Doing It At Home - The Home Birth Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Watching Home Birth Videos Aug 15, 2024

Show notes

Remember the horrible films you’d watch in sex ed classes featuring a scary, screaming, bloody mess of a woman giving birth in total agony (probably because she had sex before marriage and was birthing the baby out of wedlock - I went to Catholic school so I’m convinced those videos were purely to warn off pre-marital sex rather than educate on the miracle of childbirth)?

Well until becoming pregnant myself, these were the only visual references I had for a birthing experience.

Throughout the pregnancy, I’ve made it a point to watch more empowering examples of birth play out. Our awesome midwives have a full library of home birth videos from women and families they’ve worked with, and they lend them out to current patients to check out for themselves.

I dove right in, like an athlete studying film of other amazing athletes in the game. I watched for different home birth setups, styles of laboring, support from birthing partners and family members, and all the other elements I could use to envision my own home birth experience.

Watching all of the videos brought up new ideas and contexts like what I previously thought birth had to look like and how it could be with intentional planning.

More From Doing It At Home:

Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU
DIAH Website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/
DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/
DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC
DIAH Merch: www.diahpodcast.com/merch
Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9

A Father’s Perspective: Wrestling With the Fears, Thoughts and Beliefs of an Out-Of-Hospital Birth Aug 07, 2024

Show notes

Many pregnancy and birth resource focus on the mother or the baby, for reasons that are quite obvious.

But there’s typically another partner involved who is feeling all sorts of things, but isn’t always asked or encouraged to share and express the roller coaster of thoughts, fears, hopes, beliefs that they’re experiencing.

I wanted to change that in today’s episode, and so I interviewed my husband Matthew on his experience of going through pregnancy with me, how he initially felt about a home birth, and how he managed his fears and emotions of finally settling on an out-of-hospital birth.

It’s an amazingly open and honest conversation about all of the things that came up for him through this journey. Matthew, as always, is honest and transparent, and that brings an amazingly refreshing perspective to the conversation of pregnancy and home birth.

This episode was inspired by an article I read in Pathways To Family Wellness magazine. The article is titled “A Father’s Perspective: The Journey From Hospital To Home”. I highly recommend you check out Pathways magazine for a holistic and conscious resource on pregnancy, birth, parenthood and families. It’s amazing!

More From Doing It At Home:

Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU
DIAH Website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/
DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/
DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC
DIAH Merch: www.diahpodcast.com/merch
Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9

Our Back and Forth Journey to Deciding on a Home Birth Jul 30, 2024

Show notes

When we began our pregnancy adventure, home birth was pretty far from our mind. We kicked things off the traditional way: going to see an OBGYN at a great hospital that would usher our baby into the world the way that 98% of families in the US do it.

But three months later we parted ways with our OBGYN, partnered up with a midwife group working out of their home, and began our home birth journey.

The two of us flip flopped on who was more fearful and enthusiastic about the idea. Neither of us had seen a home birth, we didn’t know much about them, and (until we started asking around) we didn’t know anyone who had even done one.

But our decision to have baby Maya in our home ended up being the absolute best decision we could have ever made for our family (and I can say that with full resoluteness, because 5 days ago we welcomed Maya into the world! But we’ll get into that in a future episode).

In this episode you’ll hear our full story on how we went from traditional hospital birth with an OBGYN, to a shiny new birthing center with all the bells and whistles, to having our daughter in our very own bedroom.

Offers From Our Awesome Partners:

Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order
Splash Blanket: https://bit.ly/3JPe1g0 - use code DIAH for 10% off your order
Esembly: https://bit.ly/3eanCSz - use code DIH20 to get 20% off your order

More From Doing It At Home:

Send us your birth story: https://bit.ly/3jOjCKl
Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU
DIAH Website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/
DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/
DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC
DIAH Merch: www.diahpodcast.com/merch
Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9

A Loving Yet Raw Dialogue On Home Birth Jul 23, 2024

Show notes

“We’re doing it at home!”

That’s the response my husband and I gave when people asked us about our birth plans. 3 months into our pregnancy we decided to ditch the traditional hospital birth with an OBGYN, for a birth that aligned more with the experience we wanted to create for ourselves and our little one. Home birth suited us well, and we dove in. But not without fears, judgements, conversations, decisions, research, planning, and everything else you can imagine.

This podcast is about our home birth journey.

The purpose of this show is simple: To provide empowering conversation around home birth. What we’re setting out to do with the podcast is to create the space for a conscious, loving, raw dialogue around home birth, by sharing our own personal experience and through storytelling, conversations and interviews that give women and families an empowering resource so that they can make the birthing decision that is the best for them.

Listen to the episode to learn more about our story, why we started the show, what you can expect from the show, and how you can be a part of the show (and our journey) as well!

Offers From Our Awesome Partners:

Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order
Splash Blanket: https://bit.ly/3JPe1g0 - use code DIAH for 10% off your order
Esembly: https://bit.ly/3eanCSz - use code DIH20 to get 20% off your order

More From Doing It At Home:

Send us your birth story: https://bit.ly/3jOjCKl
Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU
DIAH Website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/
DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/
DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC
DIAH Merch: www.diahpodcast.com/merch
Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9

494: Reflecting on Eight Years Of Doing It At Home: A Farewell to Our Podcast Journey Jul 19, 2024

Show notes

Here we are, folks. This is the final new episode that we’ll be putting out for Doing It At Home. It’s been a magical 8 years.

We sat down to share some of our thoughts, memories and takeaways with you all.

Thank you for supporting this space, whether you’ve listened to every single episode or this is your first time tuning in, we’re grateful that you’ve been along for the journey.

Much Love,

Sarah and Matthew

493: From Hospital to Birth Center to Home Birth with Martina Cifiello (DIAH Classic) Jul 11, 2024

Show notes

What influences your birth choices?

It’s helpful to look at this, to see what matters to you when it comes to birth, and how you can create a birth environment and culture around you that supports you best.

Today we’re chatting with Martina Cifiello about her birth journey. From a hospital birth with her first child to a birth center with her second to a home birth with her third, Martina walks us through the factors that inspired the changes and evolutions of her births along the way.

Martina shares how supportive and helpful her husband Simone has been over the years as well, taking a team approach to everything.

And fun fact: Martina used the same midwife for her home birth that we had for our home birth, Debbie Schneider of Dawning Life Midwifery. So cool to have that connection!

Things we talk about in this episode: hospital birth, birth center, water birth, Bradley Method, pelvic floor health, birth during COVID, family-centered birth

Links From The Episode:

Martina’s Bradley Method teacher page: http://www.bradleybirth.com/martinacifiello
Martina’s PT page: https://benchmark.urpt.com/locations/marietta-east-cobb/

Offers From Our Awesome Partners:

Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order
Splash Blanket: https://bit.ly/3JPe1g0 - use code DIAH for 10% off your order
Esembly: https://bit.ly/3eanCSz - use code DIH20 to get 20% off your order

More From Doing It At Home:

Send us your birth story: https://bit.ly/3jOjCKl
Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU
DIAH Website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/
DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/
DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC
DIAH Merch: www.diahpodcast.com/merch
Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9

492: Finding Your Midwives and Releasing Fear with Marissa Olivera (DIAH Classic) Jul 07, 2024

Show notes

Marissa is a mom of 2 from Utica, NY, with both a hospital and home birth story.

Marissa experienced intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) with her first pregnancy. That, along with some early signs of labor made for a hospital birth that included a lot of intervention and fear. The way she sees it, baby Maxwell just wasn’t ready yet.

She planned for a home birth again with baby number two, Miles. With positive reinforcement from resources like Ina May Gaskin and Birth Without Fear, Marissa went into her second birth tuned in to her intuition and gut feeling (and we’re not just talking about the contractions!).

Marissa’s candor and detail with her birth stories compels you to listen and engage. She’s a great example of how to plan the birth you’re intending to create - like finding midwives even when you’re far away from a big city with more options.

We even get a little cameo from surprise guest Maxwell!

Links From The Episode:

Marissa’s blogpost on her home birth - http://myeggiscracked.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-story-of-miles.html
Birth Without Fear - http://birthwithoutfearblog.com/
Ina May Gaskin - http://inamay.com/

Offers From Our Awesome Partners:

Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order
Splash Blanket: https://bit.ly/3JPe1g0 - use code DIAH for 10% off your order
Esembly: https://bit.ly/3eanCSz - use code DIH20 to get 20% off your order

More From Doing It At Home:

Send us your birth story: https://bit.ly/3jOjCKl
Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU
DIAH Website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/
DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/
DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC
DIAH Merch: www.diahpodcast.com/merch
Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9

491: 53-Hour Labor, Hospital Transfer and a Badass Mama with Bekah Kitchens and Jesse Carroll (DIAH Classic) Jun 25, 2024

Show notes

When asked a question by a care provider, do you have to respond right away?

Most of us don’t know or realize that we have choice. And especially when it’s not an emergency, we can take time to process and decide what we want to do and even refuse what doesn’t work for us.

This is a powerful message from our guests in today’s episode, who experienced this firsthand during the birth of their son while in the hospital after transferring from their home birth plan. And it’s a special treat because we got to speak with both mom and dad, Bekah and Jesse Carroll.

Bekah’s journey to home birth actually started when she was back in high school and did a speech on birth interventions. That, plus her mom is a doula. And Jesse comes from a family where his 3 siblings were born at home. So it made sense to them to plan for a home birth for their son Benji.

After 36 hours of labor and being only 5 cm dilated, the team made the decision to transfer. This was a smooth transition thanks to a bridge program, a way to make home birth transfers easier for families and care providers, with her hospital.

So listen in to hear the beautiful story, and why Jesse thinks his wife is such a badass!

Links From The Episode:

Bekah’s Resources:
https://www.gatewayperinatalresources.com/
https://www.choicemattersmidwifecollective.com/
The Womb Room in Milwaukee - https://www.wombroommke.com/
Aurora Sinai Medical Center - https://www.aurorahealthcare.org/locations/hospital/aurora-sinai-medical-center

Offers From Our Awesome Partners:

Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order
Splash Blanket: https://bit.ly/3JPe1g0 - use code DIAH for 10% off your order
Esembly: https://bit.ly/3eanCSz - use code DIH20 to get 20% off your order

More From Doing It At Home:

Send us your birth story: https://bit.ly/3jOjCKl
Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU
DIAH Website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/
DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/
DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC
DIAH Merch: www.diahpodcast.com/merch
Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9

490: Birth as a Rite of Passage: Messages for Birthers and Birth Workers with Blyss Young, LM, CPM (DIAH Classic) Jun 19, 2024

Show notes

Where will you hear about home birth story details, the difference between modern and traditional midwifery, what to do when you are inspired to enter birth work and the connection of birth with sexuality and spirituality?

This episode of the podcast, that's where!

Today we’re joined by Blyss Young, LM CPM. Blyss is a home birth midwife, teacher, circle facilitator, energy healer, reiki practitioner, mother, yoga teacher, entrepreneur, breathwork facilitator, placenta encapsulator and natural living consultant.

Through her guidance and love centered approach she has supported thousands of families to birth in the ways they feel the most empowered. She is a firm believer in intuition, the sacred and rituals. At the heart of all of her work is a deeply rooted belief in the brilliant design of the universe and our integral part in all of it.

You’ve also probably heard Blyss alongside Dr. Stu Fischbein on their podcast “Birthing Instincts.”

We get into so many powerful topics in this episode. Blyss shares her history into birth work, details of her own births, elements of midwifery and advice for current and future birth workers, plus connecting with your sexuality in the birth journey.

Links From The Episode:

Blyss’s Website: https://www.birthingblyss.com/
Byss’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birthingblyss/
Birthing Instincts Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/birthing-instincts/id1552816683
The Innate Journey: https://www.theinnatejourney.com/

Offers From Our Awesome Partners:

Needed: https://bit.ly/2DuMBxP - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order
Splash Blanket: https://bit.ly/3JPe1g0 - use code DIAH for 10% off your order
Esembly: https://bit.ly/3eanCSz - use code DIH20 to get 20% off your order

More From Doing It At Home:

Send us your birth story: https://bit.ly/3jOjCKl
Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU
DIAH Website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/
DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/
DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC
DIAH Merch: www.diahpodcast.com/merch
Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9

489: The 40-Hour Home Birth That Almost Wasn't with Josephine Breen (DIAH Classic) Jun 12, 2024

Show notes

How can you utilize the power and intention of prayer for your birth?

Regardless of your faith, setting intentions for your birth experience can be a big part of preparation for the experience.

Today’s guest, Josephine Breen, weaves her faith into her birth story of her daughter Myriam. Josephine was born at home, and always remembers her mother being positive and open around the topic of birth. Then at 12 years old, Josephine got to witness the birth of her sister.

Josephine walks us through her pregnancy and birth, including a lot of the curve balls thrown in along the way.

Things we talk about in this episode: military family, being born at home yourself and then choosing home birth to have your children, education for your birth partner, preeclampsia, membrane sweeps, power of prayer, long labor without a lot of sleep, cervical lip, fetal ejection reflex, having community to support you, letting go when labor gets hard

Links From The Episode: