Doing It At Home - The Home Birth Podcast

How do you build the confidence and support to prepare for an HBAC after 2 cesarean births?

Our guest in our latest birth story, Erin Holohan, is an example of this. After moving through 2 disappointing birth experiences with a lot of recovery and healing to do, she was determined to have her home birth for her third baby.

With the love and support of her husband Mike and her awesome midwife Kelly, Erin created the vision and mindset for owning her birth.

She shares some of her prep, research and resources along the way. And then we get into the birth itself. Here’s a fun twist - it happened during a storm. Tornado warnings, power outage and all!

Links from this episode:

• Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth: https://www.amazon.com/Ina-Mays-Guide-Childbirth-Gaskin/dp/0553381156
• Hypnobabies: https://www.hypnobabies.com/

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What’s the recipe for a magical birth experience?

It likely looks different for all of us. However, we might incorporate similar mindsets, approaches, preparation and resources.

Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Genevieve and Michael Howland of Mama Natural, the #1 parenting brand online and a source of education and empowerment for natural pregnancy and birth.

Genevieve and Michael share the home birth story of their daughter Faith. After 2 birthing center births with their first two children, they explored whether or not they’d be good candidates for home birth. There were a few factors that went into this consideration: their second birth was very fast (they barely made it to the birthing center in time for baby’s arrival!), Genevieve was healthy and low-risk and would have likely had more intervention with a hospital route given that she was 42-years-old at the time, plus the convenience and sacred space of being at home.

We’ll save the rest of the birth details for you to listen to in the episode. And you can watch a video of the birth on the Mama Natural website (link is below!).

Links from the episode:

• Mama Natural: https://www.mamanatural.com/
• Mama Natural Home Birth Video: https://www.mamanatural.com/home-birth-video/
• Mama Natural Baby: https://www.mamanatural.com/baby-care-class/

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Some of you may remember Malina from when she and her mom, Char, joined us to share her pregnancy news. We start this episode by replaying that moment, then catch up with Malina and her husband, Craig, on everything that's happened since.

Malina and Craig share their journey through a hospital birth, a frightening emergency at sea, loss, and healing, and then the home birth they had been dreaming of. There's a brownie craving, twinkle lights in the birth tub, and a dad who catches his daughter. They also talk about navigating dual care with a supportive doctor and a midwife, handling other people's opinions, the moment Malina chose to dig in, and why the recovery made it all worth it.

Content note: this episode includes a medical emergency and a mention of pregnancy loss.

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How do you set yourself up for success when it comes to your birth?

For one thing, that requires looking at what you want to create and experience.

In today’s episode we get to hear Lauren Thomas’s journey to home birth and the research, education and preparation that brought her there.

After a birthing center to hospital transfer with her first son Finn, Lauren had to take time to come to terms with some of the trauma around it.

We talk about her special connection with her midwife and the gut decisions she trusted throughout her process. Also the risk of placenta previa and how she doula-ed herself during her labor of her son Rory in the middle of a snowstorm!

Links:

What happens when a listener's life is changed by the podcast she binged? Lexi found Doing It at Home while researching her options years before she became pregnant, listened to every episode from the very beginning, and was inspired to become a doula and plan the home birth she'd wanted since she was 18.

In this episode, Lexi shares her story of preparing early and intentionally, a long, slow labor with a good dose of labor denial, the hypnobabies tracks that carried her, the bathtub that changed everything, and being surrounded by her husband, her mom, and her birth team. She also shares two sweet details she added after our conversation: her midwife discovered her placenta was perfectly heart-shaped, and her grandma stayed up through the night making her favorite first postpartum meal.

In Lexi's words: "Give yourself time to listen to 400 podcasts of birth stories, if that's your jam, or to read a couple dozen books on the topic. Your future self and baby will thank you."

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Today we bring you Laura’s incredible birth story. Laura and her partner Mikey live in Homer, Alaska with their daughter Hannah. 

I honestly don’t know the best manner or order to present all of the awesome elements of this story, so I’ll do my best to share it all as it hits me.

First of all, Laura is an incredibly strong young woman. She experienced 4 miscarriages over the course of 2 years, as well as the miscarriage of an adopted baby. After ending her marriage, she packed up her life and moved to Fairbanks, Alaska. She eventually met her partner Mikey and they became pregnant shortly after dating. Not knowing if she’d be able to carry a pregnancy to full-term, along with the new relationship, a lot of things seemed uncertain. 

But as love and life would have it, Laura did carry to term. She gave birth to their daughter Hannah in a cabin (with no running water!) on a day when the temperature was twenty degrees below zero!

Laura describes her birth as a dream come true. She’s also a birth doula, postpartum care specialist, placenta specialist, and certified lactation counselor - so as a fellow birth junkie, she had lots to share!

Listening to Laura’s story gave me goosebumps - it gave me warm and fuzzies - it made me tear up - it made me grateful - it made me hopeful. 

We’re so thankful for Laura and her tenacity and willingness to share with us. Oh and major PS - she straight up ate part of her placenta after giving birth. Like, her midwife cut off a piece and she held it in her mouth for a few minutes before eating. Total badass.

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Warning: this is an amazing episode. Full of conversation around pleasurable, joyful, ecstatic birth. It may cause you to feel empowered and excited around birth. There, we gave you a heads up!

But seriously, we are so honored to have Debra Pascali-Bonaro join us on the show. She’s another one of the powerhouses of the birthing community that we’ve been anxious to meet and chat with. She is the creator and director of the documentary, “Orgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept Secret.” She’s also the co-writer of “Orgasmic Birth: Your Guide to a Safe, Satisfying and Pleasurable Birth.” Oh and also a Lamaze International childbirth educator,  birth and postpartum doula trainer with DONA International. And the Founder & President of the revolutionary online childbirth class Pain to Power, which prepares expectant mothers, fathers, and partners to be positively prepared for birth and focuses on the intimate and sacred nature of birth.

In our interview, we talk about her path to being obsessed with birth, learning from her own birth story. We also chat about the concept for the documentary and where it came from. We explore themes from the documentary and the impact it’s had on the conversation of birth. Plus we talk about other cool projects that Debra has her hand in, and a surprise for any of those interested in checking out her online childbirth class “Pain to Power.”

Thank you to Debra for her knowledge, passion and tireless effort to serve and inspire!

Links From This Episode:

Orgasmic Birth: The Best-Kept Secret - https://www.orgasmicbirth.com/

Orgasmic Birth: Your Guide to a Safe, Satisfying and Pleasurable Birth - https://www.orgasmicbirth.com/products/books/

Pain To Power Childbirth Class - https://www.paintopowerchildbirth.com/

Happy Healthy Child - http://www.happyhealthychild.com/

Eat Pray Doula - https://www.eatpraydoula.com/

Sign up for 3 Free Videos on finding your power and pleasure in birth:  http://www.paintopoweroptin.respond.ontraport.net/optin

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In today’s episode we’ve got the whole family on the phone - Meggie and Steve Andrews join us, along with their baby William, or Liam as they refer to him.

Meggie reached out to us during her pregnancy, thanking us for what we’re doing on the show and sharing how helpful it had been for her as she planned for the home birth of her first child with her husband Steve (we’ve copied her original email below). And interesting fact - they weren’t planning on having children. But, surprise!  So they worked through some of the mental and emotional adjustments that come with this huge unexpected life change.

Meggie happened to have a friend who birthed at home, so after speaking with her and watching Business of Being Born, they explored the midwifery model of care. And then one of the biggest things throughout the pregnancy - they decided to move from Virginia to Michigan. So that meant finding different midwives, who could collaborate with each other and support Meggie and Steve as much as possible in making the transition and keeping up with the best prenatal care and birth planning as possible. Another interesting fact - they had their home birth in the same house that Meggie grew up in!

So listen in as we talk about some of the interesting questions and comments you get when you have a home birth like, “Is that witchcraft or something?” and advice for those home birth dads and birth partners.

Added bonus of Liam’s presence in the interview. We love having newborn coos in the background! 

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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.

Links From This Episode:

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