Today you’ll hear a story shared by Amayra, a Black woman living in NYC who initially planned to give birth at home due to her knowledge about the poor outcomes for Black birthing folks in hospitals. Things took an unexpected turn when she learned her baby had a cleft diagnosis so that she needed to switch to a hospital birth attended by midwives. Amayra shares how she intentionally chose Black care providers not only for her birth support team, including her doula, but also as she selected a surgeon during pregnancy to correct the cleft soon after birth. Amayra also provides a bunch of excellent tips for expectant and new parents toward the end, too, so be sure to listen to the whole episode.
Read moreBirth Matters Podcast, Ep 42 - A NYC midwife's quick first labor
Local NYC hospital midwife, Elaine Keller-Duemig, shares her own baby's birth story on this episode. Elaine was the care provider in last episode's 2 birth stories. In this episode, she shares her own baby’s birth story, attended by a midwife at her practice, Central Park Midwifery. This is a story of a shorter than average first-time labor and an unmedicated, vaginal birth.
Read moreBirth Matters Podcast, Ep 41 - Two Induced Births with Hospital Midwives
Yuliya shares both of her babies’ birth stories of medically-indicated inductions with midwives & a doula and without pain medications. She shares how her background as a clinical psychologist helped her do the cognitive work needed to cope in natural ways with the intensity of labor and how working with a team who provide compassionate, patient-center care made a big difference.
Read moreBirth Matters Podcast, Ep 40 - IVF with Donor Sperm to Homebirth
Adriane Stare shares her very unusual fertility journey story of IVF as well as her subsequent, very personal choice to give birth to her first baby at home. She’s not only a mom of two, but is also a babywearing expert, postpartum doula, breastfeeding counselor, and the former owner of a baby boutique in Greenpoint, Brooklyn now called The Wild. She’ll share her 2nd IVF and birth story later on the season as we begin the series on fertility journey challenges.
Read moreBirth Matters Podcast, Ep 39 - A Tale of 2 Homebirths
The day before Nora’s & Michael’s firstborn’s 4th birthday, and about a week before their 2nd born turns 1, they share both of their stories of uncomplicated births at home. Listen to hear details of thoughtfully choosing the birth location and birth team that would be most likely to honor their hopes to have a peaceful and physiological birth both times. You’ll hear the benefits of prenatal physical training through the lens of Michael’s expertise as a personal perinatal trainer. They will both share the specific benefits of hiring a doula for both births, and will advise listeners to think carefully about what family members or others you’ll invite to be present for your labor through the tense dynamics they experienced the second time around.
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