Taking Back Birth

There is so much wisdom in moving more slowly; apprenticeship and becoming a birth attendant is no exception. We live in a high octane world where even birth attendants are “made” in minutes or months. While that is an option, I really want us to consider the way it feels. Being in a hurry or feeling impatient on this path is also really normal; can we be with that and also hold space for the fact that we just can’t rush some things? It all depends on what your intention is; I share mine with you for this podcast and end up talking a bit about apprenticeship and how that fits into this idea. Get on the waitlist for our new Aspiring Midwives Circle, in 2024.Click the icon below to listen.      

Sam and I chat about the birth bag shopping list she made for me recently. We could easily have spent hours on this, but wanted to share a little taste of the perspective that we share around tools and equipment. I love that Sam has brought such wisdom to our “team” here and I miss her so much as an in person friend and student! There are not that many women that think so intentionally about the stuff they bring to a birth, especially the internal energy that comes with each of us whether we like it or not! I bet students and midwives alike really enjoy this one.Click the icon below to listen.      

This podcast is taken from a Full Moon Circle we did all about radical prenatal care. I focused in on 3 principles and kinda went with that as a ramble. I will be offering a new Pregnancy Care Monthly Circle in 2024 that will be donation based and focused on prenatal care from ALL angles; this will be for pregnant mamas, birth workers and anyone interested. You can apply for this Pregnancy Care Circle here.Click the icon below to listen.      

I love the women I serve and love hearing from them after the bubble of birth and early mothering has settled. There is always such wisdom, and Kirstin is a great example of choosing consciously to come into her mothering in a way that felt aligned. Not the way that was taught or modeled for her, but in a way that her Soul led her to. I know you will love hearing the inside scoop from this mama, whether this is your first pregnancy or not. I love how many women just KNOW and to be supported in the knowing is a great gift. And in turn, the teachings Kirstin has for us here are also a gift to consciousness. And here’s her birth video.Click the icon below to listen.      

It’s been a few week of social media madness, and I am so glad I could let myself settle before sharing with you, as always, my transparent heart and growth through what could be seen as a “negative” experience. I am so grateful for my somatic lessons lately and for my teachers, because to be able to transmute the experience of “they don’t like me or they don’t approve of my choices” is something I think so many women struggle with. Whether you are a birthing woman or a birth worker, you are going to meet resistance. You will be challenged in your power and tested to stand in your own light, even when there are shadows. I hope this share is helpful and nourishing to you all on your path.Click the icon below to listen.      

This podcast is a riff (once again) on a social media post I wrote in response to the rhetoric I often see online about freebirth and how trauma can’t happen when people chose that. I obviously disagree, and explain why I think this. I talk about how we can best support women to feel whatever way they do about their experience. The applications for my (free) birth trauma circle slated for December/January 2024 are pouring in over here, so I must be on to something that feels resonant. Here’s the app if you want to apply or share.Click the icon below to listen.      

I was pondering just a few ways that many midwives overuse technology. It’s not all or nothing, but there is a way to use our intelligence, our intuition and our intention when deciding what if any technology to offer to a client. I think it comes back to how you want to feel and how you want the women you are serving to feel…either seen, and powerful, or as another routine pregnancy that doesn’t require any special treatment.Click the icon below to listen.      

This is kinda a riff on a post I wrote last month about birth being something we are called to by our Souls. I share some more thoughts, and some email responses and I hope this can remind you of why you are really here!Click the icon below to listen.      

On this live podcast, I addressed some rumors being sent my way by instead speaking about the sister wound in birth and midwifery. What is it? Why does this deep wound mean that we can’t be secure in ourselves? How does gossip and such happen among women that are supposed to be supporting women? Take a listen and tell me what you think!Click the icon below to listen.      

Every midwife I know has a similar story but yet there is shame in admitting them. Here’s some raw truths and my own vulnerable stories woven together around the times I was “blamed” as a midwife for a less-than-ideal outcome. I share my truth with the Universe and you all as a way to mend these old wounds, to share story as healing and to ultimately shift our awareness and the work of midwives into a story of dignity and honor; even when the world and others want to tell us differently.Click the icon below to listen.      

I made this new meditation for postpartum mamas for our new course called Mothering the Mother. If you’ve had a baby recently, or know someone that has, I wish you peace and relaxation with this visualization.Click the icon below to listen.      

Here’s another podcast recorded live on Youtube; this one focuses on the complication we call “shoulder dystocia”; but my focus (as usual) is on the metaphysical meaning and some other out of the box things to consider. Join me for this one, which includes some live Q and A and let me know what thoughts you have about this topic.Click the icon below to listen.      

I did a new thing this past week, which is I recorded this podcast live on Youtube. You’ll hear other people’s questions, and some more thoughts and pondering on how to label postpartum hemorrhage, the rates of hemorrhage in my own practice (hint; it’s super duper low) and other ideas to consider when excess bleeding happens.Click the icon below to listen.      

Wow, I had fun with this one! We posted a reel this week on Instagram of a beautiful “Closing of the Bones” ceremony that we offered a mama we served. This podcast is a combo of describing that to you AND offering my very transparent truth around this idea of “cultural appropriation”. I won’t spoil it for you, but I’m done listening to the programming around concepts like this that divide women and divide people. NO ONE is going to “allow” me to offer whatever ceremony I want to offer, and I will do my own diligence around respect and honor of the people that came before me. I am absolutely done with other women policing each other and I am here to say that the world I want to live in promotes love, integrity and service above confusion, hate and arrogance.Click the icon below to listen.      

I am so excited to finally launch my Magical Mama Circle! I talked all about it after a quick webinar this week called “How to Raise Magical Children”. If you couldn’t attend live, and (like me) you prefer to listen to podcasts over watching videos, this is for you! I talk first about who this Circle is for and WHY and then include the replay of this webinar which goes into even more detail about what it means to be “magical” and how this Circle will support you in just that. Get the details here: https://magicalmama.org/circleClick the icon below to listen.      

I am so honored to have interviewed one of my favorite mama clients, Erny, who I met a while ago at an Indie Birth free workshop. She invited me on the journey of her fourth pregnancy and what a beautiful journey it was! Listen in as she tells the story of her ecstatic 4th birth; the first vaginal birth (not to mention homebirth) in her family’s recent history. You may contact Erny at: [email protected] the icon below to listen.      

I had fun with this one since I’m not attending births right now and felt I could be so super duper honest! My hope for this podcast is that it inspires you to think beyond the (medical) box we’ve often found ourselves in as midwives and even as mamas that seek midwives. If we threw all the dopplers out tomorrow, would birth and babies be less safe? I doubt it, and we might have less traumatized midwives to boot! I’d love to hear your thoughts and what your ideas are for slowly getting back to the wisdom that is already inherent in women and the process of birth.Click the icon below to listen.      

In this podcast, I wanted to riff on a recent post/blog I made about birth not being something you order up like cabinets. I go into a LOT more detail and expand on this idea with what I feel we CAN and CANNOT influence. Ultimately, we don’t get to choose life or death for another soul and I know that can feel both scary and comforting. As a midwife, I definitely do not get to choose that for anyone and if nothing else, want to make yet another plug for true and honest self responsibility. It is time for the old way of blame and immaturity to end, and I hope this podcast gives you clarity on what we can control in birth; whether you are a mama or birthworker.Click the icon below to listen.      

I have breastfed 10 babies and (still going) have learned a lot about nursing beyond the baby and infant time. Tune in to learn about Magical Mama membership and my experience around nursing older babies and kids. https://www.magicalmama.orgClick the icon below to listen.      

Take these 10 minutes or so to connect with the baby that is growing in your womb, at whatever stage of pregnancy you are in. Connecting with your baby is one of the most sound ways to open that conversation and receive whatever insight is there to be received.Click the icon below to listen.      

SO excited to have Sam and Angelia on my podcast! Both of these amazing ladies have been working alongside of me the last year as students and apprentices and friends. I love the conversation we had and the insights and energy they always bring to the table. Imagine being raised as a student midwife with these concepts of managing your own energy, and of knowing how to create a sacred circle with the women we serve. I will miss them as I head off on a sabbatical but know that our paths will continue to align in the ways they need to!Click the icon below to listen.      

In this podcast, I reflect on the old and new ways that midwifery is broken. With our new Elevate program, we seek to create a new consciousness. Check it out, registration closes this week! https://indiebirth.org/elevateClick the icon below to listen.      

So fun to have my friend Bridget back on my podcast after many years! In this chat, Bridget shares her insightful and humble self-directed journey from vegan expert to someone that’s embraced animal products and ancestral foods in the last few years. I loved talking about the power of our blood, reciprocity and hearing more from her experience of long-time veganism and the positive changes animal products have made in her life and experience. This is Bridget’s podcast with me from 2017 about vegan nutrition. Get in touch with Bridget here: https://bridgetnielsen.com/Click the icon below to listen.      

There are many ways and reasons that midwives are taught, and continue to do, really weird things. I want to share more about some of the reasons behind this all, as well as using some of the weird things rarely and in a sacred nature! All of this and more will be covered and supported in our new Elevate program for practicing midwives; get on the list now, because we will open enrollment March 1 and begin the program March 21 or so. Hope you enjoy this look at weird things! Our new Elevate program for midwives: https://indiebirth.org/elevate-invitationClick the icon below to listen.      

I’m back for what might be a long awaited Mothering episode! Someone asked me recently to talk about how we handle money and chores and all that in my house. So tune in if you are curious about it all; beliefs around money, how we approach jobs and working and what we pay (and don’t pay) our kids to do around our home and property.Click the icon below to listen.      

The new paradigm is such that we MUST use our discretion and our internal compass to know what, who, why or when is right (or not right for us). Gone are the days of “I work with every single woman that comes my way” unless someone chooses to be there or needs to learn those lessons. In life in general for me, this is my mantra: If it’s not a yes, it’s a no!Click the icon below to listen.      

With the darkness coming to an end, we release that which does not serve. And heading into the light, we can have appreciation for it and imagine what we will create! Come with me on this journey through my last year; the highlights and low points and lessons. Perhaps it will inspire you to do your own year in review so that you are clear to move ahead this coming year. Blessings to all.Click the icon below to listen.      

A short channeled podcast about the sacred space that is created within us AFTER birth and how if we could just honor that, our world would change.Click the icon below to listen.      

A more recent review of what is in my prenatal and birth bags nowadays! Most of the items I carry are pretty standard (outside of the fun stuff for prenatals!), but I thought that this might inspire questions or thoughts especially for those students that are putting together equipment and tools for themselves. Click the icon below to listen.      

The last few years have changed ALL of us. This is not an exhaustive list but just a peek into the ways I’ve been altered in my own life, and how these differences have rippled out to the way I embody the role of midwife. Change is good, and I am always excited to see how this continues to evolve for me. I also encourage all women, all birth workers to embrace change and continually question, both inside and out.Click the icon below to listen.      

I’m releasing this as a public podcast for all if you’d love to be a fly on the wall and hear the beliefs about birth that I share for women here locally that are curious about midwifery care. It feels good to just get it out there, one again, in this present version, so that women can listen and take the steps that feel right to them towards the midwifery care that resonates. This is part of my pre-consultation process; I ask women to listen to this and read other information and then decide if they’d like to schedule a consult.Click the icon below to listen.      

What a deep, dark internal time it’s been! Sharing all the happenings, inside and out that have been going on seasonally and personally. And it’s related to birth because this idea of being present and non-attached manifested this week for me in midwife role and I wanted to share all about that. What do you think about this idea of leaving everything (energetically) behind when attending a birth? Do you think it affects the overall experience of the mother? I am interested in hearing your thoughts.Click the icon below to listen.      

Margo and I recorded this New Moon zoom all about the darker parts of pregnancy and birth and the role we serve in as midwives. Listen in as we share stories, and talk about the tools and ways we hold the mirror for the women we serve in this way. We talk about miscarriage and loss, spirit babies, and other sometimes-rarely-spoken-about topics that come up when we allow the shadow to surface.Click the icon below to listen.      

I loved having this chat and story time with Qiddist, who is a beautiful and radical woman doing amazing work in the world. “Womb stories”, to us, are really ALL women’s stories, and I appreciate the myriad of topics we touched on together in this time and space. You can find Qiddist at: https://thewombroom.coClick the icon below to listen.      

What a beautiful woman Denell is! After a cervical diagnosis, she found her way to wellness and true inner health by following the lead of her cervix. Denell is a wealth of information and inspiration and I know you will leave this chat feeling powerful and with lots of lightbulbs going off. Find Denell at: https://cervicalwellness.com A special gift to our listeners! Enjoy 25% of Denell’s course Cervical Wellness Online (Evergreen) with coupon code CW25GIFTClick the icon below to listen.      

I LOVED having this chat with Lindsey, a revolutionary, kick-ass woman who found her truth and life mission through learning and teaching about the nervous system. I had so many questions I wanted to ask, but we talked about the role of the nervous system in hormone production, birth and in common “issues” like anxiety. Lindsey is a total soul sister and I hope you are so inspired by her wisdom. Find her at: https://lindseylockett.comClick the icon below to listen.      

I am so honored to talk with Sacha; a magical woman and the very first family I served as a midwife here in Kentucky. I love how “difficult” birth stories can be transformed into wisdom for everyone, and Aurora’s earthside entrance is no exception! Listen to this story of connection, separation and healing and let us know what you think. Connect with Sacha here: https://birthoftheearth.usClick the icon below to listen.      

We know that birth and sex are related, but how?! This is such a great chat with my friend Stacey, who is a Somatic Sex Educator, a doula, a homebirth mama and more. We talk about pleasure and asking for what we want and Stacey shares some of her own challenges through pregnancy, and mothering. Learn more about Stacey here. Click the icon below to listen.      

We typically know what kind of interruptions there are to the hormonal or physical process of birth; but when we consider birth to be a ceremony, what are some things that can interfere?Click the icon below to listen.      

This was such a fun chat! We started off with more of an interview of Blyss and then quickly found our kindred spirit midwife selves and had loads to talk about; from licensing to fear and even death. Listen in as this wise woman shares more about herself, her journey and her new projects. Lear more about her at https://www.birthingblyss.com.Click the icon below to listen.      

The star seeds have been talking to me. Many of them feel that they need to be solidly invited with a blessing to incarnate on this Earth! I hope you enjoy the short visualization and blessing to connect with and welcome your spirit baby.Click the icon below to listen.      

Here’s a short podcast of me reading a blog post from about 5 years back, “The Time Has Come For Women to Stand and Speak.” Link to the blog post: https://indiebirth.org/time-come-women-stand-speak/.Click the icon below to listen.      

To revise or not to revise? Tongue ties and newborns just go together, right? Is this condition over diagnosed, or not? And what are the reasons to revise or leave the baby’s mouth intact? I share my experience and my own questions and really just encourage you to dig deeper on this one.Click the icon below to listen.      

It’s a big one! But first…I almost can’t believe I wanted to talk about the recent “reproductive rights” news, but yet I could not hold back and needed to speak my truth. So, listen at your own risk! Then, it’s on to more controversial stuff as I share how and why I am giving back the CPM credential. It is time for me to move forward in all of my integrity, and I realized humbly that this piece does not fit me any longer.Click the icon below to listen.      

Yes, our massive, beautiful vision is re-named, with a more solid Vision and mission! I am so excited to share with you why we made these changes, as well as the words themselves which are very powerful. Visit the Indie Birth Sanctuary here.Click the icon below to listen.      

Margo joins me for this talk about our co-creation, the Indie Birth Midwifery School and what makes her different and unique. There is no midwifery school out there like this, and we wanted to share some of our stories of how we created her and how she’s changed over the 6 years of beginning.Click the icon below to listen.      

I get this question all of the time! Every woman seems to want to know how to prepare her husband and/or have him feel useful or involved during the birth experience. There are so many factors to consider and possible answers and suggestions here. Take a listen and see what resonates with you.Click the icon below to listen.      

After a lengthy update on our Indie Birth Institute, I get to have a fun chat with myself about twins! I am fascinated by 2 babies growing in one human at once; and I share my own experiences, stories and even some myths around why I think twin mamas are treated so differently. Is there a big deal? What considerations are needed by mama/midwife with a twin pregnancy and birth?Click the icon below to listen.      

I’m all about women birthing in their power, so who’s telling who what they need or don’t need? In this podcast, I give a brief update on the ever-manifesting birth place/center that we’re working on (we’re calling it the Indie Birth Midwifery Institute) and then I launch into embellishing a recent Instagram post I did on social media selling the idea that no one needs knowledge to birth. True or nor true? As per usual, I don’t think it’s that black and white and I’m here to share my thoughts on birth, midwifery and this place we’re manifesting as an embodiment of what I believe. Tell me what you think after listening to this!Click the icon below to listen.      

Here it is: 12 minutes that we are asking you to please listen to, and share far and wide. We do not know WHO this vision will resonate with, or what will come in to make this a reality. In this podcast, I outline the what, where, why and how about this important and massive mission/vision that we know will change the world.Click the icon below to listen.