When Kaley shows up to the hospital due to some bleeding after being 4cm dilated for weeks. While there, her water breaks spontaneously, and her contractions start soon after she advocates for them to hold off on inducing labor. She goes on to have a very fast labor and birth, with 3rd stage complications for her uterus after baby’s birth.

When Mara finds hydrotherapy to be highly therapeutic in labor, she labors so long that they have to detour to a closer hospital when she starts pushing in the car, and just barely makes it to the hospital before baby’s birth.

Transplanted Aussie Lauren shares the story of her unmedicated 2nd birth in a New Jersey hospital in which she needed to speak up and advocate to have the unmedicated birth she wanted. She also compares and contrasts the experience to giving birth the first time in Australia.

Jewish doula & mental health therapist Chana shares the story of her unmedicated waterbirth in a hospital attended by a doula & midwife on day of her family Seder. She also shares about how getting off meds for depression & anxiety during pregnancy was not a good idea and how getting back on them made a big difference for the better.

Michelle, who has a history of medical anxiety, shares the story of strategically switching care providers, hiring a doula, and thoroughly to prepare for her unmedicated, beautiful hospital birth.

Megan & Ted share their birthing center birth story, which included several days of early labor, a long pushing stage, and a near transfer to the hospital until their doula recommended an asymmetrical pushing position that helped baby more readily come down so Megan could give birth without needing to transfer.

Becky shares her and her transgender husband’s experience a long road to IVF conception, and then details her hospital birth story which includes being told she wasn’t in labor when she was and strongly advocating for her preferences to be honored. She also explains how a nursing strike about 3 months out from birth triggered postpartum anxiety in her.

Nadia shares the story of her earlier- & faster-than-expected labor in which her doula has to divert them to a closer hospital than planned just to make it to the hospital before baby was born.

A Black social worker-psychotherapist who has worked in NYC's maternal healthcare system and her partner share their son’s uncomplicated homebirth story with midwives and a doula.

A character duo Liza & Jon share their scheduled belly birth story for breech position and share the details of what made it a positive, meaningful experience.

Amber shares the story of her baby’s cesarean birth due to baby’s persistent breech position and how it was empowering even though it wasn’t the kind of birth she had initially envisioned.

Joanna & Tony share their earlier-than-expected, unmedicated hospital birth (in which Joanna dances, Martha Graham-style) and how they came back to birth class to share the story with their cohort before graduation.

Pelvic DPT Helene shares the story of her spontaneous, unmedicated labor & hospital birth with doula support in which she stayed very active to promote progress in early labor. She did things in pushing that she doesn’t usually recommend but that felt necessary both due to exhaustion & concern about the baby’s heart tones.

Jaymie & Kurt switch from a hospital to home birth and share the story of a peaceful, unmedicated labor/birth in the suburbs of Boston attended by midwives.

Eileen’s water breaks just past her due date and she labors away from the hospital for many hours before eventually checking in. She shares how she was able to have the physiologic birth she had hoped for, but how after birth she ended up having to strongly advocate when the hospital nearly kept her baby after discharging her due to the fact that she hadn’t passed a bowel movement.

Sophia shares her 2nd born's HBAC/VBAC (homebirth/vaginal birth after cesarean) birth story, helps listeners learn strategies for having a successful VBAC, and compares and contrasts having a cesarean to a physiologic birth.

Lucy & Cam share the story of switching care providers from OB to midwife and being very satisfied with the respectful care they received & how grateful they were to have hired a doula -- especially when an induction became necessary.

Gratitude is the theme of today’s story, shared by Laura — a pandemic hospital induction with epidural with lots of support (partner & doula) and respectful, patient-centered care. Laura also expresses gratitude for the great support her postpartum doula provided both in person as well as virtually once she and her husband get a surprise positive Covid test only 9 days after birth.

Evelyn & James describe the story of their last-minute, 3rd trimester relocation from NYC to Texas during the Covid-19 pandemic, finding new care, and having an unmedicated waterbirth in a freestanding birthing center with lots of support from James, a doula, and midwives. Evelyn, who’s a dancer and personal trainer, also shares about her postpartum healing journey both with mental health and pelvic health.

Scharisse was getting lackluster care in her pregnancy at a hospital under Medicaid and thought she’d just have to deal until she met a doula who encouraged her that she deserves to have respectful care and a great birth. With the doula’s help, Scharisse switches to giving birth at home -- something she never thought someone on Medicaid could do. She shares about the radically better care she received from her team and details specific ways in which she felt heard and safe.

Actor-singer Aimée shares the story of her baby’s unmedicated hospital birth with the support of her husband and doula. After a quite uncomplicated, happy birth, she then goes on to share her struggles with postpartum anxiety that began a few weeks after birth when her son became colicky and how important it was for her to seek therapy.

Sasha planned to give birth with a midwife and developed a birth plan for a peaceful, unmedicated birth. Some of her plans necessarily go out the window when, at 37 weeks, Sasha is diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and has to immediately come to the hospital in the snow to be induced for the safety of her and her daughter. This story will help expectant parents think through their choices in care providers both in pregnancy as well as for baby, and also drives home the value of hiring a doula.

Today Emily shares her two pregnancy stories and a birth story. First, she describes experiencing pregnancy loss at 11 weeks. She details how her grief was longer-lasting and more complex than she expected and shares the essential support she discovered. Then Emily tells the story of conceiving to her rainbow baby shortly after the Covid-19 shutdown and then tells the birth story.

Linnea shares 2 birth stories in which she used Hypnobirthing techniques in different ways: 1 hospital birth and 1 home birth — both with midwives. She also shares some challenges she faced with a couple of early health issues her two newborns had, and reflects on the loss of her mother prior to becoming a mom.

Danuta & Jacek share their two babies’ birth stories — 1 hospital, 1 birthing center -- both quick and unmedicated, as she had hoped. Danuta also shares about the grief & sadness she experienced transitioning from having one child to two and how important having emotional support around her was.

As a surprise for their (aspiring midwife) daughter's 13th birthday, Sarah & Steve share her birth story. Sarah shares about the loss of her mother about 7 years prior and how giving birth triggered waves of fresh grief. At the same time, she'll describe what an optimal experience she had giving birth at home with a midwife in Brooklyn. As a literacy expert and anti-racist educator, Sarah also shares a number of great book recommendations, including an emphasis on exposing little ones to diversity & representation in books as early as possible.

Today birth professional Simone Toomer joins us again to share her second baby’s birth story, which was similarly short but very different in that she had a planned home birth instead of hospital. She also discusses how the struggles she had with her second in breastfeeding and getting a tongue tie corrected has informed her approach to supporting nursing parents.

A yoga teacher & clinical nutritionist shares her firstborn's birth story. Jennifer had hoped to have a peaceful, unmedicated birth with a midwfie, but the fact that she developed HELLP syndrome in late pregnancy required an emergency induction. When presented with what felt like an unrealistic deadline to give birth vaginally, she and baby defeat the odds and successfully accomplish just that.

A lesbian couple shares their challenging road to both conceiving via IVF, with overlapping pregnancies, with the same anonymous sperm donor for both so their 2 children will be biological half-siblings.