The Renegade Mama

Wow - here we are at the last episode of season 3! I was pondering what I should do for the last episode and then I thought - a lot of people have been asking to hear the speech I did at the Australia Homebirth Confernce in November last year. So here it is! The title of the presentation is: Freebirth - Taking Radical Responsibility. For those of you that already understand freebirth - I hope that it is affirming and uplifting. And for those who those of you who are still learning about freebirth - I hope it gives you some insight and understanding! I will be taking a break off the podcast till the end of the year and my energies will be focused on creating my upcoming Freebirth documentary. I will also be focusing on some teaching - so watch this space for classes in person and online. Enjoy this episode of my summations and thoughts on freebirth.

Today on the show I speak to Fiona about about her two vastly different births. For her first Fiona found out via ultrasound that her babies organs were forming on the outside of his body. An elective c-section was strongly advice and she consented under duress. She ponders if these early ultrasound may have contributed to this condition and talks about how the over medicalisation of this pregnancy made it very hard to connect in with her baby. After her baby was born - shockingly they overdosed her baby with drugs when a nurse missed a decimal point while administering. This delayed the surgery because her babe needed to recover from this first. After this experience Fiona knew next time would be different and decided on a freebirth and wild pregnancy. She had no scans and rather tapped into her intuition as her guiding beacon and light. Fiona’s freebirth was a long 48 hour labour with a trip to the hospital in between but the end stage was fast with her baby being born 20 minutes after waking up from a nap. Her placenta took 36 hours to emerge - although she suspects it detached much earlier. Breastfeeding was a dream - again a vast difference from her first where she only got to hold her son 3 days after he was born. Fiona’s story is a remarkable journey from polar opposites end of the spectrum. I just love this stories of where women return to their power despite their previous experiences. Thank you Fiona for sharing your story from such a warm and heart centred place. More About Fiona.  Standing as a beacon for heart-centered mamas, I’m cultivating a community of soul-aligned women living abundant lives of ease, standing in absolute power, and advocating for freedom in all aspects of life. Together, we're redefining motherhood, one sovereign choice at a time.

Today on the show I speak to Prue about the wild ride that led her to freebirth. Starting at 14 Prue started dabbling in drugs and alcohol. By her 20’s she realised it had become an addiction and she checked herself into rehab. She then ended up at the other end of the spectrum on extremely strong anti-depressants which she said made her a zombie and literally drool. She ended up weighing 100kg and knew something needed to change. She got off the pharmaceutical drugs and started body building but got down to a very unhealthy 35kg. When she finally let go of that and returned to a healthy weight and got her period back (which she had lost because she was so thin) she fell pregnant with her first. Her daughter was born in hospital and although straight forward for a hospital birth - it  still wasn’t the best experience and in the proceeding weeks she felt like something was off. At 6 weeks postpartum Prue was diagnosed with cancer and she tells us of how she felt like she was in a glass house looking at her daughter, not be able to be with her, bond with her or raise her in this hard time. Cut to covid - Prue felt forced to take the Pfizer vaccine and ended up with Pericarditis from it. This time Prue took the natural route and healed herself. This crazy story ultimately ended (or begun) with Prue choosing to Freebirth her next child - her little boy Koa. Although she had hired a midwife - she had always planned to not call her on the day and thats exactly what she did. Prue had a beautiful and simple birth at home despite a nuchal hand being present. I love Prue’s fire and passion and her commitment to being vulnerable and open so others can learn from her story. Thank you Prue!  More about Prue: 35 year old mum to a 5yr old girl born in hospital and a 8MO Boy freebirthed at home. Some obstacles in life to get here has been: Addiction, rehabilitation, eating disorders, cancer and vaccination reaction during covid. As a result of the vaccine reaction I endeavoured onto a successful self healing journey after ditching the recommendations of the cardiologist and GPs. I turned to holistic healing where I tried everything you can imagine from homeopathy, ice baths, saunas, yoga, anti inflammatory diet and the list goes on. Through discovering the power of the body and it’s healing capabilities it was a no brained and complete certainty that freebirth was my dream when I fell pregnant with my second child.

Today on the show I speak with Cass about her 2 freebirths. I love a story where first time Mums freebirth. Cass herself was born at home and we hear the story of her growing up on the Wolery - the longest running intentional community in the south west of Western Australia. Even with her upbringing there was still some undoing of conditioning to be done and she dipped in and out of the system during the pregnancy. By the end of her pregnancy though she felt confident and ready - telling her birth plans to anyone who would listen. Cass tells us about her 12 hour labour where she went to her Dad’s house to birth - an hour drive from the shed they were living in. The birth was beautiful and straight forward and although she said she bled more than expected - she felt just fine. For her second she had a complete wild pregnancy - not even doing a pregnancy test. The birth was exactly how she and envisioned except a lot faster - only 2 hours! Cass is an absolute pleasure to talk with and is so logical and intuitive with her approach to birth. I loved hearing her stories and how birth is almost always just so simple! 

Today on the show I speak to mother of eight Elise. After losing her first (and only girl) in a hospital birth, Elise was devastated. She talks us through the process of being told her baby had died during labour and how having nearly every intervention possible didn’t save her baby. She doesn’t vilify the hospital or staff but rather reflects that sometimes as sad and as grief struck as we are - death happens. She then describes how her subsequent 3 pregnancies were test heavy and scheduled inductions. For number five she was with a new partner and decided on a homebirth with midwife which was a big change for her. Number 6 was an unnecessary home birth transfer and number 7 another home birth. For her last Elsie finally decided on a wild pregnancy and freebirth. Having experienced death of a baby first hand - Elise knew this was the safest option for her and her baby. She describes this birth as redeeming of her past traumas and cemented her trust in herself and her husband.  More about Elise - Hi, I'm Elise, a mum to a boisterous boy tribe!  Having started my family journey young and green, I've moved through many levels of utilising the system, from blindly trusting.. to wholly trusting myself.  After my first birth ended in tragedy, I learnt many lessons with each subsequent birth.. and an now a fierce advocate for women embracing bodily and birth autonomy.. and birthing in their own power.  My family happily live outside the norm on a daily basis, as Unschoolers, life-learners, free birthers and (semi!) homesteaders.. generally finding our path off the beaten track.

Today on the show I speak with my brother Alex and sister in law Laura about the freebirth of their second child Georgia. Having had a private midwife for their first, who they decided not to call on the day - they discuss the difference in preparing for a freebirth right from the start. This episode is definitely a great listen for dads who are preparing for freebirth and Alex somehow manages to make an analogy of birth with footy! We talk about the importance of community, releasing fears and how ultimately trusting each other is paramount - a theme that has continued from their first birth. I just love  this episode with Alex and Laura so much - not only because they are family but because they are so relatable, down to earth and real. Enjoy this episode with my biggest little bro! 

Today on the show my husband Oliver Wenn and I discuss 10 reasons why we homeschool and why you might want to too.  In recent years the new wave of homeschooling has increased exponentially. Why is this so? Well - here are our top 10 reasons of why we homeschool:  1. Intuitively feels right 2. Freedom and sovereignty 3. Keeping the light in their eyes ablaze  4. Travel 5. Play 6. Mixed age learning 7. Family comes first 8. We create the culture, ethics and value for our children 9. Likeminded community 10. Kids can learn at their own pace I hope you enjoy this personal insight into why we do what we do! We’d love for you to join us! 

Today on the show I speak to the wonderful and bubbly Sarah. Hailing from Ireland - Sarah is a natural story teller and you just won’t be able to stop listening to this one. Sarah has 3 children and has had 4 losses. She is the epitome of ‘high risk’ for the system! Having had a c-section with her first, an advanced maternal age because she is 40, she’d had significant postpartum haemorrhages and also had taken a cocktail of drugs to ‘sustain’ this pregnancy - she had all the high risk boxes ticked. Sarah talks us through her absolutely horrific first birth where she was taken for a c-section at 10cm dilated - she was separated from her baby and only met her many hours after. Her second was a VBAC in hospital and although at the time is was comparatively amazing - in retrospect she realises all the flaws there. For her last pregnancy - she decided to freebirth late into the pregnancy and had the most amazing perfect birth. Sarah tells us how she handled her postpartum haemorrhage at home - clue - just look to nature. She finishes by telling us how amazing the feeling is after a freebirth and how she believes every mother deserves to feel this. You can hear in the interview how genuine and necessary this feeling is. Sarah is an absolute delight to listen and I hope you get as big a thrill out of listening to her as I did.  

Today on the show I speak to experienced doula and Mama of 3 Moran. Originally hailing from Israel - Moran fell pregnant with her first at 24 (nearly 20 years ago now!) after she had moved to Australia. Not knowing any friends who were pregnant or much about pregnancy at all - she went down the typical route and hired a private obstetrician and ended up with a birth that had ‘all the intervention’- just minus the c-section. Consequently the birth left her with postpartum anxiety and the thought that she would never have another biological child after that experience.  But with time, came healing, awareness and a change in location where she had attracted like-minded friends. She decided to have another babe and by this stage heard about Doulas and hired one. This was a game changer for her and she emersed herself in learning about natural birth. Still in the medical paradigm - Moran had went with a private ob for this pregnancy too. As she was in labour at home, Moran listened to her body and she made the conscious decision to simply just stay home - proof that you can change your path at anytime.  She talks about the joyous experience this was and how it changed everything for her. For her third Moran wanted to have another birth at home but ended up settling on a birth centre. This labour was much harder for her and we talk about the psychology of this - especially the fact that she really didn’t want to birth in hospital. We end by chatting about her opinion of circumcision as a Jewish woman and her tips for birthing women as an experienced Doula. I loved chatting to Moran - someone who came to freebirth well before it was in the 'zeitgeist' and did it simply because it felt right. Enjoy! About Moran: My name is Moran and I am a birth Doula, Lamaze childbirth educator, HypnoBirthing practitioner, Stillbirthday Doula and a Placenta encapsulation specialist. I have been working with families in birth for nearly 12 years now and it came as a work of passion which originally culminated from my own birth experiences. I have now supported hundreds of families through their birth preparation and through their births and I truly believe when women change their mindset around birth they open up the immense possibility of walking away from their births truly transformed into empowered mothers. 

Today on the show I speak to the wonderful Christie about her own freebirth as well as the launch of her children’s book about undisturbed birth - ‘Birth is magic’. Christie tells us how she was physiotherapist in a hospital for many years and consequently ended up with a whole heap of indoctrination through the medical system. For her first she ended up with a traumatic vaginal birth in hospital, that was neglectful, full of medical coercion, screws in her babies head and a vacuum delivery. Knowing better the second time - Christie chose a wild pregnancy and had a powerful freebirth with an amazing, blissful postpartum. We end by talking about how her amazing Freebirth inspired her to write a book. She says she just wanted to scream it from the rooftops of how great it was and so she channelled that energy into her book. I’m really grateful to Christie for creating a children’s book about freebirth, as it is so important what media we consume - especially our children. Through stories we create culture and ultimately our reality - so make sure you tell your kids a healthy story about birth. Below are details of how you can purchase her book and also a discount code for you. Enjoy! 10% off code:  RMAMA10 https://www.birthismagic.com/shop/p/birth-is-magic-hardcover-book Christie Murray bio:  Christie Murray is a Mother, Milliner, Artist, Writer and Educator. She also practiced as a Physiotherapist for 16 years. Christie is passionate about maternal rights after a traumatic birth in hospital left her questioning everything. She rose from the ashes to birth her second daughter freely and peacefully at home. Birth Is Magic is her story. Birth Is Magic bio : A magical children's book about undisturbed birth. Chloe is a 4 year old girl with a big imagination! Come on her magical journey as she learns all about having a baby at home.  Whether you are planning to birth unassisted or with midwives, this is the homebirth children’s book for you!  Using clear language and engaging illustrations, Birth Is Magic playfully prepares your child for physiological birth at home. Our bodies and our babies are magic.There is an inherent wisdom in how birth unfolds. Let’s change the birth narrative for generations to come, one story at a time.