In this episode, Brooke and Lauren tackle the dilemma of needing (or feeling the tug!) to switch to a new midwife.

They discuss...

• What to do if you feel the inkling that you need to change midwives

• How to discern what your next right step is when you are out of alignment with your midwife

• Questions to ask yourself about your relationship with your current (& prospective) midwife

• Making a decision with the Holy Spirit vs just your own desire/idols/trauma

• What might be behind your desire to do away with your midwife (hint: your own interior growth!)

Mentioned in this episode:

• The Aligned Birth Team episode of HWB

  
  

  Connect:

  • Email us to say hi: [email protected]

  • Put in a request for future topics and/or submit a question for future Q&A episodes: Fill out the form

  • Apply to tell your birth story on the podcast: Holy Wild Birth Podcast : Guest Application

  • Hang out with us and other Holy Wild Women in our private community (off Facebook): Rooted in Eden PMA

  • Become a holy, wild birthkeeper with us inside Hearthmother Journey

  From Lauren:

  • Instagram

  • Midwifery consults: Email  [email protected]

  From Brooke:

  • Instagram

  • Trust God, Trust Birth Workshop - a 5-part high-level roadmap to a confident home birth (pay what you can)

  • Faith-Filled Home Birth Workshop - a free, 3-part video series delivered to your inbox

  • Embrace Birth Journey - comprehensive and holistic faith-based home birth preparation (courses + private community)

  • Sister Birth: The Podcast - short, beautifully scripted episode to encourage your along the way

  Intro and Outra Music Credit -
  Betty Dear By Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Oh, Due dates! How much hinges on them! What psychological impact they can have! How grossly inaccurate they are!!

In this episode we're talking all things estimated due date. Like:

- how often the word "estimated" gets removed from the entire concept

- various ways of calculating when a baby might be born (you might have 5 different EDDs)

- the argument for adjusting our language and expectations around the timing of birth, both for ourselves and for others in our lives

- the spiritual lessons and wisdom related to waiting for unpredictable events like giving birth (or Christ's return)

- and more

If you've ever been curious, confused, or downright crazy about an EDD, this is for you.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Guess Dates Workbook (a 6-page freebie loaded with links, scriptures, a reflective questions)

Connect:

• Email us to say hi: [email protected]

• Put in a request for future topics and/or submit a question for future Q&A episodes: Fill out the form

• Apply to tell your birth story on the podcast: http://sisterbirth.com/podcast-guest

  • Hang out with us and other Holy Wild Women in our private community (off Facebook): https://hearthmotherministries.app.clientclub.net/communities/groups/community/home?invite=6a3acb7b9e1f37cda3920fb6

• Become a holy, wild birthkeeper with us inside Hearthmother Journey

From Lauren:

• Instagram

• Midwifery consults: Email  [email protected]

From Brooke:

• Instagram

• Trust God, Trust Birth Workshop - a 5-part high-level roadmap to a confident home birth (pay what you can)

• Faith-Filled Home Birth Workshop - a free, 3-part video series delivered to your inbox

• Embrace Birth Journey - comprehensive and holistic faith-based home birth preparation (courses + private community)

• Sister Birth: The Podcast - short, beautifully scripted episode to encourage your along the way

Intro and Outra Music Credit -
Betty Dear By Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

In this month’s chat over a cup of tea (or lemon water?!), one of us has a surprising update for our listeners. The other one is doing a lot of “middling.” We’ll let you guess which is from which.

You’ll also hear us reflect on the fruit of a mission trip to Brazil, unexpectedly stepping in to use one’s hands in a birth, facilitating women’s groups in our churches, and the ministry of songs!

Thanks for joining us here, friends. And don’t forget to “write back.”

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Middling (a substack)
• First-To-Know list for fall cohort of HJ
• Questions for Women's Circle Sharing

Connect:

• Email us to say hi: [email protected]

• Put in a request for future topics and/or submit a question for future Q&A episodes: Fill out the form

• Apply to tell your birth story on the podcast: http://sisterbirth.com/podcast-guest

• Hang out with us and other Holy Wild Women in our private community (off Facebook)

• Become a holy, wild birthkeeper or traditional midwife with us inside Hearthmother Journey

From Lauren:

• Midwifery consults: Email  [email protected]

From Brooke:

• Trust God, Trust Birth Workshop - a 5-part high-level roadmap to a confident home birth (pay what you can)

• Faith-Filled Home Birth Workshop - a free, 3-part video series delivered to your inbox

• Embrace Birth Journey - comprehensive and holistic faith-based home birth preparation (courses + private community)

Intro and Outra Music Credit -
Betty Dear By Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

- Sensitive Content Disclaimer -

This episode includes discussion of pregnancy loss, miscarriage, and second trimester loss. Listener discretion is advised, especially for those who may be walking through grief or processing similar experiences.

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In this deeply moving conversation, we sit down with a mother whose journey through loss, faith, pregnancy, and birth challenged nearly every mainstream expectation around maternity care and healing. She shares candidly about trusting both God and her body through uncertainty, grief, and ultimately an instinct-led birth experience that reshaped the way she views motherhood and surrender.

We talk about what it looked like to remain grounded in faith while enduring a miscarriage that did not resolve for weeks — and how she chose to interpret her body’s process. She shares the profound dream in which she encountered her daughter, the peace and meaning that experience brought, and how it transformed the way she understood loss and life itself.

Our conversation also explores the tension between intuition and medicalized narratives, including her decision to reject a diagnosis she felt did not align with what her body was communicating under the circumstances.

We discuss the standards she held for anyone involved in her birth space — especially her guiding litmus test for birth attendants: expect things to go well. She shares how unexpected circumstances ultimately left her without a midwife, and how a virtual mentor became a stabilizing and supportive presence during pregnancy and birth prep..

This episode also dives into the role that Embrace Birth Journey (EBJ) played in helping her prepare mentally and spiritually for a more primal, instinctive birth experience. Brooke’s birth video playlist inside EBJ became a powerful tool in reinforcing her confidence that birth unfolds as it is meant to, rather than something that must constantly be managed or controlled.

We also discuss how the discovery of meconium-stained waters led to a last-minute separation from her doula, the mysterious and meaningful presence of what she describes as “angel midwives,” and the mindset that carried her through labor: be where your feet are.

Additional topics include:

• Forgoing ultrasounds
• Viewing birth as a profound opportunity to operationalize faith

• The importance of honoring and celebrating every life, no matter how brief

Connect with Leah here:

• Reclaim Vitality Book: Reclaim Vitality: A Guide to Exit Conventional Medicine and Live Naturally
• IG: @standforhealthfreedom @lwilson4181
• Website: www.standforhealthfreedom.com, www.reclaimvitality.com
• X: @standforhealth1 @leah_wilson
• podcast: One Dream Podcast One Dream Podcast with Dr. Nick and Leah Wilson

Connect:

• Email us to say hi: [email protected]

• Put in a request for future topics and/or submit a question for future Q&A episodes: Fill out the form

• Apply to tell your birth story on the podcast: Holy Wild Birth Podcast : Guest Application

• Hang out with us and other Holy Wild Women in our private community (off Facebook): Rooted in Eden PMA

• Become a holy, wild birthkeeper with us inside Hearthmother Journey

From Lauren:

• Instagram

• Midwifery consults: Email  [email protected]

From Brooke:

• Instagram

• Trust God, Trust Birth Workshop - a 5-part high-level roadmap to a confident home birth (pay what you can)

• Embrace Birth Journey - comprehensive and holistic faith-based home birth preparation (courses + private community)

Intro and Outra Music Credit -
Betty Dear By Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

 

BIRTH STORY DISCLAIMER:

The choices, beliefs, and opinions of the mamas sharing their stories are as individual as the storyteller herself and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or recommended choices of Lauren and/or Brooke.

You may have many people in your life who are very excited to meet and love on your baby, or who want to support you after your birth. This is a great problem to have, right?

But maybe you feel overwhelmed, crowded, or smothered by it. Maybe some of the people who are eager to get into your postpartum space bring up feelings of discomfort or resistance: having them there just doesn't feel good in your body, even though they're very nice and/or related to you. Do they have a right to be there anyway?

Are you obligated to tell your parents the moment the baby comes out? Is it necessary to allow your in-laws to visit and "meet the baby" within 24 hours? Should you allow others to hold the baby that first week?

In this episode we explore the concerns and tensions that many mothers (and fathers) experience about how to include loved ones in the earliest days of their baby's lives, what it looks like to honor the critical time period of the first week of a baby's life when the mother and baby are a dyad, and how to lovingly and clearly set boundaries or establish expectations with both healthy and unhealthy people.

Mentioned in this Episode:

• • Nils Bergman's work on the importance of continuous skin-to-skin contact
  • Hearthmother Journey

  
  

Connect:

• Email us to say hi: ⁠[email protected]⁠

• Put in a request for future topics and/or submit a question for future Q&A episodes: ⁠Fill out the form⁠

• Apply to tell your birth story on the podcast: ⁠Holy Wild Birth Podcast : Guest Application⁠

• Hang out with us and other Holy Wild Women in our private community (off Facebook): ⁠Rooted in Eden PMA⁠

• Become a holy, wild birthkeeper with us inside ⁠Hearthmother Journey⁠

From Lauren:

• ⁠Instagram⁠

• Midwifery consults: Email  ⁠[email protected]⁠

From Brooke:

• ⁠Instagram⁠

• ⁠Trust God, Trust Birth Workshop⁠ - a 5-part high-level roadmap to a confident home birth (pay what you can)

• ⁠Faith-Filled Home Birth Workshop ⁠- a 3-part video series delivered to your inbox

• ⁠Embrace Birth Journey ⁠- comprehensive and holistic faith-based home birth preparation (courses + private community)

• ⁠Sister Birth: The Podcast⁠ - short, beautifully scripted episode to encourage your along the way

Intro and Outra Music Credit -Betty Dear By ⁠Blue Dot Sessions⁠ is licensed under a ⁠Creative Commons License⁠.

What do you do when the people you love don’t support your decision to have a homebirth? In this episode, we’re talking through one of the most common and emotionally loaded questions we hear from families: “How do I handle the disapproval?”

Whether it’s a parent, friend, pastor, sibling, or someone from your community, navigating outside opinions during pregnancy can bring up fear, people-pleasing, insecurity, grief, and even old wounds we didn’t realize were still there. We talk honestly about what these conversations can reveal inside of us, how to discern when to engage versus when to hold privacy, and what healthy boundaries can actually look like in real life.

We also unpack how every relationship requires a different approach. A concerned mother may need a different response than a judgmental acquaintance. Some conversations may call for gentleness and reassurance, while others may require firm boundaries and less access altogether.

And perhaps most importantly, we remind listeners of something that can feel incredibly freeing: you are not obligated to disclose your birth plans to anyone.

We hope it leaves you feeling grounded, empowered, and reminded that discernment, wisdom, and privacy are not secrecy or selfishness.

Mentioned in this Episode:

• We talk about HUSBANDS being resistant to home birth in this episode: Home Birth Hesitant Husbands by Holy Wild Birth

• Home Birth Safety resource roll: Home Birth Safety

Connect:

• Email us to say hi: [email protected]

• Put in a request for future topics and/or submit a question for future Q&A episodes: Fill out the form

• Apply to tell your birth story on the podcast: Holy Wild Birth Podcast : Guest Application

• Hang out with us and other Holy Wild Women in our private community (off Facebook): Rooted in Eden PMA

• Become a holy, wild birthkeeper with us inside Hearthmother Journey

From Lauren:

• Instagram

• Midwifery consults: Email  [email protected]

From Brooke:

• Instagram

• Trust God, Trust Birth Workshop - a 5-part high-level roadmap to a confident home birth (pay what you can)

• Faith-Filled Home Birth Workshop - a free, 3-part video series delivered to your inbox

• Embrace Birth Journey - comprehensive and holistic faith-based home birth preparation (courses + private community)

• Sister Birth: The Podcast - short, beautifully scripted episode to encourage your along the way

Intro and Outra Music Credit -
Betty Dear By Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Pregnancy has a way of stripping everything down to what’s real. In this episode, we sit with a Tesia's story of radical dependence on the Lord through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. From shopping for a midwife before conception to receiving unexpected prophetic words, navigating housing chaos while heavily pregnant, and wrestling with the physical cost of carrying and birthing a baby, this conversation is honest & deeply hope-filled.

We talk about seeing God’s hand in the details. The premature congratulations that foreshadowed pregnancy before she even knew. Praying for guidance toward birth resources and watching doors open one by one. Feeling profoundly seen by the Lord through the provision of baby supplies at just the right moments and the surprising ways He continued speaking throughout pregnancy, labor, and postpartum.

This episode also holds space for the harder parts of the journey & the struggle of feeling physically limited and disconnected from your own body. Nausea that lasted through the entirety of labor, the emotional weight of changing a birth team late in pregnancy, delayed placenta delivery, moments of fear that led to a 911 call that ultimately wasn’t needed, and the sacred tension between intervention and listening for the Lord’s direction in the moment.

We also talk about:

• doing evangelism outreaches during the first trimester
• home buying and renovation disasters in late pregnancy
• a truly iconic pregnancy diet of milk, potstickers, donuts, and protein shakes
• prophetic imagery surrounding Mary and Joseph and how it shaped their perspective on birth
• a very fast pushing stage where the midwife barely made it in time
• using saline and cayenne with the umbilical cord
• repurposing birth affirmations and Scripture during postpartum survival
• the raw honesty of postpartum struggles
• and the deep significance behind their daughter’s name

This conversation is a reminder that birth stories are rarely neat or polished. Sometimes they are messy, exhausting, holy, funny, frightening, and full of unexpected grace all at once.

Links:

I'll Praise You In This Storm

How to get in touch with Tesia and David:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifereallyisbeautyfull?igsh=eHI0ZXg5eHl5dXd2
• Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/share/18XKb4Foea/
• YouTube:https://youtube.com/@lifeisbeauty-full?si=Z78M1ZP8aBRngpXA
• NYC Missions Trip:https://www.jesuslovesnyc.org/

Connect:

• Email us to say hi: [email protected]

• Put in a request for future topics and/or submit a question for future Q&A episodes: Fill out the form

• Apply to tell your birth story on the podcast: Holy Wild Birth Podcast : Guest Application

• Hang out with us and other Holy Wild Women in our private community (off Facebook): Rooted in Eden PMA

• Become a holy, wild birthkeeper with us inside Hearthmother Journey

From Lauren:

• Instagram

• Midwifery consults: Email  [email protected]

From Brooke:

• Instagram

• Trust God, Trust Birth Workshop - a 5-part high-level roadmap to a confident home birth (pay what you can)

• Faith-Filled Home Birth Workshop - a free, 3-part video series delivered to your inbox

• Embrace Birth Journey - comprehensive and holistic faith-based home birth preparation (courses + private community)

• Sister Birth: The Podcast - short, beautifully scripted episode to encourage your along the way

Intro and Outra Music Credit -
Betty Dear By Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

BIRTH STORY DISCLAIMER:

The choices, beliefs, and opinions of the mamas sharing their stories are as individual as the storyteller herself and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or recommended choices of Lauren and/or Brooke.

This week feels a little like sitting around the table with friends. We’re catching up on what’s unfolding behind the scenes, reflecting on the beauty of April births, and talking honestly about seasons of waiting that don’t look the way we thought they would.

In this episode, we talk about the beginning of HMU through two very different lenses: Lauren stepping into it from the teacher side, and Brooke entering it first as a student. We share what it’s been like watching this community grow, the heart behind it, and the ways God continues to shape all of us through the process.

We also recap Brooke’s birthday beauty-sharing dinner and retreat — the conversations, the connection, the rest, and why creating intentional spaces for women to gather matters so deeply to us. We reflect on some of the beautiful births Brooke attended throughout April and the reminders they carried about surrender, strength, family, and the sacredness woven throughout ordinary moments.

And finally, Lauren shares about “letting the ground rest.” About being in a season of waiting she would not have chosen, and how difficult it can be when life feels slower than we hoped for. She shares what it’s looked like to sit in the unknown, release control, and slowly realize that rest, hiddenness, and waiting are not wasted seasons. Sometimes the ground has to be still before something new can grow.

Show Links:

Let the Ground Rest - Chris Renzema

Our community (please join & share something that you've found beauty in for our birthdays!)

Connect:

• Email us to say hi: [email protected]

• Put in a request for future topics and/or submit a question for future Q&A episodes: Fill out the form

• Apply to tell your birth story on the podcast: Holy Wild Birth Podcast : Guest Application

• Hang out with us and other Holy Wild Women in our private community (off Facebook): Rooted in Eden PMA

• Become a holy, wild birthkeeper with us inside Hearthmother Journey

From Lauren:

• Instagram

• Midwifery consults: Email  [email protected]

From Brooke:

• Instagram

• Trust God, Trust Birth Workshop - a 5-part high-level roadmap to a confident home birth (pay what you can)

• Faith-Filled Home Birth Workshop - a free, 3-part video series delivered to your inbox

• Embrace Birth Journey - comprehensive and holistic faith-based home birth preparation (courses + private community)

• Sister Birth: The Podcast - short, beautifully scripted episode to encourage your along the way

Intro and Outra Music Credit -
Betty Dear By Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Creative Commons

In this episode, we sit down and talk through what it actually looks like to have kids present at a home birth. We share honestly about the nerves, the beauty, and all the unknowns that can come with it. From how we can prepare our children ahead of time, to having the right support in place during labor, this conversation really leans into being both intentional and flexible.

We talk about how kids often come into birth with curiosity more than fear, and how our role is less about controlling their experience and more about creating a calm, safe space where they can observe, ask questions, and even participate in small ways if they want to. We also talk about letting go of perfect expectations and trusting that everyone will find their place in the moment.

At the heart of it, this episode is about inviting our children into something that’s deeply normal and deeply sacred. It’s about the long-term impact of letting them witness birth, not as something scary or hidden, but as a natural part of family life and care.

Connect:

• Email us to say hi: [email protected]

• Put in a request for future topics and/or submit a question for future Q&A episodes: Fill out the form

• Apply to tell your birth story on the podcast: Holy Wild Birth Podcast : Guest Application

• Hang out with us and other Holy Wild Women in our private community (off Facebook): Rooted in Eden PMA

• Become a holy, wild birthkeeper with us inside Hearthmother Journey

From Lauren:

• Instagram

• Midwifery consults: Email  [email protected]

From Brooke:

• Instagram

• Trust God, Trust Birth Workshop - a 5-part high-level roadmap to a confident home birth (pay what you can)

• Faith-Filled Home Birth Workshop - a free, 3-part video series delivered to your inbox

• Embrace Birth Journey - comprehensive and holistic faith-based home birth preparation (courses + private community)

• Sister Birth: The Podcast - short, beautifully scripted episode to encourage your along the way

Intro and Outra Music Credit -
Betty Dear By Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

In our first Q&A episode , we’re talking about the powerful, grounding role dads can play during a home birth. From emotional support to practical help, husbands aren’t just “in the room”.

We cover:

• How dads can prepare ahead of time
• Simple but meaningful ways to support mom during labor
• What to expect when things get intense or unpredictable
• The emotional impact this moment can have on partners too

Connect:

• Email us to say hi: [email protected]

• Put in a request for future topics and/or submit a question for future Q&A episodes: Fill out the form

• Apply to tell your birth story on the podcast: Holy Wild Birth Podcast : Guest Application

• Hang out with us and other Holy Wild Women in our private community (off Facebook): Rooted in Eden PMA

• Become a holy, wild birthkeeper with us inside Hearthmother Journey

From Lauren:

• Instagram

• Midwifery consults: Email  [email protected]

From Brooke:

• Instagram

• Trust God, Trust Birth Workshop - a 5-part high-level roadmap to a confident home birth (pay what you can)

• Faith-Filled Home Birth Workshop - a free, 3-part video series delivered to your inbox

• Embrace Birth Journey - comprehensive and holistic faith-based home birth preparation (courses + private community)

• Sister Birth: The Podcast - short, beautifully scripted episode to encourage your along the way

Intro and Outra Music Credit -
Betty Dear By Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

BIRTH STORY DISCLAIMER:

The choices, beliefs, and opinions of the mamas sharing their stories are as individual as the storyteller herself and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or recommended choices of Lauren and/or Brooke.