Let’s say you want a midwife.   You’re desperate to give birth at home, and you’re ready to throw your money at the woman willing to attend your birth.  What happens when you can’t find anyone to come? 

This week we’re speaking with Caroline and Alex, who are the parents of a beautiful family of 4 little ones (now growing #5).  This episode was recorded in November or December of 2023, I believe, but it never got a chance to air because of my sense that it was immediately time to close the podcast.  BUT… this story is just so good, you have to hear it.  With the updates we’ve made to the podcast and our desire to focus more on one story per interview, this episode has been edited to focus on their most recent pregnancy and birth. 

Episode Roundup:

Links

Happy Homebirth Academy

We love talking about homebirth here, right?  I mean, it’s kind of our thing.  But what about the other end of the life spectrum.  What about death?  

This week, we are speaking with Mariah Lassiter, a a Hospice Registered Nurse who had her first baby at home..  As she has supported patients in her career, Mariah has begun to recognize how many similarities there are in the birthing and dying processes, and how both do not have to be viewed as scary, and in fact can be beautiful.  We’ll hear her incredible birth story with her first child, and then dive into what she’s learned in her time as a hospice nurse.

Episode roundup

Links

Samaritan Ministries

Imagine Heaven Book

Happy Homebirth Academy

In this episode we'll discuss

Links

Samaritan Ministries

Jamie Winship 4 Part Series

Bob Hamp Freedom Series

Imagine Heaven Book

Happy Homebirth Academy

When things go unexpectedly during your first birth, how do you plan for a second birth with the hope and expectation that they'll go better?

This week, we are speaking with Michelle Varela. Michelle is one of those rare and amazing women who knew that she wanted to give birth at home from a very young age. So when her first birth took an unexpected turn, it was confusing and disappointing, and there were certainly questions as to how things would be handled next time.

Episode Roundup:

The importance of our care providers. They make a huge difference. How things unfold does depend greatly on that.

But the second thing that's on my mind is just how incredible the body is, how beautifully designed it was and is, how beautifully designed it is to heal itself. While Michelle struggled with a 4th degree tear during her 1st birthing experience, she did not let that come in her way in terms of her second birth experience, and thank goodness that she didn't even know that other people might say, oh, that's too dangerous. She just did what she knew was best for her body, and what ended up happening was a beautiful birth with zero tearing. 

Our bodies are so incredible. They're so incredible at healing. They're so resilient. So if you have found yourself in a place where you've given birth before and it didn't go the way that you wanted, desired, expected, or planned, Know this. Your body is resilient.

Your mind is resilient. Your heart is resilient, and next time it can be different just like it was for Michelle.

Last thing before I jump off, I did wanna share that Michelle's husband actually works with mothers postpartum. He helps with things like diastasis recti, pelvic floor dysfunction, and just overall achieving of physical goals.

Instagram: @codylanecollins 

We want a healthy baby and a healthy mama, right? But is it okay to ask for more than that? What if we have specific ideas and hopes and dreams for our birth? Is it okay to pray about that? Is it okay to ask the Lord for more?

This week, we are speaking to my friend Rachel Petersen. Now Rachel did just that. She had desires and she let the Lord know about them. So we're going to learn what that looked like and see how it unfolded for her in her birth experience.

Now, just a little bit more information on Rachel. She is certified through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and the Herbal Academy. She specializes in women's hormones, cycle sinking, fertility, the fertility awareness method and prenatal and postpartum nutrition. So she's somebody that you're going to want to check out. She's on Instagram @nourish.thegood

Episode Roundup:

The first one being that Rachel shows us how it's okay to make your requests known to God. In fact, he tells us to, specifically, make your requests known to God and he will answer. Now, does it always look like the answer that Rachel received?

No, not necessarily. However, he does work all things for good. So even when the outcomes don't look the way we had expected, even when they look completely different from how we expected them to look, we know that we have a loving father who does care for us and, like Rachel said, He is aware of us.

He sees us. So whether your birth turns out as spectacularly as Rachel's does, or whether it turns out differently than expected, let God be big in it. Look for Him, He's there. Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, He is there. So let's look back and see, where was He? Where was He in my experience?

Previous Episode:

Previous Episodes with Kyleight:

1. You're not high risk until you're high risk- Jan's midwife said this, and I find it such a beautiful way to approach each pregnancy individually. She wasn't focusing on the past, but looking at Jan and her pregnancy NOW. Instead of forcing fear and uncertainty onto her client, she trusted her abilities as a care provider, yes, but more importantly-- she trusted Jan's ability to give birth.

1. As Errika's story demonstrated, it is possible to have a positive birth experience in the hospital, if that’s the option you feel you need this time around, keep this at front of mind, as it can be extremely encouraging to hear those positive examples.