The Birth Ease Podcast

Michelle shares her guest appearance on the Empowered Black Doula Podcast with host Keshia Locket. In the episode, Michelle shares her 20+ year journey as a birth professional, how her work has evolved over the years, and some of the insights she has received along the way. Together they discuss the nature of birth work, the impacts of stress and trauma, and the experience of being a doula.  Michelle also shares the events that lead her to become a bereavement doula and Certified Grief Counseling Specialist in order to more fully support families experiencing pregnancy and infant loss.

Michelle and Kathy Bradley, owner of Childbirth Concierge, discuss Kathy's upcoming book, "Creating a Positive Experience". Together they explore what the concept of a positive birth experience can mean, what shapes it, and how the process can begin even before the baby is conceived.

Keshia Lockett shares what brought her to her doula work and inspired her to write her book, "Birth Undisturbed: How to have an unmedicated Hospital Birth". Together Keshia and Michelle discuss the joys and frustrations of being a doula in Central Florida and the importance of doing your own inner work as a doula.

Midwife Brooke Schmoe shares with Michelle the incredible and inspirational story of her journey to becoming a midwife and her calling to provide high-caliber health care to women in all stages of life. Brooke believes that every woman deserves to be heard, helped, and supported by competent providers who care about her. Thus, The Midwife Bus was born! No one is turned away, regardless of their health history, socioeconomic status, or inability to pay.

In this final episode in Michelle’s 5 Love Languages series Sarah Engwall, The Doula OT, returns to explain how parents can apply the 5 Love Languages while caring for babies and toddlers. Sarah also shares how the 5 Love Languages can be applied to Tummy Time, the development of language in babies, and the states of alertness in newborns. Michelle shares a few specific tips using the 5 Love Languages for toddlers.

In this third episode in Michelle's series on the 5 Love Languages, she shares the suggestions that Dr. Gary Chapman provides the reader in his book to help to learn to speak your partner’s or spouse’s Love Language more fluently. Michelle provides specific additional information for each of Dr. Chapman's suggestions from the lens of perinatal health. This episode is filled with ways to lovingly care for and support your partner during pregnancy, labor, and life with a new baby and small children.

Michelle and Sarah Engwall, The Doula OT, have a casual conversation regarding the application of the 5 Love Languages to pregnancy, birth, and new parenthood in this second episode in The 5 Love Languages series. Through examples and personal anecdotes, they explore how an understanding of your partner’s and your own Love Languages prevents miscommunication and hurt feelings, as well as makes for a smoother transition into new parenthood.

In this first episode regarding The 5 Love Languages and how they can apply to pregnancy, birth, and life with a new baby; Michelle gives an overview of Dr. Gary Chapman’s revolutionary concept that has improved millions of relationships across the globe. The premise is simple: different people with different personalities express love in different ways. Dr. Chapman called these ways of expressing and receiving love the “5 Love Languages.” They are Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. Each individual has at least one language that they prefer above the other. Understanding your own love language, as well as that of your partner, can help to soften some of the potential misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and miscommunication that life with a new baby can bring.

Michelle shares with birth partners how incorporating our five senses and an understanding of the learning styles: Visual, Auditory, Tactile-Kinesthetic, and Olfactory-Gustatory can help them to better provide comfort measures and support to their partner during labor and birth. This basic understanding of learning and processing styles enhances communication. It also explains why a birthing person can be so sensitive to certain things in labor: such as the feel of monitors on their skin, the sound of the voices at the nurses' station, the lighting in the room, or the smell of the hamburger someone ate for lunch. These suggestions for addressing all 5 senses while providing comfort measures during labor and birth are helpful no matter someone's predominant learning and processing style.

Jenny Pritchett (alias Jenny True) shares her new book: You Look Tired: An Excruciatingly Honest Guide to New Parenthood with Michelle. Together they discuss the realities of birth and parenting, Jenny's birth story, and her motivations for writing this frank, spit-out-your-coffee funny guide filled with swear words for new parents. Jenny also explains why it was important to her to make certain that readers could see themselves reflected within the pages.