In this intimate solo episode, Diane returns after a podcast hiatus to share what the end of 2025 asked her to release, and what she’s carrying forward into a new year.

Rather than rushing into goals or reinvention, this conversation centers on collapse as initiation, illness as intelligence, and rebirth as a way of living rather than something to hustle toward.

Using the symbolism of the Year of the Snake, feminine, cyclical, and rooted in shedding—Diane reflects on the old skins that could not come with her into this next season, including over-responsibility, self-abandonment, and business models that required her to override her body.

You’ll also be guided through a short nervous-system pause, offering space to listen inward and name what you may be ready to release as well.

This episode is for anyone standing at the edge of a new year feeling quieter than expected - more tender than driven - and wondering if something is wrong.

Nothing is wrong.
You may simply be shedding.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why collapse isn’t failure, but information

• How illness can act as a sacred boundary

• The feminine wisdom of the snake and the power of shedding

• Over-responsibility and self-abandonment as survival patterns

• Rebirth as slow, cellular, and embodied

• Letting go of versions of success that cost too much

• Trusting a quieter, truer way forward

Listener reflection:

If your body could shed one thing it’s been carrying, what would it be?

In this bonus replay of an intimate solo episode, Diane Ortega invites you into a powerful solstice reflection and shares the behind-the-scenes of her personal transformation. From the grief of letting go of a long-held vision to the light of spiritual rebirth, she offers a raw and radiant look at what it means to midwife yourself through change. She also opens up about her upcoming journey to Avalon—the sacred land of the Divine Feminine—and what she hopes to remember, release, and reclaim along the way. This is a story of light returning, purpose reawakening, and the beauty of trusting your sacred mess.

In This Episode:

Mentioned in This Episode:

✨ Journal Prompt:What is being illuminated in my life right now?

In this special Q&A episode, I’m answering YOUR biggest questions about pregnancy, birth, postpartum mental health, and how to build a strong support system—even if you’re not a mom! We’ll cover misconceptions about midwifery, how to prepare for birth, recognizing postpartum depression, and the power of sisterhood. If you have a question for a future episode, send it my way on Instagram (@@⁠the.midwife.life.co⁠) or via email (⁠[email protected]⁠).

✨ Topics Covered: 

✔️ The biggest misconceptions about midwifery care

✔️ How to decide if a birth center is right for you

✔️ Preparing for an unmedicated birth

✔️ Recognizing the difference between baby blues & postpartum depression

✔️ How partners can offer better support during pregnancy & postpartum

✔️ How to cultivate strong female friendships & community

📖 Resources Mentioned: 

📝 Additional Support & Links: 

💌 Want More? 👉 Submit Your Questions: DM me on Instagram @themidwifelife or email [email protected]

👉 Sign Up for My Upcoming Workshop: Midwifing Your Life—an immersive experience designed to help women live with more intention, balance, and empowerment. Sign up for details ⁠here⁠! 

🎧 Share This Episode! If you loved this episode, please take a moment to leave a review—it helps other women find this podcast! And don’t forget to share this episode with a friend who needs it. 💜

📢 Tag me on Instagram @themidwifelife when you’re listening! I love seeing your takeaways and connecting with you. Until next time, trust your body, trust your intuition, and keep midwifing your life! ✨

Today on The Midwife Life, we’re diving into a topic so many mothers wish someone had prepared them for: what really happens after birth—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

My guest, Samantha Davis, CEO of NuHealth Placenta, is redefining what postpartum support looks and feels like. Through placenta encapsulation and holistic recovery education, Samantha helps mothers restore balance, energy, and peace of mind during one of the most tender, transformative seasons of their lives.

This episode is a grounding reminder: Postpartum is not something you “push through.” It’s a coming home to yourself.

Whether you’re pregnant, newly postpartum, a seasoned mother, or someone who supports women, this conversation offers truth, permission, and powerful tools for honoring the fourth trimester.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE EXPLORE:

ABOUT SAMANTHA DAVIS

Samantha is the founder and CEO of NuHealth Placenta, a company dedicated to supporting mothers through placenta encapsulation and

You can find her at:

Samantha is also offering The Midwife Life listeners an exclusive free upgraded package + umbilical cord keepsake.

CONNECT WITH DIANE

If you loved this episode, share it with a friend, tag us on IG, or leave a review. It helps this movement reach more women who are ready to reclaim their power, their wellbeing, and their rebirth.

What if this isn’t burnout?

What if it’s rebirth?

This episode reframes exhaustion, confusion, and emotional unraveling not as failure, but as a necessary initiation into becoming.

Diane unpacks:

This episode is for you if:

Reflection Questions:

Stay close for the next episode as we explore the wisdom of stillness and the power of honoring the in-between.

✨ Continue your Rebirth inside The Rebirth Journey

A sacred 12-week experience for women ready to honor their becoming and

rise with intention.

Learn more → Your Rebirth Begins Here

✨ Join the Rebirth Circle

Midwifing the Moment- a soulful email space for women in transition, reflection, and rebirth. Receive sacred reflections, audio notes, and first invitations into The Rebirth Journey.

Join here → Stay Updated

In this episode, Diane sits down with women’s health and fitness coach, community leader, and Willow mama, Meg Pasquel. Together, they explore the identity shift of motherhood, the real postpartum experience, listening to your body, and redefining strength in a season that changes everything.

Meg is the founder of Positively Fit Community, host of The FitlittleMeg Experience, and a longtime advocate for women’s wellness. She’s built a seven-figure coaching brand while navigating her own motherhood journey — and in this conversation, she shares openly about what that evolution has looked like behind the scenes.

This episode is grounding, honest, and full of reminders every mother needs.

In This Episode, We Cover:

About Meg Pasquel:

Meg is a women’s health and fitness coach, founder of Positively Fit Community, and host of The FitlittleMeg Experience podcast.

She’s helped thousands of women transform their health, reconnect with their bodies, and build confidence — all while sharing her own real, honest journey through postpartum and motherhood.

Meg lives in Arizona with her family and is a proud Willow mama.

Connect with Meg:

Additional Resources:

Join The Rebirth Journey

If this conversation stirred something inside you — if you’re in a season of unraveling, remembering, or rising — you’re invited into The Rebirth Journey, Diane’s 12-week coaching experience for women ready to reconnect with themselves on every level.

Learn more →

If You Loved This Episode…

Please rate, review, and share the show.

Your support helps us reach more women who deserve conversations like this.

What if “being a good mother” has less to do with self-sacrifice…and everything to do with self-actualization?

Together, they unpack the “mother code” most of us inherited—the one rooted in perfectionism, martyrdom, and putting everyone else first—and begin to imagine something different: a version of mothering that honors intuition, choice, and self-mothering as the foundation for how we care for others.

Whether you’re pregnant, parenting, child-free by choice, or in a season of caring for aging parents, this conversation will help you see mothering as a lifelong relationship with yourself, your community, and your dreams.

In this episode, we explore:

What “the Mother Code” really is: How culture, family, and history shape our ideas of what a “good mother” should be—and why those codes need rewriting.

From self-sacrifice to self-actualization: The deeply ingrained belief that everyone else should come first, and how tending to yourself actually supports your children, your relationships, and your work.

Mothering beyond children: How you “mother” your business, your creativity, your friendships, your community—and why women without children are absolutely part of the mothering landscape.

Perfectionism in motherhood: Where the pressure to be a “perfect parent” came from, how social media amplifies it, and why chasing the right way to mother is a no-win game.

Rewriting generational patterns: Gertrude’s honest story about her own mother wound, fertility journey, and how doing deep inner work changed the way she conceived, birthed, and parented.

Choice, intuition, and birth: Why informed choice in pregnancy and birth matters so much, what happens when women aren’t listened to, and how trusting your intuition can change your birth experience.

The PACT for self-mothering: Gertrude’s powerful framework for softening your inner critic and mothering yourself.

A simple place to start rewriting your own mother code: One reflective exercise you can do today to begin untangling what you inherited from what you truly desire.

Website: drgertrude.com

Podcast: Rewrite the Mother Code

Instagram: @drgertrudelyons

TEDx Talk: “Rewrite the Mother Code” on the TEDx YouTube channel

Connect with Dr. Gertrude Lyons:

Website: ⁠https://www.drgertrudelyons.com/

Instagram: ⁠⁠@drgertrudelyons⁠⁠

TEDx Talk: “Rewrite the Mother Code” on the TEDx YouTube channel (https://youtu.be/NZ9ZF8JKIDY⁠https://youtu.be/NZ9ZF8JKIDY⁠)

If this episode stirred something in you—if you’re feeling the nudge to rewrite your own stories around motherhood, womanhood, or worth—I’d love to walk with you.

🕊️ Explore The Rebirth Journey, my 12-week coaching experience to help you rest, repair, and rise into your next season.

Thank you for listening to The Midwife Life. If this conversation on redefining motherhood and self-mothering resonated, please take a moment to leave a 5-star rating and a short review. Your words help other women find the support and language they didn’t know they needed. 💛

It’s been one year since The Midwife Life began —and what started as a podcast has become a movement.

In this special anniversary episode, host Diane Ortega, DNP, CNM shares the story behind her own burnout, the lessons that shaped this year of growth, and the next evolution of The Midwife Life: The Rebirth Journey — a 12-week coaching experience for women ready to rest, repair, and rise into their next season.

Burnout isn’t the end — it’s the beginning of something sacred.

You’ll Hear:

Key Quote:

“Rebirth isn’t about starting over — it’s about starting truer. Burnout was never the end. It was the doorway to something sacred.”

Join the Rebirth Journey:

In this special Listener Q&A episode, Diane answers your most vulnerable and powerful questions—on postpartum healing, identity loss and rediscovery, pelvic floor care, and the sacred mess of transformation.

From what’s really normal 6 months postpartum to how to know when it’s time to let go of something that no longer fits, this episode is a soft but strong reminder:

You’re not broken. You’re becoming.

And you don’t have to do it alone.

In this episode, we explore:

Ready to Go Deeper?

Join Diane for a free live workshop:

Midwife Your Life: Cultivating Community & Embracing Transformation

🗓 November 8th | 10am (AZ)

🎟 Free to attend

💛 For women in any season of transition—postpartum, midlife, reinvention

✨ Breathwork, journaling, reflection, and a 3-step clarity map for your next chapter

👉 Sign up here → themidwifelife/workshop

And for those ready to go even deeper… Diane will be sharing a special invitation to work with her more closely after the workshop. Stay tuned.

📖 Related: Read the full blog post

💌 Subscribe to the newsletter for bonus prompts + behind the scenes

In this heartfelt episode, Diane explores what true postpartum recovery looks like — beyond the six-week checkup. From honoring rest and nourishment to building community and seeking support, you’ll learn how to navigate this sacred season with compassion, confidence, and care.

In this episode, we cover:

Local Listeners:

Join our Willow Rooted Postpartum Circles — monthly gatherings at Willow Birth Centers designed to help mothers feel seen, supported, and grounded.

Free Workshop — November 8:

If you’re craving rest, renewal, and reconnection, join Diane for Midwifing Your Life: Cultivating Community & Embracing Transformation.

It’s a free virtual experience where women in every season of life can slow down, reconnect, and rediscover what’s being born within them.

Join the free Nov 8 workshop → themidwifelife.co/workshop

Go Deeper — The Rebirth Journey Coaching Experience:

For those ready to midwife their own transformation — body, mind, and spirit — Diane’s 12-week coaching program, The Rebirth Journey, offers personalized support, guided reflection, and soulful strategy for women navigating major life transitions.

Apply or learn more: themidwifelife.co/rebirth

Resources for Postpartum Support

National & Online Resources:

Arizona-Based Resources:

If this episode resonated with you…

Please take a moment to leave a review or share it with a friend who’s in her postpartum season. Your support helps us reach more women who need these conversations.