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So much of life these days seems to be polarized. As if the world is black and white, right and wrong. And this is no different in the birth world.

As social media reach has taken hold, I've been watching the rise of polarity especially in the "free birth" community. Honestly, I had friends freebirthing before Instagram existed, but I also trained in homebirth midwifery for 5 years.

So my frame has always been pretty nuanced. 

I've witnessed empowered hands-off births at home, more hands-on home birth midwifery styles, birth center births with nurse midwives, empowered hospital births and even the cascade of interventions happen in hospitals. 

Over the years of my midwifery training and birth work (this was 10-15 years ago), I became curious about more hands-off styles in home settings. My favorite births I witnessed were the ones where the midwives left (I was a doula) and/or sat in the corner knitting or reading for hours. 

And this is exactly the kind of story Leah shares in this week's episode. Except even more surprising in some ways. Her birth was truly self-directed, and the midwives seemed to be holding the container of safety, offering options and reminders and cervical checks when she asked for them, but always deferring back to her direction.

There is so much in this story that I hope plants seeds of possibility of nuance in the spectrum of what's possible in birth.

And she also shares about the practice of postpartum yoni steaming, and how that was a key to her personal pelvic floor healing after her severe tear which required surgery. So you'll hear about that, too!

Resources:

• Sign up for the waitlist for Natural Contraception the Herbal Way program!
• Free Track Your Cycle Naturally (FAM) guide
• Today's shownotes: Get links to Leah's steaming + birthwork offerings
• Episode 25: Immediate postpartum care the herbal way w Liz Philbrick
• Harvard study -- reduced inflammation through kinder self-talk
  • couldn't find the study but found these:
    • Mindfulness + positive health outcomes - Harvard professor Ellen Langer + Harvard Health
    • Emodiversity + Biomarkers of Inflammation

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DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for educational purposes only, I am not providing any medical advice, I am not a medical practitioner, I’m an herbalist and in the US, there is no path to licensure for herbalists, so my role is as an herbal educator. Please do your own research and consult your healthcare provider for any personal health concerns.

FREE CLASS - What's Your Menstrual Cycle Telling You? Jan 13th 2pm eastern. Sign up at herbalwomb.com/cycle

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