✨ Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussion of birth trauma. Please listen with care. ✨
In this week’s episode of The Birth Chapter, we sit down with Carla — a birth trauma support practitioner and former midwife. Together we open up a really important and sometimes uncomfortable)conversation around what birth trauma can look like, why it happens, and the ripple effects it can have on women and whānau and your entry to parenthood.
Carla shares her unique perspective as someone who walks alongside parents in the aftermath of difficult birth experiences and supports women to go on to have redeeming births. We talk about the misunderstandings around birth trauma, the emotional and physical layers, and most importantly, the pathways to healing and reclaiming your story.
If you’re pregnant with your first baby, this is such a valuable listen. Not to scare you, but to gently empower you with knowledge and insight, so you can enter birth feeling more prepared, supported, and aware of how to advocate for yourself.
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Let's talk about sex, baby! This week we’re joined again by women’s health physio Grace Coombs for a chat that’s as informative as it is hilarious. We’re talking all things postpartum sex — from pain and discomfot to pelvic floor and all things hormones. Nothing is off limits, and yes, there are plenty of laughs. Whether you’re nervous, curious, or just need to know you’re not the only one, this episode is a must-listen.
In honour of C-Section Awareness Month, we’re sharing Alice’s two wild birth stories, very different from each other but both full of unexpected twists! Her first birth ended in an emergency c-section without her husband by her side. Her second, an attempted HBAC, so close to her dream goal but eventually led to a rare classical c-section. Alice speaks candidly about how these experiences impacted her, including the birth trauma and mental health challenges that followed. This one's a roller coaster and one that so many will relate to. We’re so grateful to Alice for sharing. 💛
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Birth Trauma Support
Birth Afterthoughts - https://www.cdhb.health.nz/health-services/birth-afterthoughts-clinic/
Healing Birth - https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/
🎙️ Season 3 is here! We’re back in your ears with a brand new season of The Birth Chapter with a bit of a revamp! Sharing honest stories, expert tips, and those little golden nuggets of wisdom you didn’t know you needed.
We’re kicking things off with a bang. In this episode, we’re diving into Mikaelah's second birth story, another speedy birth at home. We chat about going into another HG pregnancy, being pregnant with a toddler, the mind games of being "overdue" and going from 1-2 kids as well as all the juicy birth details (IYKYK ;) ) We hope you love it!
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In this episode we chat with Gabs about the birth of her first baby boy. Gabs is also a step mum so her and her husband weren't sure whether they would add to their family but as you'll here through the episode, despite a very rough pregnancy journey with hyperemesis and mental health Gabs absolutely loves being a mum. We really enjoyed chatting to Gabs about the ups and downs of her journey and she reminded us just how good we have it in NZ for maternal health care compared to the USA! We hope you enjoy this episode
In this episode we chat with Grace from FOUR Physio in Christchurch about C-section birth recovery in regards to pelvic floor and abdominal health as well as scar massage and the return to exercise.
In this episode we chat with Brittney, farmers wife, mum of 3, garden lover, crafter and DIYer (she has a lot of hobbies!) about her three birth stories as well as her journey to falling pregnant and her experience of two miscarriages. Brittney suffered from hyperemesis particulary badly in her first full term pregnancy, as well as SPD which got worse each time - making running around after toddlers, while pregnant, quite the challenge! She really highlighted the importance of resting during labour and the impact this has on your birth experience and early postpartum. We really enjoyed chatting to Brittney, she is a big home birth fan as are we! We hope you enjoy her uplifting stories as much as we did.
Today we are joined by the epic Grace Coombs from FOUR Physio here in Christchurch for the second episode in our postpartume series to chat about some of the pelvoc floor issues we can face postpartum. Grace is a Womens Health Physio and sees many pre and postnatal mums during their journey. She is full of knowledge and so easy to listen to. We hope you gain something from this episode!
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In this episode we chat with Kate a NICU nurse and Lactation consultant from Little Bird Lactation, about her three very different birth stories. Kate unfortunately suffered from Hyperemesis Gravidarum (severe vomiting/nausea) during all of her pregnancies so having a third baby was a big decision! Despite her pregnancies she had three positive births, one an accidental home birth and then a planned home birth turned induction. We had some technical difficulties with recording this episode so it does end suddenly sadly but we hope you enjoy listening to Kate's journey to complete her family.
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Today we are joined by the epic Grace Coombs from FOUR Physio here in Christchurch for the first episode in our postpartume series. Grace is a Womens Health Physio and sees many pre and postnatal mums during their journey. She is full of knowledge and so easy to listen to. We hope you gain something from this episode!
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In this episode we chatted with Janelle about her home birth with her first baby. Janelle decided on a wild pregnancy (very little care provider involvement) journey and almost free birth, she didn't want any interventions but did want a midwife there for support. Janelle fully trusted her body and gave birth quite quickly after her waters broke at the movies! Janelle was so lovely to talk to and we thoroughly enjoyed her story and perspective, we hope you love listening too.
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We're back for 2024! Where have we been, you might be wondering? We answer this and other questions and give some juicy details, never before heard stories of running a business and some personal updates. Grab a cuppa and hang out with us for an evening!
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In this episode we chat with Hallie Campbell, NZ Birth Stories owner and creator. Hallie shares about her four very different birth stories, how her first birth paved the way for her to want to be more informed and autonomous in her following births.
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In this episode we give you a run down of what to expect in your first trimester with tests, what your options are and what they might look like.
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In this episode we chatted with Abby about her wild rollercoaster of a journey. Abby struggled with endometriosis for years and sadly had a miscarriage before falling pregnant with her girl Awhi. Abby shares all about her third trimester, pre-rupture of mambranes, having a prem baby and going through Awhi's time in NICU. Abby is great to listen to and she has so much to her story! We absolutely loved chatting with her and we hope you love hearing her story.
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Our new Q+A segment, Ask the Midwife!
With our own Jess Jenkinson
Keep an eye out on our stories to submit your anonymous questions for our next Q+A episode!
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In this episode we chatted with Lucy who after 4 years of unexplained infertility was accepted into an IVF research study which resulted in her falling pregnant with Charlie. She had an amazing natural birth at Wanganui Hospital with her chosen support crew. She also shares a bit about her hospital experience and struggles with breastfeeding which eventually lead to her choosing to formula feed to help her mental health. Lucy is such a positive beautiful soul and I'm sure you'll love hearing her share all about her journey.
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In this episode we kick off our First Trimester education series all about midwives. We share a bit about our own experiences of finding midwives and give you some questions to ask and advise around what to look for in a midwife as it can be a bit tricky to navigate especially as a first time mum, we hope you find this helpful!
In this episode our very own Mikaelah shares her positive home birth story. Her journey has many ups and downs through a very difficult pregnancy to a straight forward 'to plan' birth and challenging postpartum recovery.
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Welcome to our first birth story episode! Today we are chatting with Jess about her birth with Imogen back in 2021.
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