The 9 Months Podcast

In this episode we hear from Karina, a yoga teacher originally from the UK who’s been living in Czech Republic for over a decade. Karina and her partner had trouble conceiving when they decided to start a family and ended up turning to IVF for help on their journey to parenthood. She shares a few losses along the way and how it was going through IVF both in the UK and through a couple of different clinics in Prague. She ended up with two beautiful boys and we discuss the differences between both pregnancies, birth and postpartum inn terms of bonding, breastfeeding and healing after birth. Karina had both her boys in Krc Hospital and shares her experience there with us.

In this episode we hear from Kat and she’s sharing her two very different birth stories with us. Her first, with her daughter Lyra, it took a while to conceive and when pregnant, Kat was starting to feel really low and only later did she realise that she experienced prenatal depression. She had an hospital birth, with epidural and 30 hour long labour. There was plenty of medical interventions from medical professionals who we discuss didn’t really know how to address and support a woman in labour properly. After Lyra’s birth, Kat struggled with breastfeeding and postpartum depression but when they got pregnant with Robert she knew the signs, and was able to ask for help and prepare herself for the birth better after her first experience. She planned a home birth and describes an empowering birth experience to us as well as a much better postpartum period. Kat’s stories carries the importance of sharing our experiences with mental health and seeking out proper support during pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

In this episode we hear from Lucie sharing her first pregnancy and birth with her daughter Freya in the UK. Lucie is originally from the Czech Republic but lived many years in the UK. She is now back living in Prague where she works as a hypnobirthing teacher. Hypnobirthing is a practice that aims to teach that all women deserve to experience the kind of Birth that they hope for, regardless of it being a natural, induced or a C-section birth. No birth is the same, and sometimes things don't go to plan but Lucie tells us that hypnobirthing will give you the right tools to reduce anxiety, fears and make you feel positive and empowered. Lucie shares how she used these tools while giving birth to Freya in a hospital setting. We also talk birthing sounds, treating mastitis with frozen cabbage leaves and stepping into motherhood for the first time. Lucie is a great storyteller and I know you will enjoy listen to how Freya came into this world.

Vaya shares the birth of her daughter Maria that took place in Podoli Maternity Hospital in Prague, Czech Republic. Vaya was pregnant and gave birth during the pandemic and shares insight in how her care was provided during that delicate time. They found out that Maria was in breech position and that she was also struggling to gain weight so she was delivered via a planned C-section. Vaya praises the care that she received and we also discuss some of the hardship in not being able to communicate very well with the staff sometimes as well as not being able to have a loved one with her during postpartum in the hospital due to the pandemic. Vaya’s story is full of beautiful insight in pregnancy, birth and postpartum during 2020 so listen in to hear a wonderful story of how her little girl came into this world.

*A little disclaimer here also regarding the sound-quality. A couple of times there is a little noise when Vaya is speaking, but its only for a few seconds here and there and the bits were too important to cut out, so bare with me as I slowly learn the craft of flawless audio-quality.

In this episode, Sascha shares her daughter Greta’s birth story with us from Stockholm, Sweden. Shea had a fast birth and even though she didn’t plan for a home birth, she ended up giving birth in her apartment just before the ambulance arrived. Sascha also shares her journey to becoming pregnant, and we discuss how maternity leave and pregnancy care looks like within the Swedish system. Listen in for a wonderful birth story that’ll keep you at the edge of your seat for a bit!

Stephanie shares her birth stories with her two little boys Sebastian & Max in Dubai, UAE. Her first birth, with Sebastian, was a natural, vaginal breech delivery and Stephanie shares how it was like finding a doctor and a support system that allowed her to try for a natural birth with a breech baby. With Max, Stephanie shares a precipitous birth in the car in front of the hospital and dealing with loosing lots of blood and having to be put under general anaesthesia so shortly after Max was born. Stephanie is American, and her husband is British and she also shares her perspective of being an expat and giving birth in a country where she didn’t grow up.

In today’s episode we hear from Polina, who shares her two birth stories with her two little boys Teo & Imro in Geneva, Switzerland. Polina is Russian and her husband is Czech and she shares a lot of comparison between how the system works in all these places. She shares her experience with early miscarriage and a bumpy ride to conception and having to courage to make your own choices and listening to your gut-feeling as a mother. Polina is a straight forward woman who doesn’t sugarcoat, so tune in to hear her unique stories of birth.

*This episode has a couple of explicit words, so just a reminder if you are listening in with your little ones around, you know that might come up in the middle.

Sharka shares the births of her two sons with us, the first one took place in Dubai, UAE, almost 20 years ago and the second one in Manila, the Philippines a couple of years later. Sharka, originally from Czech Republic, is a yoga teacher who has travelled and lived all over the world with her family and shares valuable insight in how it is giving birth and finding proper support in countries that were not her native. Tune in to hear Sharka’s calm voice guide us through her beautiful stories of birth.

Zsófi shares her birth stories with her two little ones, Ingrid and Bruno in Prague, Czech Republic. Zsófi is Hungarian and her partner Paul is German and she shares going through pregancy, birth and postpartum in the Czech Republic, while trying to learn the language and the customs around birth there. She ended up having an emergency caesarean with Ingrid, under general anaesthesia, and shares her journey of emotionally trying to process that birth postpartum. When getting pregnant for the second time, she found a doctor who was positive for a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Caesarian) and ended up going postdates but ended up giving birth to Bruno via a planned, and empowering c-section.