Irene's homebirth in the Azores.

If you have ever wondered what truly respectful birth support looks like, this is it!

• Website Raquel Cajão: https://raquelcajao.com/
• Website Nascer em casa: https://www.nasceremcasa.pt/
• Book Parto em Casa: Planeado e executado em Portugal (Portuguese Edition) by Raquel: https://www.amazon.com/Parto-Casa-Planeado-executado-Portuguese/dp/B0C51VCBJX
• Born to Be Wild: https://www.instagram.com/borntobewild.pt/
• Birthmode: https://www.instagram.com/birthmode/