Free Birth Society

This week on the show we have the lovely Leisa Masters, a radical birth keeper in Australia. As Leisa shares her journey from doula to coach, we get into the doula climate, money, integrity, and she describes the lightbulb moment when she learned how to stop "saving" women and show up for them in mutual responsibility. 

Disclaimer: Free Birth Society, LLC of North Carolina shares personal and educational stories and experiences related to freebirth and holistic care. This content is not medical advice, and we are not a licensed midwifery practice. Testimonials reflect individual experiences; results may vary. For services or scheduling, contact [email protected]. See full disclaimer at freebirthsociety.com/youtubeterms

This week I have Kate on the show, who shares her story of leaving behind her doula path for something that felt more in alignment with her integrity; midwifery outside the system. Kate also tells the gorgeous story of the birth of her own daughter and how her radical work as a birth keeper informed her decisions to have the birth of her dreams.

Disclaimer: Free Birth Society, LLC of North Carolina shares personal and educational stories and experiences related to freebirth and holistic care. This content is not medical advice, and we are not a licensed midwifery practice. Testimonials reflect individual experiences; results may vary. For services or scheduling, contact [email protected]. See full disclaimer at freebirthsociety.com/youtubeterms

April is Radical Birth Keeper Month! Every Friday in April we will journey through a different woman's story of her becoming a radical birth keeper. Today I am joined by a dear friend of mine, Isabella. Isabella was a doula in New York City, until this past year, when she made the decision to question everything that felt wrong about her chosen path, and create a better one. Isabella shares her challenges, victories, and wisdom on what it has been like to become a radical birth keeper. Isabella describes her evolution in birth work as a move, "beyond complicity" and now chooses to support women in a way that feels deeply aligned with her own truth. 

Disclaimer: Free Birth Society, LLC of North Carolina shares personal and educational stories and experiences related to freebirth and holistic care. This content is not medical advice, and we are not a licensed midwifery practice. Testimonials reflect individual experiences; results may vary. For services or scheduling, contact [email protected]. See full disclaimer at freebirthsociety.com/youtubeterms

This week I invite Jennifer Lahl on the show, who is the Founder and President for the Center for Bioethics and Culture, based in San Francisco. She’s also a documentary producer, having created important films like Eggspoitation and Big Fertility. Today we discuss some of the health risks of egg harvesting and of being a surrogate, as well as some of the deeply concerning language in surrogacy contracts, and the challenges Jennifer has faced as she tries to make legislative changes to protect women. I also share some my experience of the backlash I received in putting out the three part surrogacy series. We also include some great resources at the end of where to learn more.

Disclaimer: Free Birth Society, LLC of North Carolina shares personal and educational stories and experiences related to freebirth and holistic care. This content is not medical advice, and we are not a licensed midwifery practice. Testimonials reflect individual experiences; results may vary. For services or scheduling, contact [email protected]. See full disclaimer at freebirthsociety.com/youtubeterms

I am joined today by Nancy Lucina, our in-house shamanic facilitator and spiritual guide. Today we check in with Nancy to hear what she has to share on how to tune into a love filled frequency during these stressful times. "All the right things, at all the right times, in all the right ways, for myself and the highest good of all involved, may it be so." Stay tuned for her meditation and song offerings at the end.

Disclaimer: Free Birth Society, LLC of North Carolina shares personal and educational stories and experiences related to freebirth and holistic care. This content is not medical advice, and we are not a licensed midwifery practice. Testimonials reflect individual experiences; results may vary. For services or scheduling, contact [email protected]. See full disclaimer at freebirthsociety.com/youtubeterms

Today I have my friend Simone on the show who tells us the story of her first baby that was born free, outside under a tree, in Mexico. Simone came to choose free birth from watching her own cat give birth, and tells us how it all began with the thought, “If a cat can do it, I can do it.” And so she did. 

Disclaimer: Free Birth Society, LLC of North Carolina shares personal and educational stories and experiences related to freebirth and holistic care. This content is not medical advice, and we are not a licensed midwifery practice. Testimonials reflect individual experiences; results may vary. For services or scheduling, contact [email protected]. See full disclaimer at freebirthsociety.com/youtubeterms

This week we are joined by Amanda, who had two truly orgasmic births. Amanda tells us how she learned to be in such deep relationship with her cervix that she could talk with it and even began to see it as the wise woman inside of her. Amanda tells us how giving birth is what truly set her on her sexual journey, inspired by the sheer pleasure she felt in birth.

Disclaimer: Free Birth Society, LLC of North Carolina shares personal and educational stories and experiences related to freebirth and holistic care. This content is not medical advice, and we are not a licensed midwifery practice. Testimonials reflect individual experiences; results may vary. For services or scheduling, contact [email protected]. See full disclaimer at freebirthsociety.com/youtubeterms

We are finishing up our 3 part series on surrogacy with our guest today, Yolande Norris-Clark. I credit Yolande entirely for opening my eyes to the ethical problems surrounding surrogacy and I am grateful to be sharing our conversation with you all today.

Disclaimer: Free Birth Society, LLC of North Carolina shares personal and educational stories and experiences related to freebirth and holistic care. This content is not medical advice, and we are not a licensed midwifery practice. Testimonials reflect individual experiences; results may vary. For services or scheduling, contact [email protected]. See full disclaimer at freebirthsociety.com/youtubeterms

Growing up with a deep pain for the childless mother, Brianna couldn’t shake the desire to give a woman in need, a child. After birthing her two children, she sought out a surrogacy agency in hopes of both finding the right woman to give of herself to, and also with a secret hope of healing her own birth trauma that she had endured with her first two children. As is so common with surrogate mothers, Brianna tells us of her deep regret. She shares the story of her sheer and total devastation as she realized halfway through her pregnancy that this was indeed her child, and yet had no legal claims to keep him. She tells the heartbreaking story of manufacturing trauma for both herself and her son and why she is now adamantly opposed to the renting of female bodies, and the selling of children.

Disclaimer: Free Birth Society, LLC of North Carolina shares personal and educational stories and experiences related to freebirth and holistic care. This content is not medical advice, and we are not a licensed midwifery practice. Testimonials reflect individual experiences; results may vary. For services or scheduling, contact [email protected]. See full disclaimer at freebirthsociety.com/youtubeterms

Alright my friends, the time has come for our Three Part Surrogacy Series. I have been wanting to unpack surrogacy on this show for a while now and offer my listeners a walk through as to why it is inherently anti-feminist and anti-motherbaby. So for the next three weeks we will be doing a deep dive looking at it from every angle, with experts on commercial surrogacy in Part 1 and 3 of this series.

We will also have a personal story with our guest next week, Briana, who will be sharing her story of deep pain and regret having signed up to be a surrogate mother.

I’m offering this to all of you because until it was spelled out to me, I had never given it much thought and didn’t know enough about it to be critical of it and vocal about the objective dangers.

So with that, I hope you will join me today with my guest and personal hero, Marylou Singleton, as we walk through the ABC’s of surrogacy and why it is an industry we are staunchly against - as you cannot be both *for* motherbaby, and for the commodification of women and children.

A must read article: https://marylousingleton.wordpress.com/2017/08/26/amicus-brief-to-scotus-opposing-the-exploitation-of-women-by-the-commercial-surrogacy-industry/?fbclid=IwAR0aJ7aC03tmeEF62t6laX3S2vQ0YWYFRtrm8xJrXHTR2gLWp1qmWVfYHXw

Disclaimer: Free Birth Society, LLC of North Carolina shares personal and educational stories and experiences related to freebirth and holistic care. This content is not medical advice, and we are not a licensed midwifery practice. Testimonials reflect individual experiences; results may vary. For services or scheduling, contact [email protected]. See full disclaimer at freebirthsociety.com/youtubeterms