In this, the last episode of season 3, we are joined by Guen and Lucy who both chose to freebirth. We discuss how they came to their decisions, how they prepared themselves and (TW) we also touch on miscarriage and babyloss. Lucy and Guen both invested in Sam's paid 'course in a group' Freebirth and Emergency Childbirth Support Group UK and found great support in the Homebirth Support Group UK.
Guen is a veterinary surgeon who now works in innovation consultancy, where she helps big multinational companies plan for the future, and she teaches veterinary students at the University of Cambridge. She has three children, all born at home. The last was a planned free birth because home birth services were often suspended and the local hospital frequently on divert. She’s very familiar with physiological freebirths having quietly observed many mammals birthing!
Links on premature rupture of membranes (PROM) mentioned in the episode:
https://midwifethinking.com/2017/01/11/pre-labour-rupture-of-membranes-impatience-and-risk/
Lucy is a PR Director helping to build the reputation of tech companies and their CEOs in the global media, for brands including Amazon, Revolut, Monzo, Seedrs, Dot Residential and Atlantic Money. She has two children, both born at home. The last (in May 2022) was a planned freebirth following multiple miscarriages. As a 39 year old ‘geriatric’ mum, Lucy wanted to take control of her last pregnancy and make some memories to cherish without any medical intervention. Her experience left her in awe of the female body and it’s ability to birth instinctively when left unobserved.
A huge thank you to both Guen and Lucy for their time and for sharing their experiences so freely xxx
A little bonus episode for you all!
Sam & I couldn't let the utter fuckwittery happening in the US slide by without talking about it... which morphed into a rant about the Schools Bill and the erosion of human rights in general that seems to be happening around every corner at the moment.
Not a light and fluffy episode, but essential listening nonetheless.
Resources (otherwise known as complete fuckwittery happening in the UK at the moment):
Stop The Schools Bill Facebook Group
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act
Debs Neiger lovingly designed and made my tee - you can check her out on facebook here
We absolutely LOVED this interview with Jenna from Tribe Psychology - the conversation was rich and diverse! Delve into this episode with a brew and listen to a psychologist's view on birth, parenting and coercion.
Dr Jenna Brough is a Perinatal Clinical Psychologist supporting people on their journeys surrounding growing their families. Jenna has 14 years experience working therapeutically in the NHS, private sector, and private practice, and has personal experience of infertility, pregnancy loss, over-medicalised birth, and physiological birth.
Check Jenna and her work out on Facebook here and on Instagram here - go give her a follow!
Heather joins us on the podcast for this episode to talk about her experience having her first baby, Ted. Heather wrote an 'Open Letter to my Midwives' which was featured in a recent AIMS article here> https://www.aims.org.uk/journal/index/33/3 in which she describes being kept hostage by the hospital.
Heather is a self-proclaimed fledgling birth activist - drawn to the cause by her beautiful and empowering homebirth, followed by traumatic encounters with the medical services. Heather is a diplomat recently returned from Afghanistan and currently lives in South Wales, where she enjoys spending lots of time outside with her son, partner and two labradors. Heather and her partner will soon be welcoming their second baby.
In this episode we chat to Amy (AKA Doula Alqabalia) about her work as a muslim doula:
"Amy has been doula-ing for a few years; supporting women during pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period.
On the back of the pandemic, following the birth of her third baby, she decided to train officially as a doula and enrolled on the ‘Side By Side’ course with Leila Baker.
Since then, she has been actively involved with all things birth and birthwork and even has her own Podcast channel; ‘Muslim Birthworld’ in which she explores Islamic perspectives of birth, lifestyle, shares interviews and reviews weekly clubhouse themes.
She hosts the clubhouse group every Thursday at 1pm; ‘Diversity Birth World’, for birthworkers, pregnant mamas and mamas to be. The group is closed to members only (to maintain confidentiality) and promotes cultural awareness and competency. It is a safe space for everyone to bring and/or share their questions, concerns and experiences.
Alongside home-educating her children and running another small business (Sunnah Shifa), Amy also volunteers for Doulas Without Borders on the social media and campaigns team, for AIMS as a social media co-ordinator and for her local MNVP. "
Check out Amy's work here:
Website: https://doulaalqabalia.com
Sunnah Shifa Store: https://sunnahshifa.com
Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/club/diversity-doulas
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/muslim-birthwork-with-doula-alqabalia/id1610910364
So this season Sam and I are going to be featuring more real-life birth stories on the podcast and this is the first: it's Brighde's story of her birth experience of her daughter, Rebel, when a planned home birth turned into an empowering hospital birth!
Brighde is mum to two beautiful children, Niko and Rebel and step-mum to Emmie and Teddy. She lives in Doncaster with her best friend and soul-mate, Matt. When Brighde isn't being a 'full time badass bitch' (her words, not mine!) she is an Activities Coordinator working with adults with learning difficulties.
Brighde found a lot of information and support from Sam's group really made a difference to her birth experience. You can join them too, here:
Home Birth Support Group UK - A group for anyone curious about or planning a home birth
The Village - A gentle parenting group for support from baby to toddler to teen
Freebirth And Emergency Childbirth Support Group UK - A course in a group for anyone looking for information and support to prepare for birthing without a midwife. This is a paid course for parents and birthworkers.
Big thank you to Brighde for sharing her story, it was an absolute blast!
This one was such a delight to record with the amazing Michelle Quashie!
We chew the cud for over an hour and a half discussing Maternity Voice Partnerships: how they came to be, what are they for and how they work (or not as the case is in many areas).
You'll need a huge mug of something hot and satisfying to get through this one (and maybe a cake) but I promise you, it'll be worth it!
And a word of warning for those of you with delicate constitutions... this one's a bit sweary!
In the first episode of series 3, Sam and I return for a catchup and to discuss toxicity in the birthworld (amongst MANY other things!).
Grab a cuppa and get comfy...
In this podcast, the second of the March With Midwives episodes, I am joined by Milly Morris, Maryla Crosski and Elsie Gayle - all midwives - who joined the Steering Group of the MWM campaign to have their voices heard and to raise the voices of midwives suffering in Maternity Services across the UK right now. Nationwide vigils are being organised for Sunday 21st of November at 2pm.
Join our national Facebook group here and find your local vigil: www.facebook.com/groups/marchwithmidwivesuk
Read the MWM manifesto and access loads of resources here: www.linktr.ee/marchwithmidwivesuk
Follow #MarchWithMidwives on social media to see what people are saying!
Follow MWM on social media here:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/marchwithmidwives
Instagram: www.instagram.com/marchwithmidwives
Twitter: www.twitter.com/midwivesmarch
In this special episode, I talk to fellow Doulas Maddie McMahon, Verina Henchy and Paula Cleary about the grassroots movement that is making waves in the birth world, March with Midwives UK. Nationwide vigils are being organised for Sunday 21st of November at 2pm.
Join our national Facebook group here and find your local vigil: www.facebook.com/groups/marchwithmidwivesuk
Read the MWM manifesto and access loads of resources here: www.linktr.ee/marchwithmidwivesuk
Follow #MarchWithMidwives on social media to see what people are saying!
Follow MWM on social media here:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/marchwithmidwives
Instagram: www.instagram.com/marchwithmidwives
The last episode in this series covers the controversial topic of vaginal birth after caesarean.
Louise tells her birth story of having a home waterbirth after two previous caesareans and Rosalie talks about how she opted for a freebirth after a previous caesarean. If you are considering your options after a caesarean birth then this episode is sure to inspire you!
Check out Louise's birth story blog here: https://www.mothers-spirit.co.uk/post/homebirth-after-2-cesareans-hba2c-louise-s-story
For support and information when considering a home birth, check out Sam's Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/216384699270443
In this episode we chat with Lucy Baena, a doula and disabled parent, about ableism in maternity services. Lucy is so insightful and eloquently summarises the disparities and discrimination within the maternity & health services when it comes to being disabled and pregnant and a disabled parent.
If you would like to share your story as a disabled parent with Lucy, please contact her by email: lucybaenadoula@gmail.com
Go check out Lucy on social media here:
Sam and I were very lucky to be joined by trans-parent, Jacob, and his 'pocket midwife', Maeve in this episode. Jacob talks candidly about his experiences as a pregnant trans person and about the birth of his first child. Maeve and Jacob are two members of The Queer Parenting Partnership who support LGBTQ+ people from conception through to pregnancy, birth and parenting.
A bit more info about TQPP:
We run regular antenatal and postnatal classes, details and booking information is available on our website at parentingqueer.co.uk. We also have a free monthly zoom meet up for families.
We are now launching our training for professionals: "Providing perinatal care for people of all genders". We are taking bookings from the autumn and will also release some dates for individuals to book on to.
We are on facebook, twitter and instagram as @parentingqueer
Kati Edwards aka ‘The Poetry Doula” joins us in this episode with an exclusive first reading of her new spoken word piece, 'The A to Z of Childbirth Activism'.
Kati is also a hypnobirthing teacher, a doula and an international speaker helping parents-to-be to really understand their birth options so they can discover what path is the best for them. She helps people create great birth experiences. The birth of Kati’s 2nd child featured on the groundbreaking BBC1 documentary ‘Childbirth All or Nothing’ and she has appeared on BBC 5Live and BBC Family and Education discussing how doulas can help people give birth after previous traumatic experiences.
https://www.facebook.com/KatiEdwardsBirthkeeper
https://www.birthyouinlove.com/
Allison Tate (she/her) of Birthworkers for Human Rights (previously known as Doulas for Human Rights) joins us in this episode to talk about birthwork in the US, racial disparities and birth activism during the pandemic.
Allison is a Scottish, holistic, spiritual, birth and bereavement birthkeeper, birth rights activist, birth advocate, birth educator and energy worker, living in Florida. She provides trauma informed support for births in all trimesters, all outcomes and for all birthing people. She holds herself accountable for addressing white supremacy, racism, inequity, disparities and obstetric violence in reproductive care, for reducing harm, trauma and perinatal illness and for facilitating change. She can be found across social media platforms @backtobirth @birthworkersforhumanrights
Birthworkers for Human Rights:
https://www.instagram.com/birthworkersforhumanrights/
https://www.facebook.com/birthworkersforhumanrights
https://www.facebook.com/groups/521810432102477
Back to Birth:
https://www.instagram.com/backtobirth/
https://www.facebook.com/backtobirthsbd
https://www.facebook.com/groups/252781502682771
https://twitter.com/backtobirth
Stacie is a parent who navigated being autistic and pregnant during the pandemic. She joined us to tell her story.
Stacie found Sam's Homebirth Group really helpful - you can join the group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/homebirthsupportuk
You can buy Sam's birth affirmations here: https://caerphillydoula.co.uk/e-shop/
April is Autism Awareness Month and, in this episode, we are joined by Lana Grant, author of "From Here To Maternity, pregnancy and motherhood on the Autism Spectrum". We talk about the difficulties and discrimination autistic women and birthing people face when pregnant and accessing maternity services, including how the pandemic has impacted their rights.
Lana is a Specialist Advisor and advocate for people with autism and their families. She has worked within the field of autism for nearly twenty years and specialises in autism and females. You can find out more about Lana here.
Amanda Burleigh, midwife, joins Sam and Becki to talk about cord clamping - a very informative episode you won't want to miss!
Amanda started campaigning for optimal cord clamping in 2005 with the Wait for White campaign. After years of practicing immediate cord clamping as a midwife, Amanda realised that there was no evidence to say this was safe for baby and, on the contrary, she found research which shows immediate/ early cord clamping deprives the baby of 30% of their blood volume and could cause harm.
Find out more about Amanda and the #WaitForWhite campaign here: https://waitforwhite.com/
In this episode we talk to Safura and Faiza, founders of The Raham Project. The project is dedicated to supporting maternal mental well being for mothers and their partners of ethnic minority backgrounds.
Here is a link to the FIVEXMORE '6 steps' as mentioned in the podcast: www.fivexmore.com
Sam and I are joined in this episode by the lovely Aimee Hamblyn. We discuss the sacred work of the Doula with Aimee and touch on subjects such as Religion, abortion and being queer. We just LOVE how Aimee refers to birthwork as 'Spiritual Activism' and we all enjoyed delving into this deep, meaty subject. We are sure you'll love this episode as much as we did!
Find out more about Aimee on her website here: www.aimehamblyn.co.uk
Follow Aimee on instagram @aimee_hamblyn
Check out Aimee's spiritual work on Facebook @loveconnectiontransformation - she has a NEW course running this summer!
Aimee is also a Developing Doulas Course Leader and is training new Doulas this summer, check out the course here: www.developingdoulas.co.uk
