136: HOME BIRTH STORY - 5 Home Births, Hyperemesis Gravidarum and Seeing Your Challenges As Gifts with Jennifer Griffin

How can you advocate for yourself in the midst of chaos? How can you be an active participant in your birth when you feel like all of your control is being taken away? In today’s episode, we’re talking to Caitlin Thompson about her 2nd birth, a planned home birth with a last minute hospital transfer.  This is the third time we’ve had Caitlin on the podcast (links to our first two episodes are below: one covering her conception journey with her wife Shona as they went through multiple insemination attempts and how they were planning for their first birth and the second to share the details of the birth of their daughter Florence).  For the story of the birth of her second daughter Juniper, Caitlin walks us through the conception journey (taking about 8 insemination attempts) as well as the events that led to a hospital transfer when her midwife discovered that her baby was in a breech position.  We also discuss how Caitlin is processing the events of her birth and how she is healing through grief and trauma.   Things we talk about in this episode: LGBTQ family, insemination, trying to conceive, sperm donation, 2nd birth, home birth transfer to hospital, consent in the hospital, cesarean, processing and healing birth trauma Links: First episode with Caitlin: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doing-it-at-home/id1153134918?i=1000404119591 Second episode with Caitlin and her wife Shona https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doing-it-at-home/id1153134918?i=1000421983419 Our website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3jKtIYv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diahpodcast/ DIAH YouTube: DIAH YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGoKeBfEZ143sWU7V9I5Gdg DIAH Store: https://yoursuccessfulhomebirth.com/ DIAH Merch: ttps://bit.ly/3qhwgAe Donate to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Juli 20211h 3min

What narratives are you telling yourself and buying into when it comes to pregnancy, birth and postpartum? We go through some of these in our conversation with Brooke Cates, CEO/founder of The Bloom Method, a pre and postnatal fitness method. Particularly the disempowering ones, and how we shift them into empowering ones. Phrases like: Pregnancy is miserable Birth is scary Postpartum is depressing We discuss how we can approach a transformative event like birth and add tools to our toolboxes to feel as prepared as possible. As well as how to explore our options and choose the ones that resonate most with us, even in the midst of a challenging past year in terms of the birth climate.  Things we talk about in this episode: The Bloom Method, the transformation of birth, connecting to your body, movement and fitness, preparing for home birth, knowing your options Links: First interview with Brooke on DIAH: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doing-it-at-home/id1153134918?i=1000434009741 The Bloom Method: https://thebloommethod.com/ The Bloom Method Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebloommethod/ The Bloom Method Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebloommethod/ The Bloom Method YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuHgr2wFuRWKQq4JvLW7pkg Brooke’s website: https://www.brookecates.com/ “Doing It At Home” book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098GVJ9KL?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 Our website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ Home Birth Support Group: https://bit.ly/3jKtIYv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/ DIAH YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGoKeBfEZ143sWU7V9I5Gdg DIAH Store: https://yoursuccessfulhomebirth.com/ DIAH Merch: https://bit.ly/3qhwgAe  Donate to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

20 Juli 202156min

How do you move through and relate to a lot of the challenges that can come up when you make the switch to have a home birth? Today we have a unique episode. Our guest is Sarah Bivens! Usually acting as co-host, the roles got shifted up a bit when Matthew and Sarah decided to sit down and have Matthew interview Sarah on her pregnancy and birth experience. In this part 1, we walk through the decision to have a home birth (and how it wasn’t very plain and simple), changing care providers, addressing challenges with friends and family around the stigmas associated with home birth and some of the preparation and envisioning for the home birth experience as first time parents. Part 2 will feature the full birth story, in a different way than we have shared it before on the podcast, since in this instance Sarah is the “guest” and Matthew is the main host. Things we talk about in this episode: first time parents, switching from a hospital birth to a home birth, breaking up with an OBGYN, finding midwives, choosing birth team members, birth prep, addressing fears and judgments around home birth Links: Happy Healthy Child: https://www.sarahkamrath.com/happy-healthy-child Our website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3jKtIYv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diahpodcast/ DIAH YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGoKeBfEZ143sWU7V9I5Gdg DIAH Store: https://yoursuccessfulhomebirth.com/ DIAH Merch: ttps://bit.ly/3qhwgAe Donate to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 Juli 20211h 11min

What do you do when your care providers drop you and tell you to change your birth plan, at 35 weeks? This is the exact circumstance that Adina Rivers found herself in during her second pregnancy. Originally planning for a home birth with a midwife, Adina was now facing not only her midwife releasing her from her care, but no other midwife in her area in Bali would take her. Virtually everyone was telling her that she had to have a hospital birth.  “F*** that,” was her basic response. She told her partner Oliver, “we’re going to do it at home.” Adina walks us through her journey into birth, going back 10 years ago to the birth of her son, to how she makes her choices from her intuition and feeling. Adina’s story is one that emphasizes the opportunity we have to TRUST our bodies and birth. And how sometimes challenges and unforeseen circumstances are exactly the catalysts we need to get out of the way and let divine plans unfold.  Things we talk about in this episode: birth center birth in Berlin, Germany, free/unassisted birth in Bali, being dropped by care providers, trusting in your body, how birth and nature are connected, trusting intuition  Links: Adina's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MyTinySecretsTV Adina’s Website: https://adinarivers.com/ Adina’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adinariversofficial/ Our website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3jKtIYv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diahpodcast/ DIAH Store: https://yoursuccessfulhomebirth.com/ DIAH Merch: ttps://bit.ly/3qhwgAe Donate to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

6 Juli 202155min

What happens when you were born at home, and then you grow up to realize that it’s actually not considered “normal” for most people? For Morgan Oberstein, home birth was a very normalized thing within her family. Not only was she born at home, but she and other home birth children amongst the extended family would often be at attendance for other home births within the group. In this interview, Morgan shares her own home birth journey with her daughter Brooklyn. A perinatal chiropractor, Morgan had the experience of supporting many women through their own motherhood transitions. Even with her expertise and background, Morgan still wanted to have the experience and process of being a birthing person on her own -- so that meant taking classes and educating herself as well as honoring her own unique fears and challenges. One of the largest being a limiting belief around first-time mothers choosing home birth.  Morgan tells us how she moved through going past “due date,” plus her vision for her birth and how it ultimately unfolded Things we talk about in this episode: chiropractors, use of water in birth, cervical checks, birth team support, pushing, en caul, nuchal cord, nuchal hand and pets at your birth Links: Morgan’s website: www.drmorganblackburn.com Morgan’s chiropractic practice website: www.connectioncafechiropractic.com Mogran’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.morganjade/ “Doing It At Home” book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098GVJ9KL?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 Our website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ Home Birth Support Group: https://bit.ly/3jKtIYv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/ DIAH YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGoKeBfEZ143sWU7V9I5Gdg DIAH Store: https://yoursuccessfulhomebirth.com/ DIAH Merch: https://bit.ly/3qhwgAe  Donate to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

29 Juni 202152min

Can birth be redemptive? We often hear on the show how different birth experiences bring the opportunity to heal and take back your power.  This is an element of our conversation with Sarah Leahy. Sarah shares the varying aspects of her two birth experiences. Her first, an unplanned cesarean with multiple interventions, left her feeling like her body was broken and it had failed. Following her birth, Sarah experienced PTSD, anxiety, guilt and depression. She knew she wanted to have another baby and wanted to create a different result the next time around. So after initially planning to birth at home with a midwife, Sarah and her husband Adrian eventually opted to “do it at home” by themselves. The second birth experience was, as Sarah puts it, “a complete 180 from the first birth.” And the best description of her HBAC that we can surmise - “NORMAL.” Yes, a completely normal event, and yet incredibly powerful. Following her second birth, Sarah’s new belief around herself and her body was that it was not her that failed the first time - it was the system she subscribed to. Her confidence returned, and she has since grown more active in the birthing community by creating outlets for others to share their stories in both her Facebook page, Autonomous Birth Project and her Instagram @birthuprising. Links: Sarah’s Facebook page for Autonomous Birth Project: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2232618540316867/ Sarah’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birthuprising/ Our website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3jKtIYv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diahpodcast/ DIAH Store: https://yoursuccessfulhomebirth.com/ DIAH Merch: ttps://bit.ly/3qhwgAe Donate to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

22 Juni 202147min

How do you even describe the floodgate that opens the moment you meet your baby? This is a question that comes up in today’s conversation, when Rose Schieck shares details from both of her birth experiences. Plus the fact that she was born at home herself, and had witnessed her sister’s births in both center and home settings. Her first birth was in a hospital, however it felt like a home birth, with the energy and intention that Rose brought to the space, she was determined to have it match her vision.  When it came time for her second birth, she and her husband Hugo planned for a home birth.  Not only do we get birth stories in this chat but we also talk to Rose about mindfulness and how her work as a wellness coach and yogi has intersected with her birth experiences. Things we talk about in this episode: informed consent, body autonomy, birth vision, yoni steaming, yoga for birth method, sounds during labor Links: Rose’s website: www.mamastewell.com Rose’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mamastewell/ Rose’s business Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mamastewell/ Rose’s personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseschieck/ Yoni Steaming: https://moonessence.life/ Our website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3jKtIYv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diahpodcast/ Donate to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9 DIAH Merch: https://bit.ly/3qhwgAe DIAH Resources: https://yoursuccessfulhomebirth.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

15 Juni 20211h 4min

How could you possibly have a peaceful home birth during a turbulent time in your life?  Ask Michaela Sarver, because she did! In January of 2020, Michaela took custody of her sister’s 3 children, then found out she was pregnant with her second child on the day that schools closed because of COVID-19. So, there was a lot going on for her and her husband Kris. Michaela walks us through details of both of her home births, from the differences between them and the lessons learned.  Things we talk about in this episode: “Pregnant in America,” “Business of Being Born,” nonstress test, membrane sweep, going past due date, birth pool, birth during the time of COVID Links: Our website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/3jKtIYv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diahpodcast/ Donate to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9 DIAH Merch: ttps://bit.ly/3qhwgAe DIAH Resources: https://yoursuccessfulhomebirth.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

8 Juni 202148min