The 9 Months Podcast

Marie is a mother of 4 kids (Kristian, Luisa, Johan & Bohdan) and an entrepreneur and business owner of czechcourses.cz which she has been running since her first pregnancy all alongside being a mother. We talk about how it is chasing your dreams as well as stepping into motherhood and Marie talks us through all her 4 births. With her first, she went overdue and had an episiotomy during delivery. She shares having trouble establishing breastfeeding and how she wishes that someone would have told her earlier that it’s ok to give baby formula and it’s ok to not breastfeed if it isn’t working out. Her second birth, baby came early around 36 weeks and Marie shares the extra worry that she had going into the birth and also postpartum. We discuss a Czech method called Vojtova Metoda or Reflex Locomotion that she practiced successfully with Luisa when she didn’t have muscle tone to turn over on her own. With her third and fourth birth, the babies came quickly and with Bohdan they almost didn’t make it to the hospital.

In this episode we hear Bori sharing the birth of her little girl Liza in Prague, Czech Republic. Before getting pregnant with Liza, Bori experienced miscarriage and describes how that journey went for her and her partner. We have an important discussion about daring to talk about pregnancy loss and miscarriage these days because so many women go through it on their own. After getting pregnant with Liza, Bori changed her care provider to a private one for a bit more personalised care and had a calm pregnancy overall. In her 39th week she started feeling sick and dizzy and fainted at home so they went to the hospital where nobody could find anything wrong with her or baby. They decided to deliver Liza via C-Section and she was fine, but Bori continued not feeling well. She transferred between Podoli and Vinohrady Hospital and after a few days they found that Bori’s womb had been to big and perforated her small intestine and colon so she had to have surgery. Bori shares this unexpected journey into motherhood for the first time and how he fought for herself to become better to get home to Liza. She pumped in the hospital and managed to keep her supply during this difficult time to establish breastfeeding once she got home.

In this episode we hear Vinuta sharing her two birth stories from the Czech Republic with us. Vinuta is from the UK and her husband is Ukrainian and both of her births took place in Prague. In her first pregnancy, she shares her journey dealing with a severe case of Hyperemesis Gravidarum (severe morning sickness) and having to be hospitalised and how she dealt with that. Due to undiagnosed gestational diabetes, she lost her little boy at 39 weeks and experienced a stillbirth via c-section. She shares that pregnancy and birth with us and she talks about listening to your gut-feeling and daring to ask again if we feel like something isn’t right. She also shares her journey with losing her baby and what kind of help she got and seeked out to be able to cope with such a tremendous loss and being able to move forward and get pregnant again.

For her second pregnancy, she again dealt with HG and talks about the worries from her previous experience and pushing her c-section to happen earlier because of listening to her instincts. Vivi was born and Vinuta shares how important it is to have support from family in postpartum and how she handled being a new mom.

* Trigger warning: This birth story is a story of loss and if you don’t feel like you are in a good place to listen to it, then I’d recommend you skipping this one or coming back to it later.

In this episode we hear Katie sharing her birth story with her little girl Edie Rae in London, UK. Katie shares the journey to becoming pregnant and how it was deciding to make space for a baby in her life. Katie went through pregnancy during lockdown in 2020 and talks about the importance of community and family support and how she was able to find her way through all of that. We discuss how it is to have wishes and plans for how pregnancy, birth and postpartum will go and how that reflects in reality with how much pressure we can put on ourselves to have the perfect experience. Katie opted for a Birth Centre Birth at Homerton Hospital and after a very long labour she had an epidural and little Edie just needed a bit of support to descend with a Vonteusse and then Katie pushed her out. Katie tells us her story just 3.5 weeks postpartum so it’s very fresh in memory and a very important story to listen to if you feel like you might be putting just a bit much pressure on yourself to have the perfect experience.

In this episode we hear Maike telling the birth stories of her two little ones, Tjada & Tammo in Prague, Czech Republic. Make is German and her partner is Czech and they opted for a hospital birth, registering at Podoli Maternity Hospital. They also hired a midwife to support labour at home as long as possible and to follow them to the hospital in the role of a doula. Maike found that the transfer to the hospital slowed labour down a lot and needed some help to get it going again and was given an episiotomy to help baby come out. She shares valuable information on her experience both during birth and staying in the hospital postpartum with baby.

When they tried for the second baby, Maike shares her experience with having two miscarriages and seeking a bit of help for conceiving Tammo afterwards. With Tammo she wanted to try for a home birth and ended up labouring at home but baby was posterior and wouldn’t turn so they opted to go to the hospital where baby was born very quickly. Maike and I also discuss processing the feeling of failure when things don’t go our way in our plans and wishes for birth.

In this episode we hear Rowan telling us the birth story of her little boy Noor in the US. Rowan and her partner are both Egyptian and live in Cairo, but due to the uncertainty of the future in Egypt they wanted Noor to have another citizenship so that he could choose his own way once he is an adult. So after consideration, they chose to go to the US and give birth there. Rowan talks about and compares the care she received in Cairo vs in the US and the different approaches from her doctors at home and at the hospital where she gave birth. We also discuss the immense pressure that women put on themselves to have a ‘fairytale natural birth’ and how that sometimes doesn’t translate in reality, leading to unnecessary feelings of failure for new mothers. After a long labour, Rowan ended up giving birth to Noor via C-section and she also shares having a wonderful postpartum support-team in her family and partner after birth.

In today’s episode we hear Lorraine sharing her two birth stories with her little ones, Coen and Esme in the UK. We hear her talk about getting a bit of help to get pregnant, using preparation methods such as Hypnobirthing and the Gentle Birth Method and going to Pregnancy Yoga. After giving brith to Coen, Lorraine experienced postpartum depression and Coen got diagnosed with reflux, but it took a little while to get the diagnosis so they had a difficult time postpartum. Lorraine shares how they dealt with everything and how she managed to get support. With Esme, having been through it before, she talks about how it was a little bit easier and how she was more able to understand the whole process. Esme was born in the water at 39 weeks. Listen in for a couple of lovely birth stories today.

In this episode we hear from Corinna, sharing her birth story with her little girl Matilda in Czech Republic. Corinna is German and her partner is Czech and she had an induction at 41+3. Corinna shares her insights on how it was going through an induction in a hospital setting in Prague and what kind of support she received along the way. We briefly also talk about the difference in care during the pandemic and what could be expected with birth partners etc. Corinna had a lovely time postpartum in the hospital but struggled a bit after arriving home, especially with feeding but shares her experience with finding a lactation consultant and getting over the stigma she felt over feeding her baby a bottle. Corinna is a wonderful storyteller and shares lots of details in her journey through pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

*Trigger-warning: Today’s episode contains details of an abusive relationship. If you are not in a good place to listen to this today, then I would recommend skipping this episode.

Zuzka shares the story of her son Marek’s journey through pregnancy, birth & postpartum. Zuzka was in a mentally abusive relationship with Marek’s father, but decided to leave halfway through her pregnancy. She moved back to Prague and found support in her family and friends and her new partner here. As things calmed down and fell into place in Zuzka’s life she prepared for a hospital birth at U Apolinaře. After labouring at home, she had an ambulance ride to the hospital where she laboured with Marek being sunny side up and having back labour. Zuzka had an epidural and Marek was delivered with forceps-assistance and an episiotomy. Listen in for a beautiful story of strength and willpower to get out of a bad situation and the birth of a beautiful little boy (who we can hear smiling throughout the recording) and turning life around to the better.

In this episode we hear from Rebecca and she’s sharing the birth story with her little girl Fern. Rebecca and her partner went through a long conception journey with IVF and experienced loss and grief along the way to finally get pregnant with Fern. Rebecca’s generously shares her story, which is a journey of strength, of perseverance and finally of really allowing ourselves to grieve the things that didn’t go our way and that it is so important that we talk about it. She shares how it was going through pregnancy with Fern after experiencing previous loss and at 35 weeks Rebecca was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome and Fern was delivered via c-section quite quickly afterwards. Rebecca also shares how wonderful it was to be able to breastfeed for a long time and how great it was for them to be able to establish a breastfeeding from the start. Rebecca is an amazing woman, and we share lots of laughs and jokes but also talk about infertility and loss in a really real way.