Motherbirth

Today’s guest, Marlene Ehrler, is a doctor of Naturopathic Medicine and comes from a long line of holistic healers. She founded Motherhood Medicine, a health and wellness resource designed to assist women on their journey to motherhood. And, she hopes to reawaken a woman’s inherent, natural healing abilities by providing lifestyle information without the bias of traditional marketing tactics through her Land and Spirit Project.

Marlene’s first pregnancy was labeled as high-risk due to her Type 1 diabetes. Her insurance insisted she see a traditional OB/GYN and required her to give birth in the high-risk ward of the hospital, not at home with a midwife like she wanted. Bucking the system, she and her husband prepared for a home birth in spite of what they were told.

Marlene learned the hard way that birth is the ultimate initiation into the lack of control that typifies motherhood - and when things didn’t go according to plan, she had to learn to integrate and heal from the trauma she experienced during a very difficult birth and postpartum period.

During our conversation, she shares the powerful ways that she experienced healing, what it is like to raise a Spirited Child, and how this all integrates into her practice.

Expectful is a guided meditation app for each stage of the motherhood journey — you can sign up for an exclusive one-month free trial here!

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Motherhood Medicine

Today’s guest, Summer Edwards, home-birthed her two sons and is the oldest of five home-birthed siblings. For her, the choice to home-birth was clear. She wasn’t aware of the philosophical reasons other women had for home-birthing, it was just something her family did. When she returned to work after her first child, she realized she wasn’t returning to her previously satisfying career but a segmented ‘Mommy track’ within the organization. She then morphed her creative side project into Lead Women Lead, a community working to revolutionize the workplace for women at a systemic level.

During our conversation, she describes the physically empowering, 20-hour intense first labor experience and how she believes it has impacted her first born child. She attributes her ability to move past the pain and trauma of the malpositioned birth to her midwife who reminded her of the beauty of surrender. Her second birth experience was completely different, and Summer shares her birth stories with so much joy and confidence you will be inspired.

Summer’s online course is designed for working mothers who grapple with imposter syndrome and overwhelm, and the next group will launch this fall.

Expectful is a guided meditation app for each stage of the motherhood journey — you can sign up for an exclusive one-month free trial here!

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Lead Mama Lead

Today’s guest, Arianna Taboada, is a Maternal Health Professional, a mother, and an advocate for women’s issues including maternity leave and postpartum planning. Her private consulting practice assists self-employed, working mothers to plan for and navigate through the personal and professional support they will need before, during and after childbirth. Her clients learn to actively develop their new identities in a non-isolated way.

Arianna’s firstborn child was delivered in her home just south of Cancun in Mexico. She knew if she delivered her baby in the local hospital there was a high chance they would perform a cesarean. She desired a low intervention birth and a level of care only a midwife could provide. During our conversation, she shares the details of her transition into motherhood and how she draws from her experience to create support plans for other women on their journey to motherhood.

We get into how little emotional preparation women do before birth and how important it is to think about all the angles of support you will need. Arianna is inspiring and will get you thinking about your own postpartum experience and how you can support others in your community!

Expectful is a guided meditation app for each stage of the motherhood journey — you can sign up for an exclusive one-month free trial here!

In This Episode:

Show Notes:

Arianna Taboada

In today’s show, we discuss the importance of support, community, and togetherness for women. Our mission for this podcast and community is to create a safe space for women to share their stories and to experience healing and connection through the power of storytelling. We believe that when women are isolated, they don’t have the communal structures in place to deal with the emotional work that comes with motherhood.

Research shows the positive effects of group therapy and sharing experiences on PTSD, and Laura’s research in her doctoral program has led her to focus her doctoral project on creating an important space in our community — giving women who have had traumatic birth stories a chance to find growth and healing through processing and integrating the birth experiences they have already had. Even though every woman’s motherhood journey is different, there are mental, emotional, and physical aspects of our stories that connect us all. We’ll be updating you all on the group we’ll be launching to facilitate this — you can sign up to receive more info here!

We also talk about Mellisa’s program Trust Your Body Again for women who have experienced loss — head over to the website for more information on what we offer.

Expectful is a guided meditation app for each stage of the motherhood journey — you can sign up for an exclusive one-month free trial here!

In This Episode:

Show Notes:

Motherbirth on Instagram

Today’s guest, Sibyl Almonte de Cannella, has been a mother for a long time even though she has only held her baby in her arms for a little more than a month. She has had many miscarriages including several which came during the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) process. After years of having doctors tell her she should be able to have a healthy pregnancy, a rare blood disorder was discovered in her system. This diagnosis led to her decision to investigate surrogacy.

During this extremely candid conversation, Sibyl shares the emotional, physical, and mental toll she experienced during her challenging motherhood journey. She also shares the details of finding a surrogate when surrogacy is illegal in most of the world and what it is like to have your baby born over 5,000 miles away from home.

You can feel Sibyl’s joy and anticipation in this honest exploration of what this controversial alternative path to motherhood looks like — and also how her experience, while seemingly rare on the surface, shares so much with every mother’s path.

Expectful is a guided meditation app for each stage of the motherhood journey — you can sign up for an exclusive one-month free trial here!

In This Episode:

Show Notes:

Expectful — One Month Free Trial for MotherBirth Community Members

Today’s guest, Sara Rosser, is an apprentice at the Farm Midwifery Center in Tennessee. She believes a woman should be able to choose where they deliver their baby. Her diverse family consists of a biological child, an adopted child and an international exchange student. She is currently pregnant as a gestational carrier for a single father. After her first birth left her feeling cheated out of the delivery she desired, Sara wrestled for years with what to do about it.

Sara’s story is truly unique and amazing. In our conversation, she shares the trials she faced while searching for a midwife to assist her with the home birth she desperately desired, her family’s reaction to their adopted Ethiopian son, and how finally coming to terms with her daughter’s birth took her first away from surrogacy and then in the end, back to it.

Our conversation about birth trauma and the oh-so-common desire for a “birth re-do” is so incredibly important - and will resonate with so many women. Sara’s beautiful story paints a picture of the selfless love of motherhood in a whole new light.

In next weeks episode, we’ll explore the other side of surrogacy - from the perspective of the intended family!

Expectful is a guided meditation app for each stage of the motherhood journey — you can sign up for an exclusive one-month free trial here!

In This Episode:

● About her work at the Farm Birthing Center

Show Notes:

Expectful — One Month Free Trial for MotherBirth Community Members

In this exciting episode, Jessica Gray describes her four births, three of which were vaginal breech births! Her bicornuate uterus, which is in the shape of a heart, is a hereditary trait that makes it less likely a baby will be able to change position later in pregnancy. By trusting herself and her body, she has given birth in hospitals, a birthing center and at home.

Her story highlights the importance of a positive mindset during the birth experience and how a doctor/midwife can empower a birthing mother by allowing her to trust her body and intuition. Her goal is to educate and inform others by spreading the word about breech birth and other normal variations of birth that have become somewhat taboo in the world of birth providers.

Jessica is passionate about making sure that people know there are still doctors and midwives who are experienced and comfortable with breech birth… you just may have to search! She also tries to help people find local breech-friendly providers when able through social media channels.

Her joy and passion is contagious and this was such a fun conversation to have and share.

Expectful is a guided meditation app for each stage of the motherhood journey — you can sign up for an exclusive one-month free trial here!

In This Episode:

● What it means to have a bicornuate uterus

Show Notes:

Expectful — One Month Free Trial for MotherBirth Community Members

The Breech Book

@BreechBirth on Instagram

During today’s episode, self-proclaimed birth junkie Yukie McGregor shares the inspiration behind her Dallas Birth Guide and the Birth Community that it created, her primal first birth experience at home and the relief she felt after talking with a therapist after bouts of postpartum depression started to creep in during the first few months after having her baby.

In this engaging conversation, Yukie details the comical aspects of her homebirth and how motherhood gave her the opportunity, skills, and the light to work on herself and heal herself. We decided that her birth should inspire a new genre of birth films… comedy!

Yukie’s Birth Guide is designed to empower women during their motherhood journey and to provide all the resources they need to make birth planning decisions based on what will make them feel the most comfortable and supported. We love her mission and the services she offers; nothing is more important than women feeling empowered in this season of life.

Expectful is a guided meditation app for each stage of the motherhood journey — you can sign up for an exclusive one-month free trial here!

In This Episode:

● How she was inspired by The Business of Being Born Documentary before even becoming a mother

Show Notes:

Expectful — One Month Free Trial for MotherBirth Community Members

Dallas Birth Guide

Dallas Birth Guide Podcast

Dallas Birth Guide on Instagram

During today’s episode, Natalie Brenner shares the joy, sadness, and grief she has experienced during her biological, adoptive and foster care motherhood journeys. She describes how her love of all things motherhood helped her navigate through postpartum depression, the intense emotional responsibility of foster parenting and her passion to dispel common myths and assumptions about the connection between adoption and infertility.

The foundation of her book, This Undeserved Life: Uncovering the Gifts of Grief and Fullness of Life draws from her wide spectrum of the motherhood experiences and emotions.

In this extremely vulnerable conversation, Natalie shares from her heart about her homebirth-turned-emergency-cesarean, how it’s possible to experience and make space for both grief and joy, and what her crazy life is like day to day. Her heart for both mothers and children will inspire you to embrace the moment you are in and give everything you have.

Expectful is a guided meditation app for each stage of the motherhood journey — you can sign up for an exclusive one-month free trial here!

In This Episode:

● Fully feeling the grief after a miscarriage

Show Notes:

Expectful — One Month Free Trial for MotherBirth Community Members

This Undeserved Life: Uncovering the Gifts of Grief and Fullness of Life, by Natalie Brenner

Today’s guest, Rebecca Fraser, openly shares about the heartbreaking loss she felt when she was denied the initial bonding period with her first son, after being moved to the OR to repair a severe vaginal laceration. She recounts the physical and emotional agony of her PTSD and her difficult quest to find support and healing. She also shares the contrasting pure joy and connectedness she felt when holding her second born immediately after having a planned Cesarean birth.

Struggling with the length and complexity of her recovery, both physically and emotionally, Rebecca found talking about her unique experience and attending a perinatal mental health class integral to her recovery. As she considered her options for birth when she became pregnant again, she decided it didn’t make any sense to relive the experience that had caused her so much pain. Opting for a planned cesarean, she immediately felt relief and empowerment - bolstered by the support she received from her caring birth team and community both during and after her birth.

Any woman who needs or wants to plan a cesarean birth (or even just wants to prepare emotionally for the possibility) should listen to Rebecca’s story - it is such an important reminder that trauma doesn’t always look like we think it does, and that support and respect can allow ANY birth experience to be positive and empowering.

Expectful is a guided meditation app for each stage of the motherhood journey — you can sign up for an exclusive one-month free trial here!

In This Episode:

Show Notes: