The Natural Birth Podcast

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Shiva Shiva is a mom of three and stepmom of one, originally from Turkey and now raising their four boys with her husband in Denver, Colorado. Half Iranian and half Turkish, she’s a bilingual psychotherapist whose work in health psychology, PTSD, perinatal mental health, and parenting is shaped by cultural diversity and a commitment to health equity across communities. She is devoted to raising heart-centered boys, the practice of yoga, and exploring women’s liberation and bodily autonomy in West Asia, threads that powerfully shaped her three physiologic births.This is the second time Shiva guests this podcast and she comes with so much birthing wisdom yet again. Shivas first episode is called Riding the waves and power of birth through mantra and is the 10th most listened to birth story of all time.I hope you’ll enjoy this one as much as her first.This was her third natural birth and her second home birth. The time period of the pregnancy had a good bit of stress and hardship and she was concerned that with the stress and her age, she wouldn't be able to have the birth she wished for. But she decided to trust and nature did what it is good at. It heard the whispering of what she dared to hope for, and it went so smoothly, exactly as she had hoped: a fast, healthy water birth at home witnessed by two of the older brothers.Curious about Shiva? Find her on Instagram as @shivajenkinsCurious about what’s happening at the Midwitch Cottage this summer? Visit themidwitchcottage.comWant to work with Anna or join The Sacred Birth Worker Mentorship?Find Anna’s Website, about her Mentorship & How to Work with Her, as well as all Links & Resources she mentions in the episode here:www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Casey|Casey is a mama of two from Illinois. As a NICU nurse she’d only ever been exposed to extremely medicalized birth and all of the worst case scenarios. And she was one of the worst sceptics to home birth in the earlier years of her career and was very vocal about it.She’d always assumed that whenever she had her first baby she would go to the hospital, get an epidural, and follow whatever the medical team recommended. However, learning about the cascade of interventions during her first pregnancy led her to choose an epidural free hospital birth for her first, and her continued journey of education, amongst it being this podcast, led her to choose a home birth for her second. The first time she listened to the natural birth podcast she didn’t listen to the full episode as she got so triggered… but the more she learned about natural birth she eventually returned and her love story with this podcast began.If you’re sitting on a natural and positive birth you’d like to share then pop on over to thenaturalbirthpodcast.com and apply to become a guest.I’d love to hear your story!If you’d like to come to one of my international retreats or are just curious about what’s brewing at the midwitch cottage check out the new website under construction at themidwitchcottage.com and sign up for my newsletter to get updates and special offers on upcoming retreats and events!Want to work with Anna or join The Sacred Birth Worker Mentorship?Find Anna’s Website, about her Mentorship & How to Work with Her, as well as all Links & Resources she mentions in the episode here:www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have StefanieStefanie is a functional Nutritionist, women’s health and fertility expert and childhood nutrition specialist. She lives in Colorado with her husband, son and is expecting her second child. Today she comes on to share about her beautiful homebirth. While her labor followed a pretty non traditional pattern with contractions and her midwife & doula kept doubting how far along she really was, she really knew it was happening. She went into labor on her due date when her waters dramatically broke on the chiropractor table.Her baby was posterior but turned during labor and overall it was an amazing experience according to Stefanie.Curious about Stefanie? Find her on Instagram as @stefanieadlerwellnessWant to work with Anna or join The Sacred Birth Worker Mentorship?Find Anna’s Website, about her Mentorship & How to Work with Her, as well as all Links & Resources she mentions in the episode here:www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have NataliNatali is a mama of two from South Africa who birthed both her babies in the UK.She is a holistic vocal coach and the founder of the Vocal Liberation Method, dedicated to helping individuals awaken their connection to their voices. She nurtures authentic expression and grounded confidence, empowering people to step into their power and express themselves in a way that aligns deeply with their true selves, a connection she believes is essential in both life and birth.After experiencing a traumatic C-section during the COVID years with her first child, Natali embarked on a profound journey of healing and empowerment. Her second birth, a home VBAC freebirth with her daughter Noa, transformed her experience from feeling silenced to embracing her voice, allowing her to feel soft, flowing, and free. This journey reaffirmed her belief that birth is a sacred and transformative rite of passage for every mother.Natali emphasizes that the most meaningful preparation for birth involves sharpening your intuition, surrounding yourself with unwavering support & learning to recognize and use your voice to advocate for yourselfThis can mean taking up space, speaking uncomfortable truths, or trusting the primal sounds your body wants to express.Curious about Natali? Find her on Instagram as @NataliVocalCoach Want to work with Anna or join The Sacred Birth Worker Mentorship?Find Anna’s Website, about her Mentorship & How to Work with Her, as well as all Links & Resources she mentions in the episode here:www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have KiataKiata is a mama of 1 and currently 30 weeks pregnant from Tasmania Australia.She’s a social worker who has worked with children and families for many years. Once she became a mother she found her passion for supporting families in parenting and she is now in the process of becoming an aware parenting instructor. For Kiata, trusting birth began long before labour. She grew up knowing home birth as normal as her own mother birthed her and her sister at home. So when it was her turn, it felt like returning to something familiar. Something ancestral.She laboured for 12 hours in water, at home, surrounded by the people she trusted most, her partner, her mother, her sister, and her midwives. That circle of trust held her steady. It allowed her to soften. To open and to surrender to the intensity of birth through fears and doubts.|She birthed her daughter at home in the birth pool surrounded by love and joy and after her baby was born her father also joined and they all soaked in the blissful birth bubble until the early hours of the morning, until her and her partner were tucked into bed with their daughter.The positive birth stories she listened to before her own birth strengthened her belief in herself. They helped her prepare. They helped her trust. And now she shares her story in the hope that it might do the same for someone else.Curious about Kiata? Find her on Instagram as @kiata.awareparentingWant to work with Anna or join The Sacred Birth Worker Mentorship?Find Anna’s Website, about her Mentorship & How to Work with Her, as well as all Links & Resources she mentions in the episode here:www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Dyshni.Dyshni is a social worker, holistic therapist, and girl mom. Her work is rooted in helping women, especially daughters of immigrants, heal cycles of survival and reconnect with their bodies, intuition, and sense of safety. Becoming a mother deepened that work for her, and her natural birth experiences became a powerful reminder of what’s possible when we feel informed, supported, and connected to ourselves.Today she shares about her first birth center birth and then hospital birth. Both were positive, magical, and beautiful experiences and her hope is to inspire as many women as possible that you can love your birth story! Want to work with Anna or join The Sacred Birth Worker Mentorship?|Find Anna’s Website, about her Mentorship & How to Work with Her, as well as all Links & Resources she mentions in the episode here:www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Liz. Liz is a mama of 3 from the USShe is a sonographer who started out with the standard american medicalized hospital birth story with pitocin, broken waters, epidural, and finally a vacuum birth that really affected her pelvic floor.For her second, she knew she wanted something different. She educated herself about natural birth and found the natural birth podcast. At this point, she still didn’t feel confident enough to not birth in the hospital, but was determined to have a natural birth. And even though she was only at the hospital 2 hours before her baby was born, she still had her waters broken with coached pushing guided by the doctor without any reason, which was enough to change the description of her birth from blissful (which she felt at home) to not how she wanted her birth to go. By her third baby, she was ready to fully commit to a birth with privately practicing midwives in a birth center. And THIS was how birth was meant to be according to Liz.Want to work with Anna or join The Sacred Birth Worker Mentorship?Find Anna’s Website, about her Mentorship & How to Work with Her, as well as all Links & Resources she mentions in the episode here:www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Paris.Paris is a mama of one from from Brisbane, Queensland Australia.She is a lover of health and fitness, do CrossFit for sport, reading, going to the beach, being in nature, love music, concerts and festivals and have always questioned why and how everything is the way that it is and is a bit of a rebel when it comes to conformity. Today she shares her straight forward home birth at 39 weeks.She’d prepared herself for a long marathon way after her due date and got a 5hr active labor and birth that ended in a pool birth surrounded by her midwife, partner and mum.If you want a straight forward home birth story, here it is ;)Curious about Paris? Fin her on Instagram as @_pparisWant to work with Anna or join The Sacred Birth Worker Mentorship?Find Anna’s Website, about her Mentorship & How to Work with Her, as well as all Links & Resources she mentions in the episode here:www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Kaela.Kaela is a mama of one from Australia.In today’s episode she shares about her empowering and natural home birth that turned into a hospital transfer as she had a 3rd degree tear. Hospital transfers and tears are the 2 biggest fears amongst pregnant mamas and especially you who listen to this podcast. So what better way of facing those fears than by listening to a mama who had, according to herself, the most empowering birth even though she had both one of the bigger tears that only around 5% of women get and a hospital transfer from her home birth.People usually assume I think a natural birth through and through is the be all and end all because I am a huge advocate about educating about natural physiological birth and the benefits of it. But if you’ve listened to me for any length of time you know this is not true, and if you’re a student or mentee of mine you know it even deeper.I’m all for education in pregnancy and optimizing body, mind and soul for your desired birth outcome which I believe mostly have to do with inner work, facing fears and deeply getting to know your body, baby and having a relationship with your intuition.Once the first contraction hits you are now to surrender to the great mystery of birth. And a positive birth experience is not necessarily a natural one. Not holding on to a certain outcome for your happiness is so important and trusting that there is wisdom in the way you birth even if it’s not the way you wanted it. We can learn so much about ourselves, our babies, our deep hidden patterns and allow birth to awaken us, transform us and enlighten us instead of feeling like failures if it didn’t end up being exactly as we wished.I love that Kaela only have positive proud feelings around her home birth where some might have felt the opposite having had a 3rd degree tear and transfer.I hope her story and how she navigated her tear and transfer is inspiring to you and also might release some fear around these two occurring in your birth.Want to work with Anna or join The Sacred Birth Worker Mentorship?Find Anna’s Website, about her Mentorship & How to Work with Her, as well as all Links & Resources she mentions in the episode here:www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast

Today on The Natural Birth Podcast we have Sarah!Sarah is our biggest fan and have listened since the beginning 6 years ago soon, and during this time had 4 babies and always come on the show to tell us all about them and this her fourth and final baby.This 4th birth was totally different in that it did not follow her usual pattern of having prodromal labour first.Her fourth baby had his own agenda and came fast and furious. Sarah almost didn’t make it to the birth center where she birthed him only 21 min after they arrived.Want to work with Anna or join The Sacred Birth Worker Mentorship?Find Anna’s Website, about her Mentorship & How to Work with Her, as well as all Links & Resources she mentions in the episode here:www.sacredbirthinternational.com/links-podcast