On this week's Listener Series, we welcome Rachel to share her experience with us. Rachel had a high-risk pregnancy due to gestational diabetes and her son having an EIF on his heart. Her birth included several complications: severe reaction to IV pain medication, failed epidural, hours of pushing turned to an emergency vaccum-assisted birth, and a low Apgar score. With a history of stillborn births in her family, Rachel had high anxiety about how her birth was going to play out with being high-risk. Her son had to be taken to the NICU after birth for the first few hours, and Rachel shares about grieving not having the "Golden Hour" she was looking forward to.

On this episode, you will hear:
- severe morning sickness
- EIF on baby's heart
- Gestational Diabetes and Anxiety
- breeched baby
- failed epidural
- emotional toll and disappointment
- unsupportive nurses and missed opportunities
- DMER
- anxiety over baby's health postpartum

For more birth trauma content and a community full of love and support, head to my Instagram at @thebirthtrauma_mama.

Learn more about the support and services I offer through The Birth Trauma Mama Therapy & Support Services.

Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official stance, views, or positions of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast. The content shared is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional or medical advice and/or endorsement.

On this week's episode, we welcome Katie Taylor, CEO & Founder of Child Life On Call - a support and resource provider to families & care teams through strategic partnerships with healthcare organizations. Child Life On Call enhances care & support with innovative, trauma-informed, and child life specialist-based solutions tailored ensure every family feels like an empowered part of the care team. We have such an interesting conversation around what a Child Life Specialist does and the ways it can impact care of babies and children during medical challenges.

On this episode, you will hear:
- what is a child life specialist?
- a day in the life of a child life specialist
- child life in the NICU
- child life in pediatrics
- the power of play and normalization
- education and advocacy in child life specialists
- supporting siblings of children with medical challenges
- integrating child life practices into every day life
- Support Spot App
- the power of child-friendly language and validating emotions
- advocating for pediatric-focused care and comfort measures

You can learn more about Child Life On Call by following their instagram: @childlifeoncall and visiting their website.

You can also download the Support Spot App here.

Guest Bio:
Katie Taylor received her Bachelor of Arts at Penn State University and she did her practicum at Children’s National Medical Center. She did her internship at Inova Children’s Hospital and received a fellowship in Hem/Onc & Adolescent Medicine at Inova Children’s Hospital.
Katie has over 12 years of Clinical Experience in PICU, ER, Adult, Outpatient, Inpatient Services and is an international and national speaker on Child Life Services.
By leveraging technology, and putting education and support into an easy-to-use app, Katie Taylor found a way to empower patients, their families, and the care team, and expand access to child life services to people who needed it the most.
The key to better care is here, and it fits in the palm of your hand. Let me show you what the Child Life On Call app can do for you.

For more birth trauma content and a community full of love and support, head to my Instagram at @thebirthtrauma_mama.

Learn more about the support and services I offer through The Birth Trauma Mama Therapy & Support Services.

Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official stance, views, or positions of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast. The content shared is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional or medical advice and/or endorsement.

On this week's episode, we welcome Kali Dayton, DNP, AGACNP. Kali is a critical care nurse practitioner and a podcast host as well as a consultant for critical care teams. Kali and I have an in-depth conversation around the ICU experience for patients who are sedated. There is so much that we are still learning about sedation procedures and Kali has some incredible insight to this and ways we can move forward and have better practices to help reduce patient trauma.

On this episode, you will hear:
- the fear and hesitation around awake patients in the ICU
- sedation culture in the ICU
- delirium and traumatic experiences in the ICU
- impact of sedation on brain function
- cognitive and physical impairments after ICU stays
- lack of recognition and support for cognitive dysfunction
- understanding delirium and post-ICU dementia
- importance of rest and gradual rehabilitation
- exceptions to sedation and immobility
- minimizing the use of delirogenic medications
- the power of survivor testimonials inspiring change
- resources for implementing change in ICU practices

Follow Kali on Instagram for more information about her specialty and her podcasts: @daytonicuconsulting

Guest Bio:
Kali Dayton, DNP, AGACNP, is a critical care nurse practitioner, host of the Walking Home From The ICU and Walking You Through The ICU podcasts, and critical care outcomes consultant. She is dedicated to creating Awake and Walking ICUs by ensuring ICU sedation and mobility practices are aligned with current research. She works with ICU teams internationally to transform patient outcomes through early mobility and management of delirium in the ICU.

For more birth trauma content and a community full of love and support, head to my Instagram at @thebirthtrauma_mama.

Learn more about the support and services I offer through The Birth Trauma Mama Therapy & Support Services.

Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official stance, views, or positions of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast. The content shared is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional or medical advice and/or endorsement.

On this episode, Kayleigh is joined by Nikki Wilson of Make Birth Better, a UK organization that was created to end the suffering from birth trauma. Make Birth Better provides support, training, and campaigning related to both birth and vicarious trauma. We dive into a lot of advocacy and awareness in this discussion as well as hearing about Nikki's own personal experience of how she came to be in this space.

On this episode, you will hear:
- support, training, and advocacy for better birth experiences
- taking a systematic approach to prevent and treat birth trauma
- addressing birth trauma in marginalized groups
- importance in validating and understanding traumatic experiences
- bridging the gap: empathy and understanding
- shared goals: better outcomes for all
- preventing and mitigating birth trauma

You can find more information about Make Birth Better by following them in Instagram: @birthbetter
Guest Bio:
Nikki has a strong passion for driving social change. Her third sector career has focused on solving strategic challenges and building organisations from scratch including Make Birth Better, 10 of zen, Wings for Life UK and Read International.  Nikki runs the ship and shapes the strategy for Make Birth Better and her deep drive comes from her lived experience of birth trauma. 

For more birth trauma content and a community full of love and support, head to my Instagram at @thebirthtrauma_mama.

Learn more about the support and services I offer through The Birth Trauma Mama Therapy & Support Services.

Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official stance, views, or positions of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast. The content shared is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional or medical advice and/or endorsement.

On this week's Listener Series, we are joined by Sami - an elementary school classmate of Kayleigh's. Kayleigh and Sami reconnected in 2020 because of birth trauma. Sami shares about her pregnancy and birth experience during the height of COVID and how it took an unexpected turn with a diagnosis of Vasa Previa required a hospital admission at week 30 until her baby way born. She shares about her unexpected diagnosis, the impact of COVID on antepartum admissions, particularly as an immunocompromised patient and her son's NICU stay.

On this episode, you will hear:
- The challenges of birth trauma during COVID-19
- Vasa Previa
- Isolation and fear in the hospital
- Living with hypervigilance and anxiety
- Challenges and complications during an unexpected c-section
- NICU stay during COVID-19

If you have a birth trauma story you would like to share with us, click this link and fill out the form. 

For more birth trauma content and a community full of love and support, head to my Instagram at @thebirthtrauma_mama.

Learn more about the support and services I offer through The Birth Trauma Mama Therapy & Support Services.

Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official stance, views, or positions of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast. The content shared is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional or medical advice and/or endorsement.

On this episode, we briefly dive into all things parenting after birth trauma. This is a topic that continues to come up in our space, especially as we see our kids getting older. There is so much to cover with the topic of parenting after birth trauma. There is complex childhood trauma, the trauma of a birth experience or pregnancy or postpartum and the impact that it has on the way we parent and interact with our child or children. This is a HUGE topic, but I hope this brief overview provides some insight and perspective.

On this episode, you will hear:
- parenting after birth trauma
- impact of trauma on parenting
- bonding and attachment
- hyper vigilance and anxiety in parenting
- awareness and treating trauma
- parenting imperfections and repair
- self-compassion in parenting

For more birth trauma content and a community full of love and support, head to my Instagram at @thebirthtrauma_mama.

Learn more about the support and services I offer through The Birth Trauma Mama Therapy & Support Services.

Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official stance, views, or positions of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast. The content shared is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional or medical advice and/or endorsement.

On this week's episode, we welcome Erika to share her story. Erika had a mostly uncomplicated first pregnancy and had her son at 39 weeks 6 days and was taken to the NICU. The nurse told her to "give him a kiss goodbye" and she thought she would never see him alive again - the phrase alone was traumatic. After EMDR, raising her son and getting pregnant again, her 2nd pregnancy resulted in a TFMR at 23 weeks due to incompatible with life fetal anomalies. Both births were traumatic but the 1st led to PTSD symptoms while the 2nd didn't.

On this episode you will hear:
- traumatic birth experience due to miscommunication
- NICU stay and healing moment
- TFMR and navigating the system
- saying goodbye and healing after loss
- comparing experiences and finding support
- advocacy for abortion care

If you have a birth trauma story you would like to share with us, click this link and fill out the form. 

For more birth trauma content and a community full of love and support, head to my Instagram at @thebirthtrauma_mama.

Learn more about the support and services I offer through The Birth Trauma Mama Therapy & Support Services.

Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official stance, views, or positions of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast. The content shared is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional or medical advice and/or endorsement.

On this week's episode, we welcome Sabrina Fletcher - known as the TFMR Doula. Sabrina helps bereaved parents in the aftermath of a heartbreaking decision to terminate a very wanted pregnancy. We have very important conversations about what a TFMR, support, and awareness and the need for abortion policies to be protected.

EDIT: The intro should say TFMR happens in *up to* 80,000-90,000 pregnancies each year in the U.S. not approximately. 

On this episode you will hear:
- discovering the need for TFMR
- challenges of TFMR decision-making
- barriers and challenges in accessing care
- the importance of TFMR-specific support
- the disconnection and jealousy
- navigating societal and political attitudes towards TFMR
- validating grief in all experiences of abortion and termination
- the importance of trauma-informed care for TFMR
- creating space for complex emotions in TFMR

You can find Sabrina on Instagram: @thetfmrdoula

Guest Bio:
Sabrina Fletcher is a TFMR doula helping bereaved parents in the aftermath of a poor prenatal/maternal/perinatal diagnosis and the heartbreaking decision to terminate a wanted pregnancy (TFMR). As a bereavement doula, she supports as one navigates grief after baby loss so one can learn to honor their baby and their grief and move in the world from the love they have for their child.

For more birth trauma content and a community full of love and support, head to my Instagram at @thebirthtrauma_mama.

Learn more about the support and services I offer through The Birth Trauma Mama Therapy & Support Services.

Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official stance, views, or positions of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast. The content shared is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional or medical advice and/or endorsement.

On this week's Listener Series, we welcome Stephanie to the podcast. Stephanie had an emergency induction for sudden hypertension at 40 weeks and 1 day. Her daughter ended up needing a NICU stay and Stephanie put her own health on the back burner until 6 days postpartum her health took a turn for the worst an she experienced multiple organ failure and postpartum HELLP syndrome.

On this episode, you will hear:
- emergency induction and pregnancy complications
- cholestasis 
- subchorionic hematoma
- HELLP and multiple organ failure
- postpartum preeclampsia
- healing and community support
- NICU stay
- roomed with another mom and newborn while baby is in NICU

For more birth trauma content and a community full of love and support, head to my Instagram at @thebirthtrauma_mama.

Learn more about the support and services I offer through The Birth Trauma Mama Therapy & Support Services.

Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official stance, views, or positions of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast. The content shared is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional or medical advice and/or endorsement.

On this week's episode, we welcome Elizabeth Earnshaw, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Liz is a couples therapist, writer, and content creator. This episode is full of so many nuggets like how to encourage therapy for your parter as well as themes that are often present in relationships after both kids and trauma. We hope you find this episode so helpful!

On this episode, you will hear:
-Exploring the world of couples therapy
- The impact of trauma on relationships
- Navigating couples therapy after having a baby
- What to do when a partner is not interested in therapy
- The role of couples therapy in trauma recovery
- Addressing dismissiveness, betrayal, and mental load
- Rebuilding trust in relationships


You can find Liz on Instagram: @lizlistens

Guest Bio:
Over the last decade, Elizabeth Earnshaw, LMFT has become one of today’s most trusted relationship teachers. Elizabeth is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Clinical Fellow of The American Association of Marriage & Family Therapy. She is the Head of Relationship Health at OURS, where she is working to make relational wellness mainstream & accessible, starting with premarital counseling. She also founded A Better Life Therapy, where she sees couples in her tailored weekend intensives. In addition to making couples therapy more accessible, she is the author of “I Want This To Work”. Elizabeth is also the host of Hash it Out on Good Risings where she offers advice to everyday relational conundrums.

For more birth trauma content and a community full of love and support, head to my Instagram at @thebirthtrauma_mama.

Learn more about the support and services I offer through The Birth Trauma Mama Therapy & Support Services.

Disclaimer - The views and opinions expressed by guests on The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official stance, views, or positions of The Birth Trauma Mama Podcast. The content shared is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional or medical advice and/or endorsement.