Today's two birth stories are from Beatrice Haines, a fantastic artist living in Wiltshire. Bea has two sons, one of whom was born at a birth centre after a long and exhausting labour, and the other who arrived at the speed of light in the car!

Bea's second birth happened in the front seat of her knackered old Honda Jazz just two hours after contractions began, whilst her husband was driving as calmly as possible to hospital.

Bea's story is as beautiful as it is entertaining, and she has such a lovely calm energy about her, that this episode really is one of my very favourites. I'm willing to bet you'll love it too.

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If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!

Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.

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Today’s guest is Hannah, who shares her two births - which could not be more different from each other.

Her first son was born when she was 21, and as a young mum Hannah felt she was continually ignored by the medical staff - who denied her pain relief, refused to listen when she said she felt something was wrong with her baby, and left her alone and unable to sit up or hold her baby immediately after birth. Hannah's intuition was right, as her baby was born with a broken arm, something which was continually referred to as 'impossible'.

What Hannah went through was extremely traumatic, and while I don’t usually do content warnings, I wanted to let listeners know that this experience was deeply distressing for Hannah - and I think it would be very understandable for you to feel that while listening, too.

Hannah’s second baby was born 8 years later by elective c-section - and was profoundly healing for her. I’m so glad Hannah was able to share both her stories with me - I hope you enjoy hearing them!

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If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!

Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome back to The Real Birth Podcast! This week I chat to Jo, whose daughter was diagnosed with a heart defect at her 20 week scan. This meant she needed surgery very soon after birth, and so Jo and her husband were preparing for an induction in Bristol, where a team of paediatric experts would be on hand.

However, Jo's waters broke early and what followed was an incredibly stressful journey to hospital during a bank holiday weekend, where they encountered several major road collisions and more than quadrupled their estimated journey time, all without pain relief. When she arrived at hospital, Jo was fully dilated and her baby was born soon afterwards.

Whilst in NICU waiting for surgery, baby Malia was also diagnosed with NEC, a serious bowel disease. Jo shares how the support of other NICU parents and people who had children with heart defects was invaluable to her - but is also very honest about her ongoing trauma from those weeks and months in and out of hospital with her little girl.

Malia is now a very happy and healthy little girl - and it's wonderful to hear Jo talk about her. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did.

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If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!

Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello everyone! This week I'm thrilled to be joined by Mez, who shares the birth story of their son. Mez is a non-binary parent who has 4 older children with their wife - however this pregnancy was the first time Mez had carried and birthed a child themselves.

After a successful IVF round, Mez threw themselves into learning everything they could about pregnancy, labour and birth, and used hypnobirthing techniques to combat anxiety during their induction process.

Mez's midwife in pregnancy and birth was supportive, inclusive and respectful, but the care they received afterwards was not so positive. Huge thanks to Mez for sharing their experience on the podcast today - it's wonderful to be able to highlight the experiences of queer and non-binary parents on this platform, and I have no doubt your story will be a great resource to many.

I hope you love listening to this one as much as I enjoyed making it...

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If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!

Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello all!

This week my guest is Jenny, who shares her two birth stories. Jenny's first birth was many people's ideal experience - a natural delivery in the water, with very little intervention - and so when she was faced with an induction for her second baby's birth she was unsure she could have the same kind of positive experience. But as you will hear from Jenny's birth stories, she and her team came together and made the birth of her second daughter a truly positive induction.

Jenny and I also discuss her experience of multiple miscarriage, and how her forward-thinking GP helped diagnose her with silent coeliac disease - a condition linked with recurrent miscarriage. By making diet changes, Jenny was able to go on to have a healthy pregnancy with her second baby.

I hope you enjoy listening to Jenny's birth stories!

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If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!

Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome back to series 4 of The Real Birth Podcast!

To mark the start of a new season, and my return from maternity leave, I'll be sharing my own birth story. My second baby arrived in April 2023, and was born by CBAC - caesarean birth after a previous caesarean. I did everything in my power to achieve a HBAC - home birth after caesarean - but events unfolded in a way which meant this didn't happen for me. While I am still grieving the birth I never had, I am proud to share our story and hope you enjoy hearing it.

It's wonderful to be back!

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If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!

Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello everyone! Welcome to this special bonus episode of The Real Birth Podcast. I actually wasn't intending to release something so soon after the last episode, but sometimes an opportunity presents itself and it's just too good to pass on! This special episode features Ashley Winning, the host of the VBAC Home Birth Stories podcast.

VBAC stands for vaginal birth after caesarean and is a safe and valid choice for most - if not all - women having a subsequent baby after a surgical birth. However it's rare that home birth is encouraged or discussed, and it largely comes down to families and care providers not necessarily understanding the risks of HBAC. Many people assume it's not even an option!

After two C-sections, birth trauma and being discriminated against during both her pregnancies, Ashley decided her third birth would be a different story. She had an undisturbed home birth VBAC with her third daughter - attended only by her husband and doula. Ashley has so much wisdom to share, not only through her podcast which is committed to sharing stories and evidence based information about home birthing after caesarean, but also through her coaching business (The Motherhood Circle) where she works with women to help them plan and achieve empowered births - however they may turn out. 

Thanks for joining me for this special bonus episode - please feel free to share it with someone you know! As I go off on maternity leave properly, remember we have over 30 episodes of The Real Birth Podcast you can catch up with, and you can always get in touch with me via my social media - I'm @realbirthpodcast on Instagram and Facebook.

Until next time, I wish you all love and happy birthing! Bye...

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's episode features the lovely Melissa, who shares her two birth stories. Melissa suffers from psoriatic arthritis - a condition which requires her to take a medication not usually compatible with conception, pregnancy or breastfeeding.

Melissa talks about how her pregnancies were timed around stints of being off her meds, and how this impacted her. She also shares her experience of having a miscarriage between her two daughters, and how the hospital restrictions at the time meant she was largely alone when facing such a devastating loss. 

It's a gorgeous episode and I really hope you enjoy it.

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If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!

Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.

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This season I'm thrilled to be working with my first ever sponsor: Bridge House Pilates.

Bridge House Pilates was founded by Meaghan, a Texan-born pregnancy, postnatal and low back pain specialist Pilates teacher now living in Somerset. Meaghan is a fan of the show and reached out to see whether my listeners might be interested in a special discount for her brand new postnatal Pilates course.

As well as sponsoring the show, Meaghan has created an exclusive discount for my listeners and I'm really thrilled to be able to offer you guys 20% off the Bridge House Pilates postnatal pilates online course. 

Here's a bit more about the course:

Thinking about moving your body after having a baby can be daunting, not least because you somehow need to get yourself dressed and out the house - but Bridge House Pilates' NEW online, on-demand postnatal course can be enjoyed at any time, all from the comfort of your own home. 

The course is flexible, bite-sized and perfectly suited to the chaos of new parenthood! Weekly sessions focus on relaxation, building core strength, healing your pelvic floor and addressing common muscular issues such as diastasis recti and back pain. 

The course is designed with busy new mums in mind. Each week is broken down into 5 videos lasting between 5-15 minutes each. The platform will even track your progress if you get stopped partway through a video

Signing up also grants you lifetime access to all the course material, so you can return to your workouts whenever you need to - even if you go on to have more pregnancies in future.

To find out more about Bridge House Pilates' course and to benefit from our sponsorship discount, click here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome to The Real Birth Podcast! This week I'm joined by Alice, who talks about the births of her two daughters, both of which were impacted by her diagnosis of borderline gestational diabetes, and high BMI - but which Alice tackled very differently in her second daughter's pregnancy to her first. 

Alice also shares her story of grief and loss - in between her two daughters, she became pregnant with conjoined twins, who sadly would not have been able to survive. Alice and I talk about having a termination for medical reasons and some of the issues surrounding how parents are cared for in these devastating moments. 

Alice has a wealth of knowledge and experience to share - I hope you find her stories as inspiring as I do. Here she is to tell them...

If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!

Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.

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This season I'm thrilled to be working with my first ever sponsor: Bridge House Pilates.

Bridge House Pilates was founded by Meaghan, a Texan-born pregnancy, postnatal and low back pain specialist Pilates teacher now living in Somerset. Meaghan is a fan of the show and reached out to see whether my listeners might be interested in a special discount for her brand new postnatal Pilates course.

As well as sponsoring the show, Meaghan has created an exclusive discount for my listeners and I'm really thrilled to be able to offer you guys 20% off the Bridge House Pilates postnatal pilates online course. 

Here's a bit more about the course:

Thinking about moving your body after having a baby can be daunting, not least because you somehow need to get yourself dressed and out the house - but Bridge House Pilates' NEW online, on-demand postnatal course can be enjoyed at any time, all from the comfort of your own home. 

The course is flexible, bite-sized and perfectly suited to the chaos of new parenthood! Weekly sessions focus on relaxation, building core strength, healing your pelvic floor and addressing common muscular issues such as diastasis recti and back pain. 

The course is designed with busy new mums in mind. Each week is broken down into 5 videos lasting between 5-15 minutes each. The platform will even track your progress if you get stopped partway through a video

Signing up also grants you lifetime access to all the course material, so you can return to your workouts whenever you need to - even if you go on to have more pregnancies in future.

To find out more about Bridge House Pilates' course and to benefit from our sponsorship discount, click here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome to The Real Birth Podcast! This week my guest is Sabina, who had her baby by caesarean under general anaesthetic, after a long and difficult labour. Sabina's story is important to acknowledge - as after growing up in a family where natural, unmedicated birth was the norm, she felt huge amounts of grief and anger at her caesarean experience - especially given the restrictions placed on her and her husband due to covid. 

Sabina has some very raw, honest reflections on what she would now do differently given her knowledge, and some great advice for new parents when it comes to feeding support too. While Sabina's birth story isn't the euphoric, positive experience many expectant parents might want to hear, for many it will really resonate, and I'm sure Sabina wouldn't mind me saying that it may be a useful example of some of the interventions which can occur when in a hospital setting, particularly without an advocate by your side. 

Huge thank you to Sabina for being so open and honest with me today - here she is to tell her story...

If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!

Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.

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This season I'm thrilled to be working with my first ever sponsor: Bridge House Pilates.

Bridge House Pilates was founded by Meaghan, a Texan-born pregnancy, postnatal and low back pain specialist Pilates teacher now living in Somerset. Meaghan is a fan of the show and reached out to see whether my listeners might be interested in a special discount for her brand new postnatal Pilates course.

As well as sponsoring the show, Meaghan has created an exclusive discount for my listeners and I'm really thrilled to be able to offer you guys 20% off the Bridge House Pilates postnatal pilates online course. 

Here's a bit more about the course:

Thinking about moving your body after having a baby can be daunting, not least because you somehow need to get yourself dressed and out the house - but Bridge House Pilates' NEW online, on-demand postnatal course can be enjoyed at any time, all from the comfort of your own home. 

The course is flexible, bite-sized and perfectly suited to the chaos of new parenthood! Weekly sessions focus on relaxation, building core strength, healing your pelvic floor and addressing common muscular issues such as diastasis recti and back pain. 

The course is designed with busy new mums in mind. Each week is broken down into 5 videos lasting between 5-15 minutes each. The platform will even track your progress if you get stopped partway through a video

Signing up also grants you lifetime access to all the course material, so you can return to your workouts whenever you need to - even if you go on to have more pregnancies in future.

To find out more about Bridge House Pilates' course and to benefit from our sponsorship discount, click here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices