All Birthful Episodes
Pregnant people get bombarded with all sorts of advice: a lot of it unsolicited, outdated, or just plain wrong. In Birthful, working doula and former journalist Adriana Lozada talks pregnancy, birth, and postpartum with top experts and new parents.
Every episode distills the overload of pregnancy information down to the most relevant and useful stuff.
![[Best of Birthful] What Your Baby Experiences During Birth](https://birthful.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Karen-Strange-headshot-400x250.jpg)
[Best of Birthful] What Your Baby Experiences During Birth
Welcome to the Best of Birthful. Creator and host Adriana Lozada curated and edited each selection in this playlist of the show’s most popular episodes. It's a tailored introduction to the expansive catalog she amassed over the first five years of Birthful's 300+...
![[Birth Stories] How Nutrition Was Key for Her “Mission: Make a Small Baby”](https://birthful.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Jessica-Bower-laboring-e1659890770224-400x250.jpg)
[Birth Stories] How Nutrition Was Key for Her “Mission: Make a Small Baby”
After birthing quite a large baby and experiencing shoulder dystocia, Jessica Bower went on a quest to figure out why she had grown a baby that size. She shares with Adriana how gaining control of her sugar levels really helped with her “Mission: Make a Small Baby”...
Ways to Deal With Morning Sickness— Whether It’s Mild or Debilitating
Adriana Lozada offers practical advice on how to deal with whatever level of nausea you are experiencing. She also lays out how hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is not just a bad case of morning sickness, but a severe and debilitating condition. Where did you find...
![[Pregnancy Story] How This “Freckled Foodie” Prioritized Mental Health During Her Pregnancy](https://birthful.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Cameron-Rogers-scaled-e1658925553203-400x250.jpeg)
[Pregnancy Story] How This “Freckled Foodie” Prioritized Mental Health During Her Pregnancy
For wellness content creator Cameron Rogers, being in a pregnant body felt more challenging than she had imagined. She tells Adriana Lozada about the coping strategies that got her through the physical and emotional toll of the experience. What were the biggest...
Reducing Anxiety Around Pregnancy Weight Gain and Nutrition
Genevieve Howland (a.k.a. Mama Natural) talks with Adriana about ways you can navigate the emotions that come with gaining weight during pregnancy, identify possible triggers, and explore seeing it as an opportunity to connect with and appreciate your body in a new...
![[Birth Story] How She Advocated for Her Vaginal Births Despite Having Diabetes](https://birthful.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Yana-and-her-daughter-Birthful-Podcast.jpeg)
[Birth Story] How She Advocated for Her Vaginal Births Despite Having Diabetes
Yana Katzap-Nackman shares with Adriana how taking control of her sugar levels and bringing together a supportive team of care providers led her to have the births she desired, despite living with Type 1 diabetes. She tells Adriana how she matter-of-factly took...
What Does Your Poop Have to Do With Your Baby’s Microbiome?
Professor of microbiology and researcher Dr. Anne Estes talks with Adriana about how your gut microbiome (not just your vaginal microbiome) plays a critical role in seeding your baby’s microbiome during birth, and what you can do about it. They discuss whether...
![[Birth Story] How She Proactively Avoided Having Another Traumatic Birth](https://birthful.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Toni-headshot-200x250.jpg)
[Birth Story] How She Proactively Avoided Having Another Traumatic Birth
After an eye-opening, traumatic, and abusive first birth, Toni DeAztlan-Smith was determined not to repeat the experience. Toni tells Adriana how she proactively took matters into her own hands and ended up having a powerfully healing birth. She also shares how she...
How to Tap Into the Nourishing Power of Herbs During Pregnancy and Postpartum
Herbs are micronutrient powerhouses for your immune, nervous, and endocrine systems, but some of them may not be recommended during this time of your life. Kathleen Mugnolo talks with Adriana about how you can figure out which ones are right for YOU, as well as...
![[Birth Story] A Nourished Pregnancy, Flowing Birth, and Jarring Postpartum](https://birthful.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Chelsy-thumbnail-379x250.jpg)
[Birth Story] A Nourished Pregnancy, Flowing Birth, and Jarring Postpartum
Chelsy Arnett shares with Adriana how her husband nourished her during pregnancy. She also talks about the wonders of the double-hip-squeeze during labor, why she’d push in a completely different way the next time, as well as what’s helped her get through the...
Do You Really Need to Stop Eating Sushi?
Registered dietitian and researcher Lily Nichols and Adriana take a closer look at the common nutrition recommendations during pregnancy, and whether avoiding raw fish and runny eggs may be keeping you from getting the nutrition you and your baby really need. Lily...
Why an OB/GYN Chose to Have a Homebirth
OB/GYN and medical educator Dr. Amali Lokugamage talks with Adriana about how being pregnant propelled a paradigm shift in her ideas about birth, leading her to give birth at home. A champion of human rights in childbirth, she shares why birth recommendations have...
Is Homebirth for You?
Robina Khalid of Small Things Grow Midwifery explains what it takes to truly consider a homebirth, and shares with Adriana how to prepare for a successful experience. What myths or misconceptions do you have about homebirth? We'll unpack them at @birthfulpodcast on...
![[Birth Story] How She Embraced Physiology to Avoid Pushing for Three Hours Again](https://birthful.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/April-Teel-snuggling-after-her-second-birth-Birthful-Podcast.jpg)
[Birth Story] How She Embraced Physiology to Avoid Pushing for Three Hours Again
April Teel shares with Adriana how her thoughtful preparation set the stage for her to have wonderful birth experiences at both a freestanding birth center (with a midwife) and a hospital (with a family practice doctor). She reflects on how what surprised her the most...
Cesarean Risk: What’s Your Place of Birth Got to Do With It?
Cesarean rates have increased 500% in one generation, and about half of them may be unnecessary. Harvard Medical School professor and ACOG Fellow Dr. Neel Shah talks with Adriana about how the hospital you choose can be your #1 risk of having a surgical birth, how we...
![[Birth Story] How Focusing On Her Birth Vision Led To Her Dream Hospital Birth](https://birthful.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Jenny-Murphy-Birthful-Podcast.jpeg)
[Birth Story] How Focusing On Her Birth Vision Led To Her Dream Hospital Birth
Jenny Murphy’s birth preparations were impacted by uncertainty, fear, and ever-changing circumstances. She shares with Adriana how focusing on her “birth vision”– and waiting to go to the hospital for as long as possible– allowed her to be the leader of her labor and...
Know What You’re Up Against When Giving Birth at a Hospital
Mimi Niles, a full-scope midwife and midwifery care researcher, talks to Adriana Lozada about the U.S. hospital system, how your goals as a birthing person are at odds with the system’s goals, and how to tap into your power as a consumer within the system. How exactly...
Exploring Your Options of Where to Give Birth
Adriana Lozada goes through the pros and cons of three places where you can give birth: a hospital, a birth center, and at home, and what you should consider when making an informed decision. Where did you give birth, and why? We want to read about it! Join the...
What You Need to Know About Birth Models (Birth What?)
Medical anthropologist Robbie Davis-Floyd talks with Adriana about the technocratic, humanistic and holistic birth models. She explains why we’ve gotten so obsessed with machines and numbers, why we need more midwives, how some OBs are making positive change by...
![[Birth Story] How Flexibility Helped Her Flow through Relentless Contractions](https://birthful.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Sarah-Winward-milky-goddess-Birthful-Podcast-e1551285392279.jpg)
[Birth Story] How Flexibility Helped Her Flow through Relentless Contractions
Sarah Winward’s story starts with some lovely swing dancing in the living room, and stomping through deep snow with her dog, then gets really intense, having Sarah ask herself over and over “Where is the break?! There’s supposed to be a break. Where is the break?!”...
What Cultural Ideals Will Shape Your Birth Experience?
Author and childbirth educator Britta Bushnell describes eight deeply-entrenched cultural ideals that can unconsciously— and even negatively— impact the course of your labor and how you parent. She and Adriana share how to reframe these beliefs to uplift realistic...
How to Protect the Golden Hour
Adriana gives advice on ensuring you and your newborn can take advantage of the "golden hour," in any birth setting. Might parents, parents-to-be, and birthworkers: this is part three of a three-part series on the benefits of the golden hour. Listen to part one here...
Why the Golden Hour Matters for Your Baby
Adriana continues her series on the “golden hour” with specifics on the benefits for your baby of having this undisturbed time right after birth. Might parents, parents-to-be, and birthworkers: this is part two of a three-part series on the benefits of the golden...
Why the Golden Hour Matters for You
Adriana describes important elements of the "golden hour"- those crucial and magical first moments right after your baby is born- especially for you, the birthing person. Might parents, parents-to-be, and birthworkers: this is part one of a three-part series on the...