The Unmedicated Girlies | Empowered + Informed Birth Education with Fierce Lizzie

Episode 2 for World Doula Week. In this episode I am answering all your doula questions from finding and hiring a doula to what it’s like being a doula!

I answer the following questions:

Where do I find a doula local to me?

Questions to ask before hiring a doula.

How much do doulas cost?

How to become a doula

What does getting started with a new client look like?

Why don’t they protect physiologic birth anymore?

Do you think doulas should have babies before becoming doulas (i low key think they do)?

Did you get a doula?

Have you ever felt like you had a client/patient who was out of your skill set?

Would you/have you declined working with someone wanting a birth you didn’t agree with?Other episodes you’ll love:

70 | Doula certifications suck, with Kallie Caton

100 | Becoming a self taught doula

133 | What doulas do for you, World Doula Week pt. 1

Want to work with me?

Unmedicated Academy: The signature program for moms who want to be the boss of their unmedicated birth and be educated, informed and empowered. We will chat each week and you'll be blown away by how much support is inside. Join the empowered mom club

Submit a question or testimonial for the show: Leave me a voice message

Welcome to World Doula Week! Did you know that doulas love to bring awareness to the benefits of doulas during WDW? If you've wondered what a doula does during your birth, or maybe what a doula doesn't do, or If you have questioned wether you need a doula or not, you are in the right place.

In this episode I discuss:

-The role of the doula and how it is different than the midwife.

-What I do with my client as their doula

-Why you still need childbirth education, even with a doula. Doulas do not replace childbirth education.

-How doulas support birth partners and the important role of dads during birth

-My surprising answer to , do I need a doula?

Other episodes you'll love:

70: Doula certifications suck, with Kallie Caton

100 | Becoming a self taught doula

124 | Biased doulas for biased moms, finding the right doula, with Sydney Taylor

Get the NEW Birth Prep Class

Want to work with me?

Unmedicated Academy: The signature program for moms who want to be the boss of their unmedicated birth and be educated, informed and empowered. We will chat each week and you'll be blown away by how much support is inside. Join the empowered mom club

Submit a question or testimonial for the show: Leave me a voice message

There is no quick fix, one and done, just do this and get the birth you want. But there IS one thing that is going to help you encompass all those 'tips and tricks' and that is taking radical responsibility.

In this episode I discuss:

-Taking responsibility IS radical, because the average mom walking into the hospital is asking to be told what to do.

-Why taking radical responsibility is needed, and all because of phrases like "we need to.." and "you're not allowed to"

-Four tips on taking responsibility and control of your birth

Get the Birth Prep Class straight to your inbox next week

Join Unmedicated Academy for the most empowered birth prep

More episodes you’ll love:

63: Radical Responsibility, with Rebekah Richardson

Feeling empowered vs being empowered

104 | A mindset shift to stay more accountable to your birth prep

111 | Be more UNAPOLOGETIC

Academy mom Kerissa Ransbury shares her two birth stories. Her fist where she was underprepared and ended up pushing for 6 hours versus the birth she loves to share because it was so positive. She prepared the right way and everything went exactly how she imagined, she labored at home, had zero pain, and her husband caught her baby. All in the hospital!

In this episode, Kerissa discusses:

-Her first birth started with cytotec after her waters broke. She ended up getting an epidural, which slowed things down and ended up pushing on her back for 6 hours.

-She started preparing for baby 2 as soon as she found out she was pregnant, and she went all in with books, social media and of course, Unmedicated Academy,

-Unmedicated Academy worked so well because she knew everything, being informed meant her voice was heard and respected in her prenatal care and birth.

-Staying home as long as possible, she waited til contractions were 2 minutes apart, as a way to not be coerced or be on the hospital’s timeline.

-She got her pain free birth and her husband (and daddy doula) caught her baby as she birthed upright on the side of the tub. 

Other birth stories on the podcast:

120 | There wasn’t an epidural at this hospital, a first time mom’s planned unmedicated hospital birth, with Ariana Heisler

96 | Asynclitic to unmedicated, Eden shares her Irish twin birth stories, with Eden Overaker

DESCRIPTION

What if I start an induction and it doesn’t work? What if I change my mind? You have the right to stop an induction and leave the hospital. And if you want to keep that option open NEVER let them break your waters.

In this episode I cover:

-Avoiding an induction in the first place is the best way to support physiology and an unmedicated birth plan

-The difficulties of going from a medicated birth routine to an unmedicated birth.

-The options you have if you decide to stop your induction.

More episodes you’ll love:

119 | One thing you won’t get in the hospital birth, have a hands off second stage

116 | 3 things that will sabotage your birth plan

107 | Hospital discharge plan, you don’t have to stay 24 hours

No, birth is not like pooping out a watermelon. But birth is a lot like pooping in other ways. Take the squatty potty for an example, we have completely normalized and accepted an upright pooping position but not upright birth.

Are you ready to learn about REAL birth?

Unmedicated Academy will teach you how birth works and how the hospital works so you can support the birth you want even in the medicalized setting.

Want to skip cervical checks, inductions, pitocin, unnecessary drugs, pushing on your back? Yeah, you should! None of those belong in birth anyways.

Currently enrolling guess dates in June & July.

In honor of pregnancy after loss month, we have PAL (pregnancy after loss) doula Sarah Lingle. “It was probably the most emotional time of my life” Pregnancy after loss is hard, it can be full of anxiety, and it’s also a time of so much hope and joy. For many loss moms, there are more interventions in both their pregnancy and birth, wether by choice or by coercion. Sarah gives her best preparation tips for moms experiencing pregnancy after loss for them to feel informed and confident. 

In this episode, Sarah shares:

-The most amazing part of her own birth story, a record breaking twin interval birth.

-Her interest in birth started after seeing the women in her family give birth at home, leading her to midwifery school, and ultimately landing on becoming a doula, where she now helps moms during pregnancy after loss.

-How her trust in birth was tested after her own loss, and how she manages her anxieties and fears with her next pregnancy and birth.

-What makes PAL (pregnancy after loss) moms different and how she supports those moms with her doula services.

-The rate of interventions are higher with pregnancy and birth after loss, both by choice and by coercion.

-How trauma resurfaces in birth, even if we didn’t realize how traumatic that previous experience was.

Sarah aims to empower and support mothers who have experienced loss, as well as those navigating subsequent pregnancies after loss. Her motivation stems from personal loneliness during loss, infertility, and PAL. Sarah understands firsthand the challenges, but she wants to assure others that they're not alone.

Sarah can be found on social media at @paldoula, on podcasts at The PAL Doula Podcast, and online at pregnancyafterlossdoula.com

Everyone wants a pain free birth, but in reality, only 1% of moms are experiencing one. Is a pain free birth possible? It is! Is it common, no. There are a few reasons you may not experience a pain free birth, some within your control, some not. And there are three things you can do to help increase your chances of experiencing a truly pain free birth. 

Get on the NORA waitlist

Listen to episode #25: An Exposè On Vaccines and Pediatrics with THE Dr. Paul Thomas on Moms off the Record 

In this episode I discuss:

- Only 1% of women describe their birth as pain free, and this is why I don;t love the idea of preparing for a pain free birth

- A course on pain free birth won’t get you anywhere if you are agreeing to routine interventions

- Interruptions to physiology are the biggest reason you aren’t having a pain free birth

- Three things you can do to increase your odds of achieving a pain free birth.

Other episodes you’ll love:

98 | Conquer your fear of birth

You burned the pumpkin pie (cascade of interventions)

Avoiding Induction is not enough

Ready to start your birth prep?

Birth Prep Class: This 30 minute class will teach you what you can do now to help prepare your mind and body for an unmedicated birth. It's FREE ️

Want to work with me?

Unmedicated Academy: The signature program for moms who want to be the boss of their unmedicated birth and be educated, informed and empowered. We will chat each week and you'll be blown away by how much support is inside. Join the empowered mom club

Submit a question or testimonial for the show: Leave me a voice message

Part 2 with Sydney Taylor. The conversation with Sydney continues as she shares how her birth experience led her to birthwork and becoming a homebirth midwife. We talk about being doulas who only take on clients who want unmedicated births and the benefits, to both client and doula, of showing your biases as a doula.

In this episode we discuss:

-How being a mother prepares you to be a doula more than any doula training program

-The affirmations we love to hear from dads in the birth space.

-A doula for every woman doesn’t mean doulas have to support everyone and the types of doulas we wouldn’t hire.

-Taking every birth client, even when it’s not a good fit, just because you can support them often leads to burnout, doulas leaving birth work, and bad google reviews.

-Doulas who are unapologetic about their biases will find the right clients and this is exactly how Sydney is booked out for the year.

114 | We crashed a formula marketing meeting, the Back Off Bobbie campaign, with Natasha Vargas-Cooper and Andrea Haskins
100 | Becoming a self taught doula

92 | Inclusive language is excluding your main audience, DONA and La Leche League’s inclusive language policy is erasing women, with Dr Sarah

70: Doula certifications suck, with Kallie Caton

Want to become a doula?

Download the self-taught doula guide. It's FREE 

Learn more about my doula business membership

Want to work with me?

Unmedicated Academy: The signature program for moms who want to be the boss of their unmedicated birth and be educated, informed and empowered. We will chat each week and you'll be blown away by how much support is inside. Join the empowered mom club

Submit a question or testimonial for the show: Leave me a voice message