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Pregnant people get bombarded with all sorts of advice: a lot of it unsolicited, outdated, or just plain wrong.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.
Last Minute Switch to a Home Birth, with Kara Fransted
Kara Fransted and her husband had never considered having a home birth, but as the pandemic hit and there was a real possibility of her husband having to miss the birth of their third child, they looked into it. Never mind that she was already 38 weeks pregnant. Check...
All About Midwives, with Melissa Cheyney
Today is all about midwives! What is midwifery care? What are the different types of midwives? Are they all certified? Where do they provide care? Are they only for when you are having a baby? Do they do the same things as OB’s? What are the advantages of OBs,...
Postpartum during COVID, with Elly Taylor
Postpartum can be a difficult and very isolating time of life. That's why building your village of support ahead of time is so incredibly important. But what do you do when your village is also in isolation? How can you and your partner support yourselves and each...
VBAC during the Pandemic, with Mandy Morine
After having a cesarean birth for a failed induction, Mandy Morine was determined to have a VBAC. She did all the things to prepare and set up an extensive team to support her. Then COVID hit, and Mandy found herself having to adjust to virtual doula support, a closed...
What you’re feeling? That’s grief (with a side of anxiety), with Parijat Deshpande
Canceled fertility cycles, face-to-face appointments, bodywork sessions, baby showers, having as many people as you want at your birth, a postpartum period surrounded by a loving village… These are just a few of the anticipated experiences you may have lost during...
Virtual Doula Support, with Jakki Devereaux
How do you prepare for virtual doula support? What about the technology? What can you practice ahead of time? Does this shift your partner's responsibilities? Do you keep your laptop open the whole time? How does it differ from regular doula support? Jakki Devereaux,...
Essentials of Partner Labor Support during a Pandemic, with Adriana Lozada
In today’s episode, Adriana Lozada focuses on the essentials of partner labor support during this time of the pandemic. Many hospitals are limiting birth support to one healthy person, so we wanted to do a special episode on how to prepare for providing labor support...
Different Births, Different Wishes, with Krissy Whitehead
For her first birth, Krissy Whitehead didn’t have much of a plan, other than getting an epidural. That birth was a lovely experience, so what made her alter her birth wishes with each consecutive birth, and choose a home waterbirth for her fourth one? Go listen....
Starting Solid Foods, with Lily Nichols
Is there a best time to introduce solid foods? What foods should you start with? Is it best to do baby-led weaning, purees, or a mix? What about nutritional requirements, allergies, water, texture windows, and flavor windows? Is food before one just for fun? Does your...
Bariatric-Geriatric Pregnancy, Induced Labor, and Unmedicated Birth, with Mandy Alexander
Mandy Alexander got pregnant at 40, having had bariatric surgery 7 years before that. During pregnancy, she worked through her fear of childbirth and ended up with the unmedicated and collaborative birth experience she was looking for. However, breastfeeding was a...
The Power of Comforting Touch During Labor, with Yiska Obadia
How should you touch a laboring person during contractions? How should you touch them in between contractions? Should you use both hands? Should you lean in? How fast should you go? Why is touch helpful at all? Yiska Obadia has answers. Check it out! [box...
Scheduled Induction Without an Epidural, with Molly Chesterson
Both of Molly Chesterson’s labors have started with inductions but under different circumstances. After having an epidural for her first birth, Molly was hoping for an epidural free experience the second time around. It was an intense close call at the end, when she...
Shaking and the Primal Nature of Birth, with Lesley Everest
You may have heard that uncontrollable shaking is a very common part of labor and immediate postpartum. But is there a neurological purpose to all this shaking? And is the management of the third stage of labor, truncating the resolution, down-regulation, and...
Vaginal Premie Birth Without Interventions, with Bernice Good
Bernice Good went into preterm labor when her water broke at 31 weeks. Though the circumstances were less than ideal, she had what she describes as a lovely vaginal hospital birth with no interventions. The struggles continued during the 19-day NICU stay, and she...
Talking Pelvic Health with a PT, with Sara Reardon
Adriana talks with Pelvic Health Physical Therapist Sara Reardon about what optimal pelvic health looks like. They go into the details about what to do -and not do- when peeing or pooping, discuss common issues such as leakage, painful intercourse, and abdominal...
Overcoming Breastfeeding Problems, with Melissa Statler
Melissa Statler had a quick and mostly flowing birth. Feeling elated, she placed her newborn to her breast, only to be met with excruciating pain and instant damage to her nipples. As her confidence drained, she was informed that because her baby was large for...
Cultural Ideals That Impact Your Birth, with Britta Bushnell
Do you have a need for control and certainty? Are you a perfectionist? Do you highly value knowledge and technology? Do you resist things getting wild? Do you strive to do it all? If any of these resonate with you, you’re going to want to pay close attention to this...
From Hospital to Homebirth in 3 Births, with Krista Thompson
Krista Thompson shares her progression from a prodromal labor that ended with her baby being taken to the NICU, to a precipitous second hospital birth with Fetal Ejection Reflex, and finally an unassisted-like homebirth experience. She also gives us a glimpse into her...
Your Anxious Mind During Pregnancy, with Parijat Deshpande
When you’re expecting, anxiety and worrying seem to take center stage, especially if you are categorized as high-risk. What can you do with these feelings? Can they affect your and your baby’s health? How do you make the mind-body connection work for you, to put this...
Vaginal Birth with Non-Emergency Placental Abruption, with Alaina Gay
Alaina Gay woke up excited and happy, thinking her water had broken, only to discover it was blood. Her planned birth center birth turned into an induction at the hospital, but thanks to compassionate care providers, that focused on her wellbeing as well as on a...
Cannabis use During Pregnancy & Breastfeeding, with Heather Thompson
With the legalization of cannabis expanding around the world, it’s time to have a nuanced conversation about its use during pregnancy and breastfeeding. What do we know about the health risks? What about the legal risks? Is a non-biased risk-benefit analysis centered...
Overcoming Feelings of Brokenness and Fear, with Anne-Marie Shumaker
Anne-Marie Shumaker’s story is epic no matter how you approach it. Her fertility process was a long road involving surgery, multiple rounds of IUI, and a devastating miscarriage. The birth itself included persistent back labor, stalling for hours at 8 cm, and a long...
Can Exercise During Pregnancy Make Labor Harder?, Deb Flashenberg
Today we're exploring if there is such a thing as too much exercise during pregnancy. It’s common knowledge that you should stay active while expecting. Walking, swimming, and doing prenatal yoga can all be super helpful, but what about barre, CrossFit, and...
Proactive Birth after Trauma, with Toni DeAztlan Smith
Toni DeAztlan Smith went into her first birth without doing much research and naively trusting the system. After an eye-opening traumatic experience that took over 6 years to process, Toni was finally ready to take birth into her own hands and proactively turn it from...