Episodes
-
Dive deeper into preparing for birth, navigating the system and becoming fully prepared for an empowered postpartum & parenting journey. Your peaceful pregnancy begins here.
Dr. Stuart J. Fischbein is a community-based obstetrician with decades of experience attending births. His current focus is on teaching breech and twin birth skills.
In this episode, you're going to learn about the six high-risk interventions commonly used on pregnant women that have never been tested or proven to be safe, why modern hospital birth models have worse outcomes than those of 50 years ago, the cascade of medical interventions that leads to unnecessary C-sections, why many birth complications are caused by the hospital environment itself and how women can make more empowered choices to avoid unnecessary medical interventions during childbirth.
Stuart J. Fischbein, MD, is a community-based obstetrician and an Associate of the American College of Obstetrics & Gynecology, published author of the book “Fearless Pregnancy, Wisdom & Reassurance from a Doctor, A Midwife and A Mom” and peer-reviewed papers: Homebirth with an Obstetrician, A Series of 135 Out of Hospital Births and Breech birth at home: outcomes of 60 breech and 109 cephalic planned home and birth center births.
After completing his residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Dr. Stu spent 24 years assisting women with hospital birthing and for the last 13 years has been a home birth obstetrician who works directly with midwives.
Since retiring from attending home births in 2022, Dr. Stu has turned his focus to travelling around the world as a lecturer and advocate for reteaching breech & twin birth skills, respect for the normalcy of birth and honouring informed consent.
He hosts a weekly podcast with co-host Blyss Young and together they offer hope, reassurance and safe, honest evidence-supported choices for those women who understand pregnancy is a normal bodily function not to be feared.
Timestamps:
[03:29] Dr. Stu’s experience with hospital and home births
[08:25] Common medical interventions and their risks
[13:19] Differences between home birth and hospital birth environments
[17:07] How interventions lead to unnecessary C-sections
[22:24] Importance of partner support during labour
[31:28] Vaccine safety concerns during pregnancy
[38:40] Breech birth misconceptions and why they are labelled high-risk
[47:14] How doctors' fear affects birthing choices and outcomes
Confused about medical information or hearing advice that just doesn’t sit well with your intuition? Work with Dr. Stu!
You can also follow Dr. Stu on Instagram.
Resources Mentioned:
Reteach Breech Training with Dr. Stu | Website
Home Birth Peer Reviewed Study by Dr. Stu | Article
Birthing Instincts Podcast | Website or Spotify or Apple
Connect with Eyla through the Uncovering Birth Website and her Instagram.
-
Every woman deserves to start or grow her family on her own organic timeline. If you’re ready to take your fertility into your own hands, take my masterclass on Getting Pregnant After 35.
In this episode, Eyla interviews Lily Nichols, a renowned dietitian and certified diabetes educator with deep expertise in prenatal and fertility nutrition. It’s a fact that what you eat impacts your fertility, so what does that mean for you? Is a plant-based diet the best? What is the role of protein? What are the common misconceptions about eating for fertility that you need to be aware of? Tune in to learn the answers to these questions and understand the incredibly powerful connection between what you eat and your reproductive well-being.
Lily Nichols is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator, researcher, and author with a passion for evidence-based nutrition. Her work is known for being research-focused, thorough, and sensible. She is the founder of the Institute for Prenatal NutritionⓇ, co-founder of the Women’s Health Nutrition Academy, and the author of three books: Real Food for Fertility (co-authored with Lisa Hendrickson-Jack), Real Food for Pregnancy, and Real Food for Gestational Diabetes. Lily’s bestselling books have helped tens of thousands of mamas (and babies!), are used in university-level maternal nutrition and midwifery courses, and have even influenced prenatal nutrition policy internationally. She writes on her website.
Timestamps:
5:30 How protein stabilizes energy levels and improves performance.
9:01 Are you underestimating your protein needs?
12:37 The importance of animal fats in fertility and overall health.
20:14 Debunking the myth that low fat is best.
29:40 Why nutrition during preconception is critical for fertility.
47:03 How poor nutrition impacts the success of IVF.
50:13 Improving sperm quality by avoiding processed oils and sugars.
If you’re a health practitioner ready to up-level your knowledge of prenatal nutrition, visit the Institute for Prenatal Nutrition website and check out their mentorship program.
Connect with Lily on Facebook and Instagram.
Do you feel called to hold space for women through the arc of conception, pregnancy, birth and postpartum? You can become a doula in 5 months with Eyla’s online doula training, certification and mentorship program.
Resources Mentioned:
Books by Lily Nichols | Website
Explore a FREE CHAPTER of Lily’s Book, Real Food for Fertility | Free Chapter
5 Fertility Diet Myths | Website
Uncovering Birth’s Miscarriage Masterclass | Website
The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz | Book or Audiobook
Connect with Eyla through the Uncovering Birth Website and her Instagram.
-
Missing episodes?
-
In this episode, Eyla interviews Kelley Cama, a relationship expert and creator of the Beloved Program. Kelley dives deep into the evolution of modern relationship dynamics, emphasizing the importance of communication and personal responsibility. She shares her transformation journey from struggling with relationship challenges to embracing femininity and building a successful marriage. Tune in to learn actionable strategies for fostering open communication, setting clear boundaries, and transforming your relationship dynamics. Kelley's insights promise to inspire and empower your approach to love and partnership.
Kelley Cama helps women become submissive in their relationships. She coaches partnered women to soften into their femininity and let their man lead, as well as coaches single women to attract their future husbands.
Timestamps:
10:32 Practice feminine communication to express unmet needs effectively.
13:18 Use both softness and strength to communicate in relationships.
23:01 Focus on filling your own cup to invite your partner to lean in.
32:01 Peel back layers of resentment to uncover the tender desire.
35:26 Approach your partner with softness to change defensive dynamics.
50:24 Communicate relationship needs with clarity and set boundaries.
58:33 Use feminine tools to step out of the victim mindset and alchemize relationships.
Ready to soften into your feminine essence and experience the relationship you dream of? Learn how through Kelley’s Intimate Coaching Program: How to Feel Seen, Safe, and Feminine in Love.
Connect with Kelley through her Instagram or through Matt & Kelley’s YouTube Channel.
Resources Mentioned:
Pastor RC Blakes Jr. | YouTube
Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs | Book or Audiobook
Connect with Eyla through the Uncovering Birth Website and her Instagram.
-
Learn to speak your needs and feel safer in your body with the signature course from Uncovering Birth, Creating Safety in the Body. Use the code BTK10 for 10% off!
In this episode, Eyla sits down with Whitney Lowery, an embodiment facilitator who works with women and couples on self-awareness and personal sovereignty. Whitney shares some simple tools, like somatic exercises and grounding techniques, that will help you manage the inevitable stresses of today’s world plus enhance your relationship dynamics. Tune into this episode to learn all about balancing self-care with partnership responsibilities, breaking old patterns, and genuinely connecting with your own desires.
I am Whitney Lowery, an embodiment facilitator focused on helping women feel safer and more at-ease with pleasure, rest, and doing things their own way. The women I work with are great at pushing themselves onward and enduring lots of discomfort to achieve their goals. Relaxing only makes them more tense and pleasure is just another place to perform. Just another chore to check off the list making it another goal to achieve. The self-care they choose is mostly about self-improvement rather than joy or adding to their aliveness. Even embodiment is effortful and filled with the pressure to do it right and be good at it. I use moving meditations and simple exercises so women can practice sensing their body's feedback and moving for their body's pleasure rather than mirroring me or moving to my body's rhythm. It's like choosing your own adventure so I constantly give you options for personalizing things to your body's preferences. You expand your capacity to feel yourself, release built-up tension, and come home to your body.
Timestamps:
5:41 How to use different nervous system tools to manage stress.
7:09 Why grounding yourself before social interactions matters.
21:56 How to differentiate between pushing yourself to the edge and self-abuse.
24:37 Why microdosing discomfort can help you grow.
35:55 How to practice receiving in small, tangible ways.
43:51 Why recognizing entitlement dynamics can improve relationships.
52:19 How changing your behaviour can shift the dynamics in your relationship.
Whitney offers 1:1 Coaching for Couples to build deeper trust and intimacy, while also taking women on their own journey of discovery and healing.
Connect with Whitney through the Being With Your Body Website.
Work with Eyla 1:1 to understand your story better in an Alchemy Session. We visit from anything to birth trauma or releasing fear around conception, to birthing or postpartum. This also doesn't have to be about birth. Let's alchemize whatever block is coming up for you.
Resources Mentioned:
Betty Martin’s Wheel of Consent | Website
The Art of Receiving and Giving by Betty Martin | Book or Audiobook
Connect with Eyla through the Uncovering Birth Website and her Instagram.
My Affiliates:
Eyla loves Lotus Wei’s potent flower elixirs because they help women get into their body and “out of the story”. Check out Luscious Embodiment and the Healing From Loss bundle.
-
Welcome to Born To Know with your host, Eyla Cuenca. For this premiere episode, she will explore the transformative power of self-responsibility and empowerment in childbirth and beyond. Eyla critiques the conventional medical system, urging women to take back their autonomy and make informed choices. As a certified childbirth educator and doula, she shares her insights on how reclaiming birth experiences can shift them from traumatic to empowering. Learn how delving into family systems and addressing deep-rooted traumas can lead to profound healing and personal growth. Join Eyla as she unpacks societal narratives, encourages introspection, and inspires a path toward authentic and fulfilling living.
Eyla Cuenca is a Childbirth Educator, Doula, health freedom advocate & birth trauma alchemist.
Her work is dedicated to offering guidance that supports women and men in returning to their deepest knowing about birth, individual sovereignty, and the body’s innate intelligence.
With a BA in Anthropology and Ethnographic photography from Bennington College, Eyla studied family systems and is passionate about helping change the conversation around the way women birth and initiate into the world. She brings an anthropological lens to her work, with an eye for institutional critique.
Eyla trained with the AAHCC founded by Robert A. Bradley, MD, where she specialized as a Birth Educator and Doula. Her work as a Guardian Ad Litem for the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida as well as attending over 200 births as a Doula – in both hospital and home settings – brought her into health freedom and advocacy work.
Eyla thoroughly believes that it is everyone’s right to have access to empowering education from conception to parenting and that by using the tool of birth we can understand the origin of chronic illness, and access freedom, connection and the most authentic version of ourselves.
Timestamps:
5:57 Understanding the core of why trauma persists.
14:51 Making different decisions that align with your instinct.
24:24 Developing a healthy permission field for others.
30:31 Taking responsibility for your own choices and healing.
Want to connect with Eyla through education or training? Check out her offerings at the Uncovering Birth Website and use discount code BTK10 on any Uncovering Births Digital products or classes.
Another way to connect with Eyla is through her Instagram.
