We Go There Podcast

By We Go There PodcastHealth & Fitness Sexuality

We Go There Podcast episodes

March 03From Cesarean to VBAC: Reclaiming Birth After Trauma with Kristen
This week, Nikki sits down with Kristen — mother of two — who vulnerably shares what it meant to reclaim her birth story after a deeply traumatic, unplanned cesarean during COVID.
For her second birth, Kristen prepared differently. She did the Push Prep course. She did the inner work. She educated herself. She found her voice. She built a team that aligned with her values. And while her second son was born in Chile with Indigenous Mapuche midwives, in a setting that looked very different from her first experience, this conversation isn’t about one specific kind of birth.
It’s about something much more universal.
It’s about what every woman deserves in birth — whether she’s delivering in a hospital, birth center, or operating room: to feel informed, safe, respected, and like an active participant in her own care.
Together, Nikki and Kristen unpack:
• What birth trauma really is (and how it lives in the body)
• How preparation shifts not just outcomes — but confidence
• The power of advocacy within any medical system
• And how to approach a second birth without fear running the show
This episode is for any woman who has ever wondered: Can I do this differently next time?
Kristen shares:
Being transferred from home to hospital mid-labor in a rainstorm because her midwife had another patient to manage — and not knowing she could say no
The disconnect she carried in her body for years: "I felt a bit dead inside. I felt like my body had failed me"
Why it took 18 months to even name what happened
How her team in Chile asked about her childhood memories, her fears, and her earliest life experiences — before a single clinical question
The transition moment where birth trauma came flooding back and how her midwife held her through it without judgment
"I see you. I respect you. This is not what you came for." The 7 words that changed everything
Birthing a 9.5 lb baby with two pushes after a two-hour pushing stage the first time
Eating chocolate while getting stitched up by a lesbian couple who treated her vagina like a Picasso
What reconnecting with her body felt like after years of disconnect
Her advice to every woman carrying an unhealed birth story into a second pregnancy
Ways to Connect with Kristen:
Kristen's Contact:
Instagram: kristenokeefe | Email: [email protected]
Midwife Spotlight: Sabina Velasquez
Sabina is a Chile-based midwife who works internationally and has trained around the world in traditional, physiological, and culturally rooted birth practices. She is U.S.-certified in natural breech birth and collaborates with physicians in placenta research and education.
Her care is deeply holistic — honoring birth as both a physical and ancestral experience.
Contact: [email protected] or WhatsApp +56976165883
42 min
February 25$633 to Save a Life: The Childbirth Injury No One Is Talking About
What if the difference between lifelong isolation and restored dignity was $633?
In this powerful conversation, Nikki sits down with Kate Grant, founding CEO of the Fistula Foundation, to talk about obstetric fistula — a preventable childbirth injury that affects millions of women in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia when emergency obstetric care isn’t available.
After days of obstructed labor, many women lose their babies and are left with a constant drip of fecal and urinary incontinence, often facing abandonment and social isolation. And yet — 90% of the time — a trained surgeon can repair the injury and give a woman her life back.
For $633.
Kate shares how Fistula Foundation has grown from funding 500 surgeries in one Ethiopian hospital in 2005 to supporting more than 17,500 surgeries across 30 countries this year — and why she wrote No Woman Left Behind to tell the stories of the heroic surgeons, generous donors, and resilient women at the heart of this work.
This is Nikki’s charity of choice — and an organization she is proud to support — because no woman should suffer for lack of basic, life-saving care.
If this conversation moves you, we invite you to learn more, share the episode, and consider supporting the work.
Kate shares:
What obstetric fistula is—and why it doesn't exist in countries with access to emergency C-sections
"I would rather be blind because people will sit with the blind person, but they won't sit with me"
The first fistula patient she met in 1994—a teenager abandoned by her husband, blamed for her own injury
Why Fistula Foundation only funds indigenous doctors (African doctors training African doctors)
How they've funded over 100,000 surgeries—and why they're on track to keep growing
$633 funds one surgery that transforms a woman's life permanently
Why 85% of their donors are women
The connection between poverty, lack of access to care, and women bearing all the risk of childbirth
Why they don't take government money (U.S. contracting procedures are too onerous)
How a $15 million gift from MacKenzie Scott was spent in months—turned directly into surgeries
37% of women have stress incontinence by age 50 (even in the U.S.)
Why prevention would require massive systemic change, but treatment is achievable now
The book: No Woman Left Behind by Kate Grant (foreword by Dr. Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone)
Website: fistulafoundation.org
Book: No Woman Left Behind by Kate Grant (100% of proceeds go to the foundation)
Email: [email protected] (for book club Zoom calls!)
38 min
February 17Is Perimenopause Becoming the Default Diagnosis? HRT, Testing Gaps, and Advocating for Better Care with Anne Matthews
This week, Nikki sits down with Anne Matthews, fertility and women's hormone expert, founder of Energy Tree Studios, and one of Canada's few qualified traditional Chinese medicine practitioners (ABORM). After their joint participation in a menopause panel left them speechless, Anne and Nikki knew they had to have this conversation.
Together, they unpack the pendulum swing around hormone replacement therapy (HRT)—from being considered "dangerous" 10 years ago to now being prescribed via AI platforms without proper testing. They're not anti-HRT. They're anti-blanket prescriptions for symptoms that might not be perimenopause at all.
Anne shares real stories from her practice, the critical tests women should demand before accepting an HRT prescription, and why advocating for yourself isn't "being difficult"—it's being smart.
Anne shares:
Why a physician said "my 10-year-old could prescribe HRT" using AI platforms
An ovarian cancer story: a woman diagnosed with "perimenopause" who actually had stage 3 ovarian cancer
Why women in their 30s are being told they're perimenopausal when they're not
"At what point between 12 and 44 are we considered whole and healthy and not pathologized?"
The parallel to birth control in high school: same blanket-prescription energy
Why exercise works better than SSRIs for depression (and why nobody wants to hear it)
Critical tests to request: thyroid panel, ferritin, B12, vitamin D, insulin, A1c, autoimmune markers, pelvic ultrasound
Day 3 hormone panels vs. irregular cycle testing—when to test and what to ask for
Why healthcare for women is broken at every life stage—and how to advocate anyway
Click here to download the PDF mentioned in this episode: Testing to Consider for Women 40+
Ways to Connect with Anne:
Instagram: @energytreestudios Website: energytreestudios.com
48 min
December 31, 2025Doulas, Collaboration Over Competition & Why Joy and Grief Walk the Same Line with Amy Silva
This week, Nikki sits down with Amy Silva, a birth doula of seven years, founder of the Collaborative Doula Collective, and a fierce advocate for collaboration over competition in the doula community. After losing her mom to suicide just six months before her first pregnancy, Amy knew she wanted to support women who didn't have that mother figure—or any support system—through one of life's most transformative experiences.
Together, they unpack what it really means to hire a doula, why asking about bias is crucial, and how to prepare for birth scenarios you hope never happen (but need to plan for anyway). Amy shares her journey from the ER trauma room to the birth room, why informed consent isn't practiced enough, and how hard birth experiences shouldn't be worn as badges of honor. This conversation is vulnerable, empowering, and a masterclass in holding space.
Amy shares:
Why she became a doula after losing her mom to suicide 6 months before getting pregnant
"Birth and death are two sides of the same coin"—doulas need to support both
The most important question: What is your doula's bias?
Birth preferences vs. birth plans—run through scenarios so you're not blindsided
Emergency C-section: who goes in the OR with you—partner or doula?
Why doulas sometimes undervalue themselves
"Get comfortable being uncomfortable"—it's okay not to have all the answers
The doula scam: a woman faked pregnancies/losses and traumatized 50+ doulas
C-sections aren't "the easy way out"—major surgery doesn't make you less than
Hard birth experiences as badges of honor = unprocessed trauma seeking validation
The Collaborative Doula Collective: 52+ doulas ending competition and supporting each other
Ways to Connect with Amy:
Amy's Insta | Collaborative Doula Conference Insta | Collaborative Doula Collective Insta | Web
54 min
December 23, 2025Let's Talk About Prolapse: The Diagnosis, The Dismissal & The Garment That Changed Everything with Lauren Fleming
This week, Nikki sits down with Lauren Fleming, founder of Hem Support and a fierce advocate for pelvic health and patient autonomy. After being blindsided by a cystocele diagnosis at 6 weeks postpartum—and dismissed by her provider—Lauren couldn't stop thinking: why aren't we educating women about this, and why don't better support options exist? So she built them herself.
Together, they unpack the reality of prolapse (50% of women will experience it), the psychological weight of feeling "broken" postpartum, and why the lack of pelvic health education is unacceptable. Lauren shares her journey from corporate project manager to garment founder, navigating a second pregnancy with prolapse, and why support garments shouldn't make you feel worse. This conversation is vulnerable, validating, and empowering.
Lauren shares:
Being dismissed at her 6-week appointment despite bringing photos—"it's just your tissues"
The mental load: "Every single movement, you have that feeling—it's so front of mind"
50% of women will develop prolapse (we're bipeds—gravity isn't our friend)
"Can I even have kids again?"—the fear that comes with zero information
Why existing garments had thick elastic, butt straps, and Velcro that tore her clothes
Her planned home birth with baby #2 and what she did differently
50% of women doing "Kegels" are actually bearing down
Generational silence: "My aunt had that, but we never talked about it"
Why hard births shouldn't be badges of honor—trauma needs validation, not repetition
Ways to Connect with Lauren: Instagram: @laurensavagefleming Website: hemsupportwear.com
33 min
December 16, 2025Hospital Birth, Self-Advocacy & Why "No Thanks" Is a Full Sentence with HeHe Stewart
This week, Nikki sits down with HeHe Stewart, a leading childbirth educator and doula based in Boston, Massachusetts, who has supported over 2,000 families in the last decade. HeHe is known for her fierce advocacy around informed consent, reducing unnecessary interventions, and ensuring patient autonomy—all while her husband works as a physician in the ER, giving her a unique insider perspective on the American hospital system.
Together, they unpack the reality of hospital birth culture, why the system isn't designed to support laboring women, and how to advocate for yourself without apology. HeHe shares practical scripts for setting boundaries with providers, why hospital childbirth classes often teach compliance over options, and how to avoid the kind of birth trauma that ripples through your entire postpartum experience. Recorded when HeHe was 37 weeks pregnant with her first baby, this conversation is both deeply personal and powerfully educational.
HeHe shares:
Why the hospital system is designed for compliance, not support—and the only person happy in the equation is the system itself
"You can't make a wrong choice if you don't know all your options"—powerful reframe for releasing mom guilt about past births
Why hospital-sponsored childbirth classes teach you to be a "good compliant patient" instead of an informed decision-maker
Practical advocacy scripts including "No thanks" as a full sentence and how to request a different provider mid-labor
The ripple effect of birth trauma on mental health, parent-child bonding, and your entire family ecosystem
Her own comprehensive birth planning approach: birth plan, C-section plan, transfer plan, and even an ICU plan
Evidence-based practices vs. hospital policies: eating in labor, breaking waters, suspected big baby inductions, and more
Why flexibility (not rigidity) is the key to avoiding compounded trauma in birth
Ways to Connect with HeHe: Instagram | Web
1 hr 4 min
December 09, 2025Birth Advocacy, Switching Nurses & Breaking Cookie-Cutter Care with MamaNurseTina
This week, Nikki welcomes Tina, aka MamaNurseTina: a labor and delivery nurse, mom of four, content creator, and aspiring stand-up comedian who's on a mission to empower women through birth and postpartum. With years of experience in emergency and labor & delivery, Tina brings an insider's perspective on hospital birth culture, patient advocacy, and why "be kind but firm" might be the most important advice you'll hear.
Together, they dive into the reality of cookie-cutter hospital births, why asking questions doesn't make you a difficult patient, and even tips on switching nurses if you're not vibing in the delivery room. Tina shares practical scripts for advocating in labour, why cervical exams aren't always necessary, and how proper prep work can transform your birth and postpartum experience. This is a fun one!
Tina shares:
The reality of "cookie-cutter" hospital births and why interventions become automatic
You can switch nurses—here's the exact script for how to ask without being "difficult"
"Need to know" vs. "nice to know" cervical exams and the two questions every provider should answer
How to be "kind but firm" when advocating and why the BRAIN acronym helps with decisions
Consent can be withdrawn at any moment—even mid-exam—and why this needs to be in training
Why Black moms face unique challenges advocating (3x maternal mortality rate) and how tone matters
The failure of breastfeeding support: we promote it but don't provide accessible lactation services or adequate maternity leave
Why prep for postpartum and breastfeeding matters just as much as your birth plan
Ways to Connect with Tina: Instagram: @mama_nurse_tina TikTok: @mama_nurse_tina Breastfeeding Course: bumptolatch.com
45 min
December 02, 2025Calling Out Diet Culture with Registered Dietitian Abbey Sharp
This week, Nikki welcomes Abbey Sharp, a registered dietitian with over 15 years of experience, award-winning cookbook author, podcaster, YouTuber, and the voice calling out nutrition BS across social media. Abbey specializes in helping people navigate the minefield of diet misinformation, wellness culture, and the return of toxic "skinny tok" online.
Together, they discuss how diet culture has evolved from the heroin chic of the '90s to today's "wellness" rebrand, why under-eating actually causes bloating, the truth about Ozempic and muscle loss, and how to support your gut health without falling into restrictive patterns. Abbey shares her personal recovery from orthorexia and why she's dedicated her career to fighting the algorithms that trap young people in dangerous diet rabbit holes.
Abbey shares:
Her personal journey recovering from orthorexia and how it shaped her anti-diet approach
Why "skinny talk" is making a dangerous comeback on social media—and what parents need to know
The hidden truth: how undereating slows your digestion and creates the bloating you're trying to avoid
The "migratory motor complex"—aka the witch's broom sweeping through your gut (and why constant snacking stops it)
Ozempic reality check: why you still need protein and strength training to avoid muscle loss
How wellness culture is just diet culture with "a new coat of lipstick"
Protein myths debunked: how much you actually need and why fiber matters just as much
The 13-year-old girls in her DMs eating 700 calories—and why she keeps fighting
Practical gut health tips: straws, carbonation, meal timing, and what actually helps with bloat
Why there's no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition (and how to find what works for you)
Ways to Connect with Abbey: Instagram: @abbeyskitchen YouTube: Abbey's Kitchen Podcast Website: abbeyskitchen.com
Get Digest + Debloat: neuetheory.com/products/digest-debloat
45 min
November 18, 2025Breaking the Silence on Pregnancy Loss with Dr. Jessica Zucker
This week, Nikki sits down with Dr. Jessica Zucker, a Los Angeles-based psychologist specializing in reproductive and maternal mental health, and the creator of the viral #IHadaMiscarriage campaign. Jessica is the author of the award-winning books NORMALIZE IT: Upending the Silence, Stigma, and Shame That Shape Women’s Lives and I HAD A MISCARRIAGE: A Memoir, a Movement.
Together, they unpack the silence surrounding pregnancy loss, the cultural conditioning that keeps women quiet about grief, and how empathy, not platitudes, creates true healing. Jessica shares her own 16-week loss, how it reshaped her work, and why storytelling is the antidote to shame.
Dr. Jessica shares:
Her personal story of a 16-week loss and why it “changed the course” of her life
The problem with comparison (“no trauma wars”) and why your loss matters because it’s yours
How the 12-week rule fuels silence and what healthier sharing can look like
What not to say (“at least…”) and the simplest, best opener: “How are you doing?”
Practical support ideas and how to have empathy vs. sympathy
The silence → stigma → shame cycle—and how storytelling breaks it
Self-compassion after loss, releasing self-blame, and the urge to “find the reason”
A preview of her new book on dismantling stigma across every stage of women’s lives
Ways to Connect with Dr. Jessica:
Instagram
Purchase her latest book:
📘 Normalize It – Amazon
📗 Normalize It – Bookshop.org
Or find it wherever books are sold.
50 min
November 11, 2025The Ballerina Who Refused to Break - Heather Ogden’s Story
This week, Nikki sits down with Heather Ogden, Principal Dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, to explore what it means to rebuild strength, identity, and purpose after motherhood, injury, and change.
At 44, Heather is still performing at the top of her craft — balancing artistry and athleticism while raising two children, recovering from back surgery and performing the lead Odette in Swan Lake at just 5 months postpartum. Together, Nikki and Heather dive into resilience, aging, body image, and the mindset it takes to keep showing up for your passion at every stage of life.
Heather shares:
How she returned to dance Swan Lake just five months postpartum
The mindset of recovery under pressure
Why aging as a performer has brought unexpected confidence and perspective
How motherhood reshaped her relationship with her body
Her advice to dancers — and all women — on body image and self-worth
The mental tools that helped her navigate injury, transition, and reinvention

In this episode, we explore the intersection of art, motherhood, and resilience — and how strength evolves as we do.
Ways to Connect with Heather:
[Instagram]
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50 min