Do you feel like you have control when it comes to your pregnancy and birth?

In today’s birth story, we chat with Kathryn Langlois, mama of 3 from Alberta, Canada, about the details of her 3 pregnancies and births. 

2 hospital births and 1 birth center birth.

Her third birth felt “uncontrolled” – unlike her previous births. So because of that, in a way, she felt like a first-time mom in that birth experience.

Plus we talk about different considerations she and her husband Paul took in choosing between birth center or a home birth.

Things we talk about in this episode:

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• Business of Being Born: https://www.thebusinessof.life/

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Why do a small percentage of planned home births transfer to the hospital? 

There are a number of reasons. In today’s conversation with our friend Anne Margolis, certified nurse midwife and a powerhouse in the birth world. She has personally helped usher in over 1000 babies into the world. We’ve had her on the show a few times now and it’s always magical to speak with her, because she ends up blowing our minds in some way when it comes to birth.

We also discuss the importance of preparation for your home birth, particularly when it comes to preparing your mindset. The typical Western culture and approach to birth is very counterproductive to the experience of laboring and birthing a baby. So we talk about how we can minimize the “googling” and the overanalyzing that keeps us stuck in our heads, out of our bodies and in a fearful place.

We also highly recommend that you follow Anne and check out all of her amazing resources for birthing people and parents. 

Things we talk about in this episode: home birth to hospital transfer, birth preparation, mindset work, Western culture’s approach to birth, first-time birthers and parents

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How do you truly honor birth?

Dr. Nathan Riley joins us for the second time on the podcast. First time was back in 2019, and a lot of life has changed for him.

For one thing, he’s welcomed both of his daughters into the world. And today we talk about the home birth of the youngest (about 5 weeks old at the time of this interview). Nathan shares his perspective of the experience, as a father, partner and physician.

Nathan also talks about the space he holds for birth and how he has evolved from an OBGYN practicing in the hospital to a more lifestyle medicine approach where he supports both parents and birth workers.

The nuggets in this episode are too many to count and drop at such a rapid rate. You might need to hit pause and rewind a few times, that’s how powerful it is!

Things we talk about in this episode: 

Links From the Episode:

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What would you do to get the birth you want?

Change plans at 33 weeks, talk to different providers, get your partner on board?

These are all themes of today’s story with Kseniya Gadh.

Her first birth was a bad experience in the hospital. For her second birth, she switched to a home birth plan around 33 weeks, even with circumstances like gestational diabetes and previous preeclampsia.

Kseniya is an example of pushing for the birth you want, despite odds being against you.

Things we talk about in this episode:

Links From The Episode:

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How do you feel in a hospital environment?

Many choose home birth because of a bad experience (whether birth-related or not) or general dislike with the hospital.

In today’s story with Sophia Pavia, an unpleasant experience in the hospital during her first pregnancy added to her reasoning for having a home birth. But that wasn’t the only reason. She herself was born at home and her sister had home births before Sophia started having children. For her, it was the best choice. 

Sophia is a fertility dietitian and at the time of this recording she is pregnant with her second, just weeks away from birth!

We talk about details from her first birth along with intentions and plans for her upcoming home birth. 

Things we talk about in this episode:

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Can you over prepare intellectually for birth?

This is a topic that comes up in our interview with Shira Page, NP and CLC.

According to Shira, when it came to her first birth:

“I had been planning to deliver at home my entire life because my mom gave birth to my brother at home. We did Bradley, I read all the books, watched all the documentaries, and listened to DIAH non-stop. My labor at home was over 40 hours of nonstop stabbing back pain and non-progressive labor. We went to the hospital to get morphine and sleep and returned home to continue to try to labor. After another day at home doing all the things, we transferred to get an epidural. The hospital experience was okay but still had a lot of moments where I felt decisions were taken from me. I felt that I overprepared intellectually and didn't focus on letting go, accepting pain, and being patient.” 

We talk about the details of her first birth, then details of her second, including some of her postpartum and breastfeeding journey.

Things we talk about in this episode: 

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How do we make birth better?

Today we’re chatting with one of the country’s top leaders addressing this question, and not just addressing it, but matching his conviction with his actions.

They say don’t meet your heroes...but I don’t think they included “birth heroes” in there. Because you should definitely meet those people! Dr. Stu Fischbein joins us at Doing It At Home for a powerful conversation on his history in the birth world, shifting from hospital care to now working with midwives to support families in home births, specifically with the variations of normal of breech and twin births. 

Dr. Stu has nearly 30 years in the game and is full of passion. Chatting with him was invigorating and certainly added fuel to our flame for the work we do here and our desire to keep flooding the birth world with empowering and educational conversations. After we talked about his years of experience and perspective on breech and twin home births, he answered some of our community members’ questions. This is a must listen for every birth nerd out there!

Things we talk about in this episode: 

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How can you take your power back after it feels like a previous birth experience took it away?

Today’s story with Karine Halle features details of trauma from a hospital birth for her first child and how she was determined to have a home birth for her second. 

In between her first and second birth, she felt called into doula work and became passionate about supporting families in the birth experience. 

For her second pregnancy and birth, she did everything she could to put the odds on her side to have her dream birth.

*Please note that this conversation contains mention of suicidal thoughts

Things we talk about in this episode:

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Have you had feelings of fear, guilt and or shame around sex?

If you have, you are most certainly not alone. In fact, you’re likely in the majority. We just don’t always talk about it because of the perceived taboo aspect of it. 

We love tying in the conversation of intimacy and sensuality with birth - we’ve had a number of guests on the show who reference it and we’ve shared it in some of our own experiences. 

Today we’re chatting with Rosie Rees, creator of Splash Blanket and Yoni Pleasure Palace. 

Some of the things we talk about:

And you can enjoy 15% off your purchase with either Splash Blanket (https://splashblanket.com/) or Yoni Pleasure Palace (https://yonipleasurepalace.com/) with the code DIAH15. 

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Welcome to our final pregnancy update episode!

We’re at 37 weeks when we record this. It’s our last time recording before the baby arrives.

Stay tuned for the birth story to drop in the beginning of 2023!

We talk about:

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