In this episode of the Holistic Pregnancy Podcast, I’m joined by Illie Balaj, CEO and Founder of Live Healthillie, for a grounded and practical conversation about what optimal health really looks like before pregnancy. You can find her on Instagram at @healthillie!

We dive into why true preconception health goes far beyond “just taking a prenatal” and why fertility isn’t only about your cycle. Ili shares her common-sense approach to wellness, focusing on nutrient-dense eating, non-toxic living, and building health from the inside out to support the entire body long before you ever see a positive pregnancy test.

Throughout this conversation, we explore what foundational health actually means, how preconception preparation supports hormones, fertility, and overall well-being, and why starting now, even if pregnancy feels far off, can make a meaningful difference. You’ll walk away with practical, realistic tips you can begin implementing today to support your health, fertility, and future pregnancy more intentionally.

This episode is for anyone who wants to feel empowered and informed about preconception health, fertility, and what it truly means to prepare the body for pregnancy in a holistic, sustainable way.

Just Ingredients - use the code TAYLORSHAFFER to get 10% off your order!

NEXT STEPS:
>> Explore our courses
>> Jump on the email list
>> Access the Facebook community
>> FREE nutrition guide
>> Postpartum cookbooks

...And as always, please consider leaving a rating and review to share the love!

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In this episode of the Holistic Pregnancy Podcast, I’m breaking down one of the most common fears around birth: pain. Instead of talking about how to avoid it, I explain how pain actually works in labor, and why understanding it can completely change the way you experience birth.

I share why labor pain is different from injury pain, how the brain interprets pain through fear and expectation, and why labor pain is actually productive and purposeful. We talk about the role of the nervous system, hormones like oxytocin and endorphins, and why feeling safe matters so much during labor.

This episode is for you if:

• You feel anxious or afraid of labor pain
• You want to understand what your body is actually doing during birth
• You’re planning a medicated or unmedicated birth and want an informed choice
• You want to break the fear–tension–pain cycle before labor begins

This episode is brought to you by Kindred Bravely, maternity and nursing essentials designed for real bodies and real life. Use the code NESTEDANDNOURISHED to get 15% off your order. 

NEXT STEPS:
>> Explore our courses
>> Jump on the email list
>> Access the Facebook community
>> FREE nutrition guide
>> Postpartum cookbooks

...And as always, please consider leaving a rating and review to share the love!

*Follow along on Instagram

In this episode of the Holistic Pregnancy Podcast, Taylor is joined by Moran Liviani, a doula and childbirth educator with nearly 14 years of experience, to explore how trauma, both birth-related and non-birth-related, can shape a woman’s labor, birth, and transition into motherhood. 

Moran shares her own journey through a traumatic first birth, followed by two deeply healing experiences that transformed her relationship with birth and her body. Together, Taylor and Moran discuss how unprocessed trauma, fear, and subconscious patterns often surface during labor, why birth is largely a mental and emotional experience, and how women can prepare holistically for birth, not just physically.

This conversation is for anyone who:

• Has experienced a traumatic or disappointing birth
• Feels fear or anxiety around giving birth again
• Wants to understand how trauma lives in the body
• Is preparing for birth and wants to do the deeper emotional work
• Supports birthing women and wants a trauma-informed lens

🌿 Connect with Moran:

• Instagram: @2lifedoula
• Website: www.2life.com.au
• Book: Birthing with Trauma and Fear: A Guide to an Empowering Birth Experience

✨ Mentioned in this episode:

• Grab my favorite protein powder + use code TAYLORSHAFFER for 10% off

NEXT STEPS:
>> Explore our courses
>> Jump on the email list
>> Access the Facebook community
>> FREE nutrition guide
>> Postpartum cookbooks

...And as always, please consider leaving a rating and review to share the love!

*Follow along on Instagram

In this episode, I’m breaking down one of the most misleading labels in modern maternity care: “low risk.” We talk about why this label often creates a false sense of safety, how it can actually lead to less support instead of more, and why being low risk doesn’t automatically protect you from unnecessary intervention.

This conversation is about shifting from complacency to curiosity—so you’re not outsourcing your birth experience to a checkbox on a chart.

In this episode, we cover:

• What “low risk” actually means in obstetrics—and what it doesn’t
• Why low risk is a statistical category, not a promise of hands-off care
• The difference between surveillance and support in birth
• How monitoring-heavy systems quietly increase intervention
• The subtle ways interventions stack without obvious emergencies
• What truly protects physiological birth (hint: it’s not labels)
• Why education and preparation still matter—even when everything looks “normal”
• How curiosity helps prevent complacency in pregnancy and birth

This episode is sponsored by Pique Life. I share why I’ve been enjoying their Sun Goddess Matcha, including its gentle energy, L-theanine content, antioxidant support, and third-party testing for heavy metals and toxins. You can grab it here (along with any of their other amazing products) up to 20% off for life with code TAYLORSHAFFER.

And if you want to learn how real decision points unfold during pregnancy and birth, so you’re not relying on labels to protect your experience, you need to enroll in the Unshakeable Birth course TODAY. Trust me on this one!

NEXT STEPS:
>> Explore our courses
>> Jump on the email list
>> Access the Facebook community
>> FREE nutrition guide
>> Postpartum cookbooks

...And as always, please consider leaving a rating and review to share the love!

*Follow along on Instagram

In this episode of the Holistic Pregnancy Podcast, we sit down with Brooke Gonseth for a grounded, no-fluff conversation about minerals, stress, and HTMA testing—and why this matters so much in pregnancy and postpartum.

Brooke shares her personal journey into the holistic space after navigating her own health challenges, what led her to mineral nutritional balancing, and how HTMA testing became such a powerful tool in her work. From there, we dig into how mineral depletion actually happens, why pregnancy and postpartum are uniquely demanding seasons, and what most women are missing when they’re told everything looks “normal.”

In this episode, we cover:

• What HTMA testing is and what it can reveal that standard labs often miss
• Why minerals are foundational for pregnancy, labor, and postpartum recovery
• How stress impacts mineral absorption and nervous system regulation
• Why nutrient-dense food matters just as much (if not more) than supplements
• How mineral status can influence resilience in labor and long-term recovery
• When HTMA testing can be especially helpful—and who it’s best suited for
• Why addressing root causes changes the entire health picture

👉🏻 GET YOUR HTMA TEST: Use code NESTEDANDNOURISHED at checkout to get an exclusive discount on your HTMA test! All testing comes with a results call and custom protocol from Brooke. Questions before you buy a test? Book a free discovery call with Brooke first!

👉🏻 You can grab my favorite beef liver capsules, gelatin, and collagen from Perfect Supplements—these are staples I personally use and recommend for supporting mineral intake and overall nourishment.

👉🏻 For a clear, practical plan for how to actually nourish yourself during pregnancy—without diet culture or overwhelm—check out Real Food Prenatal. This course walks you through what to eat, how to support minerals through food first, and how to build a pregnancy nutrition plan that actually feels doable. [add link]

NEXT STEPS:
>> Explore our courses
>> Jump on the email list
>> Access the Facebook community
>> FREE nutrition guide
>> Postpartum cookbooks

...And as always, please consider leaving a rating and review to share the love!

*Follow along on Instagram

In this episode of the Holistic Pregnancy Podcast, I unpack a distinction that doesn’t get talked about enough: the difference between wanting a natural birth and being prepared for birth.

We talk about how labels and aesthetics don’t actually protect birth—and how true preparedness has far less to do with identity and far more to do with education, decision-making skills, and flexibility.

This episode is an invitation to step out of birth labels and into informed readiness.

What we cover:

• Why “natural birth” is an intention—not a strategy
• How birth identity can quietly replace real preparation
• The risks of outsourcing knowledge to providers, plans, or social media
• What informed birth actually requires in real time
• Why education supports adaptability instead of rigidity
• The difference between preference-driven birth and skill-based preparedness

Unshakeable Birth Course — If you want to learn about your options in pregnancy and birth, understand common interventions, and build real decision-making skills so you’re not relying on labels or luck, you can check out Unshakeable Birth. It’s a self-paced course focused on informed, grounded preparation—not rigid birth plans.

NEXT STEPS:
>> Explore our courses
>> Jump on the email list
>> Access the Facebook community
>> FREE nutrition guide
>> Postpartum cookbooks

...And as always, please consider leaving a rating and review to share the love!

*Follow along on Instagram

In this episode, we explore how indecision — not emergencies or complications — shapes birth outcomes more than most people realize. We talk about the difference between passive and intentional pregnancy, how “we’ll see” often defaults to institutional momentum, and why decisions are still being made even when we think we’re postponing them. We break down how small, early choices quietly compound, why regret after birth is usually about misalignment rather than pain, and how to approach decision-making with gentle urgency — without pressure or panic. We close with a reflection to help you notice where you may be delaying choices that deserve your attention now.

In this episode, we cover:

• Passive vs intentional pregnancy
• How default systems shape birth when we don’t decide
• Why “we’ll see” often isn’t neutral
• The role of timing in birth decisions
• Gentle urgency without fear or rigidity
• A closing reflection on postponed decisions
  
  

Sponsor:
Purity Coffee — tested for mold and toxins and gentle on the nervous system.
Get 20% off your first order using code NESTEDANDNOURISHED.

Mentioned:
Nested & Nourished: The Course Collection — long-term pregnancy, birth, and postpartum education designed to support intentional decision-making over time.

NEXT STEPS:
>> Explore our courses
>> Jump on the email list
>> Access the Facebook community
>> FREE nutrition guide
>> Postpartum cookbooks

...And as always, please consider leaving a rating and review to share the love!

*Follow along on Instagram

In this episode of the Holistic Pregnancy Podcast, I am joined by Katelyn Fusco, host of the Happy Homebirth Podcast. Katelyn and I dive into the power of storytelling in birth and motherhood; we talk about how storytelling has always been one of the primary ways women have shared wisdom, processed experiences, and passed down knowledge—especially when it comes to birth.

We explore how the stories we tell ourselves about our births shape our identity as mothers, and how consciously revisiting and reframing those stories can reconnect us to our intuition instead of keeping us stuck in fear, guilt, or doubt. We also discuss what it looks like to process birth experiences that feel heavy or unresolved, why unprocessed birth trauma matters, and how tools like EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) can support emotional healing.

This conversation is for anyone who feels called to understand their birth story more deeply—not to rewrite it, but to integrate it in a way that feels grounded, honest, and empowering.

NEXT STEPS:
>> Explore our courses
>> Jump on the email list
>> Access the Facebook community
>> FREE nutrition guide
>> Postpartum cookbooks

...And as always, please consider leaving a rating and review to share the love!

*Follow along on Instagram

In this episode, we talk about how to handle judgment, concern, and unsolicited opinions during pregnancy and birth. We break down why fear-based reactions happen, how to spot them quickly, and how to stop taking them personally. You’ll learn how to set firm but kind boundaries, protect your energy, and stay rooted in self-trust — even when the people around you don’t understand your choices.

What We Cover

• Why family and friends react from fear, not facts
• How to recognize fear-based comments before they shake your confidence
• Boundary-setting that doesn’t require over-explaining
• Scripts for common conversations around birth choices
• Simple ways to redirect uncomfortable discussions
• Staying grounded in your decisions when no one else “gets it”

This episode is for any woman navigating pregnancy or birth choices that fall outside the mainstream — and learning how to hold her ground without burning bridges.

NEXT STEPS:
>> Explore our courses
>> Jump on the email list
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>> FREE nutrition guide
>> Postpartum cookbooks

...And as always, please consider leaving a rating and review to share the love!

*Follow along on Instagram

This interview is from episode 217 of the Entering Motherhood podcast where I had the opportunity to chat with Sarah Marie Bilger about preparing for the final weeks of pregnancy, especially for home birth. We cover the hormonal progression before labor, shifting your mindset from doing to allowing, boosting oxytocin through rest and connection, and simple physical practices (gentle movement, Spinning Babies, prenatal bodywork). I also share concrete home-birth logistics: organizing birth supplies, prepping your birth and postpartum space, clear partner instructions, nourishment plans, and essential items to have on hand for the first few days after birth. The episode blends emotional support with actionable advice to help you feel calm, supported, and ready!

NEXT STEPS:
>> Explore our courses
>> Jump on the email list
>> Access the Facebook community
>> FREE nutrition guide
>> Postpartum cookbooks

...And as always, please consider leaving a rating and review to share the love!

*Follow along on Instagram