Birthful

Latest Episodes:

Have an Easier Pregnancy (and Birth!) With Chiropractic Care, with Dr. Elliot Berlin Feb 07, 2024

Show notes

You know how as pregnancy progresses, your whole body becomes more uncomfortable? It turns out that chiropractic care can help you feel much better and even help you have an easier birth. Dr. Elliot Berlin shares with Adriana why chiropractic care is a superb pregnancy tool for anyone, but especially if you have an “athletic pelvis” or want to aid a breech baby turn head down.

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.

If you liked this episode, listen to our episode on Baby’s Position and Labor Flow and our interview on Big Babies and Shoulder Dystocia.

You can connect with Dr. Berlin on Instagram @Doctorberlin. You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at podcast@Birthful.com.

If you enjoy what you hear, download Birthful's Postpartum Plan FREE when you sign up for our weekly newsletter! You can also sign up for Adriana’s Own Your Birth online BIRTH preparation classes and her Thrive with Your Newborn online POSTPARTUM preparation course at BirthfulCourses.com.

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[Birth Stories] How She Navigated a Long Birth While Waiting for Her Support Team to Arrive, with Julia Cooper Feb 03, 2024

Show notes

For weeks, Julia Cooper had been nervous that her baby would arrive while her husband and mom were away, and sure enough, contractions started merely hours after she dropped her husband off at the airport. What follows is a testament to how hard it can be to shut off your thinking brain while in labor and how despite that, you can still support your physiology and get things to flow (even if you have a prolonged labor and an epidural!).

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on The Holistic Stages of Birth and our episode on A Dad's Perspective.

You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at podcast@Birthful.com.

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Can Exercise During Pregnancy Make Labor Harder?, Deb Flashenberg Jan 31, 2024

Show notes

It’s common knowledge that walking, swimming, and doing prenatal yoga can all be super helpful during pregnancy, but what about running, barre, CrossFit, or weightlifting? Deb Flashenberg shares with Adriana how strength-focused exercising can lead to a too-tight core and pelvic floor that make for more difficult labors and harder postpartum recoveries. They explore how you can figure out if your pelvic floor is too tight and what you can do about it to have a more flowing birth.

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Protecting Your Perineum and our episode on Vaginal Rehab. You can also listen to the episode I did on Deb’s Yoga | Birth | Babies podcast about Finding Birth Flow Within A Hospital Setting.

You can connect with Deb on Instagram @prenatalyogacenter. You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at podcast@Birthful.com.

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[Birth Stories] No Matter How You Birth, You’re a Badass, with Lauren Horton Jan 27, 2024

Show notes

Lauren Horton has always been physically active, and during pregnancy, she continued to do a mix of CrossFit, swimming, yoga, and tons of dog walking. She shares with Adriana her surprise when she found herself hunkering down on the bed during labor instead of moving, and why she went with it (although she could have done without the hemorrhoids). Lauren also opens up about the impossibility of trying to live up to the expectations of doing it all, how sometimes the win is as small as having been able to pump at work, and why she concludes that “everyone is a badass.”

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Shaking and the Primal Nature of Birth and our episode on Why Employers Need to Value Your Parenting Skills.

You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at podcast@Birthful.com.

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Tackling Pregnancy Discomforts Through Movement and Alignment, with Molly Deutschbein Jan 24, 2024

Show notes

Being pregnant means having relaxin loosening up all your tissues, while your core stretches and your center of gravity shifts, but that doesn’t mean you have to put up with the associated aches and discomforts. Restorative body educator extraordinaire Molly Deutschbein shares with Adriana ways you can move, support, and align your body for a happier pregnancy and a more flowing birth as well as how to navigate the postpartum return to a non-pregnant body.

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Baby's Position and Labor Flow and our episode on Your Pelvic Floor.

You can connect with Molly on Instagram @fasciadoula. You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at podcast@Birthful.com.

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Eight Questions to Ask Your Care Provider (Especially in Your Second Trimester!), with Adriana Lozada Jan 20, 2024

Show notes

Adriana Lozada shares eight great questions for sussing out your provider’s protocols and practices as your pregnancy advances, in order to help you figure out how much shared decision-making and agency you will truly have in your birth experience.

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on its show notes page.

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on What You Need to Know About Birth Positions and our episode on Informed Consent

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If Pregnancy Becomes Medically Complicated: Working With a Maternal Fetal Medicine Physician, with Dr. Loralei Thornburg Jan 17, 2024

Show notes

Chances are your pregnancy and birth will flow, and you’ll never need to see any of the care providers that deal with more complicated situations. But what if you do?

Dr. Loralei Thornburg helps demystify what it can be like working with a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist. She shares with Adriana why so much of it has to do with experience, risk tolerance, and resources, and why – regardless of medical complications – you can still humanize your experience.

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on its show notes page.

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Preeclampsia Essentials and our episode on How Your Nervous System Impacts Your Pregnancy and Birth

You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at podcast@Birthful.com.

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[Birth Stories] Unlocking Her Dream Birth by Valuing Her Intuition (And Switching Care Providers!), with Margot Strauhull Jan 13, 2024

Show notes

Margot Strauhull brought her self-described “rule-following” attitude to her first hospital induction with an OB and had what she considered was a fine birth… until she was overcome by sadness in postpartum. This started her on a journey of peeling back the layers, to finally come to a deep trust in her own wisdom and instincts.

Margot tells Adriana how the fear radiating from her providers around her “history of macrosomal infants” further activated her intuition to switch to a freestanding birth center at the beginning of her 3rd trimester, and finally have the undisturbed physiological birth she wanted.

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources and links listed on its show notes page.

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Big Babies and Shoulder Dystocia and our episode on Birthing Like a Rockstar.

You can learn more about Margot on Instagram @margotyoga. You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at podcast@Birthful.com.

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Why Your Team Isn’t Complete Without a Doula, with Sabia Wade Jan 10, 2024

Show notes

The mounting evidence is clear: having a doula can help decrease the risk of having a cesarean birth and significantly improve birth experiences. In fact, doulas have even been called a form of pain relief themselves, as people tend to want fewer pain medications and epidurals when supported by a doula. But what makes what doulas do so special and different from the care you receive from your other care providers?

Sabia Wade talks to Adriana about what a doula is, how to find one that will be a good fit for you, the difficulties in accessing a doula (and how that’s evolving), and why a doula’s uniquely non-clinical care can be so complementary to that of the rest of your team, no matter the type of birth you have.

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on How Do You Know If Your Care Provider Is Treating You Fairly? and our episode on All About Postpartum Doulas

You can learn more about Sabia Wade’s work on Instagram @sabiawade. You can connect with Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at podcast@Birthful.com.

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[Birth Stories] Why It Was Still a Party Despite the 30 Hours of Persistent Back Pain, with Laurel Gourrier Jan 06, 2024

Show notes

Laurel Gourrier, co-host of the podcast “Birth Stories in Color,” reflects on how her hospital birth experience— even though it was long and hard— often felt like a big party, thanks to the support of her partner, parents, and in-laws. She tells Adriana Lozada how their care and the constant communication of her wishes created a safe and joyful space in which she could birth, even leading her parents to open their home for the birth of her second child.

If you liked this episode, listen to our interview on Big Babies and Shoulder Dystocia, and our episode on The Induction Process

Get the most out of this episode by checking out the resources, transcript, and links listed on its show notes page.

You can connect with Laurel on Instagram @birthstoriesincolor. Birthful @BirthfulPodcast and email us at podcast@Birthful.com.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands