This week's guest shares the remarkable evolution of her six birth stories, from fighting to have her wishes respected in the hospital, to discovering just how beautiful and transformative birth could be at home.
After advocating fiercely for herself throughout her first hospital birth, she was left deeply affected by the way she was treated. Her second birth brought an unwanted induction and an experience so difficult that the postpartum depression that followed clouded much of her memory of her son's infancy.
By her third pregnancy, she knew she needed something different. She chose the care of a midwife, first in the hospital, and eventually made the leap to homebirth with her fourth baby. That experience changed everything. For the first time, birth wasn't something to endure or recover from. It was beautiful, empowering, and transformative, not only for her, but for her husband as well.
She went on to welcome two more babies at home, and after the birth of her sixth, her midwife encouraged her to consider becoming a birthworker herself.
Today, she has the privilege of attending other women as they give birth, a calling born from her own journey of discovering just how profoundly different birth can be when a woman feels safe, supported, and respected.
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Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at contactus@healingbirth.net
Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard
Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto