Today on the show I speak with mama of 3 and fellow birth nerd Laura Shelley Butler. Laura experience with ultrasound is really interesting.

For many one of the main reasons they may get an ultrasound, is to pick up any congenital conditions prior to birth. The intriguing thing with Laura was that, although they did pick up some kind of abnormality via ultrasound, they never picked up the severity of it. As we all know - ultrasounds aren’t the fail proof saviours they are often praised to be and they are potentially harmful in more ways than one; physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. It was only Laura’s mother’s instinct after the birth of her son - that she knew something was wrong and took him to hospital where he had surgery. Knowing this and that her mother’s instinct was more powerful and accurate than any ultrasound could be, she went on to have a wild pregnancy and freebirth for her next babe. Laura also talks about why she think her babe may have had the congenital condition and what precautions she took for her wild pregnancy and freebirth of her next babe. I totally vibe with Laura and love who she is as a person. Enjoy this informative and fun conversation.

Bio:

I’m Laura. I’m a birth nerd, trained doula and unschooling mama. I currently live in Melbourne alongside my love of 11 years, Michael, and our 3 beautiful wild children, Esther, Theodore and Banksia. I enjoy reading lots of books, being creative and going on adventures.

You can find me at @this.wild.mama on Instagram.

Photo by Nicole Mroue.

Today on the show I speak with the bubbly and gorgeous Emily Patterson. Emily has had a homebirth transfer, a homebirth with a midwife and then a freebirth. Emily at the start of her 3rd pregnancy wasn’t “there” to straight out decide on a freebirth. The further she got into that pregnancy though, she realised that a freebirth was right for her and she respectfully decided to no longer continue care with her midwife who she loved dearly. She ended up having an amazing, joyful and perfect freebirth. I think it’s important to point out that, you don’t have to have had a “bad” experience to decide on freebirth (although also this can be the case). Quite simply for many woman it is just in alignment for them to take 100% responsibility for their birth. We also talk about the pathologising of posterior babies and how can be very unhelpful. Emily has had a long labour with a posterior baby but also a short and simple labour with a posterior baby. Emily is a joy to talk to and I love her vibrant and upbeat energy! Enjoy our convo!

More about Emily:

Emily is a mama of three to two boys and a girl, with a passion for conscious, gentle and respectful parenting.

Today on the show I speak with Amana Mayfield-Faulkner. Amana has really experienced a lot in this life. Starting with the death of her first love in her 20’s and then through her child bearing years. She has experienced multiple miscarriages, as well the death of her daughter Heartly shortly after her birth due to a congenital condition. She has also had a beautiful homebirth with her son and an amazing freebirth with her daughter. Interestingly Amana hasn’t let her experiences bring her down but rather she has seen so much light and wisdom in the journey. I also loved how she talked about parenting her invisible children, who are not earthside with her, but always with her. Amana is a gentle, wise soul who’s story is so important to be heard. Enjoy this deep heartfelt conversation. More about Amana: - I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest the United States of America - I have a degree in Sociology as well as Nursing. I haven't worked in the Medical System for over a year and plan not to return as my values have not aligned with it for a few years now. - I was an Au Pair in France for a year for 3 French girls and ended the year doing El Camino De Santiago, a 800 km walk across Spain. -  I have traveled to several countries on my own. - I lived in Australia outside of Sydney for a few months with my Aunt and cousins - I am a Reiki Master - I was a birth assistant for 10 years - I have a super magical story of meeting my Soul Flame and Husband. I truly believe that there is more that unites us as human animals than that which divides us.

Sistership Services at www.EarthingNova.Love

Bath and Body Sales on ETSY

Listen to my Podcast The Heart of the Soul

Today on the show I speak with ex-registered midwife Martina Gorner. Martina is a rockstar and told the government to shove it after being reported to APRHA 9 times. The final straw when she was reported for supporting a surprise twin birth at home. Even though the babies were healthy and Mum and Dad were more than happy - someone at the hospital was not. The witch hunt for midwives is real and the current system is leaving them with very narrow boundaries to support women within. When Martina realised she was supporting the government more than her women - she decided to walk. And she hasn’t looked back. I was buzzed after this interview - Martina is a woman I have so much respect for. There is nothing I find more attractive in a person than sticking to their integrity - and Martina is just this!

About Martina:

After having been an Intensive Care Nurse nurse for 6 years I wanted to study a more holistic modality of nursing which led to me completing a postgraduate Diploma in “Midwifery” (Australia) in 2012.

After graduating I entered practicing homebirth midwifery straight away through an apprenticeship style model with a wise and experienced homebirth Midwife here in Melbourne for 2 years before setting up my own homebirth practice.

In 2018 my midwifery registration got suspended following an undiagnosed twin homebirth. Even though the twins arrived safely at home, are now thriving almost 3 year olds and the parents were very happy with their care. 3 months into my suspension I voluntarily surrendered my midwifery registration.

I now continue to educate women on their path to birthing in their power.

Today on the show I speak with The Authentic Birth Keeper - Emily Lal. Emily is a mother of two, homebirther, freebirther and walks with women through their pregnancies and births as a traditional birthkeeper. Emily started her birth journey at one end of the spectrum with an OBGYN appointment and IVF diagnoses as the only way of ever having children. Where she ended up though, was right at the other end with natural conceptions, a homebirth for her first and free birthing her second child. I find it fascinating how quickly we can move from one paradigm to another, when we become truly aligned and take our power back. Emily definitely did this and she totally rocked her pregnancy and births. Emily is heaps of fun to chat to and totally my soul sister - enjoy her birth stories - I know I did!

About Emily :

My name is Emily and I live in Melbourne. Like most women, I had never really given much thought to pregnancy and childbirth until embarking on my own journey to fall pregnant.After 14 months of trying unsuccessfully, my husband and I sought the help of an OBGYN. After undergoing a laparoscopy and a D&C, I was told I would never fall pregnant naturally, and that IVF was my only option. This didn’t sit well with me so instead of following the directions of the OBGYN, I embarked on a journey of research and discovery, and decided on a path of natural fertility therapies including naturopathy and TCM.

After only 3 months, I was pregnant!

This sparked a determination and commitment in me to follow my intuition, and take responsibility for carving my own path, on my journey through pregnancy and childbirth.

I committed to taking full responsibility for my decisions during my pregnancy and engaged the services of a truly mother centred traditional midwife to walk with me on my pregnancy journey.

On an extremely windy night in April, I birthed my baby into the world after 20 hours of active labour, into the pool my husband had set up for me in the living room of our home.

After such an amazing and transformative birth experience, I was both surprised and saddened by the contrast between my experience, and the experiences of those who had birthed within the hospital system.Feeling quite passionate that birth should be a transformational rite of passage, rather than the traumatic experiences that seem inherent in modern day industrial birth, I quickly found my path to becoming a Birth Keeper, and now serve women birthing at home and outside the system, and am committed to cultivating and nurturing a community of likeminded women in Melbourne.

I have since had a completely wild pregnancy and freebirthed my beautiful daughter, supported by my husband and my sister.

I'm is also a personal development coach with a keen ability to identify self-limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging behaviours, that keep women from truly embracing and living as their authentic selves. I am warm, passionate and unapologetically honest, giving women the space they need to step into their full power and autonomy.

Today on the show I have a follow up episode from season one with my good friend Karis Harlon. After a conscious conception of her baby Wren - Karis went on to have a wild pregnancy and freebirth. Expecting her second birth to be a much faster birth than her first - Karis was left surprised when it wasn’t. We talk in detail about the emergence of Wren’s head; which took a while and also how Wren took a little while to take her first breathe. Karis mentions how she knew this was a possibility and was calm and centered in this process; helping her baby come earth side gently and in her own time. We also discuss how different the process may have been if she was in hospital or even if she had a midwife present at home. Karis and I have such a good rapport so you should really enjoy this chat between us. Lots of laughs and lots of fun - enjoy!

About Karis:

I’m a passionate and vibrant sovereign woman! I am a mother of two beautiful girls and married to my soul mate.

My family and I have recently moved into a caravan and are travelling up North for 3 months. We own 160 acres just outside of Noosa QLD and are shaping our dream of living off grid and sustainably on our land!

I’m passionate about health and wellness. I love working with women to connect and inspire them to reignite their sovereignty!

You can follow our journey as a connected family making our way to our off grid land at way_to_haven. Or, you can read more about my wild pregnancy and free birth at sovereign_mother.

Today on the show I have the beautiful and sunny Taylor Bland. Taylor is a Mum to two, co-founder of H.E.R.B.A.L birth training as well as a birth attendant herself. Wow - where to start with this one. Taylor’s story is epic - I totally wasn’t prepared for it. We chat about a lot - her homebirth transfer with her first, her surrogate journey where she carried twins, miscarriage and then also the horrific story of having her son removed from her when she questioned the medical treatment he was receiving for Leukemia. Like Ash in my last episode Taylor reminded me yet again that there is such strength and growth in adversity. The freebirth of Taylor’s baby Micah was such a beautiful and healing story. Enjoy!

About Taylor:

Taylor is a mom of two beautiful boys, Noah and Micah, a Florida birth attendant, and co-founder of HERBAL Training, a holistic birth worker training and birth education program.

After a traumatic home birth transfer with her oldest, she jumped into birth work, experiencing an immaculate journey of growth between finding where she was supposed to be as a birthkeeper, enduring a stressful twin surrogacy, then a medical freedom battle with her oldest, and experiencing a second trimester loss.

Finally, in February 2021, after a spiritual, wild pregnancy, her rainbow baby, Micah, arrived earthside quickly and powerfully, completely unassisted. She hopes to share the lessons of her battles and the joys of her magical birth with others so they can feel the same power and bond that she longed for for so long, and finally achieved!

Today on the show I speak to my good friend Ashley Hewitt. Ashley is an ex emergency nurse and mother of 2. Amaya her first, was born at home in a beautiful homebirth. And even though she was really happy with her experience, after being introduced to freebirth she knew she could be even better! For Arlo her second born she had a wonderful wild pregnancy and planned freebirth. During her pregnancy at around 36 weeks, Ashley’s Mum sadly passed away, after a long illness. It made me realise that, even though it can be hard - adversity doesn’t always have to be detrimental and it can often have the opposite effect - finding so much strength and wisdom in it, as Ashley did. Enjoy this chat with two friends:)

About Ashley:

Ashley is an ex emergency nurse and mother of two who lives in Perth, Western Australia. After a beautiful Homebirth with her first - Ashley realised she would never go back to the medical system in her carer as a nurse or to birth. When she first heard of freebirth Ashley thought it was something she could never do but little did she know - just a year later she would decide to take this path herself and have the most wonderful Freebirth supported by her husband and best friend. Ashley is now super motivated to educate and support women to birth in their power and is starting a pregnancy and post partum doula business.

Welcome to Season 2 of the Renegade Mama. I very excited to have as my first guest of the season Midwife and Indie Birth founder Maryn Green. I love Maryn’s work and especially her birth videos to be extremely inspiring. Maryn has 10 kids (yes you heard me right) - and consequently a whole heap of first hand experience of birth, as well technical knowledge from her midwifery training. We managed (believe it or not) to chat through all her births as well as her own birth. We cover on topics from hospital birth, to homebith, to homebirth transfer, freebirth, placenta delivery, pain free births, patterning in births or lack there of! I thank Maryn for being so being so open and sharing her births and life with us and I think this is fabulous way to start the season! If you haven’t already - check her stuff out and indiebirth.org.

About Maryn :

My journey into the world of birth actually began with the birth of my first child in a hospital. I didn’t even know home birth was an option. I was frustrated with the hospital experience I had and began searching for other options for my second birth. I eventually connected with a doula who introduced me to the idea of home birth, and alongside the midwife I hired last minute, guided me safely through a loving second birth experience. I decided to become a midwife to help women in the same way.

I co-founded Indie Birth and our various offerings to inform, educate, and support women on their path. I feel divinely lucky to be intimately a part of the life cycle. I live with my husband of 17 years and our 10 children (yes, you read that right) in Arizona. Life is good!

QUALIFICATIONS

I was educated in the apprenticeship model, and completed a 4 year apprenticeship. I’ve completed formal midwifery studies and obtained a midwifery license in Arizona (which I later gave back, but that’s another great story!). I’ve held the Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) certification since 2009 and have run my own homebirth midwifery practice for nearly 12 years.