In this episode, we get to speak with both mom and dad! We love when we get to chat with a home birth couple and hear both perspectives from the decision-making process to the experience itself. So we’re chatting with Jarmar and Jonnelle Dupas. 

They live in Austin, Texas with their 4 children. Their switch to home birth happened with their most recent baby, Jase. For them, they were interested in something different and evolving from some of the coldness they noticed in the hospital setting. They had always used midwives with their births, so transitioning into home seemed like the next step. 

Jarmar and Jonnelle both described their home birth as much more peaceful. Basically, a thousand times better and something they would’ve done sooner had they known. 

A highlight from their story is that “divine connection” with their midwife Afua. We certainly know the difference that the level of care can make, and how important it was for us to feel connected and have a deep sense of trust with our midwives. 

And get this - they are a podcasting couple as well! Their show “Get Your Money Right” is all about financial well-being. We can dig that (since babies aren’t cheap!).

Listen in and enjoy as we get to know more about Jarmar and Jonnelle, their family and their magical home birth!

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Lindsay Bonnar was one of the first moms we spoke with when we started doing interviews back in the day. In our part 1 with her (episode 20) we talked about the birth of her daughter Charlie, whom she originally planned to birth at home, and eventually transferred to a birthing center to have an awesome birth experience. At the time, she was pregnant with baby number two and planning another home birth.

Now, our part two (and episode 85!) with Lindsay is about the birth of her son, Linken. Spoiler alert: they did it at home! Linken was born at home, surrounded by love and support.

There were a few curve balls during the birth. Lindsay would later learn that some cord compression was occurring and it was causing Linken’s heart rate to drop. At one point, Lindsay’s midwife thought they might have to go to the hospital. Paramedics were called and as if orchestrated, Linken made his entrance just as the responders arrived at their home. Everyone was healthy, safe and did not need to be transported.

With the concern of the cord compression, this meant Lindsay had to push baby out efficiently and in a short amount of time. She told us how she pushed him all the way down the birth canal in less than 10 minutes. She cannot emphasize enough how important it is for mamas to do their squats in preparation for birth!

Lindsay’s part 2 is really a testament to stellar care in the form of her midwife, a loving, safe environment to support her and the incredible tenacity and power that is the birthing woman.

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We love the little synchronicities that the universe throws out there. Like publishing this episode right after our previous episode - completely unplanned. If you missed our last episode, we spoke with Jessicca Moore, the creator of the documentary, “Why Not Home?” a film that explores the decisions of hospital birth care providers (nurses, doctors, midwives, etc.) who chose home birth. 

Well in this episode, we have Alyssa’s story. The synchronicity that we mentioned? Alyssa is a registered nurse, with most of her experience in the postpartum and nursery units. Our conversation with Alyssa is the perfect follow up to our interview with Jessicca last week, where we talk about birth professionals choosing home birth. Alyssa is this person! How awesome is that?

And Alyssa is super knowledgeable. We were just in awe of all the information she has and can rattle off. There’s so much that we included parts of her emails and additional resources in the extra notes with the episode on our website. 

Alyssa shares her passion for birth with us along with her journey of pregnancy and birth for her daughter Zoey with her husband Chris. They actually switched over to a home birth plan and midwifery model of care in the third trimester (so it’s never too late for you to use the care provider that aligns best with you!). Like many of our guests, Chris and Alyssa watched “Business of Being Born.” Chris’s response, “We can do this. Let’s just do it at home!” We like his style!

Alyssa has firsthand experience of what it feels like to choose home birth, when you work in an environment that does not typically support it. Fears, reactions and judgements from friends, family, co-workers come up in our talk. Also what evidence-based practice is about, the details around informed consent and why birth is not a pathological process. Alyssa’s amazing birth experience and fascinating perspective given her profession make this a must-listen episode!

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Today we have the honor of speaking with Jessicca Moore, a family nurse practitioner and a filmmaker. She is the creator of the documentary film “Why Not Home?” which explores why labor and delivery medical professionals are choosing to give birth outside of the hospital, in this case - home!

The documentary itself is amazing. And there’s no better time to watch it than right now. For one thing, today is Labor Day! And also, they’re launching the film in both iTunes and Amazon today, so plenty of platforms and opportunities for you to check it out.

In our conversation with Jessicca, we talk about her own decision to choose home birth, and through that process how she picked up on the trend of colleagues of hers making the same choice. What would it look like to dive further into the pattern of health professionals, who understand most of the risks, procedures and protocols, and yet are looking to experience birth outside of the general atmosphere where they provide their services? 

So Jessicca felt pulled to document this. We talk about some key subjects in the film, themes and topics it brings up that were particularly impactful for Matthew and me. Like some of the mind-blowing statistics around birth and a lot of the misinformation that is spread throughout the birth community. 

We even address some questions from listeners about the documentary.

If you are considering or planning a home birth, “Why Not Home?” needs to be on your list of resources. Thank you again to Jessicca for seeing her vision through and for taking the time to hang out with us at Doing It At Home!

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In today’s episode we’re chatting with Thea. She and her husband Alex planned for a home birth for their daughter Harley. They envisioned a peaceful, serene environment and she knew she wanted water. 

The decision to home birth was influenced by an awesome naturopath that she had been working with. 

Health and wellness is big for Thea - having her masters in integrative health and healing. So it was important that she have the type of care and plan that aligned best with her wellbeing. 

In addition to her birth planning and story, Thea shares part of her journey of a miscarriage before having Harley. She was firm on experiencing a natural miscarriage. We talk about how to support someone with a miscarriage, an area that a lot of people don’t know how to approach or handle, despite great intentions and desire to help.

Thea’s labor was long and tiring. She eventually made the decision to transfer to a hospital. She reminded herself, “I chose to be here.” And with that awareness, she was able to stand in her power and advocate for herself to still ultimately have the experience she wanted. She ended up at peace with the decision and was not disappointed. And we can understand - because when you see baby Harley, you’ll get it!

Thank you to Thea for being another beautiful tale in our collection of home birth narrative - showing that every experience is so unique, beautiful and powerful in its own right.

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In today's episode we're talking about all of the amazingly helpful resources we used when planning our home birth: from Ina May Gaskin books, to the Hypnobabies audio course, to The Business Of Being Born documentary, to conversations with our amazing midwives.

We go through the home birth resources that we personally used, along with pregnancy and birth planning resources we intend to use for baby #2.

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In today’s episode we’re chatting with Jessica Thomas to hear about her empowered birth choice to deliver in a hospital.

Her story is beautiful and it's almost like she had a home birth experience in a hospital!

Enjoy :)

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Today we have the awesome honor and privilege of bringing you an empowering conversation with Ashley Woolsey - mother of 3, doula and creator of Motherhood Tabutiful (pronounced “ta-beautiful”) - a blog and online community for mothers to come together and share their stories of motherhood.

To give some more context on Motherhood Tabutiful, here is it’s mission statement straight from the site:

“Our mission is to create a safe and judgment free space for women and mothers to share their stories of the taboo subjects that surround motherhood. 

It is with this space, that we hope to help normalize these subjects. 

It is with this space, that we hope to offer comfort and solidarity among those who are hurting. 

It is with this space, that we hope to encourage those struggling, to speak up and reach out. 

We realize that motherhood is beautiful, and amazing, and fulfilling. But we also know that it is ugly, and dark, and difficult. 

And so, it is with this space, that we hope to wrap our arms and our hearts around you, for a virtual hug, so that even in the ugliest, and darkest, and most difficult of times, you will find solace in knowing that you are not alone.”

Ashley and Sarah connected a while back on Instagram. Then with the birth of Motherhood Tabutiful, we knew we wanted to have Ashley on to share her perspective and riff on some topics with us.

We chat about that isolation that many women feel during motherhood. And for Ashley, she found that social media and finding a community was extremely helpful. So why not create an easy-to-access platform for moms to share, read, learn, inspire...particularly around topics that others will shy away from due to fear or discomfort. Ashley has crafted Motherhood Tabutiful to be judgment-free and a safe space to delve into these types of things and normalize them.

So of course, we chat about home birth and how that ties into the categories of “taboo” and uncomfortable conversations. 

Listen in to hear more, and check out Motherhood Tabutiful to learn about what Ashley’s up to!

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Did you set intentions for your birth(s)?

The last time we spoke with Kayleigh Johnson, DIAH mama from episode 77, she was setting some powerful intentions and visions for her upcoming birth.

Today, we get to hear the full birth story!

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In today’s episode, we’re talking with Kayleigh Johnson, mama to 14-month-old Amelia and wife to DJ. Kayleigh and her family live in Massachusetts, where they are planning for the birth of baby number two.

Amelia was born in a hospital with an epidural and pitocin experience. To Kayleigh, the pitocin contractions felt very unnatural. They way she puts it, “it felt like it was happening to me.”

So after some soul searching, they decided on a home birth for this pregnancy. A big influence? Podcasts and social media! Kayleigh got to see and connect with real people, real stories that seemed attainable and allowed her to see the experience for herself.

Kayleigh’s faith is integral in her life, and so it’s been a part of her birth planning as well. She was able to find a Christian midwife who aligned with her belief system (she even found her midwife on social media! Thank you, technology!). This synergy has been important for the connection she’s seeking with her birth team.

Kayleigh also has visions she is praying for in her birth. She’s believing for a pain-free, no tear, en caul birth. We’re happy and honored to hold that intention for her. And we’re very excited to share her story with you!

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