The Natural Birth Podcast

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Dailah. Dailah is a Mother of 4 from the US living in Africa. She is a Quantum life coach and a Painless Birth™ Worker. She assists Women to give birth without pain using a series of brain wave techniques and tools. In this episode she will share about her first 3 hospital births with epidurals and the shift that led her to birthing her fourth child at home with no pain and how she became a painless birth worker after her own experience. Curious about Dailah? Find her on Instagram as @the.painless.birth.worker Curious about Needed? Find out more at thisisneeded.com Use the code THENATURALBIRTHPODCAST for 20% off your first month. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: SACRED BIRTH INTERNATIONAL --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Lauren. Lauren is a mama of 1 originally from England, now living in New Zealand for seven years. She’s a pastry chef and qualified personal trainer, now focusing on raising her baby girl. She’s been vegan for ten years and is trying to live a low tox holistic kinda lifestyle. During her whole pregnancy she felt very skeptical about inviting her midwife to her birth as she was aware how a medical midwife can unfortunately get in the way of a physiological birth. She ended up labouring with her partner and dog for 18.5 hours until her body started pushing and she decided to call her midwife. Her baby ended up coming 1.5 hours later shortly after the midwife arrived and her midwife stayed hands off, no one else touched her baby besides her or her partner for a few hours until she wanted her to. She also had a 2nd degree tear and decided against advice to not get any stitches and really believe she healed better because of it. Lauren feels very empowered and proud to have had her first birth at home. Curious about Lauren? Find her on Instagram as @Laurenhadfieldpilcher If you didn’t know already I have 3 really epic free resources that you can access and download at sacredbirthinternational.com There’s two E - books, one called 6 Steps to Having a Natural & Empowering Birth Experience and one called Routine Hospital Birth Procedures Inform yourself and make an Educated Decision! This is a comprehensive E-Book with 28 full pages for your information and assistance in creating an informed birth plan. Whether you are having a hospital, birth center or home birth as you never know where your birth journey will take you. Knowledge is power. Finally, if you are planning a home birth like Lauren then download my free home birth checklist. There will definitely be things in there that you might not have thought of. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: SACRED BIRTH INTERNATIONAL --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on the Natural Birth Podcast we have Amanda. Amanda is a mama of 2 from Texas. She’s a birth photographer, birth assistant, doula and placenta encapsulator and a secretary and social media coordinator for a birth center. She says that she is blessed to mostly work from home and have the ability to homeschool her daughter. In todays episode we get to hear about her two birth stories. The last one I saw powerful photos of on Instagram where Amanda was squatting in such a primal powerful position birthing her baby and I just had to reach out and say ”Hey do you want to share your story on the poddy”, and here she is doing just that. Curious about Amanda? Find her on Instagram as @loverandbeloved 200 Episodes & Special Offer! This is the 200th episode of the natural birth podcast! WOW! And we are coming up to 4 years in a few weeks but first things first! Can you believe it!?! I know many of you listen to each and every one of these episodes to prepare for your natural birth and I am so pleased that I now have 200 unique natural and positive birth stories to help you reprogram your subconscious mind! What an epic resource! And speaking of resources. To celebrate this 200th episode you are welcome into my Online Community The Village for free for a whole month when joining this week! Being a part of my village means monthly live Q&A and sharing circles with me and the village sisters. It means accessing resources and birth nerds, maidens, mothers and magas as well as my sacred birth worker mentees 24/7. It’s a warm, friendly, cozy and hearth centered village that truly supports women in all stages of life, especially around birth and child rearing. And this week you can join for free and get a whole month in the village and meet me and hang out totally free of charge! Yay! Join the Village here! Curious about Needed? Find out more at thisisneeded.com Use the code THENATURALBIRTHPODCAST for 20% off your first month. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: SACRED BIRTH INTERNATIONAL --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on the Natural Birth Podcast we have Carla. Carla is a mama of one from Sydney. She’s a pelvic floor physiotherapist who has worked in some of the largest maternity hospitals in Sydney. Her work has involved supporting women as they recover from third and fourth degree tears, bladder and bowel incontinence, sexual and pelvic pain and prolapse concerns. Carla is also a yoga and meditation teacher and during her pregnancy she went on a journey to resolve her birth fears, especially the one about tearing and injury to her vagina and pelvic floor, and explore birth's spiritual dimensions. By listening to women’s stories on this podcast and being in community with other women who have had physiological births she was able to go from thinking she’d opt for an elective Cesarean to save her pelvic floor to having a home birth in her bathtub. This episode is so good for you who might have a fear of tearing, a fear that is so common. Carla is excited to share her story with other women to help continue to alleviate birth fears and navigate the often paternalistic nature of maternity care. Curious about Carla? Find her on Instagram as @carlasank If you didn’t know already I have 3 really epic free resources that you can access and download at sacredbirthinternational.com There’s two E-books, one called 6 Steps to Having a Natural & Empowering Birth Experience and one called Routine Hospital Birth Procedures Inform yourself and make an Educated Decision! This is a comprehensive E-Book with 28 full pages for your information and assistance in creating an informed birth plan. Whether you are having a hospital, birth center or home birth as you never know where your birth journey will take you. Knowledge is power. Finally, if you are planning a home birth like Carla then download my free home birth checklist. There will definitely be things in there that you might not have thought of. Well that’s me and my free resources folks. Find them all via the link in the show notes or at sacredbirthinternational.com Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: SACRED BIRTH INTERNATIONAL --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Sophia. Sophia is a mother of 3 from the UK, living in Corfu Greece. She is a midwife, who is obsessed with bringing pregnancy and birth back into the hands, hearts and wombs of women and families. And she is a Sacred Birth Worker Mentee of mine. Imagine my delight to have her both in my mentorship as well as coming on here to share her amazing natural and empowering birth stories! This episode is so very rich as us two midwives cackle away as we tend to do when we meet a soul sister midwife on the same path. Sophia grew up in London to an English mother and Mexican father and has always had a deep interest in pregnancy, birth and in living and working close to the veil between realities. She believes that pregnancy and birth are golden opportunities to find healing and bring us closer to our true authentic selves. After an acting degree, traveling, and directing a production of 'the vagina monologues' she finally realized that her true calling was to be a midwife. And right now she is starting up a home birthing midwifery service in Corfu Greece where the majority of women can only access obstetric care and where the c/s rate is sky high which is expected when you hire a surgeon for your birth! Sophia has had three incredible physiological births, two at home and one in a birth center. The first was long, like an elegant waltz, the second fiery, like a passionate flamenco solo and the third like an improvisation with the stars and source. Curious about Sophia? Find her on Instagram as @holistic_midwifery Curious about Needed? Find out more at thisisneeded.com Use the code THENATURALBIRTHPODCAST for 20% off your first month. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: SACRED BIRTH INTERNATIONAL --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Natalie. Natalie is a mama of one from the UK, now living in Thailand. She is an artist and a property developer, and a lover of meditation and alternative health and living a unique, authentic life. Natalie found out she was pregnant whilst on a snowboard season in Japan and was initially absolutely terrified at the thought of birth. She made it her mission to feel confident and calm about her birth by the time her baby arrived. And instead of fear of birth she had a fear of birthing in the hospital and being interfered with. So she chose a home birth with midwives and a doula. Her story is a fast and furious birth with a plot twist. And even though her birth wasn’t the undisturbed birth she might have wanted she was so present, trusting in her body and her intuition and managed to birth her baby in just over 5 hours at home in the pool. She caught her baby by herself and absolutely loves telling her birth story. Curious about Natalie? Find her on instagram as @natalieellisart Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: SACRED BIRTH INTERNATIONAL --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Sarah. Sarah is a mama of 2 from Cornwall, UK. She is a holistic nutritionist and passionate about all aspects of health and wellness, the importance of our connection to nature and living as empowered beings for a happy, healthy life. When Sarah first became pregnant she was fearful of birth, but through claiming it and educating herself and doing daily meditation she ended up transforming her fear into feeling calm and eager to birth. She had a birth center birth for her first baby and a fairly short first birth that made her feel empowered, but nothing compared to her second birth. For her second she dove even deeper into her inner work and reprogramming her mind and ended up having a 3 hour labour that really just felt like one hour. Hear about it all in today's episode! Curious about Sarah? Find her on Instagram as @itsmesarahmartin Curious about Needed? Find out more at thisisneeded.com Use the code THENATURALBIRTHPODCAST for 20% off your first month. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Maria. Maria is a mama of 3 from Sweden. She has a background in journalism and has written three books about pregnancy, birth and the postpartum as well as working as a doula and a massage therapist. She’s also the co-founder of Braido Organics with Kristina that you heard from just a couple of weeks back. And this year she is also starting her journey to become a midwife. She’s a force to be reckoned with in the birth world here in Sweden and I am grateful to call her a friend. In today’s episode she shares about her three home births. Her first being in the US where she lived with her husband at the time, and her other two in Sweden. All of her labours were long in their latent and early phase and fast in their active phase. And all of them were perfect just the way they were. Curious about Maria? Find her on instagram as @maria.bengtsson.sja This episode is sponsored by Braïdo Organics. For 20% off their entire collection of products go to Barïdo Organics and use the coupon code SACRED Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Cory. Cory is a mama of three and soon four from Texas, USA. Her first baby was born in Hawaii where she met her husband. She planned a natural birth that turned into a C/S which she wasn’t happy about and therefore was adamant in having a VBAC for her second. Her second became her redemption birth and she ended up having her baby in the luxury of her own home as she puts it. Her next daughter was also born at home and today Cory has a huge passion for natural birth and is an advocate for other HBAC & VBAC mamas. She is currently planning her 3rd Home Birth after C/S and has no intention of ever birthing in a hospital again. Curious about Cory? Find her on Instagram as @onewildmother Curious about Needed? Find out more at thisisneeded.com Use the code THENATURALBIRTHPODCAST for 20% off your first month. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Kristina Turner. Kristina is a writer, birth activist, sacred birth keeper and red tent women’s circle facilitator with over 25 years of experience. She wrote the book Natural Birth – A Holistic Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth and Breastfeeding after giving birth to her three children. The births that we will hear all about in this episode. The spiritually transformative experiences she had during these births made her a passionate advocate for the right to undisturbed birth. Kristina believes that the way we treat the natural world is linked to a collectively held, often unconscious, view of the feminine as a resource for exploitation. This has led her to deepen her connection with the sacred feminine and sustainable plant medicine. In 2021 she developed a range of holistic birth support products alongside her business partner Maria Bengtsson. The company they founded, Braïdo Organics, develops exquisite, handmade products that support women to have empowering and transformative births. Kristina trained as a Sacred Birth keeper with Glastonbury Goddess Temple in 2020 and has held similar training in Sweden. She is regularly holding workshops and retreats. Curious about Kristina? Find her on Instagram as @ownyourbirth This episode is sponsored by Braïdo Organics. For 20% off their entire collection of products go to Barïdo Organics and use the coupon code SACRED Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Emma back. Emma is a meditation and yoga teacher as well as an author, podcaster, mentor and speaker from Byron Bay Australia and now a mama of two! Emma was on the poddy in May 2022 sharing her first fast empowering home birth in the episode ”Breaking Ancestral Patterns and choosing Home Birth” Now she is back breaking all the assumptions about second births being faster and easier. Because this one was longer and harder but still so amazing with so much wisdom for her mama years as a mama of two. Emma shares this journey so openly and honestly, giving you so many pearls of wisdom. I believe you’re gonna love this story. Curious about Emma? Find her on Instagram as @emmamaidment_ Curious about Needed? Find out more at thisisneeded.com Use the code THENATURALBIRTHPODCAST for 20% off your first month. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Denise. Denise is a mama of one from Arizona USA. She is a stay at home mom and an Airbnb host. After watching The Business of Being Born by Ricki Lake, her now husband told her, even before they were married or thinking of having babies, that they should home birth. And Denise became fascinated by pregnancy and birth by listening to The Natural Birth Podcast, which led her to make the decision to birth at home with the support of her husband, doula and midwife. Denise ended up having a beautiful home birth, however her placenta wasn’t coming out and by the 3rd hour she and her birth team made the decision to transfer to hospital. She was feeling fine and there was no emergency, but they decided they wanted the help to birth the placenta. Because of the preparation and education Denise had done she could stand up to the OB and be empowered in her decision making in the hospital and felt empowered about her birth even though it didn’t unfold exactly as she’d hoped. A natural birth doesn’t always mean an empowered birth and a medicalized birth doesn’t mean its traumatic. It’s about feeling empowered and in charge of the decisions about your body, baby and birth. And only education as well as the inner work can truly prepare you for the unknown that is birth. Something Denise highly recommends to all first time mamas. Curious about Denise? Find her on Instagram as @derosenise This episode is sponsored by Informed Pregnancy Plus. Try Informed Pregnancy Plus absolutely free of charge. Just visit informedpregnancy.tv and start watching these inspiring documentaries and films already today. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here:www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Sofia. Sofia is a Swedish mama of 5 who is currently living with her family in France. She is a yoga teacher and homeschooling mama and today she is sharing all of her 5 births and her interesting life journey. She birthed her first baby at home as a 23 year old and then had her second also in Sweden which happened so fast it was an accidental free birth. She then decided with her husband that they wanted to move to France, where they ended up birthing their 3 following children who all ended up more or less being free birthed in their home. But they each had a journey and there was some involvement with midwives and medical personnel on their journey. Sofia’s stories really show that we birth the way we live and the way we are. In her stories you’ll see that the way her life situation was and also her inner world was reflected in the way her birth unfolded. Curious about Sofia? Find her on Instagram as @la_sorcierebeach_ Curious about Needed? Find out more at thisisneeded.com Use the code THENATURALBIRTHPODCAST for 20% off your first month. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Veronica. Veronica is a mama of two from the US. She is a somatic & trauma trained practitioner and educator as well as a doula. Today she brings you the pearls of wisdom from her first home birth hospital transfer and some really amazing takeaways as an embodied woman and birth worker. She then proceeds to share about her redemptive second birth center birth where she experienced labour with no pain during the transition phase, only what she describes as pressure. And she shares how she created this optimal pain free situation during the most intense hours with you. Curious about Veronica? Find her on Instagram as @wakingwomb This episode is sponsored by Informed Pregnancy Plus. Try Informed Pregnancy Plus absolutely free of charge. Just visit informedpregnancy.tv and start watching these inspiring documentaries and films already today. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: https://www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Veronica. Veronica is a mama of two from the US. She is a somatic & trauma trained practitioner and educator as well as a doula. Today she brings you the pearls of wisdom from her first home birth hospital transfer and some really amazing takeaways as an embodied woman and birth worker. She then proceeds to share about her redemptive second birth center birth where she experienced labour with no pain during the transition phase, only what she describes as pressure. And she shares how she created this optimal pain free situation during the most intense hours with you. Curious about Veronica? Find her on Instagram as @wakingwomb This episode is sponsored by Informed Pregnancy Plus. Try Informed Pregnancy Plus absolutely free of charge. Just visit informedpregnancy.tv and start watching these inspiring documentaries and films already today. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: https://www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Veronica. Veronica is a mama of two from the US. She is a somatic & trauma trained practitioner and educator as well as a doula. Today she brings you the pearls of wisdom from her first home birth hospital transfer and some really amazing takeaways as an embodied woman and birth worker. She then proceeds to share about her redemptive second birth center birth where she experienced labour with no pain during the transition phase, only what she describes as pressure. And she shares how she created this optimal pain free situation during the most intense hours with you. Curious about Veronica? Find her on Instagram as @wakingwomb This episode is sponsored by Informed Pregnancy Plus. Try Informed Pregnancy Plus absolutely free of charge. Just visit informedpregnancy.tv and start watching these inspiring documentaries and films already today. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Maria. Maria is a mama of one living in Glasgow, Scotland, originally from Lithuania. She struggled with PCOS for most of her late teens and twenties, but was only diagnosed later in life. This allowed her to finally try to heal herself, because conventional medicine doesn't provide a way to "heal" PCOS. After a 2 year detour into detoxing and the vegan world, it was the pro-metabolic way of eating and focusing on good quality animal foods that helped her heal and bring her period back that had been pretty much absent for over 10 years. She and her husband thought that it would take them years to conceive. But little did they know that finding out she was pregnant would be their Christmas gift in 2022, only 8 months after her period came back. Ever since she started thinking about birth she knew she wanted a home birth, it just felt right. She had a close friend who had had two home births and this helped her convince her doctor husband that it's the best choice for them. Their birth was a natural water birth at home with two great midwifes from NHS. It wasn't without challenges though as her waters broke but labour didn't establish until 42 hours later. This taught her great lessons of patience and surrender. And today she is very grateful for a positive and empowering first birth experience. Curious about Maria? Find her on Instagram as @maria_arbell Curious about Needed? Find out more at thisisneeded.com Use the code THENATURALBIRTHPODCAST for 20% off your first month. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: https://www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Catherine. Catherine is a mama of one from the US. She believes that a HUGE reason she was able to have a completely unmedicated, wonderful hospital birth was because throughout her pregnancy she was empowered by listening to the stories of so many amazing, strong women on the natural birth podcast! So she came on to give back! And what a story she has! She had originally planned a home birth but at 36 weeks had to switch to OB care due to rising blood pressure. Something I have many clients coming to me to share and heal during our birth trauma healing sessions. Luckily enough this was not Catherine’s story. She was TERRIFIED to birth in the hospital however and felt like all she’d heard were horror stories. But she switched gears, empowered by all the stories she’d heard on this poddy and got into the right headspace and had the most wonderful birth!! I can’t wait for you to hear it! Curious about Catherine? Find her on Instagram as @ceejscholl This episode is sponsored by Informed Pregnancy Plus. Try Informed Pregnancy Plus absolutely free of charge. Just visit informedpregnancy.tv and start watching these inspiring documentaries and films already today. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Ryan. She is a mama from Los Angeles, California, the US. Ryan is a mama of one daughter and one son on the way as well as two rescue mutts. She is also the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Needed, a company championing better nutrition for women, their families and our earth. She is a lifelong environmentalist and a holistic nutritionist with training in folk herbalism. In today’s episode we will hear about her home birth with a midwife she had employed way before she was even pregnant. Ryan started her conscious conception journey years before she conceived by optimizing her own gut biome and nutritional levels and when she finally tried for a baby, she conceived on the first try. We talk about low amniotic fluids and the non existent evidence of if being a problem on it’s own, as well as the use of caster oil as a natural induction method with a Russian twist. Curious about Ryan? Find her on Instagram as @ryrywoodbury Curious about Needed? Find out more at thisisneeded.com Use the code THENATURALBIRTHPODCAST for 20% off your first month. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Mae Yoshikawa. Mae is a mama of 2 from Japan. She is an author and yoga and meditation teacher as well as a global ambassador for Adidas. She has been on 42 consecutive covers of the Japanese Yogini magazine and was awarded the Yoga Journal People's Award in 2016. Her offerings have been featured on many media outlets including Vogue Japan, GQ, and Women's Health. Today she is here to share about her two natural births in Japan. With her first, she had a natural birth in a birthing center. It went smoothly with no medications... but it was very painful which Mae puts down to not truly being prepared mentally and not really allowing birth to unfold. 8 years later, having learned from this experience she had a beautiful home water birth that she says was almost all pain-free. She was supported by her midwife and late husband. And she felt like it was a communion of souls and it was very empowering. Curious about Mae? Find her on Instagram @maeyoshikawa This episode is sponsored by Informed Pregnancy Plus. Try Informed Pregnancy Plus absolutely free of charge. Just visit informedpregnancy.tv and start watching these inspiring documentaries and films already today. Find All of Anna’s Links & Resources here: www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thenaturalbirthpodcast/message