Hello and welcome back after a much longer break than I was anticipating. For various reasons I needed to take the podcasts offline for a short period of time and it turns out it's much harder to get them back online than anticipated! But here we are again I hope.

This is a special bonus episode with my colleague and good friend Rebecca Verlander, aka the Lactation Doula. Rebecca is a birth and postnatal doula, IBCLC lactation consultant, hypnobirthing instructor, sleep consultant and baby massage teacher. She's a busy lady!

She is also the mum of 5 children and has a huge wealth of experience to share about pregnancy, birth and postnatal. It's fair to say that Rebecca has had a whole range of experiences. Since this podcast focuses on positive birth, here she tells the story of her 3rd baby, and what a joyous one it is! We also explain why we are talking about positive birth, not perfect birth, and you can pick up some information Rebecca wished she had known at the time. 

I also couldn't let her go without mining a bit of infant feeding gold, and Rebecca lets us know how breastfeeding went this time around and what you can expect from those first few hours after birth. 

You can find the lovely Rebecca at:

https://lactationdoula.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/thelactationdoula/

If you would like to get in contact about something shared on this episode, or to share YOUR positive birth story, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me at:

https://www.doulaforyou.co.uk/

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/lisaharrisdoula/

This week season's finale is a very special and super useful episode as I speak to the inspirational Megan Rossiter from Birth-ed.

Megan is one of the people I wish was active on insta when I was pregnant with my son in 2012. At the time I was bashing my head against a maternity service that I felt was viewing me a policy and not a person, and I found it oh so hard to find any nuance in the system. I wanted to take responsibility for my body, my baby and my birth but how to do it? I felt very alone.

I am so thrilled that organisations like https://birth-ed.co.uk/ now exist to try and help women find that nuance... by giving you confidence to ask questions, establish your rights, help you take control of your own birth experience and be reassured that are other people out there who believe that birth works.

So, if you haven't already then get over to https://www.instagram.com/birth_ed/ immediately! Megan has loads of free resources including a f.a.b.u.l.o.u.s podcast, and she also runs antenatal education courses online and in person in SW London / Surrey.

In her podcast episode Megan generously recounts her pregnancy journey with hyperemesis gravidarum, her introduction to hypnobirthing and where Birth-ed began, her homebirth plans and then how she retained control of her birth experience and ensured it remained a positive one when things didn't go according to plan A.

Honestly, the episode is gold. Thank you Megan. 

If you would like to get in contact about something shared on this episode, or to share YOUR positive birth story, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me at:

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/lisaharrisdoula/

https://www.facebook.com/lisaharrisdoula

This week I am speaking to Rebecca about the birth of her daughter Sunny, and wow, it is just such a sunny episode

One of the many things I love about Rebecca's story is that she grew up around positive birth, she was around for the birth of her own baby brother at home as a child... and just what a legacy that was. The power of positive birth! It's exactly what motivates me to record the podcast.

But I also love how Rebecca went on her own journey, as we all need to do, to discover what were the right choices and mindset for her as she birthed Sunny. And even if you make different practical choices to her, the mindset and the affirmations she descirbes are of benefit to absolutely everyone.

This is how birth can be. Enough said.

If you would like to get in contact about something shared on this episode, or to share YOUR positive birth story, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me at:

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/lisaharrisdoula/

https://www.facebook.com/lisaharrisdoula

In this week's episode Nilsha tells the story of both her births... and boy is it a tale of two labours!!

I loved both her stories, and Nilsha had a positive experience with both babies, but they couldn't really have been more different.

Her first birth had a long early phase of labour (or as I describe it with my clients, she was in the "first room" from a long time). She has so much wisdom to share about keeping calm and positive. It's very inspirational how much faith Nilsha had her in body and how she coped with, and I meant totally bossed, those many hours at home - with random little hospital stay to contend with too.

And then you'll love her description of her second birth. I don't want to spoil it but let's just say it was quite a surprise compared to the first. If you want evidence babies don't read textbooks, then this is it!

If you would like to get in contact about something shared on this episode, or to share YOUR positive birth story, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me at:

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/lisaharrisdoula/

https://www.facebook.com/lisaharrisdoula

This week I speak to Abla, and even though we recorded this episode a little while ago, I can remember the tangible joy over the airwaves as she described the birth of her second baby and how much pride she took from birthing him in her own power and in her own way. 

You will hear that it was following her first experience that Abla realised she would need more education and support to have a more positive experience for her next birth. And she certainly achieved that!

Abla puts it best: “The success for me is not that I gave birth naturally… it is that I gave birth on my own terms and in my own choices” BOOM!

I hope you enjoy listening to Abla as much as me! Abla now works as a postpartum doula herself so go and look her up at  https://www.instagram.com/theshemsdoula/

If you would like to get in contact about something shared on this episode, or to share YOUR positive birth story, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me at:

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/lisaharrisdoula/

https://www.facebook.com/lisaharrisdoula

Welcome to episode 6 of the My Positive Birth podcast!

This is a very special episode for me because I am speaking to Lucy Hill... earlier this year I started looking for birth story podcasts to listen and learn from myself, and I came across Lucy's - the "Real Birth Podcast". I have listened to every story & am a genuine fan. And this was my inspiration to start my own podcast as there is a real shortage of UK birth stories out there. So it has been amazing to connect with Lucy. Even if technical issues on my side meant it was quite a battle to get this one in the can! 

Lucy had so much wisdom to share, from conception, into the prep she did for her birth, a quite brilliant movie like start to her labour, and then her journey from planned home water birth to a Caesarean section when the baby was found to be breech.

Lucy's reflections on her birth are magical, particularly the value she places in her labour at home, her power, her strength, her instincts. I think the way she describes it all might literally stop you in your tracks, and stories like hers are EXACTLY why I started this podcast.

Buzzing for this one! Thank you Lucy - and do check out her podcast @https://www.instagram.com/realbirthpodcast/

If you would like to get in contact about something shared on this episode, or to share YOUR positive birth story, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me at:

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/lisaharrisdoula/

https://www.facebook.com/lisaharrisdoula

Episode 5 of the podcast is now LIVE! Click on the link in my bio to listen, or search for "My Positive Birth" on any of your favourite podcast distributors.

This week I am joined by wonderful Ella, who talks us through the birth of her second baby, which was a vaginal birth after Caesarean (VBAC).

Ella talks us through her preparation for the birth, support she received along the way and in her own words “I balanced the risks that I knew about with what my body and mind was telling me… which was… you can have a safe, natural birth”.

I just love the way Ella talks about her labour, she is so matter of fact, there is no hint of drama or panic. She just... well... went and had a baby.

Like many of the journeys on this podcast though, there were plenty of steps that Ella took to help achieve the positive experience she had, and so do have a listen - you will learn a lot that might help you with your own birth.

If you would like to get in contact about something shared on this episode, or to share YOUR positive birth story, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me at:

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/lisaharrisdoula/

https://www.facebook.com/lisaharrisdoula

In this week's episode Georgina tells the story of both her births, with a focus on her first baby who was born at home. Georgina takes us through the steps her and her husband took to prepare for the birth, and then her journey through labour and birth. Look out for how nearly the whole experience was de-railed and how Georgina managed to keep on track with her plans and have the birth she wished for.

If you would like to get in contact about something shared on this episode, or to share YOUR positive birth story, I'd love to hear from you. You can find me at:

[email protected]

https://www.instagram.com/lisaharrisdoula/

https://www.facebook.com/lisaharrisdoula

Aileen is such a fantastic guest, as she describes her journey from tokophobia (a fear of childbirth), to getting pregnant and birthing her own two children, and then going on to work with families offering bespoke childbirth preparation, birth trauma recovery and running parenting groups.

There is so much wisdom and compassion in the way Aileen tells her story. I was actually greedy and got her to share a little about both her births: the first a planned Caesarean and the second a home water birth. She describes how these two very different, but both ultimately positive experiences, made into a reality for her that if birth went different to how she expected then she was not less of a person, and it wasn't less of a birth.

Aileen also shares some great thoughts on family centred Caesarean birth and how to mimic physiology to retain control over the way your baby is born and have a positive experience. And her description of supporting someone in labour during her stay on an antenatal ward, and all that this taught her about labour, is really quite magical. It's a deeply encouraging episode!

So do definitely have a listen... and if you want to contact Aileen then here is her linktree where you can access her website, newsletter, events and freebies: https://linktr.ee/Mybirthsupport

Here is the lovely Tamsyn's story about the arrival of her second baby. She graciously shares with us details of her pregnancy this time around, which was very different to her first. She experienced bleeding and was diagnosed with gestational diabetes which meant her planned home birth changed to a hospital induction. 

Tamsyn reflects on her experience positively, and she was particularly motivated to record this episode because she struggled to find positive induction stories herself when she was pregnant.

I love the way that Tamsyn's instincts guided her throughout. In her own words: “Find what’s comfortable for you and don’t worry if that doesn’t fit in with how they wanted you to be”. 

Enjoy!