Down to Birth
By Cynthia Overgard & Trisha Ludwig
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Subscribers: 16
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Episodes: 220
Description
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#215 | May Q&A: NSTs, Short Cords, Boundaries, Fetal Ejection Reflex, Decels in Labor, Artificial Rupture of Membranes, VBAC, Postpartum Doulas
2890
Hello! We are back with the May Q&A. This month we kick things off with a short conversation on obstetrical rhetoric around the risks of cesarean birth and induction, followed by your excellent questions on:
And in our extended version of this episode, we dive into:
Pitocin Episode #134 here. Join us over on Patreon or subscribe on Apple podcasts for the extended version of this episode. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 31, 2023 |
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#214 | Four Ways Waterbirthing Improves Home Birth Outcomes
2520
Lisa Marie and Richard Oxenham are a water-birthing midwifery duo extraordinaire in addition to being husband and wife and protégés of Barbara Harper of Waterbirth International. Lisa has attended over six hundred water births and has never, not once, induced a woman's labor. Through their years of experience, they have come to believe that giving birth in water improves birth outcomes over giving birth out of the water. In this episode, we cover the ways in which water birth increases the safety of home birth by reducing complications associated with cord evulsion, shoulder dystocia, deep tearing, postpartum hemorrhage, and newborn transition. Lisa also touches on how water birth may be the most effective tool for easing the birth experience for those with a history of trauma or abuse. We also learn the real meaning of the word "vagina." Don't miss this incredibly important and highly informative episode on the benefits of home water birth. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 24, 2023 |
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#213 | Choosing Home Birth the First Time Around with Colleen Mason @Uncomplicated Family
2590
When your hospital birth plan repeatedly includes the word "No", considering home birth becomes extremely enticing. In this episode, Colleen of @uncomplicatedfamily shares with us how she left her OB and chose home birth not only the first time but six more thereafter! Many mothers fear the idea of home birth because they only imagine what might go wrong. And while there are certain risks to consider before home birthing and it isn't the preference of every woman, we review how it can be a safe and smart choice for many, even the first time around. Down to Birth is sponsored by: DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 17, 2023 |
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#212 | A Conversation on Pitocin with an L&D Nurse and Expert Witness
1945
Chanie of @yoledetacademy is an experienced labor and delivery nurse and expert witness in cases which the appropriate use of Pitocin is in question. Today, she joins us to give us an insider's perspective on the use of Pitocin in hospital birth. Pitocin, now known as the narcotic of modern obstetrics, is increasingly overused and the harms of its use are significantly under represented. Join us in this discerning conversation around the use and abuse of Pitocin in hospital birth. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 10, 2023 |
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#211 | Declining RhoGAM: A Conversation with Two Rh-Negative Women
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RhoGAM or Anti-D is a blood product offered to pregnant women with an Rh-negative blood type who have conceived with an Rh-positive father. The use of RhoGAM is said to significantly reduce the chances of the mother becoming sensitized to a future baby if the current baby she is carrying has an Rh-positive blood type. The RhoGAM injection is routinely offered to all Rh-negative women, despite that it is not always needed, comes with certain side effects, and isn't 100% effective. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 03, 2023 |
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#210 | April Q&A: PPH, Tipping Doulas, Vitamin A in Pregnancy, Surrogacy, Postpartum Rage, After Birth Pains, GDM, Age Over 35, Cholestasis
2644
Hello everyone! We are back with our April Q&A episode, and it is loaded with your excellent questions! Don't forget you can subscribe on Apple podcasts Patreon to hear the extended, ad-free versions.
And in our extended version (available on Apple subscriptions & Patreon):
And of course, everyone's favorite: Quickies! Thanks for joining us, and remember you can call our phone line with your questions 24/7 at 802-GET-DOWN. (That's 802-438-3696) DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 26, 2023 |
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#209 | The Danger of Retained Placenta, Delayed Postpartum Hemorrhage & Negligent Care: Chelsea's Birth Story
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Chelsea was determined to have an unmedicated hospital birth. When she was unexpectedly diagnosed with cholestasis at 38 weeks, she found herself getting induced with Misoprostil, Pitocin, and ruptured membranes at 3 cm dilated. She quickly progressed to full dilation, had a short pushing phase and birthed her baby vaginally. Everything seemed great until she went home and starting passing large blood clots. After multiple calls to different OBs that all passed it off as normal, she started bleeding profusely and was transferred back to the hospital for delayed postpartum hemorrhage. Chelsea's story is one of knowing the importance of trusting our own intuition and insisting we get the care we need when we know something is wrong. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 19, 2023 |
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#208 | Achieving a Pain-Free Birth with Karen Welton @painfreebirth
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If you are pregnant for the first time or even the second or third, we all want to know the secret ingredient to experiencing a "pain-free" birth experience. Today, we brought on a leading voice in the pain-free birth world, Karen Welton, to go deep on what it takes. Do you know the most important step in accessing a "pain free" birth? Hint: It's not about what you do in labor. It's not about position. It's not even about your birth location or provider. It's about your brain. It begins and ends with your mindset and focus. The key to mastering your birth is mastering your brain's influence on your physiology. Can you create an environment for birth where you could be so relaxed and embodied in your physiology that you could have sex in that space? Join us in this enlightening discussion and take the first step to finding a "pain-free" ecstatic, even pleasurable birth experience. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 12, 2023 |
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#207 | My Baby is Not Going Anywhere: Yoga Teacher Erika Halweil's Birth Story
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Erika gave birth to her first child in the hospital and was labeled a "weirdo" and stamped as "difficult" for her birth plan intentions. When the hospital staff tried to take her baby away in order to administer the Vitamin K shot and Erythromycin eye ointment, she refused, holding her baby close as the staff tried to pull the baby from Erika's arms. Next came the call to CPS (Child Protective Services), putting Erika on a government watch list as a threat to her child's well-being. As a long-time yoga practitioner and deep spiritualist, Erika shares her perspective on birth as a one-of-a-kind opportunity to embrace discomfort and release the notion of separation from oneness. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 05, 2023 |
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#206 | March Q&A: Choosing a Midwife, HELLP, Cold Sores, Drying the Baby, Lindsay Clancy, Covid & Aspirin, IUGR, Bottles, Parent Resources
2843
We are back with the March Q&A, and it is packed with your awesome questions!
And for those who subscribe on Apple podcasts or Patreon, in the extended version we answer:
And in our quickies segment we touch on:
Thank you as always for calling in your awesome questions! Don't forget to join us on Patreon for the extended version and twice monthly live Q&As on all kinds of topics! DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 29, 2023 |
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#205 | Six Principles of Holistic Fertility & How to Conceive with Dr. Nathan Riley
2921
Dr. Nathan Riley is an OBGYN who understands the holistic picture of women's health. You may remember him from Episode #165 where he discussed autonomous, empowered birth. Today, he joins us to explain why infertility rates are on the rise, especially for men, and gives us the six principles of holistic fertility that are important for healthy, conscious conception, along with the five fertility powerhouse nutrients. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 22, 2023 |
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#204 | The Return of Claude Racine-Valinsky From the Depths of Postpartum Depression to "Gangster" Mom Mode
2704
Claude Racine Valinsky is a former professional dancer and choreographer in Los Angeles who is now a mother who has recovered from postpartum depression and become a thriving mom-preneur. She returns to the show for the third time to share her "gangster mindset" for turning our most difficult moments in life into our greatest opportunity for growth, expansion, fulfillment and success. Claude joined us in episode #28 to share her home birth story and again in episode #72, where she opened up about the darkness of her postpartum depression, sudden weight gain, and health struggle with a Hashimoto's diagnosis. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 15, 2023 |
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#203 | Pre-eclampsia: Diet, Nutrition and the Influence of Sperm with Lily Nichols
2920
Pre-eclampsia impacts more than 5% of pregnancies, is a leading cause of pre-term birth and is increasingly on the rise. When it comes to this difficult diagnosis, we often are told there is nothing we can do other than give birth, usually by induction, sometimes by cesarean. While the etiology of pre-eclampsia is not fully understood and much more research needs to be done, we do know that diet and nutrition play a key role in the development of and/or severity of pre-eclampsia. Lily Nichols, expert nutritionist and author, returns to explain the critical nutrient deficiencies that are associated with this illness and illuminates the newest research pointing to male sperm as a potential player in the development of pre-eclampsia. If you are wondering if there is anything you can do to prevent or slow the development of pre-eclampsia, then this episode will guide you on how to do just that. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 08, 2023 |
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#202 | From Bliss to Rage: A Mother's Journey with Postpartum Depression
2152
When Lauren gave birth to her first baby, everything was seemingly perfect. Breastfeeding was going well, and she was totally in love with her baby girl. What she didn't see coming was a series of lifestyle changes including moving that set her up for her previously-managed OCD transforming into bouts of postpartum rage. At 9 months postpartum, when her pediatrician told her that her baby was too small, the regularly occurring outbursts that soon followed were classic for the postpartum rage cycle: trigger-outburst-guilt, with much of her rage directed at her husband. We discuss the triggers that exacerbated her postpartum mood disorder and the importance of seeking support and understanding the signs and symptoms of perinatal mood disorders. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 01, 2023 |
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#201 | February Q&A: Tongue-Tie & Bodywork, Cervical Exams, Ovulation, Postpartum Baths, Placenta Accreta, Forceps, Synthetic Fragrances, Tearing
2736
It's time for our monthly Q&A episode with your Down to Birth Show hosts Cynthia & Trisha. After a quick chat about the brutally cold weather (how unoriginal), we jump right into our listener-submitted questions beginning with:
And in the ad-free, extended version for our Patreon and Apple Subscribers, we answer a question about newborn transition, difficulty breathing and delayed cord clamping; the use of forceps and whether or not they are ever needed; the idea of ovulatory cycles and just how much "lifetime" ovulation is optimal; placenta accreta and how likely it is to recur, and more. Finally, we give our input on one woman's concern about her 16 month old breastfeeding "too much", according to her pediatrician. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 22, 2023 |
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#200 | Physiologic Birth of the Placenta in Water, Optimal Cord Clamping and Preventing Postpartum Hemorrhage with Barbara Harper
3189
Active management of the third stage of labor refers to interventions that are taken to speed up the delivery of the placenta and reduce the risk of postpartum hemorrhage. This typically involves the administration of an oxytocic drug like Pitocin or Syntocinon to increase the contraction of the uterus and the use of techniques like fundal pressure and controlled cord traction to guide the placenta out of the uterus. Expectant management, on the other hand, is a more hands-off approach in which the placenta is left to detach and be delivered naturally, without the use of drugs, manual manipulations or interventions. This approach is usually used when there are no risk factors for postpartum hemorrhage and the mother and baby are both in good condition. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 15, 2023 |
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#199 | The Art of Spiritual Midwifery with Anna
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Anna is a Swedish-practicing midwife who was professionally trained in Australia. Anna discusses her view of birth as a rite of passage and a transformational experience, and she laments the current state of the maternity system, which often leads to birth trauma for women. She talks about the desire to control every aspect of pregnancy and birth, and the importance of relinquishing to the unknown and trusting in the intelligence and expertise of the mother and baby. Anna also shares her thoughts on the role of birth in society and the need for a more holistic approach to maternity care. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 08, 2023 |
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#198 | Midwife Jessy's Undisclosed Breech Home Birth
2079
Jessy is a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) in the state of Utah where breech home birth is against state law. In her second pregnancy, she made three attempts using gentle version techniques to turn her baby, yet her baby turned back to breech every time. Weighing out the risks of breech vaginal home birth versus cesarean, she opted for home birth but kept her baby's breech position to herself and off-the-record. She only hinted to her midwife that her baby was being "stubborn." Jessy's intuition told her that forcing her baby to turn around was not the safest choice, which became evident as truth when her baby arrived with a short cord and a velamentous insertion. This inspiring story overcomes many obstacles including threatened early miscarriage, retained placenta, breech birth, a short cord and vaginal prolapse and demonstrates the ultimate power of a mother's intuition. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 01, 2023 |
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#197 | January Q&A: Postpartum Hemorrhage; Mucous Plugs; Pumping for Work Trips; Beyond 42 Weeks; Flat Nipples; Starting Solids; Placentas
2696
We are back with our first Q&A of 2023. We begin today by discussing absurd comments shared with us around natural birth statistics before we jump into our regular Q&As, starting with: DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 25, 2023 |
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#196 | The Toughest Part of Being a Doula with the Dynamic Doulas of London, Ontario
2801
Sarah Hutchison & Lara Martens are the Dynamic Doulas of London, Ontario. Doula work is a delicate balance of keeping a "soft front and hard back", stepping-in and and not overstepping. The fact is, doula burnout is high, the emotional work can be heavy, and the lifestyle is challenging. But as any doula knows, those who are called to the work can't imagine doing anything else and the rewards of supporting mothers in achieving their birth goals are tremendous. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 18, 2023 |
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#195 | Your Menstrual Cycle & Its Vital Role in Health Explained with Author Lara Briden
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If you are considering the birth control pill to fix your period, think again. Did you know the hormones in your pill don't replace the hormones your body naturally makes? Instead, they mask and suppress them. The period you get at the end of your birth control pill pack is not a real period; it's simply a withdraw bleed from synthetic hormones. Your brain, bones, heart, mood, sex drive, motivation, inspiration, and creativity are all influenced by the hormonal cycles of naturally-occurring estrogen and progesterone. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 11, 2023 |
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#194 | Birth Trauma & PPD Healed Through EMDR and a Redemptive Hospital Birth
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When Emma's first baby was one year old, she opened her phone to review her baby's photos and realized she had spent that year completely avoiding looking back at any images from the first three months of her baby's life. It was clear in that moment, she had experienced significant postpartum depression and delayed bonding with her baby, and the photos were a stark reminder of a truth she hadn't been ready to face. Six months later she ruptured her spleen, resulting in a post-traumatic stress response for which she sought out EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) Therapy. As she worked through her trauma, much of her first birth experience and PPD memories resurfaced. Later, when she found out she was pregnant again and considered where to birth her next baby, she ran the gamut from a fully medicalized birth to free-birth (unassisted home birth) and landed on a hospital birth with a "unicorn OB." She chose to birth in a hospital because it "scared" her, and was a fear she felt she needed to overcome. Emma was GBS positive and established a "No IV, no antibiotics" birth policy and confidently declined. Her water broke just minutes before she welcomed her eleven pound baby safely into her arms. That's right: Eleven pounds. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 04, 2023 |
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#193 | December Q&A: Rhogam; Premature Rupture of Membranes; Meconium; Fevers in Pregnancy; Cord Traction; Vitamin D; Waterbirth & Cold Plunges
2702
Hello everyone! It is that time of the month, and we are back with our December Q&A. To kick it off, we have a follow-up conversation based on one listener's response to episode #188 on Rhogam. Next, we jump into our questions discussing the actual risks of going past 24 hours or ruptured membranes without contractions and how you can mitigate those risks. We break down why meconium becomes more concerning after 42 weeks gestation and what those actual risks are. One mother who has the flu in the third trimester wonders if this is harmful to her baby and what she should do about it; another mom is curious if it is more helpful or hurtful to use assistance to birth her placenta and questions if a hep-lock or IV port is really necessary in labor. Furthermore, is vitamin D supplementation truly necessary for breastfed babies? DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 28, 2022 |
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#192 | Your Hospital Anecdotes, Our Comments
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If we could share every single woman's birth story on this podcast we would; but instead, today we are giving you a glimpse into a handful of hospital stories and anecdotes that represent the rhetoric, mistreatment, and disrespect that mothers experience from hospital staff, midwives, OBs and pediatricians. In this episode, you will hear such things as a mother having her call light put on the other side of the room so she couldn't bother the staff with her questions, another mother purposefully ignored when she needed to use the bathroom postpartum because she refused to give her baby sugar water, an OB telling a mom that her baby will have Cerebral Palsy if she declines a vaginal exam, and another mother getting an episiotomy without her consent, plus other examples of medical coercion and abuse. After each mother's story, you will hear Cynthia's and Trisha's comments. While we know this episode will get you fired up, we hope it will also shed light on just how rampant the problem is within today's maternity care system, with the reminder that you don't have to tolerate mistreatment. Thank you to these mother for taking the time to call us with their stories and thank you for taking the time to listen. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 21, 2022 |
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#191 | Placental Abruption: Meghan's Third and Final Birth
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Meghan Murray and her husband decided to have one more baby. She'd already experienced beautiful vaginal births with her first two boys and, like so many women, she mentally went through all the things she could do this time around to get things just right. In preparing for her dream birth, Meghan hired new midwives who practiced outside of a hospital setting and seemed perfectly aligned with her wishes. She remained fit, practiced Spinning Babies and learned relaxation techniques for a comfortable physiologic birth. She savored her pregnancy knowing it was her last, and excitedly planned her first water birth. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 14, 2022 |
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#190 | Babies in the NICU: Three Mothers' Stories
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No matter how beautiful, long, short or difficult your birth experience is, nothing compares to the agony of your brand new baby being whisked out of your arms and admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) or Special Care Nursery (SPC). Mothers in this position often experience less autonomy and authority over the decision-making and informed consent process than they did in their own birth experiences. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 07, 2022 |
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#189 | November Q&A: Cholestasis; Growth Curve Worries; Petite-Women Birth Concerns; The McRobert's Position; Retained Placenta; Burping & Formula
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Hello everyone! It is Wednesday, and we are back with our monthly Q&A! DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 30, 2022 |
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#188 | Rhogam for Rh Negative Mothers: How It Works and When It Doesn't
2201
In today's episode we discuss the problem with Rh negative blood types and how it impacts future pregnancies. We've invited Courtney, mother of three, and her midwife, Jessica, to discuss her experience as an Rh negative mother who became isoimmunized against her baby, resulting in the need for multiple in-utero blood transfusions to save her baby's life. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 23, 2022 |
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#187 | Carrying the Torch of the Midwives Before Us: An Off-The-Record Kind of Conversation with Home Birth Midwife Lindsey Meehleis
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Lindsey Meehleis is a midwife in Southern California who practices traditional midwifery and has supported women in home birth over the last nineteen years. We invited her on the podcast today without a specific agenda (a rather unusual twist on our style) and let the conversation take on a life of its own. We discussed what is happening with midwifery today as we pondered, "Where have all the traditional midwives gone, how has midwifery changed with the advent of nurse-midwifery, and who will carry the torch for the ancient wisdom of birth going forward?" DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 16, 2022 |
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#186 | Five Tips for Your Easiest Birth with The Naked Doula
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Emma of the naked doula is a mother, instagram phenomenon, artist, and passionate, bold birth educator residing across the pond from us, in England. She uses bright colors, raw imagery and impassioned language to teach her birth philosophy and method. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 09, 2022 |
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#185 | Reyna's Unmedicated Twin Birth Against Doctors' Orders
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When Reyna learned she was pregnant with twins she was told she would need to be induced and get an epidural and that there was no point in staying pregnant beyond thirty-eight weeks. Refusing induction, she went into labor naturally at 39+2. As labor progressed, her obstetrician told her she needed to give birth in the operating room. Without a second thought, Reyna turned and said, "No, I am not giving birth in the OR." Instead, she went into the bathroom, dropped to her hands and knees and created a safe, quiet space for herself while her OB pleaded with her to at least allow her to "deliver" her babies. "No, I don't like you!" Reyna responded. This is an inspiring and courageous twin birth story showing what is possible when a woman takes absolute full responsibility for her birth choices regardless of who attends her birth or where. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 02, 2022 |
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#184 | October Q&A: Evening Primrose; Breastmilk Storage; IUGR; Pumping the Second Side; Bacteria in Urine; Longer Gestations & Early Milestones; Postpartum Meals
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Hello Friends! It is Wednesday, and Cynthia & Trisha are here with your October Q&A episode. To kick it off, we share a story from a listener who wanted everyone to know how a routine gynecologic exam in her twenties turned into a precarious moment in her VBAC experience. Next, we dive into our questions beginning with the potential association between evening primrose oil in pregnancy, a smelly baby at birth, and early cord clamping--could they all be related? Then, we go through the real deal on how long breast milk can sit unrefrigerated and still be safe to feed your baby. Next, comes a lengthy discussion on intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)--what is it and how is it diagnosed? Another mother asks if it is necessary to pump the alternate breast overnight to keep up her supply. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 26, 2022 |
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#183 | Group B Strep: Screening, Risks, Protocols, Problems and Alternatives
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GBS affects approximately one-third of all pregnant women, and involves widespread use of intravenous antibiotics in labor even though the screening tests are known to be highly imperfect, and some women are at significantly greater risk of GBS colonization than others. Further, there are specific risk factors making some babies far more likely to contract GBS than others. This "universal" approach to GBS management is the very start of our deep and detailed discussion on GBS. Cynthia and Trisha have reviewed all the available data from the past three decades to provide you with informed decision-making on GBS. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 19, 2022 |
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#182 | Labor Induction: Risks, Reasons and Results with Dr. Rachel Reed, PhD
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Dr. Rachel Reed, PhD, author, midwife, researcher and expert in physiologic birth joins us for the second time on the Down to Birth Show to discuss the differences between physiologic birth and induced labor. She shares with us the different ways in which Pitocin/Syntocin impacts the course of labor, including significant risk to mother and baby, versus our own natural oxytocin. You'll learn the unique risks of Pitocin for first-time moms, and the entirely different set of risks Pitocin presents to women who've already given birth before. She explains the general risks of induced labor, and discusses circumstances when induction is absolutely necessary. In this episode, we critique the ARRIVE trial and its flawed results, which have led to many women choosing elective induction at 39 weeks believing it to be a safer option for mother and baby. If you haven't heard it already, be sure to listen to our very popular first episode with Rachel Reed. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 12, 2022 |
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#181 | A Motherless Mother in Recovery Experiencing Birth As the Ultimate Surrender
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Melissa Pennel was thirty-four years old when she was pregnant for the first time. She already had experienced significant life challenges: She had lost her own mother a few years earlier, plus she was seven years sober. Her pregnancy presented several health scares along the way, such as a two-vessel cord and a perceived hole in the baby's heart, eliciting words like possible "fetal demise" from her providers and the potentiality of "organs not developing normally". Her baby was also breech until 36 weeks, keeping Melissa questioning whether her own ego and attachment to a natural birth were the reasons for her challenges. She then went post-term, all the way to 42 weeks, despite pressure from her providers, and during a vaginal exam at her check-up, the amniotic sac "accidentally" ruptured. Due to her work in recovery and a strong muscle for accepting responsibility, she kept coming back to the feeling that she was somehow creating these situations herself - she called this "the choke-hold of control". Melissa caught herself forming negative beliefs like, "Everything's going wrong" and "Nothing is going to be easy." Once her OB broke her waters, she was advised to be induced, and an extremely long and difficult labor ensued. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 05, 2022 |
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#180 | September Q&A: Family Boundaries; Induction; Cesarean Predisposition; PROM; Marriage After Baby; Lotus Birth; Nausea; Amnio-Infusion
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Hello all! We are back with our monthly Q&A. To kick it off, we have a short conversation on maternal instincts. Next, we discuss how one woman should handle her mother-in-law's request to be called "Mama". Then we review the very few reasons when an induction is absolutely needed, how long you can go with ruptured membranes before inducing labor, followed by a question on familial history and a genetic predisposition to needing a cesarean birth. Another mother calls in to express her postpartum exhaustion and relationship struggles, as she feels depleted by the day and with nothing left to give her husband at the end of it. One mother wonders if being sick during pregnancy is harmful to her baby, and finally we discuss Lotus birth--what is it and is it un-hygienic? Thank you as always for your great questions and see you next week! If you would like to submit a question, please call and leave us a message with your question at (802) 438-3696 That's 802-GET-DOWN. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 28, 2022 |
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#179 | Creating Healthy, Independent Infant Sleep Habits with Ellie Lindenmayer
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Infant sleep is one of the most important topics on the mind of every new parent. New parents are left wondering what normal infant sleep looks like, how much their baby needs at each age, and how create easier sleep routines resulting in longer stretches of sleep during day and night. Many of today's parents are afraid that any degree of crying will create negative associations or, worse, teach the child their needs won't be met. In preparation for this episode, we solicited questions from the Down to Birth community on Instagram, and we've asked the expert: Ellie is a birth doula and infant sleep specialist who shares her expertise on how to help babies learn healthy sleep habits using wake windows and without aggressive sleep training techniques. In this episode, we take your most important infant sleep questions and get Ellie's expert answers on how to help, such as: Should I swaddle to sleep? Is it ok to breastfeed to sleep? Can I let my baby cry it out? How do I get my baby to sleep longer stretches, how to handle vacationing with baby, and many more. Ellie gives us practical and gentle tools to help our babies get their daily sleep needs met without feeling guilty. If you are looking for more sleep with less stress, this episode is for you. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 21, 2022 |
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#178 | How Out-of-Hospital Birth Prejudice and Provider Bias Harms Mothers and Babies With Attorney Hermine Hayes-Klein
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Hermine Hayes-Klein is a fearless legal advocate for sexual and reproductive rights with a particular passion for defending women’s human rights in childbirth, which, she says, are routinely violated in maternity care systems. In today's episode, we talk to Hermine about provider bias; in particular, the bias hospital-based providers can demonstrate toward (especially home-birth) midwives. However, limiting birth options for mothers does not decrease risk of poor outcomes but rather puts mothers and babies at increased risk. When women choose an alternative birth experience, such as out-of-hospital birth or home birth, the medical bias held by hospital-based providers often results in sub-par or even negligent care of the birthing woman, increasing both her risk and her baby's risk. Hermine Hayes-Klien talks to us today about how United States law fails to protect birth choices and instead excuses obstetricians for biased and negligent care of women who transfer from home to hospital. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 14, 2022 |
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#177 | Going Clean & Green for a Non-Toxic Lifestyle with Carly Hartwig
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There are over 85,000 chemicals approved for use in personal care products and fewer than 200 of those have been tested for safety. Carly Hartwig is a home-birth mother of one, Instagram influencer @cleanlivingwithcarly, and soon-to-be certified endocrine wellness and fertility counselor. Her passion for clean living grew out of her own hormonal havoc when she was told in her twenties she had the hormonal landscape of a post-menopausal woman. She soon realized the products she was using daily in her skincare, make-up and household routines were compromising her health and hormones. After eliminating the most common culprits of toxic living such as heavy metals, Pthalates, and Bisphenols, her health was beautifully restored. Today, she is here to educate us on the lack of FDA-regulation when it comes to the personal-care and household-product industries in the Unites States. She also shares some of the primary sources of endocrine disruptors, teaches how to swap the toxic for clean-and-green products, and explains why this is critical for all mothers who are pregnant or trying to conceive. This episode will have you going "Marie Kondo" on everything in your bathroom, pantry, laundry room, and cleaning products, so get ready for clean living with Carly! DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 07, 2022 |
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#176 | August Q&A: Multiple Miscarriages; Evening Primrose Oil; Safe Bed-Sharing; Breastmilk Stashes; Failure to Descend; Pushing; High Blood Pressure
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Hello! It is the last Wednesday of the month, and you know what that means. We are here with our August Q&A episode. Today, Cynthia & Trisha are discussing weight loss after having a baby--can you lose too much too fast? What tests should be done if you've had multiple miscarriages? Can you give us the scoop on Evening Primrose oil for getting labor started--is it helpful or hurtful? How do I handle my mother-in-law who keeps giving me keepsakes for the baby that I don't want? Is there a way to safely bed-share with your baby without investing in extra contraptions? What is the best way to create a stash of breastmilk without causing oversupply? And one of everybody's favorite topics: pushing in labor--when should you and when should you not? Trisha gives one woman the lowdown on all the types of "pain relief" options in labor. Another moms is experiencing some unusual physical symptoms at six-months postpartum and wonders if it means her period is returning. We discuss "failure to descend" versus failure to progress because one listener had a c-section and had never heard of that diagnosis before. We discuss a pregnant woman's high blood pressure questions as she's preparing for her home birth, and Trisha responds to a question about newborn feeding schedules as far as whether there's a time and place for using an alarm. We also discuss short cords, and resources for evidence-based info on induction versus waiting. Thank you as always for your great questions and see you next week! If you would like to submit a question, please call and leave us a message with your question at (802) 438-3696 That's 802-GET-DOWN ********** DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 31, 2022 |
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#175 | Optimizing Your Fertility at Any Age with Naturopath Dr. Aumatma
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Dr. Aumatma is a holistic fertility expert who, through her own hormonal challenges, became impassioned about supporting and optimizing women's cycles and fertility irrespective of age. Today, she shares with us the three most common myths in infertility and fertility management, explains what tests we must do to better understand our hormones, and walks us through the key lifestyle factors, sleep, stress, and diet, and how they impact our fertility and conception. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 24, 2022 |
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#174 | This is How Your Marriage Ends with Author Matthew Fray
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Matthew Fray's new book "This Is How Your Marriage Ends: A Hopeful Approach to Saving Relationships" is directed primarily toward a male audience, and asserts most marriages end with a whimper, not a bang. Matthew helps us understand how good people like him "can be terrible husbands" by unknowingly causing harm to their wives. Did you know most divorces are initiated by women? Matthew explains relationships don't tend to end from a single betrayal, but after years of a slow but persistent erosion in trust over seemingly minor marital disputes. Having first-hand experience with a wife who left him when their son was a toddler, Matthew turned to blogging as his outlet for expressing his extreme pain and frustration, initially victimizing himself as a good guy who didn't deserve to lose his family just because he's not perfect. But after hearing from thousands of men and women - particularly after his viral article "She divorced me because I left dishes by the sink" - Matthew experienced a transformation by taking full responsibility for hurting his wife time and time again, having seldom taken seriously her complaints along the way. Matthew says part of the problem is that no one ever taught him how to be a better husband, and he doesn't hold that opinion as an excuse, but as a conviction that men can learn to do better and not end up with wives who'll leave them, as his did. Matthew has been coaching couples for several years before writing his book. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 17, 2022 |
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#173 | Obstetric Violence with Home Birth Midwife Anne Margolis, CNM, RN
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Anne Margolis is a Certified Nurse Midwife, author, and trauma specialist who has been catching babies for over twenty-seven years. Anne began as a nurse, whose first birth experience ended in a fourth degree episiotomy and vacuum delivery after being told she needed an emergency cesarean because her baby's heart rate was decelerating. She was so "checked out" due to stress and shock that Anne describes her first birth as an out-of-body experience. Her baby was born with normal APGARs, which immediately refuted her doctor's fetal distress diagnosis, and she was left completely traumatized in the aftermath. This led her to develop a program for birth trauma healing and turn to home birth midwifery practice, where she could put the mother at the center of the decision-making process. She joins us today to share stories of obstetric violence and redemptive births alike, and to discuss how women can shift their mindsets and make the commitment to birth their babies on their terms, no matter where they choose to give birth. This show is sponsored by: DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 10, 2022 |
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#172 | Our Sexual Energy as The Secret Weapon to Our Best Birth and Best Life with Kim Anami
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Sex and birth are inextricably linked. Both functions operate optimally under the same conditions: trust, safety, security, surrender. Furthermore, they both require oxytocin. So it is no wonder that birth can actually be the biggest oxytocin rush and/or orgasm of your life. But the importance of healthy sexual energy goes far beyond birth. It is also the key to our best relationship and our best life. Kim Anami is a holistic sex and relationship coach whose thirty years' experience has been dedicated toward working with couples to show them how to harness their sexual energy as the ultimate power source of their lives. As Kim states, "When we are disconnected from our sexual energy, we are operating at a deficiency. Conversely, when we are connected to our sexual energy we are operating on all cylinders. It is our life force." DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 03, 2022 |
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#171 | July Q&A: Premature Rupture of Membranes; Hyperemesis Gravidarum; Aspirin in Pregnancy; Waterbirth Safety; Nipple Pain in Pregnancy; Quickies
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It's the last Wednesday of the month, and you know what that means! We are back with our monthly Q&A episode. Today, we are discussing how long it is safe to go after your bag of waters releases (see link to our amazing birth story below); What can be done to treat or prevent Hyperemesis Gravidarum? Is Aspirin in pregnancy really necessary and what does ACOG have to say about it? When your hospital says waterbirth increases the risk of infection and is harmful to the baby--is that true? The world-expert in water birthing, Barbara Harper, founder of Waterbirth International, steps in to answer this one. And one woman was told her uterus wouldn't be "safe" to have another baby for one year. Also, is it normal to have nipple pain in pregnancy and how will this impact breastfeeding...and quickies! Severe carpel tunnel in pregnancy and what can be done about it; Fetal scalp electrode monitoring: what is it, and do the benefits ever outweigh the risks? You'll hear our thoughts on this "extreme" intervention; Having a two-vessel umbilical cord that was identified during the 20-week anatomy scan; What's the lowdown on red raspberry leaf tea? What are the benefits, and when/how much to consume during pregnancy. Thank you as always for your excellent questions and see you next week! If you would like to submit a question, please call and leave us a message with your question at (802) 438-3696 That's 802-GET-DOWN. (Cute, right?) DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 27, 2022 |
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#170 | An Empowered Cesarean Recovery with Nicole Alfred
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Nicole Alfred the @csectionrecoverycoach is a cesarean recovery coach, massage therapist, and mother of two. She has given birth two times by C-section: one emergent and traumatic, the other empowered and planned. Her different experiences opened her eyes to the abject lack of support mothers receive post-operatively. Nicole sees a need for much more emotional and physical attention. In today's episode, she shares with us the key steps she believes mothers must take, beginning immediately after surgery and through the first 12 weeks postpartum for optimizing recovery. These steps include restoring healthy digestive function, wound & scar healing, pelvic floor recovery, and connecting with the incision scar to facilitate emotional processing and healing. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 20, 2022 |
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#169 | Protecting Today's Children with Integrative Pediatrician Dr. Joel Gator Walsh
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Should we really be treating fevers in young children? Why are babies so gassy? Are germs helpful or harmful for our kids? Do kids actually need cows' milk? What is the problem with dairy? Dr. Joel Gator Walsh , an integrative pediatrician in Los Angeles, CA, joins us today to discuss what is happening in our environment that is contributing to making kids sicker in the past generation rather than healthier, despite all the resources of modern society. He answers our most pressing questions as new parents, gives us tips on how to make our households healthier and teaches us the most important step we can take to protect our children's health for the long term. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 13, 2022 |
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#168 | The Business of Birth Control with Abby Epstein: The Importance of Safety, Autonomy and Informed Consent
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The Business of Birth Control is a new documentary directed by Abby Epstein and produced by Ricki Lake, who achieved international acclaim for their revolutionary 2008 film, "The Business of Being Born". Abby joins us today to discuss why she and Ricki made their new film, which boldly shines a light on some of the severe side effects that accompany hormonal birth control, including death -- and the fact that congress, and the pharmaceuticals who make the pill, have long known about these adverse outcomes and have done nothing about it. Most disturbing of all, even though women have gathered, protested and demanded a safer and better-quality pill since the 1960s when these side-effects became known, there has been absolutely no advance in technology nor any improvement in safety standards in decades. In fact, the majority of the budget is allocated toward marketing and advertising. And while most bereaved families have been gagged in exchange for financial settlements, in the film we meet the parents of those who refused and who are demanding change. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 06, 2022 |
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#167 | June Q&A: A Small Pelvis, Plugged Ducts, Vaginal Exams, ECVs, Libido Woes, Castor Oil, Cord Prolapse & Painful Sex, Plus Bonus Content
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Hello! This month's Q &A begins with a story from one of our Instagram followers on the pressure to have a vaginal exam to document cervical status so that her doctor can schedule an induction that she didn't need or want. Next, we jump into our questions starting with, "I have a narrow pelvis and grow big babies; what can I do stretch my pelvis for birth?" What can be done about plugged ducts and "Is my haaka helpful or hurtful?" Do I have to be on my back for a cervical exam? What are the risks of external cephalic version for breech babies? Is it normal to have no libido at four months postpartum? Should I use castor oil to induce labor? What is actually necessary for baby care; do we really need all the things? Why is cord prolapse dangerous? And finally, why is postpartum sex so painful? DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 29, 2022 |
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#166 | Developmental Toilet Training: How to Train Your Baby for Big Kid Success
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Danielle Daure holds a Master's Degree in Education and has over 20 years' combined experience in education and behavior analysis. She is a Board Certified and Licensed Behavior Analyst (BCBA, LBA). For years, Danielle worked with children as old as five with extreme anxiety around toilets, to the point where they had severe constipation through tears and tantrums. She saw frustrated parents trying to reward and/or punish their children into potty-training; children who couldn't start preschool because they weren't out of diapers; and even older toddlers with impacted bowels who had to be hospitalized because of days of withholding bowel movements. Developmental Toilet Training Website DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 22, 2022 |
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Bonus Episode | Midwives Under Assault by Hospital Administrators
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"There is something going on against midwives, against birth centers, and against choice for women." Cathy Parisi is the director of the Connecticut Childbirth & Women's Center in Danbury, Ct since 1999. The center is the only free standing birth center in Connecticut and promotes physiologic birth under the midwifery model of care, offering women choice, freedom, and empowered decision making in their care in the birth center itself or across the street at Danbury hospital. Recently, the hospital administration cited more than one midwife for practicing "out of their scope of care" and revoked one midwifes' privileges to attend birth at the hospital for an incident that happened within the birth center, was clinically appropriate, and entirely within her scope of practice. Cathy joins us today to share the battle that not just her team of midwives are facing from the hospital monopoly; but also, what she believes to be a trend nationwide--punishing midwives and the women who choose to birth with them for choice and autonomy over their own bodies and birth. This episode is close to our hearts as it impacts our local community of women and midwives, is where Cynthia gave birth to her first child and where Trisha provides her breastfeeding services. We stand with the midwives of CCWC.
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We serve women and couples coast to coast with our live, online monthly HypnoBirthing classes, support groups and prenatal/postpartum workshops. We are so grateful for your reviews and shares! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 20, 2022 |
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#165 | The Holistic OBGYN, Dr. Nathan Riley, on Autonomous, Empowered Birth
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Dr. Nathan Riley is a board certified obstetrician in California advocating for autonomous birth. Through his experiences as a hospice care provider he learned that choices around end of life care are no different from choices in birth: What matters is that mothers feel in charge of their bodies during their birth experiences. He argues that birth is so much more than the standard metrics of vital signs, length of labor, fetal status or any variable routinely measured in labor in the medical model of care. Join us in this stimulating conversation on how women can better empower themselves in birth and hear one courageous OB's perspective on what his role actually is in birth: Supporting your sovereignty and your choice without coercion or judgement. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 15, 2022 |
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#164 | Kendra's Story: A Traumatic Birth Due To Hospital Policy and Poor Training
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Kendra grew up around physiologic birth and was a VBAC, breech baby herself. She was planning a birth center birth when she went into labor unexpectedly at 35 weeks. Her physiologic birth plans quickly went out the window as she was continuously monitored, poorly treated, stalled around 7 cm, got an epidural and ended up with a C-section when her baby's heart rate dropped. Despite being born with excellent APGAR scores, her baby was whisked away from her and sent to the NICU for five days, where she had limited access and wasn't able to breastfeed on her terms. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 08, 2022 |
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#163 | Postpartum Roundtable: A Candid Conversation on Postpartum Depression, Anxiety, Unmet Expectations & Spousal Challenges
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Today's episode is another special roundtable, in which we sat with some postpartum women in Cynthia’s kitchen to talk about their experiences with anxiety, depression, panic attacks, arguments with their spouses, lack of professional and personal support and unmet expectations. Amy is a young mother of three; Devon is a forty-year old mother of one. Through tears and some laughter, you’ll discover that much of what a struggling mom experiences in her early months and years is universal, and even with different lifestyles and networks of support, it’s the emotional journey of postpartum life that everyone can relate to. ********** DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 01, 2022 |
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#162 | May Q&A: Conversations with Your OB; Erythromycin; Mastitis; IUDs; Artificial Rupture of Membranes; Feeding Routines for Babies; Quickies!
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Hey everyone! Starting this month, we have an exciting announcement: Down to Birth Show is now producing longer Q&A episodes. So if you can't get enough Q&A, and you want to enjoy ad-free episodes all the time, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts! DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 25, 2022 |
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#161 | Four Tips to Train Your Body for Natural Birth with Doula Krisha Crosley
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You may remember today’s guest from episode #105: Tips for Supporting Women in Labor with Guest Host Doula Krisha. This time, Krisha of @serenitylifedoula returns to the show to discuss her effective techniques for "training" - in the athletic sense - her clients for a natural birth. As a former collegiate athlete, Krisha has developed a methodology for training your mind and body to have your easiest, fastest, and safest birth. Today, she explains her four key steps to get there and how you can utilize these practices at home to get your mind and body in the best birth shape. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 18, 2022 |
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#160 | The Vagina Whisperer: Painful Sex, Prolapse, Incontinence & Diastasis Recti After Birth
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If you are on Instagram and you have a vagina, you most likely know Sara Reardon, aka the vagina whisperer, pelvic floor extraordinaire! Your pelvic floor is a group of muscles that attach to your pelvis and support your bladder, rectum, and reproductive organs. A healthy pelvic floor is essential to normal functions such as: peeing, pooping, sex, and childbirth. But after pregnancy and childbirth many women experience difficulty in one or all of the above. #25 | Your Core & Pelvic Floor: Interview with Women's Health Physical Therapist Tara Gibson
Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 11, 2022 |
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#159 | Yvonne Strahovski's Birth Story: The Most Important Lesson in Childbirth
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Yvonne Strahovski is the Emmy-nominated, SAG Award-nominated and Golden-Globe-nominated actress whose voice you may recognize as the stoic Serena Joy Waterford from The Handmaid's Tale. She is the mother of a toddler and newborn, with starkly different birth stories to share. During Yvonne's first pregnancy, she felt an intuitive pull toward birthing at home, but suppressed her inner voice in favor of the rational, which warned Yvonne that she lived too far from the hospital in the event of a possible transfer. Choosing not to explore it further, Yvonne had her first baby in the hospital. Despite having an obstetrician she deeply trusted, she felt her birthing body start to shut down as soon as she arrived to the unfamiliar setting and found herself surrounded by numerous "strangers" - e.g. hospital staff. Yvonne began her second pregnancy sensing some PTSD from her first birth, and this time allowed her inner voice to grow louder. Yvonne shares her story of consuming a series of inspiring home-birth stories on Down to Birth Show and other platforms, until finally she said, "If all these women can do it, why can't I?" Yvonne's second son was born at home in December 2021, with her husband, midwives and doula present, along with some of her closest friends and even her obstetrician, who served as a back-up attendant. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 04, 2022 |
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#158 | April Q&A: Jaundice; Neonatal Hypoglycemia; C-section & Your Pelvic Floor; Family Boundaries; Meconium; Tearing; Anterior Placentas; Quickies!
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It is time for our monthly Q&A episode! This month we kick it off with a follow-up conversation on the impact of early, frequent breastfeeding on significant jaundice. Next, we address the question of why babies who are born "big" get heel sticks for blood sugar monitoring; the impact of a c-section birth on your pelvic floor; how to manage family boundaries around your birth and birth preferences with your sister and mother-in-law; if you tear during vaginal birth and get medication for stitches, is it still considered an unmedicated or natural birth? Is there a way to monitor your baby's heart rate and still be able to move freely and change position? Will an anterior placenta impact my labor? Tune in to catch all these great questions and more. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions for our monthly Q&A. If you have a questions for a future episode, please submit on our website downtobirthshow.com Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 27, 2022 |
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#157 | Labiaplasty Gone Wrong: The Collateral Damage of Ignorant Doctors
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When Jessica Pin was a teenager, she became convinced her labia minora were unusually large and unattractive. Within days of her 18th birthday, she underwent labiaplasty with a prominent and trusted OB/GYN. Without her consent or knowledge, her surgeon severed the dorsal nerve of her clitoris, resulting in a loss of clitoral sensation. In the face of clear evidence, her doctor denied wrongdoing. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 20, 2022 |
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#156 | Surviving Psychosis: Christa's Story of Postpartum Hallucinations, Intrusive Thoughts & Suicidal Ideations
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Postpartum psychosis occurs in 1 to 2 per thousand births and involves extreme conditions such as hallucinations, intrusive thoughts, paranoia, suspiciousness, hyperactivity and inability to sleep. Today, Christa Ardelean joins us to share her powerful story of suffering with postpartum psychosis. Her story begins with a difficult pregnancy and birth, which, unbeknownst to Christa, included numerous risk factors associated with perinatal mood disorders. When Christa's son was born, she didn't want to hold him. Shortly after, she woke up one morning and said to herself, "My baby would be so much better off if he were dead or if I were." Terrified, she found 24/7 support for the next six weeks while she suffered with hallucinations, intrusive thoughts, and an inability to bond with her baby. With continuous support, medication, and journaling, in time, she completely overcame these feelings. By nine months, she felt like her own person again and now reflects on how her deep love for her son saved her life. If you are suffering from postpartum psychosis, you can can get help now. More episodes like this: Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 13, 2022 |
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#155 | Gestational Diabetes Prevention and Management with Author Lily Nichols, RDN, CDE
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Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is the most common metabolic complication of pregnancy impacting 5-10% of pregnancies in the United States. It is controversial, complicated and loaded with misinformation. Do I really have it? Can I reverse it? Is there a way to prevent it? According to Lily Nichols, RDN CDE author of Real Food for Gestational Diabetes and Real Food for Pregnancy, you can certainly "stack the deck in your favor" to reduce your chances of it impacting your pregnancy and birth. In this episode, we discuss the nutritional deficits that may set you up for the development of GDM along with the flaws in how we screen women for GDM and finally, the things you can do to best manage your diet if you are diagnosed with GDM. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 06, 2022 |
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#154 | March Q&A: Postpartum Boundaries; Infant Lip Blisters; Newborn Separation After Birth; Legitimate Reasons For C-section; Splitting Parental Duties; Quickies
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It is time for our monthly Q&A episode! Thank you to all who submitted excellent questions. Today we are talking about managing postpartum boundaries with in-laws, newborn nursing blisters--are they normal or not? What can I do to ensure my baby is not separated from us after giving birth in the hospital--do they really need to leave the room to be examined? What are the actual reasons I might truly need a C-section? What is the best way to split parental duties after baby arrives? And finally, we finish with a round of rapid fire quickies touching on topics like leaking breasts, prolapse, enlarged feet in pregnancy, gestational diabetes, bathing babies and what surprises women most about birth! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 30, 2022 |
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#153 | Legal Case Study #2 with Attorney Hermine Hayes-Klein: Injured by Obstetrics with Nowhere Else To Turn
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"You'll never get sued for doing a C-section. You'll only get sued for the C-section you didn’t do." This is the narrative in obstetrics and the lens through which hospital birth is viewed. Litigation is feared in obstetrics but for the wrong reasons. What if, instead of resorting to C-sections to prevent liability exposure, doctors were rewarded for avoiding unnecessary C-sections? United States law as it's practiced today actually incentivizes OBs to perform C-sections, and this system plays a role in today’s high maternal mortality rates in the U.S. Further, obstetricians get paid more from their hospital administrators for cesarean sections. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 23, 2022 |
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#152 | The Impact of Birth Stress on Infant Development with Ontrack Baby
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Today's discussion with sisters Jenny & Carrie, the pediatric occupational therapists behind Ontrack baby and the NOEL method, is a fascinating exploration of how the way we give birth impacts infant development. In particular, when the baby does not experience the "vaginal squeeze" the infant Moro or "startle" reflex may become over-reactive, leading to more fussy babies and slower development. Jenny & Carrie explain how vaginal birth can help infant development and answer the important question of how to best support babies born via cesarean section or have a high stress, high-intervention birth. They share the number one thing we can do to help our babies development and give us their take on swaddling, SIDS, and stomach sleeping for infants. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 16, 2022 |
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#151 | Labor & Delivery: A Nurse Shares Why She Left Obstetrics
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"I don't have time for this today. My son has a soccer game. I am going to say that her baby's heart rate is decelerating and we need to do a c-section." This is just one of the many things Shelby, a nurse in Arizona, heard from doctors in labor & delivery when she worked on the maternity ward. This episode brings to light the very real fact that providers don't always have the laboring woman's best interest in mind. Instead, profits, time, and liability concerns drive many of the decisions leading to unnecessary birth interventions. Shelby joins us today to share what she witnessed in her years as a nurse and why she left obstetrics. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 09, 2022 |
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#150 | Myth of the Aging Placenta with Midwife/Author Dr. Rachel Reed
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Dr. Rachel Reed, PhD, is a midwife and author of Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage. Since earning her doctorate, she is inarguably now among the world’s leading experts on placentas. The publication of her book has come during an era in which women are often told placentas can “fail”, “calcify” and “stop working”, or even cause stillbirth. This rhetoric - all of which we discuss in the episode - is not only terrifying, but false and harmful, and consistently contributes to high rates of unnecessary medical interventions, such as labor inductions and scheduled cesareans. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 02, 2022 |
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#149 | February Q&A: Eating in Labor; Leaking Breastmilk; Postpartum Bodies; Homebirth & Ultrasound; Ovulation After Baby; Birthing Positions; Quickies
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We are back with our February Q&A episode! Today we are answering your questions around: Whether or not it is ok to eat in labor, leaking (or not leaking breastmilk), how long it takes to feel good in your postpartum body and relationship again; whether or not you need an OB in order to get prenatal ultrasounds if you are having a home birth; understanding ovulation postpartum; why not to birth on your back, and our quickies series, loaded with great questions submitted by all of you! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 23, 2022 |
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#148 | Choosing Egg Freezing: The Process, Cost, Benefits and Rationale
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Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 16, 2022 |
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#147 | Stefanie's Birth Story: Healing Generational Birth Trauma
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How do you know if you are carrying generational birth trauma? And if you identify it, what can be done about it prior to giving birth? Today we meet with Stefanie, whose mother had a traumatic obstetrical experience while birthing to her second daughter, resulting in permanent brain damage and disability to Stefanie's little sister. Stefanie was five at the time. For nine months, she had excitedly anticipated her parents coming home with a baby, only to end up in her grandparents' care while her parents spent most of their time in the NICU. The childhood experience left a fear and trauma so deep, Stefanie always intended never to get pregnant. It was only after Stefanie fell in love and got married that she recognized she carried her mother's birth trauma with her throughout childhood and into adulthood, impacting her beliefs around the safety of childbirth. Feeling a longing to become a mother herself, she went on a courageous healing journey including therapy, reiki, and even mediumship, to confront her trauma. Once she came out the other side, her pregnancy and birth transpired as the most natural and magical experience of Stefanie's life. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 09, 2022 |
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#146 | Finding Autonomy and Asserting Your Birth Plan with Fierce Lizzie
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Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 02, 2022 |
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#145 | January Q&A: Hypertension & Induction; Boundaries with In-Laws; Posterior Babies; Birth Centers; Distracted Breast Feeders; Limited Provider Options; The "Nurse Curse"; Quickies!
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Our January Q&A is here and has a special treat! In addition to your more in depth questions we've add a "quickies" series to the end of the episode. Be sure to check it out and send in your feedback! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 26, 2022 |
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#144 | Restrengthening from Within through Yoga with Deb Flashenberg of The Prenatal Yoga Center
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Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 19, 2022 |
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#143 | Radical Boundaries in Birth with Guest Host Tranquility by Hehe
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Can you be so firm and stable in your boundaries around pregnancy and birth that it doesn't actually matter who attends your birth because you know exactly what and what not you will let into your birth space? In this conversation with HeHe Stewart of Tranquility by Hehe, we dive into hard boundaries versus soft boundaries; how to set them; and why they matter so much in our birth planning as well as our personal relationships throughout pregnancy and postpartum. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 12, 2022 |
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#142 | Healing from Birth Trauma with Hypnosis: Molly's Birth Story
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Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 05, 2022 |
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New Year's Eve Bonus | Our Youngest Listener
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New Year's marks exactly two years since we launched our first episode of Down To Birth. While we didn't know what to expect, we never dreamed so many people from every single (inhabited) continent would become avid followers of our show, and we are deeply grateful you find our show worth your time, attention and dedication. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 31, 2021 |
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#141 | December Q&A: Increasing Breastmilk; Urge to Push; Cervadil; Posterior Cervix; PP Anxiety; Big Placentas; The Purple Line; Amusement Parks in Pregnancy
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Our December Q&A is here and loaded with entertaining and informative questions: We begin with a question around increasing supply without pumping: Is it possible? Next we dive into expectations around pushing as it relates to hypnobirthing and the urge to push. We discuss Cervadil and the subsequent cascade of interventions and what happens with a posterior cervix? How do you know if you have postpartum anxiety? What are placental lakes and will a large placenta cause a big baby? Is the purple line a good indicator of cervical dilation? And finally, is it safe to go to Disney and go on amusement park rides in pregnancy? Play now on all podcast platforms! Check chapter markers to skip to a specific question. This show is sponsored by: Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 29, 2021 |
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#140 | How to Write Your Birth Story with Carrie Murphy
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Writing your birth story seems like a simple thing to do, yet so many of us struggle with where and how to begin; and many of us never get it on paper at all. We can also opt to skip the writing and record ourselves telling the story. Writing your birth story is not only creating a beautiful memory to be shared and passed on, but it can also be a necessary and important part of healing from a difficult birth. Join us today with doula Carrie Murphy who walks us through a simple process to effectively and easily capture your birth story in one hour a day over seven days. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 22, 2021 |
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#139 | Katie's Gentle Birth After a Host of Unnecessary Interventions the First Time Around
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At 41+1 weeks Katie was pressured into an induction beginning with a foley bulb followed by forcefully rupturing her bag of water, high amounts of Pitocin, restricted movement due to fetal heart rate abnormalities, a maternal fever resulting in an urgent need for a forcep delivery to "save her baby," and a six hour separation from her baby for monitoring after birth. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 15, 2021 |
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#138 | Legal Case Study #1 with Attorney Hermine Hayes-Klein: Traumatized at a Major Teaching Hospital While Interns Watched and Learned
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Today on the show we have attorney Hermine Hayes-Klein, a fearless legal advocate for sexual and reproductive rights with a particular passion for defending women’s human rights in childbirth, which, she says, are routinely violated in maternity care systems. We’re also grateful to have her her clients, Lillie and George, whose birth experience we will be focusing on today. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 08, 2021 |
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#137 | When Providers Get It Wrong: Kassidy's Birth Story of Mistreatment and Claiming Her Power
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When Kassidy was preconception, she had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and was told she would never conceive. But she did. When she told her providers her conception date, they refused to listen, and determined her due date based on her last menstrual cycle. This insistence on method over mother caused them to overstate the gestational age throughout Kassidy's entire pregnancy, which resulted in perpetual talks about how "small" her baby was, and "if" he makes it to 28 weeks. When she was 35 weeks pregnant (with her providers convincing themselves and Kassidy she was at 38 weeks) they induced her, resulting in a long and difficult induction because her body and baby weren't ready for birth. Once he was born, he was misdiagnosed with Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) based on the faulty due-date, and they were helicoptered to a larger hospital immediately after giving birth. Suffering from unstable blood sugars and thermoregulation, her baby spent six days in the NICU. From beginning to end, Kassidy was provided with misinformation, instilled with fear, and conditioned to believe her baby - both in-utero and postpartum - could die at any moment. Her anxiety through the roof for years, she returned to the same providers in her second pregnancy until the straw broke the camel's back at 34 weeks. Kassidy found a home birth midwife, and on the way to her first appointment, went into labor with her second baby in the car. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 01, 2021 |
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#136 | November Q&A: Membrane Sweeps, PP Hemorrhage, PP hormones & Mood Disorders, When to go to the Hospital, Cord Traction, Group B Strep
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Our Q&A is here again! We open with some interesting survey results on how long mothers spend in the waiting room versus in the actual prenatal appointment. This month we had excellent questions from our community on whether or not you should have a membrane sweep in late pregnancy, how to avoid experiencing a postpartum hemorrhage, how and why postpartum hormones influence baby blues versus postpartum depression and anxiety; and whether there any hormonal treatments for postpartum mood disorders. How can one recover from the trauma of still birth? When should you go to the hospital in labor? Is cord traction necessary for birth of the placenta? And finally what to do if you test positive for Group B Strep and want a low-intervention birth. This show is sponsored by: Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 24, 2021 |
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#135 | Covid Vaccine Research for Breastfeeding Moms with Dr. Kaytlin Krutsch of Texas Tech University's Infant Risk Research Team
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Breastfeeding women have been having a difficult time knowing whether to get the Covid vaccine, given that the vaccine is new and neither the CDC nor vaccine manufacturers have studied whether vaccine ingredients make their way into breast milk. Meanwhile, pregnant and breastfeeding women have been told to get the vaccine despite this lack of research. It has been the historical norm for vaccines not to be tested on pregnant or nursing mothers, making informed consent difficult, if not impossible. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 17, 2021 |
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#134 | Pitocin for Labor: Why and Why Not
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DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 10, 2021 |
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#133 | Julie's Birth Story: Redemption in Home Birth After a Traumatic Midwife Hospital Birth
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When Julie was 40+4 she had a slow leak but no contractions. Eagerly, she went to the hospital where she was admitted and encouraged to "get things going" by breaking her water. She started Pitocin and when it came time to push, her baby was born with meconium and shoulder dystocia and was helicoptered to a nearby hospital with a NICU. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 03, 2021 |
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#132 | October Q&A: Postpartum Hemorrhage at Home; Conceiving with PCOS; Kegels; Baths with Ruptured Membranes; Labor Positions with Spinal Issues; Length of Labor Variations; Coffee in Pregnancy; Postpartum Feels
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It's that time of the month! We are back with our October Q&A. Today, we begin with a recap of fundal massage and postpartum bleeding as Trisha shares a story of postpartum hemorrhage at a recent home birth. Next we jump into our questions including: Can midwives help with pre-conception care and fertility, especially when it comes to PCOS? When should I start kegels after giving birth? Is it ok to take a bath after waters have released? What causes postpartum night sweats? Are there any special positions for labor if you have spinal issues such as scoliosis or spinal fusion? Why does the length of labor vary so much among women? Can I drink coffee in pregnancy? And finally, we wrap with a recap of feelings shared by one woman in our weekly postpartum support group. This show is sponsored by: Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 27, 2021 |
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#131 | Cynthia Mini: Nonviolent Communication for Building Connection
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This week's mini-side provides a scope into dozen of emotions we can feel, especially when home with baby postpartum. Cynthia provides an explanation of Nonviolent Communication - the communication method developed by clinical psychologist Marshall Rosenberg - for better connection in our interpersonal relationships. It's about feelings, but it's ultimately about needs.
Connect with Cynthia:
Remember - we're in CT but you can be anywhere. We serve women and couples coast to coast with our live, online monthly HypnoBirthing classes, support groups and prenatal/postpartum workshops.
We are so grateful for your reviews and shares - we love what we do and thank you all for your support! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 25, 2021 |
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#130 | Krystle's Twin Home Birth with Dr. Stu of Birthing Instincts
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It is a rare OB or midwife who will support a twin home birth. When Krystle learned she was pregnant with not one but two for her fourth and fifth babies, and after having her third baby at home, she knew she was not going back to hospital birth. Instead, she found Dr. Stu Fischbein of @birthinginstincts to assist her in birthing her twins in the comfort of her home. Today we share her inspiring twin home birth story, where Krystle shares how she educated herself on the knowledge, risks, and safety of twin birth and why she was adamant about doing it at home. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 20, 2021 |
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#129 | Provider Red Flags in Your Third Trimester
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The third in our series of provider red flags episodes is here. Today, Cynthia and Trisha talk about the words, behaviors, and "recommendations" that concern us most around third trimester pregnancy topics such as: elective inductions, big babies, due dates, failure to progress, and vaginal exams. How your provider thinks about, discusses and manages these topics tells you a lot about whether or not your birth goals will be supported. We are here to give you our best knowledge and advice on when and how to know if your provider is right for you! Don't miss our other two episodes in this series: #118 | Your First Trimester: Provider Red Flags ********** DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 13, 2021 |
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#128 | Vaginal Breech Birth with Dr. Stu of Birthing Instincts: Why It's Safer Than you Think
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Dr. Stu Fischbein is an OBGYN in California and one of the very few providers who will attend home breech and twin birth. Breech babies make up about 6% of pregnancies at term but few women will experience a vaginal breech birth. 98% of providers will not support a vaginal breech birth, not because it is dangerous (because it is not); but rather, because OBGYNs and most midwives no longer have the skills to safely support it. Dr. Stu has a 100% vaginal breech birth success rate for moms who have already had one baby and an 80% success rate for first-time moms. He believes we are doing a huge disservice to women by not offering them the option to give birth vaginally with a breech baby because we are not thinking about the down-stream effects, including that the mother will likely have a repeat cesarean if she plans to have more children. Today, Dr. Stu walks us through the myths and misconceptions around breech birth and helps us understand why vaginal breech birth is safe and deserves the same care and support as a head-down vaginal birth. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 06, 2021 |
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#127 | September Q&A: Pediatricians, Shoulder Dystocia, Family Dynamics & Birth Choices, Fundal Massage, Preventing Big Babies, Using the Haaka, Fetal Hiccups, Fourth Degree Tears, Changing Your Mind in Birth
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Our September Q&A is here! Today, we open the episode with a discussion around choosing the best pediatrician for you and your baby; next we address shoulder dystocia and postpartum hemorrhage followed by questions such as: How do you handle family dynamics where you and your Mother-in-law have differing ideas about where and how to give birth? Is fundal massage after birth necessary? Do you have any tips on how to prevent a big baby? Is using a Haaka harmful or helpful in breastfeeding? Are hiccups in utero related to cord compression? If I have a history of shoulder dystocia, do I need to have a cesarean next time? How often does someone who is planning a natural birth change their mind and go for the epidural? Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 29, 2021 |
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#126 | Giana's Shoulder Dystocia Birth at Home
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Giana is one of our Down To Birth Show listeners whose OB had told her to get an induction at 38 1/2 weeks due to a large baby. When she declined, her OB offered a scheduled Cesarean section as an alternative. Giana noticed the OB emphasized the importance of getting the baby out, but ignored the risk factors associated with induction or scheduled Cesarean. She took matters into her own hands by hiring midwives and planning a home birth. But then doing her home birth, after the baby's head was out, they were facing a clear case of shoulder dystocia. When all was said and done, her baby weighed 10 lbs, 12 oz. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 27, 2021 |
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#125 | Uterine Fibroids in Pregnancy: Their Impact on Birth, Uterine Scars, and How Black Women are Affected the Most
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Mabel Bashorun of withinherbirthservices is a certified Lamazae childbirth educator and certified lactation consultant. Her journey into birth work stems from her unique story of trying to conceive, at age 26, and desiring a vaginal birth while having uterine fibroids. Today, she shares her struggle with achieving her birth goals as a result of her diagnosis and helps other women living with fibroids learn how to advocate for themselves in their pregnancy and birth journey. She is deeply passionate about women with special scars and/or fibroids receiving the respect and support they deserve in pursuing their birth choices. If you are facing limited options in birth based on special scars or uterine fibroids, this episode is for you. ********** Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 22, 2021 |
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#124 | Provider Red Flags: Your Second Trimester
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We are back today with our 2nd episode in our three-part series on provider red flags. In this segment, we discuss the key issues that may come up in your second trimester and will get you thinking if you are in the right place with the right provider...think glucose screening test, discussions around baby's size, doulas, attention to your emotional well being, provider punctuality and conduct, etc. If you haven't heard our first episode on provider red flags, you can catch it here: #118 | Your First Trimester: Provider Red Flags DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 15, 2021 |
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#123 | Trisha Mini: Orgasmic Birth: What is it and How Does it Work?
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What does it really mean to have an orgasmic birth? Sure, you might have a “birthgasm,” but more likely you’ll feel the ecstasy of the physiological birth process. In today’s minisode, Trisha walks us through the complex interplay of hormones that brings us to ecstasy in birth and what it takes to get there. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 13, 2021 |
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#122 | Provider Green Lights: Interview with Barbara Harper on Holistic, Respectful & Supportive Birth Providers
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Barbara Harper is an internationally-published author and the founder of Water Birth International. Her best selling book “Gentle Birth Choices” has been translated into nine languages. Her latest collaborative project was published in May 2021, entitled, “Bringing Birth Home.” Barbara joined us on Down to Birth to discuss all the benefits of water birth in episode #100. Today, she is back to share her insight and experience in training obstetric professionals around the world. She helps to identify the qualities that indicate a provider is respectful, supportive, and holistic in his or her view of pregnancy and birth, and details the “green lights” to look for when choosing a provider to support our highest and best birth desires. ********** Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 08, 2021 |
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#121 | Marriage After Birth Trauma with Kayleigh Summers
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Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 01, 2021 |
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#120 | August Q&A: Family Boundaries; Good Babies; Measuring Big; VBAC Safety; Tandem Nursing; PTSD in Labor; Lotus Birth; AMA
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Hello Again! It is time for our August Q&A. Because we love our IG conversations so much, we open the episode with the very important topic of establishing family boundaries postpartum and share your biggest concerns while offering our best advice. Next we have a short convo on "good babies" followed by answering your questions including: Is measuring too big a reason for C-section? How to handle questions around the safety of VBAC in a birth center? Is high blood pressure in pregnancy a reason to be induced? In tandem nursing, will the new baby still get colostrum? How do you relax in labor if you have a history of birth trauma? Is there a happy medium between a lotus birth and delayed cord clamping? Do I need to do testing for AMA if my due date is just after my 35th birthday? Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 25, 2021 |
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#119 | Mini: Jessica's Breastfeeding Struggles After Her Dream Birth
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Jessica found that community made all the difference, starting in pregnancy. After having a beautiful birth, she ran into significant breastfeeding and even formula challenges. She was moved and humbled when a community formed around her once again to ensure her baby was cared for and fed. Jessica's story inspires us to seek community and become that lifeline for someone else. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 23, 2021 |
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#118 | Your First Trimester: Provider Red Flags
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DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 18, 2021 |
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#117 | Home Birth of a Black MD from NYC: Why Home Seemed the Safest, Smartest Option
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Dr. Jess MD is a NYC-based doctor of Psychiatry who sought routine OB care early in her first pregnancy. When her provider didn't know which trimester of pregnancy she was in, she realized she was just a number in a system that was not going to support the kind of birth experience she envisioned for herself, her husband, and her baby. She sought out a home birth midwife and never looked back. After experiencing birth as the supernatural, spiritual experience it can be, she wants all women, and especially Black women, to know that not only are they statistically safer birthing at home than in the hospital; but that they too can experience the bliss of a positive birth experience. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 11, 2021 |
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#116 | Surviving an Amniotic Fluid Embolism, Birth Trauma, and Its Impact on Postpartum
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Trigger Warning: This episode contains sensitive content around birth and birth trauma and may not be for everyone.
********** Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 04, 2021 |
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#115 | July Q&A: Nausea Remedies; Pregnancy Cravings and Aversions; Partner Struggles; Fear of Childbirth; Baby Engaging in Pelvis; Induction; Transition; Writing Your Birth Story
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It is time for our monthly Q&A! We are back with a short birth story of a necessary C-section birth followed by your input on food cravings in pregnancy, nausea remedies and your most common pregnancy food aversions. Next, we discuss the most common relationship challenges in the early postpartum followed by your questions including: Can I have an unmedicated birth if I have a low pain tolerance? Do I need to workout in pregnancy to have an easier birth? How do I get my baby to engage in the pelvis? Is it safe to go past 42 weeks of pregnancy? How do you manage transition? And what do you recommend for writing your birth story? So many great questions! Thank you to those who have submitted, and keep them coming! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 28, 2021 |
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#114 | Birth Story Mini: Airbnb Birth After Crossing International Borders
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Nicole Neesby, her husband and children are Americans living in Mexico. In this mini-sode, Nicole tells the story of searching for the just-right provider to attend the birth of her fourth baby. When she didn't find what she was looking for in Mexico, they booked an Airbnb in San Diego and gave birth back in her homeland. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 26, 2021 |
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#113 | Kristina's Birth Story: Anticipating the Pain that Never Came
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Before Kristina became pregnant, she believed birth was a scary, painful, and potentially dangerous event. Her mindset around birth was mostly fear-based and centered on pain. Once she became pregnant, something stirred inside. She wanted to learn more. In educating herself, she realized she craved to feel all aspects of labor, took Cynthia's HypnoBirthing class, and decided to have an unmedicated birth. In the end, what surprised her most was that during labor she kept waiting for the pain — but it never came! Her baby’s head slipped out very unexpectedly. Tune into this inspiring, beautiful birth-center birth story. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 21, 2021 |
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#112 | Late-Term Abortion: Andrea's Story of Choosing the Impossible
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Trigger Warning: This episode contains sensitive content and detail and may not be for everyone. We share this story because we know many women, like Andrea, suffer with the nearly impossible choices around late term abortion. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 14, 2021 |
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#111 | The Obstetric Model of Care vs. the Midwifery Model of Care: Interview with Dr. Stuart Fischbein, MD
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Are doctors misinforming patients? How can the medical model of birth cause harm to birthing mothers? Why are half of the cesarean births in the United States performed unnecessarily? Why is one's satisfaction with her own birth experience so low on the priority list? These are the questions we dive into with Dr. Stu on today's episode. He now practices community based birthing and works directly with home birthing midwives at www.birthinginstincts.com to offer hope for those women who prefer and respect a natural birthing environment and cannot find supportive practitioners for VBAC, twin and breech deliveries. He is an outspoken advocate of informed decision making, the midwifery model of care and human rights in childbirth. He joins us on the show today to discuss the biggest challenges facing birthing mothers today. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 07, 2021 |
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#110 | Cynthia Mini: How Fear Affects Labor
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Your body has been perfectly designed for childbirth. In this episode, Cynthia explains the difference between a mammal birthing in a state of fear versus trust. It's all part of nature's perfect design to protect the baby from arriving amid harm. Our job is to respect that process and to learn to work with it. This episode may be even more important for your partner to listen to than you, because partners tend to hold that special role of being the ones who can put us into a trusting state physiologically. And when it comes to childbirth - just like when it comes to sex - nothing is more important than trust. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 05, 2021 |
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#109 | June Q&A: Confessions From Our Community; Postpartum Blues; Premature Rupture of Membranes; Breastfeeding & Oversupply; Changing Providers if High Risk; Pain Management; Foods in Labor; Making Hospital Feel Homey
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We have a fun and informative Q&A episode for you this month! We kick it off with confessions and shares from our Instagram community related to: Comments from our own mothers after we give birth; Finding community when we have none; Fear of intrusive thoughts; What constitutes too much crying postpartum; Fear of managing the "pain" of labor; Best food choices for labor and more. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 30, 2021 |
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#108 | VBAC in the Car: Opera Singer Gives Birth as Husband Drives on the Interstate
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Emily Geller Hardman, a New York Opera singer, gave the performance of a lifetime with her unassisted VBAC in the back of the car as her husband sped down the highway en route to the Connecticut birth center from Pennsylvania. At 37 weeks, she went into labor unexpectedly while at a wedding three hours from home. In the middle of the night, she knew she was in labor, and it was time to hit the road. After having had a Cesarean for her breech baby the first time around, she was well-prepared for a VBAC this time, and determined to do whatever it took to have her second baby unmedicated and vaginally. Little did she know, she would do it entirely on her own with the cool, calm, collected grace of only one who's spent their life performing under pressure with ease, sound, and breath work. Tune in to this exciting, fun, and inspiring birth story. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 23, 2021 |
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#107 | Trisha Mini: Where You Should Give Birth
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Hello friends! When you first become pregnant, the next question is where and with whom will I give birth? In today's mini sode, Trisha helps you to determine the best place for you to give birth. You may be surprised to learn that you have the answer more than we do, but we can tell you the most important question to ask yourself and how to create your best birth space. Take a listen to today's mini-sode and reach us on Instagram @DownToBirthShow with any feedback or on our website at www.DownToBirthShow.com Thanks for listening, and we'll see you Wednesday! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 21, 2021 |
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#106 | The Fourth Trimester: Interview with Author Kimberly Ann Johnson
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Wondering how to best manage the fourth trimester? This week on the show we are speaking with Kimberly Ann Johnson, author of "The Fourth Trimester" and "Call of the Wild." After experiencing her own “black hole” through her postpartum experience, she studied indigenous cultures around the world to learn how we can do a better job with the postpartum period. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 16, 2021 |
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#105 | Tips for Supporting Women in Labor with Guest Host Doula Krisha
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Husbands and partners, this is one is for you! Today, on the show we have guest host Krisha of @serenitylifedoula speaking with us about the best ways to support mothers in labor. Did we mention that Krisha is a birth doula with a 100% vaginal birth rate? And she gives all that credit to the birthing mother AND their partners for doing all the tricks and tips we share with you today! Birth partners have an important job in labor and knowing the best possible ways to provide support go a long way toward mothers and their partners having the birth experience they desire. So, tune in today and get the low-down on all things birth support! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 09, 2021 |
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#104 | Cynthia Mini: 6 Red Flags That Could Mean You're With the Wrong Provider
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In today's "Pregnancy" Minisode, Cynthia discusses six red flags that could mean you're planning to birth with a provider who may not be right for you. After this episode, find us @downtobirthshow on Instagram and share your stories with us. That is, how do you know you are with the wrong - or right - provider? Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 07, 2021 |
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#103 | Giving Birth Like a Feminist: Interview with Author Milli Hill
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When it comes to giving birth, women are too often told a healthy baby is all that matters. And while none of us will argue that a healthy mom and baby are the highest priority, it’s time to give mothers the respect, dignity, and agency they deserve in their birth experiences. Milli Hill is the author of “Give Birth Like a Feminist” and “The Positive Birth Book”, and is here to tell you that women matter, too. Because how we give birth stays with us the rest of our lives. Milli believes birth is a feminist issue and asks women to no longer allow birth to be left in the hands of patriarchal control and dominance. In today’s episode, she offers practical steps you can take to claim your birth power and have your safest, best birth. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 02, 2021 |
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#102 | May Q&A: Full Moons & Labor; Impact of Fear on Labor Progress; Birth Centers vs. Hospitals; Low Amniotic Fluid; The Fourth Trimester; Breastfeeding with a Toddler; Placenta Encapsulation; Pushing; Pregnancy Tests
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It's that time of the month! Our May Q&A is here and kicks off with two short, entertaining birth stories followed by excellent questions submitted by our listeners including: Are more babies born under the full moon? If I experience fear in labor will my cervix close or regress? Do I need a cesarean birth if I have too much or too little amniotic fluid? What is the difference between a birth center and hospital birth? What are the best ways to take care of yourself physically and emotionally after having a baby? How do I handle breastfeeding in front of my toddler? What are the benefits of placental encapsulation? How do I stop peeing when I throw-up in pregnancy? What is the earliest you can get a positive pregnancy test? Is there any benefit to pushing before you are fully dilated? Check the chapter markers to jump to a specific question. * * * * * * * * * * Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 26, 2021 |
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#101 | Birth Story Mini: Rachel's Perfect Birth Proves Some Things Can Go Wrong in All the Right Ways.
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As Cynthia always says, no one is more determined to have a good birth than a woman who's already given birth. Meet Rachel: a mom from Idaho who took Cynthia's live online HypnoBirthing class with her husband prior to having their third baby. After interviewing literally 17 home birth midwives - clearly a resource that's more abundant in Idaho than most states - Rachel felt she hadn't found quite the right provider yet. They ended up hiring a team of midwives in a hospital birth setting. Rachel describes how she felt - and what the midwives said to her - that made her realize she'd chosen the right team. In this birth story minisode, Rachel takes us through the details of her birth, which included having Group B Strep, an induction she had hoped to avoid, and discovering that laboring on her back for a brief moment was just the trick to allow her baby to easily descend. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 24, 2021 |
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#100 | The Benefits of Water Birth: Interview With Barbara Harper of Waterbirth International
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For our 100th episode, we are featuring Barbara Harper: the leading voice for childbirth and maternity care reform, an author, educator, midwife and internationally recognized expert on the use of warm water immersion for labor and birth. Today, we are honored to have her join us on the @downtobirthshow to talk to us about the “great liberator” aka water birth and all the benefits for you and your baby including: hydrostatic pressure, increased oxytocin, immediate and prolonged skin-to-skin contact, delayed cord clamping, and more. And if you’ve ever wondered why a baby doesn’t breathe under the water, she has the answer—and it’s not what you think! If you've ever been curious about water birth don’t miss this informative interview with Barbara Harper of @waterbirthint. * * * * * * * * * * DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 19, 2021 |
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#99 | Easier Pushing, Less Tearing with Hehe Stewart of Tranquility by Hehe
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“Push like you are taking a poop! Pushing is a long, grueling process!” This is what most people are told about pushing in labor. But, is it true? Hehe Stewart, of Tranquility by Hehe, is a doula and maternity coach who grew up on a farm watching animals give birth in an undisturbed and effortless way. After attending births in hospitals and homes, she realized things looked very different there from what she had seen. This experience inspired her to start teaching how to birth with faster, uninterrupted labors and easier pushing stages. In today’s episode, Hehe shares her insights on birthing and breaks down her three-point secret sauce to easier pushing and less tearing for your best birth. DrinkLMNT Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 12, 2021 |
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#98 | Breastfeeding Mini: Prevention, Causes, and Treatment of Plugged Ducts
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In today's mini-episode, Trisha explains how and why we get clogged or plugged ducts and provides guidance on how to recognize them, how to prevent them, and simple steps to resolve them quickly to keep you breastfeeding comfortably. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 10, 2021 |
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#97 | Amanda Pahl's Birth Stories: Four Births and a Miscarriage
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Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 05, 2021 |
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#96 | April Q&A: A little About Us; Risks of IVF; Uterine Massage; Postpartum Essentials; Pre-term Birth; Birth Prep Tips; Low Lying Placentas
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This month's Q&A kicks off with a couple personal questions of Cynthia and Trisha about their dream travel and what they admire in themselves and in each other. After our little heart-to-heart, we get down to business discussing: Pregnancy & birth risk associated with IVF; why you don't need painful uterine massage after birth; what our "must-have" items are for new moms and baby; tips for preventing pre-term birth; tips for preparing for birth related to teas, supplements, & foods; how to handle a low-lying placenta; and the likelihood of your baby coming early if you were born early. See chapter markers to jump to a specific question. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 28, 2021 |
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#95 | Birth Story Mini: Jessica's 5 Hours of Pushing Using HypnoBirthing
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Jessica is a first-time birthing mother from Atlanta who recently attended Cynthia's HypnoBirthing class via Zoom. She and her husband had a birth that began with laughter over a misunderstanding, and ended with a 5-hour pushing stage doing HypnoBirthing deep-breathing while wearing a mask. Jessica's story emphasizes how she and her husband felt respected and supported by their hospital staff from start to finish, including an appreciation for the COVID protocols that disallowed visitors postpartum, allowing them to become acquainted with their son, Smith, without distraction or interruption. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 26, 2021 |
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#94 | The Terror of Intrusive Thoughts: Lisa's Postpartum Anxiety
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In this episode, Lisa shared out loud for the first time the full extent of the intrusive thoughts that have been haunting and terrifying her postpartum. When women suffer from a perinatal mood or anxiety disorder such as postpartum anxiety, depression or psychosis they can suffer from intrusive thoughts such as: fear of drowning the baby in the bath, imagining yourself or someone else dropping the baby, falling down the stairs with the baby, or even imagining yourself or someone else harming the baby with a knife. Lisa volunteered to speak with us about her struggle, in hopes of bringing awareness and help to anyone who may be struggling with intrusive thoughts postpartum. An important takeaway from this episode is to recognize that if a mother expresses a fear of being alone with her baby or expresses thoughts of harming herself or the baby, imagine those words on a billboard as a cry for help. Professional support is required and is readily available by trained specialists. If you don’t know where to begin, you can contact Postpartum Support International at 1-800-944-4773. Postpartum support groups are offered every week on Tuesday mornings @downtobirthshow. * * * * * * * * * * Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 21, 2021 |
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#93 | Intuitive Eating For Pregnant & Postpartum Moms with Jaren Soloff, RD, IBCLC
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As a registered dietician (RD) and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Jaren Soloff was inspired to create a space and program to help postpartum moms navigate eating and body image after birth. She guides her clients in the anti-diet method of "intuitive eating," which focuses on tapping into your body's signals to tell you when you are hungry and when you are not. Intuitive eating is a process of learning to trust your appetite and cravings as a means of guiding you. In today's episode, Jaren teaches us not only about intuitive eating and how to determine when our cravings are physically driven versus emotionally driven; but also, how breastfeeding our babies can help us attune to our own instinctual eating. * * * * * * * * * * Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 14, 2021 |
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#92 | Postpartum Mini: Rethinking Self-Care
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Most of us fall short when it comes to practicing self-care - especially postpartum moms, who are usually happy enough just to get more than 5 hours of sleep plus a shower. And when anyone tells them to go do something nice for themselves, it's always well-intended, but is it helpful when those moms think self-care means getting a professional massage, attending a live yoga class or getting a mani/pedi? In today's episode, Cynthia talks about self-care as a lifestyle rather than an event. Even 5 minutes a day will have a greater impact than a whole weekend away once a year, or the occasional massage. We need to remove the barriers to self-care, and question what it means in the first place. It doesn't have to involve money, complicated scheduling or baby care. Ideally, it doesn't have to involve other people at all. You're the most important person in your baby's life, and just as the weight of caring for your baby falls on your shoulders, so too does your own self-care. Reach out to us on Instagram or our website to tell us your own story related to needing, struggling with or creating self-care. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 12, 2021 |
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#91 | Colleen's VBAC: Relying on Instinct over Provider
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Colleen always felt called to birth and was determined to have the birth of her dreams. After two miscarriages, she was so excited to give birth to her first child. When her birth resulted in a cesarean, she knew the next time around she would make sure things went differently. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 07, 2021 |
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#90 | March Q&A: Ultrasounds; VBAC Providers; Vaginal Exams; PPD in Pregnancy; Exploring Home Birth; Distraction Techniques in Labor
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Our March Q&A episode is here! We begin with a discussion around the use of ultrasound measurements in pregnancy to determine your baby's size and weight at birth (hint: a baby that is measuring long is likely to be taller than average not macrosomic); we discuss when you might consider changing providers for your planned VBAC birth; can a mother experience postpartum depression (PPD) while still pregnant? What about the use of distraction techniques in labor and how does that impact hypnobirthing techniques? Do I need more Ultrasounds in pregnancy after the anatomy scan, and how will I know that everything is going ok? How about vaginal exams in labor? Are they really necessary and if so, how many? Finally, do you have any recommendations on how to prepare for home birth before being pregnant? Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 31, 2021 |
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#89 | Birth Story Mini: Kimberly's Unplanned Home Birth
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Kimberly always wanted a home birth -- especially the second time around -- but decided to stay with the providers she liked and trusted. She began having doubts during the implementation of Covid protocols, and those doubts only grew when her doctor started talking about induction before she was at 41 weeks. But she declined the induction and implemented some natural means of induction at home, including a recipe for eggplant parmesan she got in her HypnoBirthing class. Once labor began, Kimberly started feeling her body push spontaneously before her husband even finished packing up the car to head to the hospital. Kimberly realized she wasn't going anywhere, and by the time she arrived at the hospital, she was holding her second baby girl in her arms. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 29, 2021 |
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#88 | Jamie's Unattended Freebirth with Twins
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Jamie Davison Ortiz is a mother, doula, and student midwife who birthed her twins naturally during a planned freebirth with her husband and doula. For those who don’t know, a freebirth is a controversial birth movement of giving birth at home without a medical professional in attendance. Jamie’s birth wasn’t without risk and while Jamie says she has no regrets, she’s the first to say that free-birthing took years of preparation, comes with risk, and is not for everyone. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 24, 2021 |
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#87 | Postpartum Rage: The Outburst-Guilt-Shame Cycle
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Postpartum rage is among the lesser known perinatal mood and anxiety disorders that can impact postpartum women and even their partners. Unfortunately, what women don’t understand is that sometimes anger comes more easily than tears, and it doesn’t mean that anything is fundamentally wrong with them or with their character; but rather, they are suffering from one particular manifestation of postpartum depression or anxiety. Postpartum rage can look like: snapping at your children or partner, yelling more than usual, swearing, or even throwing things across the room. Any type of unexpected, intense outburst can signal a one-time or ongoing case of postpartum rage. Tune in today as Cynthia and Trisha discuss the risk factors, triggers, emotional experience, and possible solutions for postpartum rage. Postpartum Support International * * * * * * * * * * Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 17, 2021 |
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#86 | Breastfeeding Mini: The Three Most Common Challenges for Breastfeeding Moms
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In today's minisode, Trisha reviews the three most common challenges that breastfeeding moms experience: Engorgement, Nipple Pain, and Supply issues. She briefly explains why they occur and offers simple steps to recognize and resolve each issue so that you may comfortably and easily continue your breastfeeding journey. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 15, 2021 |
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#85 | Understanding Gestational Diabetes with Dietitian Leslee Flannery
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Approximately 1 in 12 women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes, which can leave them feeling confused ashamed and overwhelmed with questions like, “Have I done something wrong? What can I eat now? Does this mean I have to be induced?” In this episode we speak with Leslee Flannery a dietitian from Ohio and founder of @gestational.diabetes.nutrition who loves supporting, educating and empowering women with gestational diabetes, because diet isn’t the only cause, and it doesn’t mean you have to cut out all the foods you enjoy. Today, we discuss problems with and alternatives to the Glucose screening tests, why women with a normal BMI can test positive, and most importantly, how a diagnosis of gestational diabetes can potentially pose a risk for your birth. * * * * * * * * * * Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 10, 2021 |
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#84 | Lynne's Last Minute Home Birth After Two C-Sections
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For Lynne, giving birth via Cesarean just didn't feel like giving birth. Learning she was pregnant with her third and having had two prior C-sections, she wanted a different experience. After meeting a friend for lunch who was planning a home birth, she got curious and started exploring options and digging into the research on VBAC. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 03, 2021 |
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#83 | February Q&A: Plus-Size Pregnancy; What to Wear During Birth; Waking a Sleeping Baby; Implications of a Subchorionic Hematoma; Waterbirth & Baby's First Breath; Best Times to Pump
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Our February Q&A episode is here! Today, we discuss a wide variety of topics from the influence of medical rhetoric on our decisions in pregnancy and birth to the implications of being plus-size in pregnancy to the best time to pump your breastmilk. We have a lengthy discussion on what to wear in pregnancy and seriously question why hospitals still promote the classic hospital gown for birthing?! We talk about the physiologic mechanisms that protect babies from breathing under water during a water birth and why water birth is a wonderful option for low-risk birth. We touch on subchorionic hemorrhage (when a woman is bleeding in pregnancy) and what it means, and discuss how long breastfeeding mothers should let their babies sleep before waking them, along with the best way to do so. We hope you enjoy today's episode, and keep the questions coming! See chapter markers to skip to a specific question. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 24, 2021 |
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#82 | Birth Story Mini: Stefanie's Home Birth After C-Section (HBAC)
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“I would give birth like that ten more times!” In today’s mini-sode Stefanie tells her story of choosing a homebirth VBAC (HBAC) for her second birth after knowing she would absolutely not return to the hospital to have her next baby. Despite going into to labor just before 37 weeks, Stefanie was fully committed to her HBAC birth and beautifully supported by her midwives, doulas, and partner through the entire experience. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 22, 2021 |
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#81 | Andrea Left the Hospital AMA (Against Medial Advice) to Avoid Induction
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Andrea was thirty-three years-old and experiencing a low-risk healthy pregnancy when she went in for her prenatal visit at five days past her guess date and - it just so happened - the week of Christmas and New Year's. Her OB informed her that she would need to be induced. In response to her question, "What happens if we wait for labor to begin on its own," he replied, "Your baby is going to die." If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/cynthiaovergard) Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 17, 2021 |
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#80 | Roundtable: Mothers Who've Miscarried
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Approximately 1 in 5 known pregnancies result in miscarriage before 12 weeks, and 1 in 4 women have experienced a miscarriage in their lifetime. Despite it being a relatively common experience, it is often left unspoken of, leaving mothers heartbroken and shrouded in feelings of guilt and failure. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 10, 2021 |
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#79 | Cynthia Mini: What is Medical Rhetoric?
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Medical Rhetoric involves language designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on its audience, but often lacks sincerity or meaningful content. How can you tell when your obstetrician or medical provider is using rhetoric to persuade, discourage or manipulate you into going along with a particular course of action without first offering you any information or data that would be useful in your decision-making? If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 08, 2021 |
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#78 | Christina's Run From Induction to a Home Birth with Group B Strep
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When Christina showed up at the hospital with ruptured membranes and GBS+ status, the hospital informed her that she was not allowed to leave—not even to return home to get her hospital bag. According to Christina, every cell in her body told her to run. She made a few phone calls, started crying while she searched for a way out, and soon found herself driving across state lines to see a home birth midwife for another opinion.
If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 03, 2021 |
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#77 | January Q&A: Co-sleeping; Prodromal Labor; Switching Providers; Third Babies; Conceiving While Breastfeeding; Vaginal Dryness; Baby-Led Weaning; Hep-Locks and IVs
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This month's Q&A is packed with valuable information! Check it out below: I am thinking about leaving my provider. What do you recommend I say or do? Do you have any tips for prodromal labor? Is it common to have vaginal dryness while breastfeeding? Is it true that the 3rd baby can be a "wild card?" And if so, is there anything I can do? Do I need to make any changes to my breastfeeding schedule if I am trying to conceive? What is baby-led weaning and can it work with exclusive breastfeeding? Can I refuse a saline-lock IV in labor? Don't forget you can submit questions via our website downtobirthshow.com or via Instagram @downtobirthshow. See chapter makers to skip to a specific question. * * * * * * * * * * If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 27, 2021 |
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#76 | Birth Story Mini: Tara's Empowered Birth During Covid
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After losing her first baby in utero at five months, Tara and her husband became pregnant again and quickly realized they were with a large group of rotating obstetricians who didn't feel quite right for them. After switching to a midwifery practice and preparing with HypnoBirthing, Tara had a beautiful birth amid COVID protocols, but not without some obstacles along the way, including dehydration, meconium and a hospital transfer. With the support of her husband and midwives, and getting creative with various positions during a 3-hour pushing stage, Tara birthed her baby in what felt "almost like a romantic experience" due to the care she received, music and essential oils. Tara describes her birth as having felt like a true victory after peacefully moving beyond all the unforeseen challenges they encountered along the way. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 25, 2021 |
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#75 | Fetal Monitoring and Fetal Distress with Midwife-Author Amy Romano
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If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 20, 2021 |
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#74 | Table For Five: Author Ted Yang Gives Voice To Fathers Who've Lost A Baby
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When Ted Yang learned his wife was pregnant, life felt amazing! He was married to the love of his life, had a fulfilling and lucrative career, and was expecting not one but three babies. But his world was turned upside down when he found himself facing the reality of premature birth, one infant loss, and two premature babies fighting for their lives. His experience as a loss father left him feeling alone in a society which fails to adequately support mothers of loss and premature infants, let alone fathers. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 13, 2021 |
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#73 | Trisha Mini: The Six Week Postpartum Visit: No, I'm Not Ready to Have Sex
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The six week postpartum visit is generally the time when new moms get the green light to return to having sex, yet so many (more than 80%) are not ready to do so. In today's mini-sode Trisha digs into the meaning of the six week postpartum visit and discusses how we can do better in supporting mothers in the postpartum transition. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 11, 2021 |
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#72 | The Winding Road Through Postpartum with Claude Racine-Valinsky
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You may remember professional dancer and choreographer Claude Racine-Valinsky from episode #28. Claude came back on the show today to talk about her postpartum experience – the battle she’s having with the body she’s always counted on; the resentment she feels toward the husband she adores; and the knowledge that her son’s physical and emotional wellness has not merely integrated into her life but has taken center stage. Through her forthright language and tears, what emerges in this episode is a woman taking an honest look at her marriage, motherhood, and even her own childhood, with a wisdom and compassion that she didn’t see coming. * * * * * * * * * * If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 06, 2021 |
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#71 | December Q&A: Postpartum Hair Loss; Fear of Childbirth; Sex During Pregnancy; Postpartum Resentment; Induction for High Blood Pressure; A Mother's Stress on Baby; Co-Lactation in Same-Sex Parents
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Our last episode of 2020 is here and it's loaded with great questions! Have you wondered why so many women experience significant hair loss postpartum? How much does a mother's experience of stress impact her baby? Why do I feel so resentful toward my husband? My OB wants to induce me for a past history of high blood pressure even though my blood pressure is currently normal. What's up with my sex drive in pregnancy? And, is it possible to experience a pain free birth? Thank you to all of our listeners and our community. What a wonderful year it has been on the podcasting front! Please remember to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you tune in so you'll never miss an episode. See you next week and next year! If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 30, 2020 |
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#70 | Home Birth on Little Cranberry Island Breaks 93-Year Streak
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On a little island off the coast of Maine, reside only sixty-five year round residents. The last woman to give birth on the island was Erin's grandmother ninety-three years ago. On September 26th, Azalea Belle Gray was born peacefully at home with her five siblings nearby, after a long and tiring prodromal labor followed by a swift and sudden active stage. Today's home birth story is as heart-warming as it is historical and represents the profound importance of community and family. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 23, 2020 |
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#69 | Birth Story Mini: Courtney's Birth Managing Rh Incompatibility with RhoGam
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In this birth story mini episode, Courtney shares the story of her second son's birth, which involved managing her pregnancy with a RhoGam shot due to her Rh incompatibility (which occurs when a mother's blood type is negative and her baby's is positive). Courtney's birth took place during the earlier part of the Covid pandemic and despite these unforeseen obstacles, particularly after having had an easy birth with her first son, her second birth went well and very quickly. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/cynthiaovergard) Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 21, 2020 |
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#68 | Our Five Must-Hear Episodes of 2020
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While we still have a few more episodes going live before the end of the year, Trisha and Cynthia spend this episode looking back at the 67 episodes published thus far in season one, since the launch of Down To Birth last New Year's. Disclaimer: One of the episodes may not be suitable for everyone, as it deals with stillbirth. But check out why we selected these as our top five, and hear snippets of the episodes through our discussion. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 16, 2020 |
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#67 | Leah's Birth Story: From Trauma to Triumph in Two Dramatically Different Births
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If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 09, 2020 |
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#66 | Informed Pregnancy: Interview with Dr. Elliot Berlin
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Dr. Elliot Berlin is a chiropractor and doula who has a knack for getting babies to assume the best position for birth. He's become an integral part of the Los Angeles county natural birth community and is the host of the Informed Pregnancy Podcast. He believes every woman should have the birth they desire and provides the tools and knowledge he feels make all the difference. In this episode with Elliot, we discuss women's choices when it comes to birth, and the variance in care among providers. Can a breech baby be born vaginally? (Yes!) Does he think all providers should be supportive of VBAC (yes!) Can emotional support and physical skeletal and fascial release make all the difference in a woman's birth outcome? You get the idea...tune in to hear Elliot's take on pregnancy and birth, and his thoughts around providing women with the support, space and respect they deserve. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Dec 02, 2020 |
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#65 | Birth Story Mini: Jen's First VBAC After Placenta Previa
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In today's mini-episode, Jen shares the story of her first of two VBACs - that is, vaginal birth after Cesarean. Jen's first birth was a scheduled Cesarean due to placenta previa, and having been cleared of that condition the second time around, Jen switched providers when her doctor didn't seem 100% on board with the idea of a VBAC. The midwives she hired believed in her every step of the way. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/cynthiaovergard) Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 30, 2020 |
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#64 | Q&A: Comfort Foods & Breast Milk; Water-Birthing Temperatures; Struggling with Asking For Help; Antenatal Colostrum; Labor Breathing Techniques; Pubis Symphysis Dysfunction; Combating Nausea
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We are back with our monthly Q&A! This week we discuss the just right temp for laboring in the water, understanding why it is so hard to ask for help postpartum, how to best breathe in labor, what to do about morning sickness and nausea in early pregnancy; and finally, we bring in physical therapist, Tara Gibson, to help us better understand the impact of pubic symphysis dysfunction during labor. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 25, 2020 |
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#63 | Planning Your Successful VBAC
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What does it take to have a successful VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean)? In this episode, we hear from several women about their successful VBAC stories followed by a discussion between Cynthia and Trisha on what it takes to get there. If 60-80% of VBAC attempts are successful and only 13% of candidates are having them, what is holding them back or standing in their way? Tune in to hear our thoughts on planning the VBAC you desire. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 18, 2020 |
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#62 | Cynthia Mini: Deconstructing "Supportive Partners"
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I've been doing this work a long time. And from where I sit, I have the unique advantage of being able to observe trends and societal patterns. And there's something I've been trying to figure out for a long time: What's up with postpartum women telling us their partners - especially when those partners are men/husbands - are "supportive"? This doesn't quite sit right with me, and in today's mini-episode, I explore why. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. Please also check out our new website at www.downtobirthshow.com and let us know what you think! You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 16, 2020 |
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#61 | When Breastfeeding Sucks: Interview with Zainab Yate
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If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 11, 2020 |
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#60 | Love + Marriage + Baby: Interview with Maggie O'Connor, LMFT
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We are never more receptive to love (thank you, oxytocin) than in the early months after having a baby. For every couple, bringing home a baby for the first time brings up massive amounts of emotion; and, how we recognize and process these emotions with our partner determines whether we grow closer or more distant during this unique and highly vulnerable life transition. In today's episode, Maggie O'Connor, LMFT, explains how we can strengthen our relationships during this time and identifies the habits and behaviors that help us or hurt us along the way. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 04, 2020 |
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#59 | Birth Story Mini: Andrea's Natural Birth
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In this episode, one of Cynthia's HypnoBirthing clients, Andrea, shares her pregnancy and birth experience. She wanted a happy, natural birth and describes her process in achieving one, but the predominant thing she feels she learned is that she - and all women - should feel they have choice along the way. That all decisions belong to the birthing mother. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. Please also check out our new website at www.downtobirthshow.com and let us know what you think! You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Nov 02, 2020 |
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#58 | Q&A: Milk Supply; VBA2C; Second-Pregnancy Symptoms; Urge to Push; Sitz Baths; Vertex Babies Who Flip
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What does it mean if my baby won't stay head down in late pregnancy? Can I prepare my perineum for birth by taking a sitz bath during pregnancy? Let's talk about VBAC/VBA2C and why Failure To Progress (FTP) is NOT a risk factor for another cesarean birth. Here's the biggest worry for new mothers planning to breastfeed: making enough milk and how to do it. What if I get the urge to push before I am fully dilated? How late in pregnancy can I change providers? Am I pregnant? My symptoms are completely different this time. All this and more in this week's Q&A episode!
If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 28, 2020 |
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#57 | Childbirth: A Woman's Awakening with Certified Professional Midwife, Joni Stone
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Joni Stone is a homebirth midwife of twenty years. After studying neuroscience in undergrad, she earned a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology with a focus in Spirituality from Columbia. Her work explored the physical changes our brains go through in becoming mothers, and how these changes are akin to the same brain changes that occur after an intense life experience, which may result in spiritual enlightenment. In this episode, she explains the five factors in enlightenment, raises the possibility that traumatic birth may interfere with having those types of experiences, and discusses simple yet powerful techniques for both awareness and healing. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 21, 2020 |
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#56 | Breastfeeding Mini: The Importance of Establishing Your Milk Supply in the First Month
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It's not your boobs! It's your baby. One of the biggest misconceptions that new mothers have around breastfeeding is that they won't be able to produce enough milk to meet their baby's needs. And one of the top three reasons that mothers stop breastfeeding is a sense of insufficient milk production, leaving mothers feeling that their bodies and breasts have failed them. In today's minisode I address the critical window of time for establishing a full milk supply and the three biggest culprits that stand in the way of getting there...and your breasts aren't one of them!
If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. Please also check out our new website at www.downtobirthshow.com and let us know what you think! You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 19, 2020 |
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#55 | Against Many Odds: Jasmine's Vaginal Delivery After Two Cesarean Sections (VBA2C)
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When it came to having the birth experience she desired, Jasmine was not giving up. After two prior C-sections, she was determined to have a VBAC. More than forty-eight hours into her third labor with a failed epidural she was exhausted, afraid....and nine centimeters. Three pushes later, despite many odds, her baby was in her arms. Tune in today to hear this inspiring VBA2C birth story. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. Please also check out our new website at www.downtobirthshow.com and let us know what you think! You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 14, 2020 |
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#54 | Spinning Babies: Optimizing Your Baby's Position for a Faster, Easier Labor with Gail Tully
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Do you know why some vaginal births are fast and others slow? Some easy and others difficult, if not impossible? Optimal fetal positioning is the answer and despite what we've been led to believe, head-down is not the whole story. Gail Tully, the world's foremost expert on fetal positioning and founder of Spinning Babies is here with us today to explain how your everyday activities from your job to how you sit, stand and exercise, greatly influence your baby's position at birth. Tune in as Gail details some steps you can take to optimize your baby's position for your safest, easiest and probably fastest vaginal birth. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. Please also check out our new website at www.downtobirthshow.com and let us know what you think! You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 07, 2020 |
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#53 | Birth Story Mini: Candra's Back Labor with Group B Strep
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Today's Birth Story Mini-Episode features Candra, a first-time Mom who had GBS (Group B Strep), release of membranes, antibiotics, vomiting and intense back labor. Despite everything her birth was natural and as soon as her daughter came out, she said she was ready to have another. Candra's story is a great example of how birth can be a good and fulfilling experience even when it's not necessarily "easy" along the way. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Oct 05, 2020 |
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#52 | Q&A: Hilarious Husbands; Birthing Positions; Flat Nipples; Gentle Cesarean; Unassisted Home-Birth Tips; Anterior Placentas
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Imagine if your husband left for the hospital without you while you were in labor? What does it mean to have an anterior placenta? How might flat nipples impact your ability to breastfeed? When it comes to positions for giving birth, YOU are in charge. Ever wondered how to prepare for the possibility of an unexpected and unassisted home birth? Whether you are planning a cesarean birth or suddenly shift plans to having one, there are ways to do so feeling more empowered and respected throughout. Tune into to this week’s Q&A with Cynthia & Trisha for the scoop! If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. Please also check out our new website at www.downtobirthshow.com and let us know what you think! You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 30, 2020 |
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#51 | Postpartum Incontinence: Author Luce Brett's Journey Through the Wet-Knickered Wilderness to Dry Land
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She asks for a list of things that make me leak – my first incontinence homework. I begin: ‘Walking, running, stretching, coughing, sneezing, lifting up a baby, farting, shouting, crying, standing up, long strides, buses, exercise, stairs ...’” This is the beginning of Luce Brett’s book PMSL or How I literally Pissed Myself Laughing and Survived the Last Taboo to Tell the Tale. Today, we interview Luce on her postpartum incontinence journey--a life chapter shrouded in embarrassment, sadness, itchy wetness and bewilderment during a time she had expected to feel elated, joyful, and deeply in love with motherhood and her baby. With 1 in 3 women experiencing bladder weakness and urinary leakage, this topic is as important as it is taboo. Luce’s story is both funny and factual, raw and heartfelt and something all women can benefit from hearing--if not for themselves then for someone they love.
You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/cynthiaovergard) Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 23, 2020 |
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#50 | Postpartum Mini: You're Not Going Crazy, It's Probably Postpartum Anxiety
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Hi everyone! In this Postpartum Mini episode Cynthia talks about Postpartum Anxiety, which is four times more common than Postpartum Depression, though it technically falls under the same umbrella. Postpartum anxiety can affect anyone (even fathers and parents who adopt), and is a function of how intensely bonded you are to your baby. The problem is, most people don't know about it. And if you experience intrusive thoughts - like being terrified you'll drop the baby down the staircase, or that your baby will experience a freak accident that you keep playing over and over in your mind - you just might think you're going crazy when you're not. In this episode, Cynthia describes some ways postpartum anxiety can manifest, why it can occur and what can be done about it. Please share this episode with any postpartum moms you know, because they just might be suffering from this condition (almost all parents do to some extent) and they're probably living with it in silence. Reach out to Cynthia and Trisha at the links below to share your story or ask us a question. This is a community-based podcast, and you're our community! If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 21, 2020 |
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#49 | Dr. Neel Shah OBGYN: Agency, Dignity, & The Number One Risk Factor for Cesarean Birth
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Dr. Neel Shah, an obstetrician and professor at Harvard medical school, is dedicated to improving maternity care in the United States.Think part-scientist, part-sociologist and you'll see how his work in maternity care has made him a globally-recognized expert in tackling one of the biggest challenges for women giving birth today: the widely variable and sometimes extreme cesarean rate across the nation. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 16, 2020 |
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#48 | Becky and Tom's DIY Home Birth
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Today we're talking with Becky and Tom, one of several HypnoBirthing couples Cynthia has worked with who ended up with an unplanned home birth. When you hear these stories, it's often hard to remember that the couple really believed they were about to get in the car. But some babies don't give quite enough advanced notice and you find yourself having a DIY birth at home! If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 09, 2020 |
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#47 | Pregnancy Story Mini - Jess Hears Herself
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Hi all! One of Cynthia's expecting HypnoBirthing moms had a story to share in class that brought her to tears, and now she's sharing it for all of you. How do you know if you're with the right provider? With so much uncertainty and so few hard facts, a woman's intuition, and often her partner's as well, is hands down the best way to inform this all-important decision. Jess tells you what this experience felt like for her. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you on Wednesday! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 07, 2020 |
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#46 | Sandy's Secret Home Birth
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Some things are best kept to ourselves...when Sandy and her husband decided to have a home birth, they also decided to keep their decision just between the two of them. This is a beautiful birth story of trusting ourselves, the parents If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Sep 02, 2020 |
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#45 | Q&A: Outrageous OB Comments; Pooping in Labor; Mastitis; C-Sections and Genetics; Birth Plans; Children in the Birthing Room
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If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 26, 2020 |
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#44 | Breastfeeding Mini: The First Week of Breastfeeding and Why it Matters Most
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Hi everyone! Today Trisha continues providing breastfeeding information for those of you who want to know what to expect in that first week of forming a breastfeeding relationship with your newborn. Trisha gives tips as to what makes this process easier and also describes how your investment in this first week will payoff in the long run with an easier breastfeeding experience overall. Thanks for listening, and message us on IG or email us if you have any follow-up questions for our next monthly Q&A episode! If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends and be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts! You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 24, 2020 |
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#43 | Katie's Birth Story: Twins Born Naturally Against All Odds
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In the United States approximately 90% of mothers with twins give birth by C-section, the majority of which are scheduled. Katie Novack of The Wonder List is a travel blogger who never planned on having children. Suddenly she and her husband of 13 years discovered they were not only pregnant - but with twins! They felt a strong desire to bring their babies into the world vaginally and discovered pretty much until the moments the babies came out that this would be no easy feat. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please subscribe and share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 19, 2020 |
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#42 | Birth Story Mini: Rachel's Natural Water Birth
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In this birth story mini-episode, Rachel shares the story of her blissful birth using HypnoBirthing and how feeling empowered in her own birthing choices allowed her to have a pain-free and truly thrilling birth experience. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 10, 2020 |
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#41 | How the Language We Use Impacts Our Birth: Interview with Sara Pixton of Birth Words
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Have you ever wondered why we call it "labor" or say he or she "delivered" my baby? Maybe you felt defeated when your care provider diagnosed you with "failure to progress" or suggested you had an "incompetent cervix". The words we use matter a lot. Sara is a mother, educator, birth worker and founder of Birth Words. With a master's degree in linguistics, she was inspired to fuse her passion for words and birth into a revolutionary movement, bringing awareness to the words we use and reframing our language in a way that gives strength to the birthing woman. She joins us today to explain just how to do this. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Aug 05, 2020 |
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#40 | Q&A: The Placenta & Advanced Maternal Age; COVID-19 Silver Lining ; Chapped Nipples & Poor Latch; Who Can Have a Natural Birth; Pitocin Postpartum; Unsolicated Family Advice
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So many excellent questions came in for this week's Q&A episode! We begin with a brief discussion on the possibility of a little silver lining for mothers & babies giving birth during Covid-19. Next, we tackle the question of changing placental function based on maternal age, followed by chapped, bleeding nipples two-weeks postpartum and how to fix them. We discuss how all women can access the confidence to give birth naturally and why a shot of Pitocin after the birth of your baby is not only controversial but usually not properly consented to. Finally, one women is persuaded by her mother-in-law that she will spoil her baby by holding her too much! If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 29, 2020 |
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#39 | HypnoBirthing Mini: How and Why Affirmations Work
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Hi everyone! We're back today with another HypnoBirthing mini. Regardless of whether you have taken - or plan to take - a HypnoBirthing class before giving birth, we're going to talk about one of the tools in the program that's application to all of us: Affirmations. How do they work? What do they have to do with your belief system? And how can you use them toward preparing your most important birthing organ? (Hint: It's not your uterus.) Tune in to get the inside scoop on how the human brains works, and how this little-understood powerhouse of ours can become our greatest asset - or obstacle - when it comes to achieving your ideal birth or any goal at all. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 27, 2020 |
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#38 | Your Dog And Newborn: Interview with Heather Corum from Canine Company
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We love dogs and we love babies, so what is the best way to bring your baby home when you already have a dog in the house? All of us at the DTB show are dog owners and dog lovers, and we thought this was not only a fun, but also an important topic for new parents. Today, we have Heather Corum from Canine Company to give us the dog's perspective on what it's like when baby comes home and to teach us all the ways to train your dog for a safe, smooth transition to one big happy family with your pooch! If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 22, 2020 |
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#37 | Hospital To Home: A Midwife's Perspective: Interview with NYC Midwife Chloë Lubell
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Chloë Lubell is a midwife living and working in New York City. She has worked in a number of different settings including public hospitals, private hospitals, birth centers, and homes. After the birth of her own daughter she transitioned out of the hospital to grow a new practice: Cosmos Midwifery, a Brooklyn based homebirth practice. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 15, 2020 |
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#36 | Birth Story Mini: Tiffany's Breech-Baby Cesarean followed by Natural VBAC
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Hey, everyone! We've got another great birth story for you on this mini-episode Monday. Tiffany shares the birth stories of each of her sons. Tiffany's first birth was incredibly arduous; after hours of laboring and pushing, her baby started to emerge breech, resulting in an emergency Cesarean section. During her second pregnancy, Tiffany invested extra energy to fetal positioning exercises, and to practicing hypnosis to keep her in a calm, positive state through her second labor. Her hard work paid off, and you'll hear just how quickly Tiffany's VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean) was! If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 13, 2020 |
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#35 | Sex: From Pain To Pleasure: Interview with Women's Physical Therapist, Dr. Lauren Crigler
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Sex after childbirth. The topic everyone’s thinking about, but hesitates to bring up. Whether it’s pleasurable or painful, we can put a lot of guilt and pressure on ourselves to do things a certain way, or in a certain time period. Dr. Lauren Crigler is sexual wellness therapist and specializes not only in pelvic floor physical therapy, but also in helping couples have more pleasure and connection during sex -- physically and emotionally. Talking to women about painful intercourse, feeling disconnected from their partners or feeling too exhausted to even think about sex is Lauren’s everyday life. She guarantees your sex live will improve if you address the physical, mental and emotional barriers to enjoying sex again. * * * * * * * * * * If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 08, 2020 |
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Bonus Episode | Trisha's Take on the recent CDC data and NY Times Article: Study Raises Concerns for Pregnant Women With the Coronavirus
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In this bonus mini-sode, Trisha address the questions and concerns related recent data released by the CDC and published in the New York Times article by Apoora Mandavilli: Study Raises Concerns for Pregnant Women With the Coronavirus. Learn what the new CDC data on COVID-19 really means for pregnant women and whether you need to feel especially concerned just because you're pregnant. Tune in for Trisha's take, and get the details. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 03, 2020 |
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#34 | Postpartum Depression: Interview with Jen Schwartz of Motherhood Understood
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Jen had the perfect fairy tale vision of what life with a baby would look like. But, almost immediately after giving birth, everything felt different and she knew something was not right. She tells of how her mother described “the light going out of her eyes.” Today, she shares with us her journey through both postpartum depression and anxiety and how her recovery inspired her passion for helping to inform, support and heal the lives of other women who’s postpartum mental illness may otherwise have remained hidden in the dark. Motherhood Understood If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jul 01, 2020 |
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#33 | Breastfeeding Mini: Out With The Rules, In With Your Instincts
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In this "Mini-sode Monday" episode, Trisha shares the first and most important rule of breastfeeding--there are no rules! In this short episode, she explains how breastfeeding is a right-brained activity and doesn't require logic, thinking, and planning to be successful. In fact, those left-brained functions can be just the thing that interferes with the natural flow and process of establishing an easy, long lasting breastfeeding relationship with your baby. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 29, 2020 |
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#32 | Q&A: The Difference Between HypnoBirthing and Bradley, When Formula Might be Needed, What's a Cystocele, When To Allow Family Members at the Birth, Membrane Stripping and Vaginal Exams
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It's the last Wednesday of the month, which means it’s time to answer your pregnancy, breastfeeding, birth and postpartum questions. Today we're discussing birth support and boundaries, especially when it comes to having a family member, like your own mother, attend your birth. Next, we discuss membrane-stripping for full-term pregnant women. Is it safe? Is it effective? How well does it work? Our breastfeeding topic today is around supplementing with formula--when is it really needed and what can you do to increase your supply? Next we dive into HypnoBirthing and discuss how it differs from the Bradley method. Cystocele? What's that, and what you can do about it if you have one? Finally, Cynthia asks Trisha some of the most common questions her clients ask: How can a provider tell how many centimeters dilated a laboring woman is, and is it really true that all women get to exactly ten centimeters? If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 24, 2020 |
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#31 | Megan of Wilson Family Homestead's Birth Story: Unattended Home Birth in the Kitchen
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We love a good birth story, and especially one that can’t help but inspire you to give a little or a whole lot more trust to the birth process! Megan, a blogger, homesteader, and lover of all things DIY, founder of the Wilson Family Homestead, joins us today to share the unassisted home birth story of her second child. After three weeks of prodromal labor, Megan figured it was just another night of false labor as she tucked herself into bed...Less than two hours later, she was standing naked on her rustic kitchen floor with her son, Dimi, in her arms, her husband by her side, and her midwife en route. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 17, 2020 |
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#30 | Birth Story Mini: Three Pushes and Lydia's Baby Was Out - In Triage!
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Hey, everyone! We've got a great birth story for you on this mini-episode Monday. Lydia shares the story of her second pregnancy and natural birth - it was a fast ride in labor to Yale New Haven Hospital and an even faster ride once they got there! Lydia gave birth to her daughter before they could even get her to the maternity ward! If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 15, 2020 |
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#29 | Birth Control and Your Libido: Interview with Ann Konkoly, Certified Nurse Midwife
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Today, we are having a different kind of conversation--one about how to not get pregnant and yet another on how to rev up that lagging sex drive after having kids. We have Ann Konkoly, Certified Nurse Midwife, on the line to give us the run down on the best available contraceptive options from IUDs to implants to the withdrawal method, as well as sharing her tips on how to boost your libido. Be sure not to miss the questions from our community at the end! You are sure to learn some fun facts from this episode. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 10, 2020 |
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#28 | Claude Racine-Valinsky's Birth Story: No Place Like Home
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Claude Racine-Valinsky is a professional dancer and social media influencer who developed determination and grit in an industry that tells pretty much anyone over thirty that they're too old for dance. Refusing to buy into those limitations, her career and social media following skyrocketed in her thirties. So when she and her husband were newly pregnant and expecting their first baby at age 37, and her doctor told her at her pregnancy confirmation that she's too old to have children, Claude took the bold step of ghosting her doctor. It was then that Claude's instinct rose to the surface, and for her, that meant there was only one place to birth her son: at home. And while her birth was far from easy, she says she wouldn't have dreamed of doing it any place else. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 03, 2020 |
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#27 | Postpartum Mini: The Link Between Postpartum Depression and Wonderful Mothers
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Hey, everyone! It's another Mini-Episode Monday and today I describe the burden we impose on pregnant and postpartum women when we lovingly predict she'll be a "wonderful mother". It may come as a surprise to learn that this term actually has a causal relationship to postpartum depression and anxiety. Where does this come from, what does it mean, and how can we reshape this thought pattern into something that will serve parents better? Listen to this mini-episode and be sure to get in touch with us afterwards by leaving us a voice message at the number below. We'd love to hear your own thoughts around calling someone - or being told that we are - a "wonderful" mother. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jun 01, 2020 |
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#26 | Q&A: Refusing Newborn Interventions, Birthing the Placenta, Breastfeeding Support At Birth, Co-Sleeping
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We are back with another monthly Q&A episode. This week we have some big topics such as "mandatory" newborn interventions: can I say no to the antibiotic eye ointment and/or the Vitamin K shot? Next, we explain the birth of the placenta: when it happens and what to expect. Also, we address how to get started with breastfeeding immediately following birth--don't miss the one simple first step! Lastly, we talk about co-sleeping: what does it mean, who is it for, and is it safe? If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 27, 2020 |
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#25 | Your Core & Pelvic Floor: Interview with Women's Health Physical Therapist Tara Gibson
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In today's episode we're sitting down with physical therapist Tara Gibson, founder of Aligned Life Physical Therapy and Pelvic Wellness, where she works with prenatal and postpartum women in repairing and maintaining a healthy core and pelvic floor. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 20, 2020 |
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#24 | HypnoBirthing Mini: Group B Strep with Released Membranes and Her Instinct Told Her to Run from Induction
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Hi, Listeners! In this first Monday-Mini-Episode, I share the story of one of my HypnoBirthing clients, Christina, who was diagnosed with Group B Strep at 36 weeks. When her membranes released at 39 weeks, her midwives made the evidence-based recommendation that she go immediately to the hospital for induction and antibiotics, even though labor hadn't yet begun. When she and her husband got to the hospital parking lot, she called me sobbing with the words I'll always remember: "Every cell in my body is telling me not to go into the hospital right now". Listen to find out what she did from there, and discover the one thing powerful enough to make her refuse the sound, reasonable recommendation of her trusted midwives. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 18, 2020 |
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#23 | Lisa Bass's Birth Story: In the Hospital, In a Car, and At Home
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Our guest today is blogger and mother-of-six, Lisa Bass, who you may recognize by her social media platform Farmhouse on Boone. Lisa is the epitome of the modern-day natural living mother. She's making sourdough starter one moment and sewing her children's clothes the next, while wearing her baby in a sling and managing her multi-platform business. Her husband is home with her full-time, and they home school. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends. You can sign up for Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 13, 2020 |
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#22 | Birth Into Being: Interview with Elena Tonetti-Vladimirova
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Elena Tonetti-Vladimirova is one of the pioneers of the Conscious Birth Movement. From 1982 to 1989, she was one of the original organizers of the birth camps at the Black Sea in Russia, where many women gave birth in shallow lagoons in the presence of wild dolphins. If you've taken a HypnoBirthing class, you may have seen this in Elena's movie, Birth As We Know It. Elena is revered as a spiritual midwife to thousands of families and professionals alike. Elena has been training new facilitators in her method, Birth Into Being, since 2004, and her graduates are now teaching her method in all major languages across 22 countries. The key focus of Birth Into Being is to prevent birth complications through healing on the conscious and subconscious levels. Elena was featured in the UN-sponsored book Force Such As the World Has Never Known: Women Creating Change, as one of the 30 Most Influential Grassroots Women in the World. She received the Legendary Leader Award and has been a keynote speaker at countless conferences. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
May 06, 2020 |
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#21 | Q&A: Supporting the Immune System in Pregnancy, Painful Postpartum Sex, Your Rights Regarding Separation of Baby After Childbirth, Why You Can Skip the Newborn Bath, What to Expect During the Postpartum Recovery Process
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How can you stay your healthiest during pregnancy? While the immune system is slightly compromised and worries are higher with COVID-19, there are many healthy, easy ways to keep yourself strong and healthy. Tune in to hear our tips! In this Q&A we also answer questions around experiencing painful, sexual intercourse several months postpartum, the key reasons babies are unnecessarily separated from parents postpartum, why you can skip the newborn bath, and what to expect during recovery from a vaginal birth and how to best support your healing. Oh, and bonus...our favorite natural birth books. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 29, 2020 |
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Bonus Episode | How Doulas Support Couples During COVID-19: Interview with Doula Colleen Myatt
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Hey podcast community - We've been getting so many questions around COVID-19, we wanted to dive deeper on how doulas are supporting couples right now. In this bonus episode, we spoke with birth- and postpartum-doula Colleen Myatt to find out how doulas are supporting couples during social distancing and/or while certain hospitals currently disallow doulas from attending couples' births. Colleen is certified through DONA International, and she is also an Evidence Based Birth and Spinning Babies Parent Educator. Thanks for listening and see you for our April Q&A episode on Wednesday! You can sign up for online HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 24, 2020 |
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#20 | Cord Blood Banking and How It Can Help with Diabetes, Cancer, Alzheimer's and Autism: Interview with Marion Welch of Cryo-Cell International
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When it comes to having babies we all agree health matters most. While the benefits of delayed cord clamping are well known, less understood is cord blood banking--that is, saving those stem cells for potential use later on. Marion Welch, cord blood educator from Cryo-Cell International is here today to share some of the promising new developments in this field. You can sign up for online HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 22, 2020 |
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#19 | Sexual Assault & Childbirth: Interview with Author Lindsay Gibson
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April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and this episode may not be appropriate for all listeners. Nearly 1 in 5 women in the United States have been raped at some time in their lives, and in 42% of those cases, it happened before age 18. Today’s episode explores the question, how can sexual assault impact a woman in pregnancy and childbirth? Our guest is Lindsay Gibson, who experienced rape at age 16. In her twenties and thirties, she went on to give birth to four children, one of whom was born still. Lindsay is author of Just Be: How My Stillborn Son Taught Me To Surrender. This is Lindsay’s story of healing from the emotional and physical trauma of rape through her own grief, and how each of her four births brought her one step closer to freedom from her past. RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline * * * * * * * * * * If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 15, 2020 |
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#18 | Courtney's Birth Story: Baby + Triplets Make Four
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Imagine you've had an easy, natural birth and are ready for baby number two. Then, when your first child is twelve months old, you go for your pregnancy confirmation visit only to hear, "Surprise! Triplets are joining the family!" Courtney is here today to share her roller coaster journey of shock, excitement, self-determination, and ultimately, her peaceful surrender to the cesarean birth she never thought she would have. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can text "downtobirth" to 22828 to join our monthly newsletter. You can sign up for online HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 08, 2020 |
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#17 | Roundtable: How COVID-19 Protocols are Affecting Pregnant Couples
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If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Apr 01, 2020 |
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#16 | Q&A: COVID-19 Update for Expecting Parents, Uterine Scars & Childbirth, When Your Partner's Birth Plan Differs from Yours, Taking Hot Baths & Sleep Positions in Pregnancy, Missing Out on the Golden Hour Postpartum
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Before we get into our regular Q&A episode, we bring you the current information we have on COVID-19 and its impact on pregnancy and breastfeeding. After reviewing the information from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), what we know thus far is good news. Sigh of relief. Please tune in to hear more. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 24, 2020 |
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#15 | Julia's Birth Story: When Bonding Doesn't Happen
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If you look up Julia Dzafic’s blog, Lemon Stripes, you’ll find a vibrant young mother sharing her tips on fashion, decor, motherhood, and lifestyle. But today on the podcast, Julia shares a part of her the public hasn’t fully seen: a woman with a history of anxiety who struggled with conception and miscarriage, and who finally conceived and birthed the healthy baby she’d dreamed of, only to feel completely disconnected from the moment of birth. This is the story of a woman who began motherhood merely going through the motions, hiding her disillusion and belief that her baby deserved better...until some of her own fans sent her into a deeper spiral than she’d ever experienced. Julia tells us about reaching her breaking point, and the steps she took to face her truth and begin her journey toward healing. Postpartum Support International
If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 18, 2020 |
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#14 | Roundtable: Mothers of Stillbirth and What They Can Teach Us
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Stillbirth is defined as the loss of a baby between 20 weeks' gestation and birth. Globally 1 in 160 expecting families experience stillbirth, and that incidence is ever greater in the U.S. If this number is surprising that's because stillbirth isn't really talked about. And the effect of the silence is isolation. While society is well-meaning, we're often ill-prepared to truly understand the emotions felt by these parents. Especially the mothers, who tend to have have their own unique set of emotions beyond grief. What does she most need from us? What comments are helpful, and which are hurtful? When, if ever, should you presume it's time to stop asking her how she's doing? To stop mentioning her baby? Our own nervousness and lack of understanding can misreflect the compassion we feel. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpa Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 11, 2020 |
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#13 | Is Your Provider Right For You? The First Three Questions to Ask.
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The person we choose to attend our birth is one of the most impactful decisions we can make. Unfortunately, all too often the decision is made by default, choosing our gynecologist or our friend’s OB, or simply someone whose practice is close and convenient. We believe in making an informed and conscientious choice about who we allow to attend our birth. * * * * * * * * * * If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Mar 04, 2020 |
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#12 | Q&A: The Banned Frida Mom Ad, Weaning, Ideal Intervals Between Babies, Being High-Risk, High-Lipase Breast Milk, Eating vs. Vomiting in Labor
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Let's talk about the Frida Mom ad depicting the real truth of a newly postpartum mom, which was banned from airing during the Oscars. Then, what's a mother to do when the pediatrician is suggesting weaning before mother or baby feels ready? Other questions we cover in this episode relate to feeling in control during labor even when you're high-risk; the ideal interval between babies; why some breast milk smells after it's been frozen or sitting out; and the truth about vomiting and/or eating in labor. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 26, 2020 |
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#11 | Building Community and Trusting Ourselves as Parents: Interview with Award-Winning Author Peggy O'Mara
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Peggy O’Mara has been a role model and icon for generations of mothers, including us. As an award-winning author and journalist and the owner of Mothering magazine, Peggy became the voice for the attachment parenting and natural living community. This interview with Peggy provides a glimpse into her all-embracing, solution-focused and deeply trusting mindset, which demonstrates how she took a once-fragmented, seemingly-radical community of natural parents in the late 70s and turned it into a movement of intellectually-curious and accepting mothers and fathers who learned to relinquish judgment in support one another in their mutual quest to raise their children conscientiously. Even the most casual conversation with Peggy is loaded with wisdom and golden nuggets of truth and inspiration. In this episode Peggy provides countless suggestions for creating your tribe, and shares her thoughts on trusting the birth and parenting process. We also discuss the impact of social media on postpartum isolation, and much more. Finally, be sure to check out the numerous resources Peggy provided for this episode.
If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 19, 2020 |
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#10 | Cynthia Overgard's Birth Story
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The story of Cynthia's first birth has been published internationally in various print media between 2007 and 2020, under the the original title Off Her Back and, later, Taking Charge of Giving Birth. Some of those publications include Mothering magazine, Pathways to Family Wellness, and a textbook called Opposing Viewpoints: Childbirth. It's the story of a once-uninformed, overwhelmed woman who channeled her anxiety into educating herself, advocating for herself, and later firing her obstetrician, hiring midwives, and facing her fear of natural childbirth using HypnoBirthing. In the end, she birthed her 8 lb. 14 oz son in exactly three hours from start to finish, and four years later, her 9 lb. 7 oz. daughter during a planned home birth with midwives Amy Romano and Cynthia's co-host Trisha Ludwig. This is the story that prompted Cynthia to leave her corporate career and become a childbirth educator and advocate.
Other Related Articles by Cynthia Overgard
If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 12, 2020 |
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#9 | Birth Plan 101: Evidence Based Birth as the Safest, Smartest Approach
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"Can I just say 'No' to an episiotomy? Do I have to give birth on my back? I want to be free to walk around in labor. I don't want to be hooked up to an IV. I believe in skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth." Do you ever feel like what you want - or don’t want - in your birth experience is at risk of not happening for you? This episode spells out the research on various Evidenced Based Birth practices so you can feel confident and comfortable in the choices you make around your birth experience. Grab a pen and your partner, and listen in because you don’t want to miss this essential information. American College of Nurse Midwives Skin to skin care in preterm infants Optimal Care in Childbirth: The Case for a Physiologic Approach If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Feb 05, 2020 |
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#8 | Q & A: Waterbirthing, Postpartum Anxiety, Breastfeeding, Velamentous Cords, Self-Advocacy, & When To Go To The Hospital
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If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 29, 2020 |
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#7 | Jessica's Birth Story: A Footling Breech Baby Coming Through
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It isn't often we hear stories of women who change providers when their baby is full-term. At her 39 week check-up, Jessica learned her baby was breech...feet first!
If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 22, 2020 |
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#6 | Amazing Husband Syndrome
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Every week, Cynthia and Trisha moderate a postpartum support group, where women gain validation and unique insight into one another's thoughts, experiences and comments. Over time, it's clear to see certain patterns emerge within every new group. In this episode we discuss one of them: Why do so many women feel compelled to describe their partners as "amazing" -- not good, not 'doing his best', not human -- but amazing. Thus was born our term Amazing Husband Syndrome. We question why women suffer so much guilt around their mothering while holding their partners to a markedly different standard. While overemphasizing the magnitude of their partners' contributions, we women can unwittingly underemphasize our own efforts, qualities and achievements in parenting. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 17, 2020 |
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#5 | Preterm Babies & the Case for Midwifery Care: Interview with Midwife/Author Amy Romano
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Certified Nurse Midwife and award-winning author of Optimal Care in Childbirth: The Case for a Physiologic Approach, Amy Romano, joins us today to share dramatic trends ranging from physiologic to sociologic, which are contributing to poor outcomes in the U.S., especially for black women.
If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 15, 2020 |
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#4 | Q & A: Induction, Due Dates, Placenta Previa, Glucose Drink, Ultrasound & Baby's Size, Plugged Ducts, Family Boundaries
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If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can sign up for online and in-person HypnoBirthing childbirth classes for pregnant couples taught by Cynthia Overgard, as well as online breastfeeding classes and weekly postpartum support groups run by Cynthia & Trisha at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 08, 2020 |
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#3 | Roundtable: Postpartum Moms on Isolation, Anxiety, Sex, and Marriage
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Today's episode was recorded on location at HypnoBirthing of CT in Westport, where we brought together three women between 8 and 16 months postpartum to reflect on their experiences. You'll hear about their anxieties and how they've struggled to stay connected to the husbands they love. This episode contains sensitive content and uncensored language. Before tonight, these women had never met before; yet their feelings, fears, and hopes instantly connected them in this open, honest discussion of real life after a new baby. If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can check out online and in-person prenatal, breastfeeding, HypnoBirthing childbirth classes and postpartum events at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum SoothePostpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 08, 2020 |
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#1 | Is A Healthy Mother & Baby All That Matters?
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If you enjoyed this episode of the Down To Birth Show, please share with your pregnant and postpartum friends! You can check out online and in-person prenatal, breastfeeding, HypnoBirthing childbirth classes and postpartum events at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Please remember we don’t provide medical advice, and to speak with your licensed medical provider related to all your healthcare matters. Thanks so much for joining in the conversation, and see you next week! Postpartum Soothe™ is 100% organic. An herbal tincture for pads toward a safer, easier recovery. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content. Work with Cynthia: Work with Trisha: Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters. |
Jan 03, 2020 |
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#2 | Lee's Birth Story: A 42-year-old Mother's Fast, Unplanned Home-Birth
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