Joli sat down with me in person to share her incredible first birth story, a first for this podcast!

Raised hearing her mother speak so positively about her own home births, Joli always envisioned a similar path for herself. When it came time to welcome her first baby, she felt deeply committed to a physiological birth and chose to work with a midwife at home.

After a smooth, uneventful pregnancy, everything shifted during the final stages of labor when her baby was discovered to be breech. At that point, there was no turning back. What followed was an intense and transformative experience that ended with her baby being born safely at home.

In the weeks after the birth, Joli found herself reflecting on her baby's breech presentation and processing the depth of what she had experienced. What ultimately remained was a profound sense of strength. She shares that if she were to discover a future baby was breech, she would choose the same home birth path again without hesitation.

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected]

Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

Taylor sat down with me to share her story just twelve weeks after her second homebirth. She says she felt reborn after both of her birth experiences, but describes this most recent one as especially healing. It came after an early second trimester miscarriage and a traumatic D&C, which led her to explore femininity, softness, loss, spirituality, and more. Fear emerged at different points during the pregnancy, but she returned to faith in the unknown time and time again.

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected].

Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

Why do so many women leave birth feeling overwhelmed, unheard, or even traumatized? And what actually helps create a better birth experience?

In this episode, I'm joined by Erica Manto Paulson, a certified doula, childbirth educator, and certified clinical hypnotherapist who has supported families in birth for more than 20 years.

Erica's passion for this work began after her own VBAC experience, where the support of a skilled doula transformed her birth. That experience inspired her to dedicate her life to helping women feel informed, supported, and empowered throughout pregnancy and birth.

Erica brings not only deep knowledge, but also a genuine heart for this work that shines through in her every word.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Why pregnancy and birth are nervous system experiences, not just medical events • How to find the right care team • Patterns Erica has seen in positive birth outcomes versus traumatic ones • Words of wisdom for women who have experienced a traumatic birth • How feeling heard, safe, and supported impacts labor, postpartum recovery, and mental health • What advocacy really looks like in birth, and how families can speak up without creating conflict • The powerful role doulas and support systems play in creating calmer, more confident birth experiences

Find Erica on Instagram @nurturecincy

Her website: www.welcometonurture.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/nurturecincy

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected]

Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

Eva was working in a maternity home, a residential program that provides housing, prenatal care, and support for pregnant women in need, when she became pregnant with her first baby. Clear in her vision for birth, she chose midwifery care and planned a physiological, unmedicated birth at a midwife-run birth center.

Her labor was smooth, relatively quick, and deeply supported. But the weeks that followed were far more difficult than she expected. Reflecting now, Eva realizes that while she prepared carefully for birth, she had not prepared for postpartum, that tender, life-changing time when your body is still shared ground.

Today, Eva is a birth and postpartum doula. Her passion for supporting new families was born from her own experience navigating the beautiful and challenging transition into motherhood

Find Eva on Instagram @lunanataldoulacare

And at www.lunanataldoulacare.com

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected]

Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

At the end of her first pregnancy, Celine's plans for the birth unraveled. Her baby was breech, and the natural birth she had envisioned was replaced with a scheduled cesarean.

Though the surgery itself wasn't traumatic, it shook her confidence. She was left wrestling with painful questions: Why didn't my baby turn? Is my body broken?

Her healing began in the presence of women who believed deeply in birth and in her. Their unwavering faith helped her reclaim her own. When she became pregnant again, Celine chose a different path. She planned a home birth, supported by a midwife and doula, and consciously turned away from the fear that so often surrounds VBAC.

When labor came, it came swiftly. Before the midwife could arrive, Celine birthed her baby in the quiet of her own bathroom, immersed in warm water, guided by instinct alone. The experience was powerful, psychedelic, and profoundly redemptive.

She did not just give birth that day. She reclaimed herself.

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected]

Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

This is part two of Natalie's story. Be sure to listen to Part One if you haven't already.

After the devastating second-trimester loss of her second baby, Natalie entered her third pregnancy carrying a lot of fear. Labeled as high risk, she once again had to navigate frequent interactions with the medical system, the same one that had dismissed her concerns so many times in her previous pregnancy.

Her beautiful, much-longed-for son was born healthy. But in the process, Natalie once again came close to losing her life.

Through the ups and downs, the tears and fears, the pain and the joy, Natalie shares that it was God's faithfulness that carried her through. She named her son Noah, a forever reminder of that faithfulness.

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected]

Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

Content note: This episode includes the story of infant loss. If you are not in a space to hear about this topic, I trust you know what to do.

From the very beginning of Natalie's second pregnancy, she felt that something was wrong. As early as the first trimester, she experienced breathing issues, swelling, and eventually severe headaches. When she brought these symptoms to her care providers, they were dismissed as simply "pregnancy."

In her second trimester, she was finally diagnosed with HELLP syndrome. To save her life, she had to deliver her baby via emergency cesarean at just 23 weeks and 6 days gestation. Her daughter, Serena Joy, survived in the NICU for five days.

In the midst of such unimaginable shock and tragedy, Natalie found peace and healing through her faith. In that hospital room, she felt the presence and peace of God, as well as deep compassion and love for others who were walking through difficult seasons.

This is only part one of Natalie's story. Tune in next week to hear part two.

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected]

Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

Emily's first pregnancy at twenty came in the midst of heroin addiction and an abusive relationship — and became her path to sobriety. She had an unmedicated hospital birth that, while fast, came with the usual interventions: coached pushing, an unnecessary episiotomy, and IV fluids that made breastfeeding a struggle.

Years later, after a stint as an L&D nurse left her disillusioned with the system she'd once hoped to change, Emily chose a home birth midwife for her second baby. When labor came, something quiet and deep told her she wanted to be alone. She never called the midwife. Her son was born ten minutes after she woke her husband, and the midwife later told her, "You could probably just do this on your own next time."

She took it to heart. Her third baby was a fully wild pregnancy — no scans, no appointments — and a surprise breech free birth that she navigated with calm and confidence.

Her fourth, after gaining perspective from years as a postpartum nurse, led her back to minimal prenatal care and a free birth complicated by a face presentation. That experience shifted something in her. She still advocates fiercely for women trusting their intuition, but she's let go of any dogma, and says if another baby comes, she'll likely invite a trusted midwife to be with her.

Find Emily on Substack @theworkofwomen

And on Instagram @tend.her.heart

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected]

Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

Lindsee's first birth was a fairly typical hospital experience—and it left her feeling there had to be a better way to bring life into the world.

When it came time to choose where her second baby would be born, she opted for a midwife-run birth center, and the difference was profound. The experience was respectful, empowering, and deeply positive. Like so many after a redeeming birth, Lindsee became fascinated by all things birth and eventually went on to become a doula herself.

Pregnant with her third, she eagerly began planning a home birth. Tragically, that pregnancy ended in a devastating second-trimester loss due to a rare genetic anomaly. Much of how the hospital handled both the birth and death was deeply disappointing, with the exception of one compassionate nurse who stood out during an otherwise excruciating experience.

Lindsee longed for another baby, but it was a long road before she finally saw a positive pregnancy test again. This time, she was able to welcome her baby at home, experiencing the birth she had always hoped for.

Find Lindsee @wildflower_birthservices

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected]

Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

Carly's husband, a medical doctor, shared that there were two things he didn't feel comfortable with as they approached the birth of their own children: waterbirth and homebirth.

One fateful day, while celebrating her mom's birthday at her home, Carly went into labor - thinking she had much more time than she actually did. Her husband was suddenly there to witness a birth that would force him to confront his fears.

Carly's enthusiasm for how beautiful birth can be is absolutely infectious, and you can explore her courses at birthmademindful.com.

Use coupon code "hello10" for a discount!

Find her on Instagram @made.mindful

If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth

Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected]

Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard

Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto