Stay ConnectedA Podcast of Mothers’ stories of childbirth. Weekly interviews with mothers giving their first hand accounts of child birth in Australia. Designed to help educate and inform first time pregnant women, parents wanting to have better subsequent births and birth enthusiasts who love to hear and tell birth stories. An entertaining and heartfelt resource for pregnancy, labour and delivery and postpartum.
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In today’s episode Caitlin details her two very different labours - her first was 40 hours long, her second only two hours. She was accepted into an MGP programme and while she did a hypnobirthing course for preparation, she admits she wasn’t prepared for the intensity of labour. Her early labour stage was long and painful because of her baby’s posterior position and she admits she went to hospital too early. After opting for an induction she later requested an epidural which was a really positive experience for it; it allowed her to sleep, relax and dilate to 10cm. In her second pregnancy she embraced all the education and preparation, hired a doula and planned to birth at her small local low–risk hospital. But….her baby had other plans.
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In today’s episode Tess shares her two very different breastfeeding experiences. She starts by detailing her traumatic birth experience which ended in a postpartum haemorrhage and left her depleted and anxious. Her baby lost 11 percent of her birthweight so triple-feeding was recommended and after a few challenging weeks, Tess made the decision to feed her baby expressed breastmilk (EBM) which she continued for a year as she navigated the grief and guilt of not being able to latch her baby. In her second pregnancy, she was proactive with her care and support from the start. She opted for private obstetric care with Dr Scott Shemer and booked in with Dr Amber Hart from Maternal and Infant Wellbeing in Melbourne who offers day stays for new mothers (the future of postpartum care is looking bright!). Tess’ second postpartum has been incredibly healing and really proves the benefit of continuity of care right into postpartum, especially for lactation support.
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In today’s episode, Kelsey shares her three birth stories which detail her evolution as a birthing mother. In her first birth she requested an induction which led to the cascade of intervention; an epidural, instrumental birth, PPH and retained placenta. She found her first postpartum particularly challenging and when she felt ready to conceive again, she experienced three miscarriages, including the loss of identical twins at 11 weeks. In her final two pregnancies, she embraced birth education and midwifery care to prepare for physiological births which left her feeling on top of the world.
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Faecal incontinence affects one in 25 women in postpartum and today, Claire shares her experience. She takes us briefly through her labour and birth and details the confronting realisation that she had no control of her anal sphincter. Thanks to a women’s health physiotherapist who demanded horizontal rest - essential for all new mothers! - pelvic floor exercises and dietary changes, Claire recovered by six weeks. She emphasises how important it is to share her story because she had never heard of it happening before and wondered if it was her new reality; a challenging prospect at a very vulnerable time.
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Today Renee shares her three physiological birth stories so consider this a wonderfully positive episode in honour of Homebirth Awareness Week. She was living in New York with her partner when she fell pregnant at 21 so they hightailed it home to Queensland and had a really positive birth at their local public hospital. Renee admits that the first year of motherhood was lonely; she didn’t have any friends who were also mothers and she had really high expectations of herself that prompted postnatal anxiety. By the time her second was born she had a community of friends supporting her homebirth and conscious postpartum and she trained as a birth doula soon after. Her third pregnancy was her most challenging but the birth was very quick.
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Katie Rose, a yoga teacher, doula and mother of five discusses her postpartum experiences and the joy and chaos of having a big family. Her eldest is 17 and her youngest is two so she brings a beautiful wisdom to her story, reflecting on her perfectionist early parenting years and the ease and joy she has found by letting go of control and simply being present. If you’re in the depths of early motherhood you will glean so much from Katie’s story.
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In today’s episode, I chat to comedian Celia Pacquola about her pregnancy and birth experience. Motherhood was never a top priority for Celia but when she met her partner, it only took a few months for them to conceive. She chose continuity of care with a private obstetrician, used hypnotism to recover from her phobia of needles and opted for an induction at 39 weeks. She’s frank about the challenges of breastfeeding, the stigma of formula feeding and her postpartum anxiety which was exacerbated by everything she didn’t know about motherhood.
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In today's episode, and in honour of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, Kirby shares her story. After her first two pregnancies and births, she experienced her first miscarriage but knew it was a common experience and wasn’t perturbed by it. However, what followed was a period of infertility and the devastating loss of her two boys, Walt and Alby. Kirby worked with a fertility specialist and reproductive immunologist to prepare for her next pregnancy and after one round of IVF and the transfer of her only viable embryo, she conceived baby June who is now four months old.
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In this episode Elizabeth shares her first pregnancy and birth experience. She had bloods done before her copper IUD was removed as she has coeliac disease and wanted to ensure her iron levels were adequate before she conceived. Having been a listener of the podcast, she was interested in her local MGP programme and ensured her GP referral was sent early. Elizabeth prepared for birth with The Birth Class and went into spontaneous labour at 41 weeks. Her labour was textbook and she explains in detail the tools she used to navigate contractions. This is a wonderful episode if you’re after a positive, physiological birth story to inform and inspire you. You can listen to Elizabeth’s early postpartum journey in episode 420.
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In today’s episode, Samantha details her postpartum journey with her second baby and explains why switching off social media was the best option for her. As a postpartum doula she knew exactly how to prepare for postpartum and prioritised filling her freezer with nutritious food. Yet she was still floored by the intensity of it, challenged by the gap between expectations and reality and discovered the detriment of socials on a vulnerable postpartum mindset. Samantha speaks beautifully about her experience and doesn’t shy away from the hard reality of life with a new baby.
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