Trigger warning: This conversation exploring the depths of stillbirth.

I met MaKayla Wonder a year or so ago, soon after she and her husband, Adam, experienced the devastation of a stillbirth. If the news of realizing their baby, Declan, had died in-utero wasn’t bad enough, their treatment in the hospital left them shattered, which brought them to the Born Free Method community.

In this powerful conversation, MaKayla and Adam share the layered story of her journey to motherhood—one marked by the heartbreaking stillbirth of her son, Declan, and the redemptive birth of her daughter, Heidi. With honesty and grace, she recounts how fear, cultural conditioning, and a chaotic hospital experience left her feeling abandoned in her first birth journey. Seeking a different path, MaKayla turned inward, trusting her intuition and embracing the Born Free Method, which helped her heal and reclaim her power. Her story is not one of simple tragedy or triumph but of integration—holding space for both sorrow and joy, death and life, within one sacred womb. Through vulnerability and courage, MaKayla reminds us that birth is not just a medical event, but a profoundly spiritual and emotional rite of passage.

This episode offers a tender and transformative look into the resilience of the human spirit and the wisdom of mothers. Here are some main topics we covered:

* The Duality of Birth and Loss: The emotional complexity of holding space for both the grief of losing a baby and the joy of welcoming another.

* The Impact of Medicalized Maternity Care: Reflections on the impersonal and disempowering aspects of her hospital experience, including a lack of support and clarity during her stillbirth.

* Intuition vs. Intervention: MaKayla’s growing mistrust of the conventional birth system and her shift toward a more intuitive, personalized approach to pregnancy and birth.

* The Born Free Method’s Role in Healing: How the support of the Born Free Method community helped her process her trauma, rebuild trust in her body, and approach her second birth with intention and support.

* Honoring Both Stories: How mothers can integrate seemingly opposing birth experiences into a unified narrative—one that honors the child who died and celebrates the child who lives.

This interview was a follow-up to an anonymous conversation with Makayla prior to her conceiving and birthing Heidi. That first conversation is available in our FREE Pregnancy Loss program also available at www.BornFreeMethod.com.

If you’re interested in enrolling as a midwife or a student or if you’re a birthing family looking for support, head to www.BornFreeMethod.com. Code STUDENT50 gets you 50% if you enroll in the month of June!

For our comprehensive digital playground, live calls, and lifetime, direct support), we also offer payment plans! (3-month and 12-month options)

If you aren’t ready for the full investment, we offer a less-pricey but more limited Fertility Deep Dive. You can also pay a monthly subscription to simply attend our twice monthly live calls (and view past recordings).

www.BornFreeMethod.com

Notes for this episode are found on SubstackWork with Nathan:Support for Midwives | Private Consultation | Born Free Method | Clear & Free | Twins-Breech

Medical Disclaimer: Born Free Method: The Podcast is an educational program. No information conveyed through this podcast should be construed as medical advice. These conversations are available to the public for educational and entertainment purposes only.

Music provided by RealMovieScores / Pond5

Get full access to Born Free Method: The Podcast at nathanrileyobgyn.substack.com/subscribe