Healing Birth with Carla

This episode of the Healing Birth Podcast has a particularly Aotearoa, New Zealand focus. It delves into the work of a Kiwi mama whose passionate drive and determination is making positive changes to the New Zealand landscape of birth trauma support. Kate Hicks is a Manawatū-based full-time mum to two. She is also the creator of Aotearoa's key birth trauma support website called, My Birth Story, which she developed following her own negative birth experience and which she launched in 2018.

More recently, Kate founded Birth Trauma Aotearoa, a new charitable trust working in the birth trauma space here in New Zealand, focusing on advocacy, education, research and support with the aim of preventing birth-related harm and improving equitable access to support services following birth trauma.

Be inspired and hopeful as you hear Kate share about the important work that she and the Birth Trauma Aotearoa trust are doing out there.

To access Kate's birth trauma support website, here's the link:

www.mybirthstory.org.nz/

To follow the work of Birth Trauma Aotearoa on Facebook, click here:

www.facebook.com/birthtraumaaotearoa

If you would like to support the work of Birth Trauma Aotearoa, you can donate here: 

https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/birth-trauma-aotearoa#

Today we welcome Lynley to the podcast. Lynley’s first birth was a traumatic experience. Her planned home birth ended in an emergency cesarean, and she was devastatingly separated from her precious boy for 14 hours. When Lynley found herself pregnant again, she was determined to do the inner work in order to prepare for the healing birth that she so desperately desired.

In this episode of the Healing Birth Podcast, Lynley shares with us her discovery of the inherent wisdom in working through fears and allowing grief to surface. These things are vital aspects of the healing journey. She talks about how she addressed her fears in preparation for her next birth, and how a traumatic birth has the potential to teach us such powerful lessons about ourselves when we are willing to ‘do the work.’

As a consequence of her mothering journey, Lynley now facilitates beautiful women’s circles via her business, Seasons and Circles, and she holds nourishing mother blessings for pregnant mamas.

Topics shared about in this episode include:

You can connect with Lynley via her website:

https://www.lynleyerin.com/

Or follow her work on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/seasonsandcircles/

And to explore working with me (Carla) to support you in unravelling your trauma, take a look here:

https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/services

Prior to conceiving Charlee, Amanda had struggled with infertility, miscarriage and the devastating suicide of her brother. Although her pregnancy was mostly positive, nearing her due date, Amanda developed pre-eclampsia and needed to be hospitalised. She was determined not to be induced and spent 2 weeks being monitored and on bed rest. When she did finally go into labour, her experience became traumatic. This was largely due to short staffing, meaning that Amanda wasn't being shown the care, patience and support she needed to feel safe.

Following her traumatic first birth, Amanda sought support via me and a counsellor, to find some healing. When she became pregnant again, she knew what she needed in order to have a safe and positive experience. Tune in to this inspiring episode of the Healing Birth Podcast to hear about Amanda's empowering home birth of Bella, her not so little bubba!!!

Topics discussed include:

This episode we welcome back a previous interviewee, Georgiana Fitzpatrick. In her last interview Georgi shared with us the story of her journey from a traumatic first birth experience, to a healing and empowering second birth.

Today we dive into a discussion about Georgi’s birth work. Georgi has dedicated the last 7 years of her life to supporting women pre and postnatally under her many hats of fitness instructor,  prenatal yoga teacher, women's circles facilitator and Healing Birth practitioner. Through this, she has always weaved  in the topic she is ultimately most passionate about: pelvic floor health.

In today’s episode of the Healing Birth Podcast, Georgi and I talk about the importance of conscious and unrestricted movement in maintaining good pelvic health. She shares her own experiences of pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence, and talks about holistic ways to navigate healing.

Covered in this episode:

Link to follow Georgi's work on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/georgi_anna_fitzpatrick/

Link to follow Georgi on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063561362020

Georgi's website link:

https://www.georgiannafitzpatrick.com/

Georgi shares about Katy Bowman's influence. Here's her website:

https://www.nutritiousmovement.com/

And to follow my Healing Birth work, here's my Instagram link:

https://www.instagram.com/healing.birth/

I am so excited that Bella, from @boldlyshe, has so boldly and generously offered to share her pregnancy journey with us as she progresses through it. This is no ordinary pregnancy story either... since the traumatic birth of her daughter, Bella has come to realise that experiencing a wild pregnancy, with no routine medical or midwifery input, and planning a free birth, is what is safest and best for her and her family.

This episode is the first in this series. We'll be checking in with Bella every couple of months, gaining 'real time' insights into the challenges and joys of taking this radically self responsible approach to pregnancy and birth, and one which necessitates full trust in our innate maternal wisdom, instincts and intuition.

Bella is a Healing Birth practitioner and a doula. She views birth as a transformative rite of passage, no matter where or how it takes place. Utilising the skills and knowledge gained in her studies of psychology, energy healing, and spirituality to inform her holistic approach, Bella holds space and ceremony for women to honour this sacred transition.

Topics that we discuss in this episode include:

To connect with Bella, you can join her on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/boldlyshe/

Or check out her website:

https://www.boldlyshe.com/

And to follow my Healing Birth work, here's my Instagram link:

https://www.instagram.com/healing.birth/

Today’s guest, Claire Eccleston, is a mother of three beautiful children, an experienced registered midwife, a Spinning Babies® approved trainer, a biodynamic craniosacral therapist and a STREAM (‘scar tissue remediation, education and management’) practitioner. Claire has been supporting women’s transitions since 2000, attending births, offering childbirth education, pregnancy yoga and providing bodywork sessions.

In this episode of the Healing Birth podcast, Claire speaks passionately about the following topics:

You can learn more about Claire's work via her website:

https://www.claireecclestonmidwife.com/about

or her online school:

https://learn.claireecclestonmidwife.com/p/home

or via her Instagram page:

https://www.instagram.com/clairehomebirth/

or facebook:

https://m.facebook.com/claireeclestonmidwife/

And to follow my Healing Birth work, here's my Instagram link:

https://www.instagram.com/healing.birth/

Today we welcome Kristin White, from Mama Rise, to the podcast. Kristin has experienced three very different births: a hospital cesarean, hospital VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) and home birth after cesarean, all of which she shares about in this episode.

Kristin describes her c section birth as traumatic, her hospital VBAC as ‘such a ride’ but ultimately a beautiful untouched hospital birth. However, it was her home birth that completely transformed Kristin and catapulted her into the birth work sphere. She is now a Certified Healing Birth practitioner, and a qualified Childbirth Educator and doula. She spreads her wisdom, love & guidance to mamas, and mamas to be, via her beautiful business, Mama Rise.

Kristin well knows the profound impacts birthing has on both mama and baby, and she has absolute faith in a woman’s power to birth. She believes all births can be beautiful and empowering and that all mamas have a right to be fully informed and supported to make the decisions that are right for them during their birth journey. 

Topics we cover in this episode include:

To connect with Kristin via social media, here is her Instagram link:

https://www.instagram.com/mamarise_kristin/

Kristin's Facebook page link:

https://www.facebook.com/MamaRiseMR

Kristin's website:

https://www.mamarise.co.nz/

And to follow my Healing Birth work, here's my Instagram link:

https://www.instagram.com/healing.birth/

In this episode of the Healing Birth Podcast I’m speaking with the beautiful, loved up, Sophia Paskell from Mothers Circle. Sophia is a birth doula, Childbirth Educator, facilitator, bath connoisseur and radical devotee to Love.

For over a decade, her work has been focused around empowering women in the space of pregnancy, birth and Mothering, gently guiding birthgivers to discover, explore and trust their own inner knowing and innate capacities. Sophia passionately values the rite of passage to Motherhood as a sacred foundation to stay deeply connected with humanity. Her work has unfolded into space holding for grief, womb wisdom and doula mentorship.

Today, Sophia and I navigate the topic of grief, delving into subject matter that is often tip toed around or avoided as much as possible, and yet grief, death and the shadow self, are things we all must face in life and sometimes in birth. 

To connect with Sophia via social media, here is her Instagram link:

https://www.instagram.com/mothers_circle/

Sophia's Facebook link:

https://www.facebook.com/motherscirclenz

Sophia's website:

https://www.motherscircle.co.nz/

And to follow my Healing Birth work, here's my Instagram link:

https://www.instagram.com/healing.birth/

Today’s guest is Georgiana Fitzpatrick, though to most, she is known as Georgi. Georgi is mama to two gorgeous boys. Her first birth was a traumatic experience, a journey that led her to find support and healing, and to eventually rock an incredible home birth with her second baby.

Georgi has dedicated the last 7 years of her life to supporting women pre and postnatally under her many hats of fitness instructor,  prenatal yoga teacher, women's circles facilitator and healing birth practitioner. Through this, she has always weaved  in the topic she is ultimately most passionate about: pelvic floor health.

In today’s episode of the Healing Birth Podcast, Georgi shares her birth stories, and how she navigated the path from trauma to healing. We run out of time to discuss the birth work she does, but don’t worry, we’ve got this covered in a future episode.

Topics covered in today's episode:

Link to follow Georgi's work on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/georgi_anna_fitzpatrick/

Link to follow Georgi on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063561362020

Georgi's website link:

https://www.georgiannafitzpatrick.com/

And to follow my Healing Birth work, here's my Instagram link:

https://www.instagram.com/healing.birth/