Episodit
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In this episode, I will guide you through some practical tips on preparing for birth, with an intention to reduce the likelihood of birth trauma. For anyone preparing for birth, this episode is worth listening to.
We will also be taking a break in releasing the podcast, but please stay connected we will be back on board with more inspiring and educational stories. We have loved getting your feedback - and so please feel free to contact us - at [email protected].
In the meantime - enjoy this episode.
https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/inquiries/2965/FINAL%20Birth%20Trauma%20Report%20-%2029%20April%202024.pdf
Australian and international research suggests that up to 1 in 3 women identify their birth experience as traumatic (Heyne et al, 2022; Watson et al., 2021). Psychological birth trauma is estimated to affect between 10% to 44% of women (Pidd et al., 2023).
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Better Birth: Mini Gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
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I have for you today Dr Hazel Keedle who is a Senior Lecturer of Midwifery at The School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University. Hazel has more than two decades of experience as a clinician in nursing and midwifery, educator and researcher. Hazel’s research interests are vaginal birth after caesarean, birth trauma and maternity experiences explored primarily using mixed methodologies. Hazel's work is recognised nationally and internationally, with many invited conference and seminar presentations including academic publications and a book for women based on her PhD findings ‘Birth after Caesarean: Your Journey to a Better Birth’. Hazel is the lead researcher on the largest maternity experiences survey, The Birth Experience Study.
She starts by discussing the 4 factors that will impact the birth experience, and how we can ensure we create the best possible conditions for birth to unfold. Hazel looked at the experiences of women attempting to have a VBAC. She assumed the most important part of their experience would be pushing a baby out of their vagina. Instead what she discovered were 4 important factors that directly influenced how they felt about their birth experience. She then goes on to share with us some of the evidence around the risks of VBAC and the real risks of uterine rupture. and leaves us with some very encouraging advice. This is a fabulous episode for those women planning a VBAC. or any woman who wants to appreciate the conditions necessary to have a good birth experience, regardless of what unfolds on the day.
PositionSenior Lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery
Research InterestsBirth trauma
Midwifery
Pregnancy, birth and postnatal period
Vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC)
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Better Birth: Mini Gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
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Maryn Green has been attending women as a midwife since 2009; first as a licensed midwife and now as a spiritual midwife that helps facilitate the ceremonies of birth and mothering. Maryn is well known for being the founder of the Indie Birth Association and Indie Birth midwifery school, which educates women and midwives all over the world. She has her own podcast, “Taking Back Birth,” that encourages women and midwives to rethink what they have been taught, and re-connect with ancient wisdom and the spiritual journey of birth. She is also the author of the book Indie Birth: A Story of Radical Birth Love in 2019. Maryn has given birth to 10 children and currently lives in Hawai’i.
Today we look at how birth is a rite of passage, how we can prepare for birth through ceremony and ritual, and she shares some great insights through her own birth experiences. I truly loved having a conversation about birth that goes beyond the things that can happen, to exploring the greater meaning of birth as a transformational process for the birthing woman and the baby - and the intricate dance between the two. A fresh new perspective. Enjoy dear ones.
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Better Birth: Mini Gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
Maryn's Links:
Indie Birth
Indie Birth Midwifery School
Sacred Sisterhood Doula
Full "Taking Back Birth" podcast archive
You can also find Maryn @indiebirth on Instagram and on Rumble and Youtube
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I am so excited to bring you Catherine Bell, the developer of the Birth Mapping process. Decision making during pregnancy and birth will have the most profound and significant influence on how your birth unfolds. The biggest mistake people make during pregnancy and birth is completely handing over the decision making process to their carers. Your job is to step up, understand the landscape, and decide what your needs are in any given situation from pregnancy, birth and after the baby arrives.
There are many potential things that can happen, by mapping your chosen options, you are more likely to be able to adapt to the many paths that this experience can take a birthing family. Catherine will help us to understand how to do this through her PHD research on birth mapping. She also brings to us some of the recommendations from the recent release of NSW Birth Trauma report. From Catherine’s research, she can see that this process can contribute to the prevention of birth trauma. This is a ‘must listen,’ episode for all pregnant women.
You will find Catherine’s contact details in the show notes below this episode.
Catherine Bell is a Mother, consumer advocate, and Master of Science Communication about to complete her PhD evaluating her book, The Birth Map.
You can find her on instagram @birthmapping and on Facebook @TheBirthMap
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Better Birth: Mini Gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
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This week on the podcast we have Lauren and Dan. They share the shift in mindset they experienced when preparing for birth, through the ‘Transform Your Birth’ course. Lauren really enjoyed her birth, largely due to the incredible team of midwives from the birth centre and her student midwife. With Dan well prepared and providing loving and practical support, she stayed completely in labour land and experienced that beautiful high after birth. She goes on to have a long pushing stage, a little problem getting the placenta out, and a post-partum haemorrhage, however with the wonderful team around her, she knew she was in the right place for them to manage this - and stayed completely calm through these challenges. A perfect example of great preparation, and a great team to manage whatever unfolds on the day.
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
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Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Jennifer Summerfeldt from Canada.
Jennifer holds an MA in counselling psychology and is a Certified Canadian Counsellor. She is the Chief Empathy Officer of ASK Therapy. She is the creator of the Flowing Fears Process. With over 20 years of experience within the fields of maternal health, childbirth, psychology studies, and the transpersonal, she uses her expertise and voice to help advance the dialogue on trauma-informed care, maternal mental health, and healing in general.
We are going to speak about her own personal experience of overcoming trauma, as the gateway into her current work of helping others transform through trauma, using her modality, called the Flowing fears process.
I found our conversation fascinating, in that it broke down the places where the nervous system can get stuck in the story, and when we move to the somatic experience, we have a doorway into exploring much deeper patterns that can unlock our own potential. There are links to Jennifer's work in the show notes below.
Put on your seatbelts people, we are going for a ride.
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
Jennifer's Links:
Mastering the Art of Perinatal Therapy Mentorship Program
Flowing Fears Audio Course + Coaching
All other links
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Lynn Schulte has been a Pelvic Health Physical Therapist for over 30 years and she is the Founder and principal instructor of the Institute for Birth Healing. Lynn helps pregnant women to balance their body, both before and after birth. She is on a mission to help women prevent and avoid birth complexity, injury and wounding, by promoting optimal physiology for the labour and pushing stages of birth. Knowing we are more than just our bodies, Lynn works on all levels, physically, energetically, and spiritually with women to help them access their full potential. She offers a certification process to help birth professionals become Birth Healing Practitioners.
In this episode, we talk specifically about 3 areas of the body worth focusing on. Balancing the body, promoting good positioning of the baby and avoiding tearing are all great goals and worth preparing for. Fascinating insights from a woman who knows her trade. Also included in the show notes are links that include her programs, a directory of body workers and some wonderful resources that will support the preparation for birth. I feel so proud to bring you this episode.
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
Lynn's Links:
Institute for Birth Healing Educational Platform
Clinical Practice
Directory
ONLINE COURSE: Confidence in your Core, Pelvic Floor and More
YouTube: How to Massage your C-Section Scar
YouTube: Closing the Pelvic Bones After
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Alicia in her pregnancy didn’t really believe she could have an unmedicated birth, but after doing the ‘Transform Your Birth’ course she starts to open her mind to new ways of thinking. She ends up not even wanting the drugs during her labour. I loved the level of detail Alicia goes into when sharing her story. She weaves together the different twists and turns of her birth experience and the impact it had on her mindstate.
She was exceptional in how she adapted, from going in to have an induction, and being sent home because they were too busy. This happened twice! She was incredibly gracious, and on the third attempt they were able to get the labour going. She shares how she managed the intensity of labour, vaginal examinations and how she made the different decisions by asking questions. Such great wisdom in this episode. Enjoy listening to Alicia’s story.
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
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Emily and Brad join us today to share the story of Isabelle’s arrival. We often don’t expect first births to be quick, and yet it can indeed happen. Quick births are often intense, and pushing out a baby who is face up can also be difficult. Emily, with the help of Brad, managed it beautifully, as she had learnt to trust her body and relax deeply. Emily shares her advice, that your body knows what to do - just trust it. Another great episode to help us all to learn to respect the birth process.
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
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Today I had a conversation with a Mega parent of 8 children and grandparent of 15, and great grandparent of 2 - Penny. We discuss what new parents need and the role of grandparents. This episode will give you a great insight into how you might change when your baby lands and what your needs might be. It is a great episode worth sharing with emerging grandparents as this role is vital and doesn't come with a handbook. We have also attached a popular blog to the show notes.
Links:
Read the blog
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
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Suzzie is a doula and mother of two. She shares her experiences that led to her becoming a birth worker. We explore the role of the doula, how they can offer continuity and emotional support when the medical system often can’t. We also look at the role of the mind in birth, and how it can change the way you experience your birth and even the pain. Suzzie is a very experienced doula and has great wisdom to share. Sit back and enjoy this episode.
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
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Sheena joins us again on the podcast with the story of her third birth. She acknowledges the way every experience of welcoming our babies causes us to grow, and will have a profound influence on the next birth. She has the wisdom of a woman who has travelled 3 completely different paths to welcome her daughters and provides a message of patience, surrender but also the importance of self-advocacy. Such great birth wisdom. Definitely worth listening to.
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
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Today we have a special guest, who is a midwife, lactation consultant and leads a practice of independant midwives working in the community - called Evolve Midwifery Services. Anne sees breastfeeding as not just a physical challenge to be overcome, but involves our emotional and mental well being. Anne covers topics like, how do you know if it isn’t working, expressing during pregnancy and the role of the partner in successful breastfeeding. This is a great episode to prepare you for breastfeeding and understand the tricky landscape of feeding a newborn baby. Sit back, relax and enjoy!
Make sure you check out Evolve Midwifery. You can find Anne on socials at evolve_midwifery
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
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Today I will be talking about how to make good decisions during pregnancy and childbirth.
The key is preparation so that you understand the birth process and start to discover what are the things that are important to you.
When making decisions, you will need to ask the questions both prior to birth and on the day. Your job is to identify the difference between a medical necessity and a choice. I have created a handout for you capturing some of the examples from this episode and many more. To receive your free download, just use the link in the show notes.
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
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Mel came into her birth experience after navigating a lot of life changing events throughout her pregnancy. At 39 weeks pregnant she realised she needed to work out how she was going to birth this baby. After doing the Transform Your Birth course, all her questions were answered - so that when she went into labour, she was able to ask for what she needed to support the birth process. Mel received kind, thoughtful and skilled care. I loved listening to Mel share her experience of meeting her son - it was beyond words.
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
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Bec’s three stories highlight just how different every birth can be. They all resulted in straightforward births, and yet the experience for Bec was completely different. She highlights her journey to transforming her experience of the pain when having contractions. By the time she had her third baby, her mindset completely changed as she leaned into the sensations without resistance, and saw them as a muscle working hard. She also managed to do the same thing for the pushing stage of labour. Bec has much wisdom to share from her three experiences of birth. Please enjoy!
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
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I am honoured today to be having a conversation with Tasha Jennings, a fertility naturopath and nutritionist. She shares with us the 5 elements of a healthy pregnancy. This information can have a profound effect on conception, pregnancy, breastfeeding and growing healthy children. Tasha reminds us that we need to be proactive when it comes to health, which is not just the absence of disease, but optimising the body’s response through these significant stages. She also highlights the importance of choline, an often overlooked and yet essential nutrient. You will find Tasha’s details in the show notes.
Links:
Transform Parenting
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
Free resource: Medical Necessity vs Choice
Tasha's links:
Tasha's website
Zycia Natal Nutrients
Your Fertile Pantry
Tasha's Socials:
Instagram
Facebook
FREE Facebook Group
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Danica shares with us her experience of preparing for birth, and what made the biggest difference on the day. Her early labour involved some starting and stopping, and ultimately it was a walk that kicked her labour into the next gear. She shares with us how her partner supported her to find comfort, and what she focused on with her mind. During her labour, there was some meconium which required some extra monitoring. Danica also shares that her biggest fear was tearing up, and discovered that even when it happened, she was surprised to discover that it was no big deal. There are some great little tips in this episode - certainly worth listening to.
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
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Today I am talking to Gina Mundy. For over 20 years, Gina has been an attorney that has specialized in childbirth cases that have gone wrong. It has been this experience which motivated her to write the book, "A Parent's Guide to a Safer Childbirth." She wants women to use the power of knowledge to help them to make choices that support the healthy delivery of her baby. This is such an interesting conversation and comes with many warnings of things to be aware of, that can potentially be harmful to both the mother and baby. An eye opening conversation that helps us to understand that there is no one way, and every decision matters.
https://ginamundy.com/
To get the book;
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9KFNPNQ/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1687943679&sr=8-1
Links:
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today
Free pregnancy gift
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Muriel is from France, and never imagined home as a place to give birth. It was her husband and his family who had all birthed their babies at home that gave her the confidence. What she discovered was her own strength, by going deeper into herself to manage the intensity of labour. It is the journey inward that unlocks our own potential - and of course this is exactly what we need to learn for parenting. A lovely story to inspire confidence - please enjoy Muriel’s story.
Links
Transform Parenting website
Transform Your Birth Today course
Free pregnancy gift
- Näytä enemmän
