Today we’re chatting with Kaitlin McGreyes about the birth of her 3rd child, which was her first home birth. After a cesarean and then a hospital VBAC for her first two births, she decided to have a different experience for her third.

Kaitlin was a doula for 2 years before her home birth. And interesting fact: in the beginning of her doula work, she was against home birth. We talk about the shifts in her thoughts about home birth and the reasons for having one for herself. 

Plus really awesome conversations around the landscape of the birth world in general, and what she and her company Be Her Village are doing to help parents and families in getting the real support they need (like funding for their care provider, postpartum practitioners, mental health resources, etc.) as opposed to a bunch of extra toys and gear that they might not necessarily need. 

From Kaitlin:

“I had been a doula for 2 years. I had a cesarean for my first, vbac in hospital with my second (unmedicated) and I opted for a home birth for my third baby. I was expecting the birth to be EXACTLY like my vbac labor. and it was in terms of timing and how it started. Both started at 6am while I was in bed with small Braxton hicks that had a pinch at the peak. That's where the similarities ended. My 21 hour vbac was gentle and peaceful and spiritual. My home birth was moving faster than I expected. My midwife only made it because she was smart enough to come without me asking. And in under 6 hours I went from maybe being in labor to roaring my baby out in a half filled birth pool. I experienced FER and instead of pushing her out I was holding her back so I didn't tear. Unlike what you see on YouTube our home birth involved both of us screaming lol. It was fast and furious, much like my daughter.”

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Is it possible to have good collaborative care with a team of different practitioners when planning for home birth?

Absolutely!

Do you hear about it all the time? Unfortunately, not. But today’s story with guest Ryan Woodbury is a great example of what it can look like to plan for and have a home birth that is supported by multiple care providers and a team approach.

Ryan shares her preconception journey with us, along with her husband Dave’s perspective on home birth when they were pregnant along with tools and resources she used to have an easy, comfortable pregnancy and have the home birth she wanted.

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How do we take disabilities into consideration when it comes to birth?

Lo Nigrosh of The Milk Making Minutes podcast joins us to share details of her 2 birth experiences. Her first was in the hospital and her second was at home. 

Her decision to home birth was largely influenced by the policies and care she encountered in the hospital. 

When asked, “Why home birth?” Lo responded with: “I needed to be treated as an individual with individual needs. I had a hospital birth with my first child and was deeply impacted by blanket policy that made me MORE disabled than I already am.”

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What happens when birth doesn’t turn out the way you planned?

Today’s story is an example of what it can look like to move through a hospital transfer situation, when it’s the last thing you desired or intended for.

Brittni Mitchell shares her birth story of her son Cole.

She and her husband Elliot planned for a home birth preconception. They utilized resources like DIAH podcast and “Business of Being Born” documentary to prepare. And guess what - they live close to us and even used the same midwife that we did!

Brittni talks about moving through the emotions that came with not getting the birth she originally wanted.

From Brittni:

“A big take away I had was that it’s ok to grieve the birth I wanted so bad but was impossible.”

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• Hypnobirthing: https://hypnobirthing.com/

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How many of us feel a sense of failure after a birth experience?

We’re clear that it’s far too many. In fact, one is too many.

We’re grateful for stories like this who can help with the healing and rescripting. Our guest, Kara Lambert, shares her birth journey. After her cesarean birth with her son Theo, as she puts it, “I felt like I failed.”

Great resources like ICAN helped Kara in her process of planning for a future VBAC. She and her husband Russ started with an OBGYN with their second pregnancy. But then a pandemic hit. Well, “what if we home birth?” they thought. 

They connected with a badass midwife, and utilized parallel care (seeing both a doctor and their midwife).

Kara describes her home birth as mostly “lazy.” The significance in highlighting that centers around the normalcy of the experience, and how it was able to be peaceful despite lots of opportunities to have not been that way. And then we get to hear how baby Chiara entered the world.

This birth story includes: acupuncture and moxibustion, midwives’ brew, the peanut ball (not a snack, despite what Matthew thought!) and a storm

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How often do you think about how your birth will unfold?

Today’s guests, Adriana and Tim Keefe, share the details of their two home birth stories. 

After a hospital birth for her first child, she decided on home birth for babies 2 and 3. 

Adriana and Tim both talk about the preparation process for their home births as well as helpful resources and the sequence of events in both births. 

From Adriana regarding her first home birth:

“I envisioned how my labor and delivery would go…and it went exactly how I envisioned it”

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Do you believe that you are built to birth?

From today’s guest Soni: “I was absolutely amazed that I actually did it, I’m one of those people everyone always thinks is just not tough.”

Soni shares her home birth story with us.

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• Bridget Teyler YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BridgetTeyler

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How do you use your instincts during birth?

Today’s story features a combination of birth intentions, intuition and instinct. 

Lauren Smith shares her birthing journey with us. From 2 hospital births to 2 birth center births to 2 home births.

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Have you wondered about the first birth story we ever shared on this podcast?

Well, it’s our story! And today we’re bringing you the classic episode “Star Wars, Kiddie Pools, and Hypnobabies: Our Home Birth Story”.

In this episode, Matthew and I sit down (well actually, lay down) with our first guest - less than a week old baby Maya. She lies quietly (for the most part, you might hear some coos and little grunts in the background at times) on Matthew’s chest while we recount the story of our home birth, while it’s still fresh in our minds.

There were a lot of tears, a fair amount of blood, some laughs and so much love. So join us from our bedroom - where we made our baby, birthed her and are now hanging out with her and talking about the whole darn thing.

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• Hypnobabies: https://www.hypnobabies.com/

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How is the second trimester going?

Glad you asked! 

In this episode we’re giving updates on our second trimester, just as we’re about to enter the third.

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