In this week’s episode I interview Em about her pregnancy during lockdown. She was induced at 41 weeks and laboured for a long time alone in the maternity ward before she was transferred to the birthing suite where she experienced the cascade

471 | Ashlee, one baby, gastric sleeve surgery, IVF, placenta previa, private obstetrician, student midwife, iron infusion, PPH, breastfeeding

1 day ago 48m 22s

In today’s episode Ashlee details her long fertility journey including her choice to have gastric sleeve surgery. She conceived baby Luca on her first IVF transfer and chose private obstetric care alongside the support of a student midwife. Pla

470 | Abby, three vaginal births, gp shared care, public hospital, pain-free birth, physiological birth, breastfeeding

4 days ago 58m 40s

In this episode Abby shares her third pregnancy and birth story. She opted for shared care with her GP, a decision that really suited her busy family life and offered her continuity of care with someone she trusted. Her third trimester was chal

469 Postpartum | Gen, breastfeeding, unsettled sleep, mother and baby unit, sleep consultant, sleep training, sleep school

8 days ago 56m

Following on from her birth story in episode 468, Gen shares her significant challenges with baby sleep. Sleep is one of the most political and polarising aspects of parenthood; there’s a plethora of differing opinions and it can get very overw

468 | Gen, infertility, miscarriage, IVF, hyperstimulation, private obstetrician, induction, epidural, vacuum-assisted birth, episiotomy

11 days ago 1h 11m

Gen shares every aspect of her fertility, pregnancy and birth experience in this honest and hilarious episode. She tried to conceive for two years and experienced a devastating miscarriage before deciding to start IVF with her husband, Michael.

467 | Gemma Fraternal Twins, MGP, Sunshine Coast Hospital, CMV

22 days ago 1h 8m

In episode 467 Gemma shares her unexpected pregnancy with twins. She shares the emotional rollercoaster of disbelief and excitement and the impact of the twins on her planned model of care for the pregnancy. Gemma went through the Midwifery Gro

466 | Dee, two vaginal births, induction, TENS Machine, miscarriage, continuity of care

25 days ago 1h 26m

In episode 466 Dee shares her emotional and challenging pregnancy journeys. She was shocked to learn she’d conceived quickly but her elation soon turned to grief when she miscarried; an experience that was long and traumatic. For her subsequent

465 | Georgie, vaginal birth, pre-eclampsia, induction, breastfeeding and mixed feeding

29 days ago 48m 46s

In episode 265 Georgie shares with us the birth of her first child Sadie. Georgie lives in Gunning in rural NSW and went through the local public hospital for her care. Georgie was having her blood pressure carefully monitored throughout her pr

464 | Alice, Doula and Midwife, private obstetrician, home birth, planned postpartum

Mar 25th, 2024 1h 21m

In this episode Alice shares her birth experiences in light of everything she’s learned as a mother, doula and midwife-in-training. In her first pregnancy she chose private obstetric care because at the time, she thought it was the best option

463 | Courtney, two births, GP shared care, NIPT, Maternal assisted caesarean, Down Syndrome, heart surgery

Mar 21st, 2024 1h

In episode 463 Midwife Courtney shares with us her two pregnancy and birth experiences. Courtney lives in rural Victoria and chose to go through GP-shared care for her first pregnancy. Courtney admits that she found her midwifery knowledge cont

462 | Briony Benjamin, Natural conception post chemotherapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma

Mar 18th, 2024 59m 59s

In episode 462 Briony shares with us her pregnancy and birth of her little boy Charlie. Briony was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of 31 and her doctors recommended she do one cycle of IVF prior to starting her chemotherapy

461 | Sophie Two births, fraternal twins, shared care, positive induction, vaginal breech birth twin B

Mar 11th, 2024 1h 11m

Sophie shares with us the birth of her son Liam and her twins Hannah and Louis. After getting married in 2020 Sophie and her husband felt ready to try and grow their family and they were fortunate to conceive shortly after beginning to try. The

460 | Gemma - two births, endometriosis, Sotos Syndrome, in utero blood transfusion, caesarean, private care

Mar 7th, 2024 1h 16m

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Gemma who shares with us her two very different and uniquely challenging pregnancies of her son Max and her daughter Ava. During Max’s pregnancy, everything appeared to be running smoothly in his growth and dev

459 | Chantelle Stanton, private Obstetrician, Cabrini Hospital, Induction, TENS machine

Mar 4th, 2024 40m 52s

In today’s episode, Chantelle shares her experience of her first pregnancy and birth. Chantelle was very gratefulll to conceive shortly after deciding she was ready to try. She asked around to get recommendations to choose her care provider and

458 Postpartum | Jodi, four babies, MGP, public hospital, planned postpartum, breastfeeding, identity shift, postpartum book

Feb 29th, 2024 52m 45s

You’re going to love this episode with Jodi; mother of four, yoga teacher, postpartum doula and co-author of The Complete Australian Guide to Pregnancy and Birth. Jodi and I chat all about our postpartum book - what we’ve learnt, the confrontin

457 | Tylah, Midwife, Home birth, Alice Springs, jaundice, breastfeeding challenges

Feb 26th, 2024 1h 6m

In today’s episode, Tylah shares her experience as a midwife alongside her first pregnancy and birth. Tylah had spent many years supporting women in pregnancy and labour so she had plenty of time to consider what she wanted for her own birth ex

456 Postpartum | Sasha one baby, planned postpartum, PND, medication, breastfeeding, returning to work, race, childcare

Feb 21st, 2024 1h 1m

You can listen to Sasha’s birth story in episode 331 and today she takes us through her early motherhood experience including discussions on race, mental health and the work/motherhood juggle. Sasha and her husband, Jem, planned an intentionall

455 | Larke, one baby, MGP, fibroid, maternal assisted caesarean (MAC), cleft palate

Feb 19th, 2024 1h 9m

Larke is a midwife and she talks about her primal desire to experience labour and birth. But as she reiterates, there is so much about pregnancy and birth that is beyond our control. She was only 4 weeks pregnant when a scan revealed a signific

454 | Kirsty, two babies, hysterectomy, uterus transplant, IVF, planned caesarean, mastitis

Feb 15th, 2024 1h 4m

You may have seen Kirsty in the news recently. She’s the recipient of Australia’s first uterus transplant and birthed her miracle baby a few months ago. Today she takes us through the grief of a hysterectomy following her first birth, her optio

453 | Niki, Two Physiological Home Births, Yoga Teacher, Breathing Techniques

Feb 12th, 2024 1h 30m

In today’s episode, Niki shares her two incredibly positive home birth stories of her daughter Elsa and her son Nils. Niki is Swedish and Thai and lives with her Australian husband in Kho Samui where they teach Yoga to both practitioners and Yo

452 Postpartum | Ellie, postpartum lethargy, brain fog, postpartum thyroiditis

Feb 8th, 2024 24m 46s

Today, Ellie shares her experience with postpartum thyroiditis after experiencing the tell-tale signs and advocating for the appropriate blood tests at her six week check.There are many symptoms in postpartum that can be excused as side-effect

451 | Jordy endometriosis, fragmented care, excess amniotic fluid, tachycardia, planned caesarean, breastfeeding, missed miscarriage, secondary infertility

Feb 5th, 2024 37m 47s

Jordy has always had long, painful and heavy periods so when she fell pregnant without trying, no one was more shocked than her. Excess amniotic fluid prevented her from monitoring her baby’s movements so she presented to the hospital multiple

450 | Joelleen, midwife, IBCLC, pregnancy loss, publicly-funded homebirth, physiological birth, waterbirth, breastfeeding, NICU

Jan 28th, 2024 1h

Joelleen is a midwife, naturopath and IBCLC who takes us through her pregnancy and homebirth experience. Her journey into motherhood began with the birth of her daughter at 16 weeks and she details the shock and grief of her loss. When she conc

449 Postpartum | Emma, two babies, bicornuate uterus, planned caesarean, placenta previa, placenta accreta, hysterectomy

Jan 24th, 2024 1h 5m

In today’s episode Emma details her life-changing second pregnancy. At her 20 week scan she was diagnosed with major placenta previa (the placenta covers the cervix) as well as placenta accreta (where the placenta grows deeply into the uterine

448 | Olivia, fraternal twins, DCDA twins, multiple birth team, public hospital, induction, vaginal birth, breastfeeding

Jan 22nd, 2024 1h 30m

In this episode Olivia details her shock upon discovering she was pregnant with fraternal twins after fertility challenges. She takes us through the experiences of having fragmented care with a multiple birth team at her local public hospital a