Healing Birth with Carla

Buckle in, this podcast episode with doula, Jenna Shaw, is going to take you on a ride! We fearlessly talk about all the gnarly, taboo topics surrounding birth, delving into the conversations that raise heckles and stir curiosity.Jenna has been birth passionate since childhood. Despite not having given birth herself, she pours her heart, soul and a sh*t tonne of trust into the women she serves. It’s hard to convey in a short introduction the depths we explore in this interview, but to give you a taster, a couple of concepts we explore are that the clinical eye is an intervention with risks, and that birth is the ultimate medicine journey.Other discussion topics include:The mystery of birth as part of the medicineStill birthFree birthOur culture and the way we live, as an interventionPhysiological birth & undisturbed birthThick meconiumConnect with Jenna…Website:  soula.nzInstagram:  @souladoulaSubstack:  newearthbirth.substack.com

Have you ever assumed that someone who’s been working in birth for decades has probably learnt everything there is to know?It’s an easy assumption to make. But today’s guest is a beautiful reminder that no matter how much experience we have, there’s always room to deepen our understanding and expand the ways we support women.Amber Sawyer has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and has spent many years working in holistic pregnancy, birth and postpartum care. She runs yoga teacher trainings and pregnancy retreats in Spain, and yet she found herself meeting many women - often pregnant with their second or third babies - whose traumatic birth stories were still sitting there, unprocessed. Stories that had never really been spoken about. Stories that unsurprisingly resurfaced with the next pregnancy. Stories that could lead to further trauma, if left unheard and unhealed before giving birth again.Amber joined my Healing Birth Practitioner Training because she wanted to feel more confident holding those stories safely and helping women to find healing before their next birth.In this conversation, she shares what surprised her most about the training, how it brought together everything she already knew into one cohesive approach, and how she’s already using it with the women she supports.I loved this conversation, and I think you will too.Check out Amber's work...Website: ambersawyer.comInstagram: @amber.a.sawyer & @embodied.woman.yogaJoin my (Carla's) Healing Birth Practitioner Training course

Allura Halliwell is not my typical podcast guest. Yes, she experienced a traumatic birth, and yes, she went on to have healing births with her next two children. But what is remarkably unique about Allura’s story is the profound spiritual awakening she experienced a number of years after becoming a mother… something that completely altered everything.In this podcast episode Allura speaks about her difficult journey into motherhood. Her baby boy was whisked away to intensive care, and for the couple of hours that followed, she was unsure whether her boy had survived. After 10 days in NICU she was finally able to take her baby home, but isolation and depression ensued for Allura, and her son’s unsettledness signalled his own trauma.Fast forward to when her children were 8, 6 and 4 years old, Allura went on a life changing meditation retreat. It was here that she experienced her transformational awakening - one where she left her body for over an hour, and re-entered this physical plane as an unrecognisable version of herself. Through this, Allura shifted from a stay-at-home mother of three, to a consciousness guide, supporting others to heal core wounds and free themselves from Self-limiting patterns. Tune in to learn more about Allura’s remarkable story and how her work enables liberating transformation. She is touring the North Island of New Zealand in July and August, so if you’re one of my Kiwi listeners and feel drawn to learn more from Allura, check the show notes for links and offerings.Also discussed in this episode:Choosing a medicalised birth as healingThe baby’s experience of birth traumaThe primary need of babies in terms of their own trauma processingLearn more about Allura's work and offerings:The Pattern Shift NZ TourAuckland RetreatThe Consciousness Method™ podcastConnection CallNZ Free meditations

This podcast episode delves deep into the art of tuning into our bodies and trusting the messages we hear in response. Zarna’s story is a profound example of this. Her first birth was planned to be at home, but at 42 weeks of pregnancy her midwife was no longer willing to support her in a home birth. Zarna reluctantly agreed to a Misoprostol induction at the hospital. On entering her room, the obstetrician proclaimed, “What are you doing, your baby is not coming out this way!”, believing that Zarna’s uterine fibroids would be in the way of birthing her baby vaginally. A c section under GA ensued, along with the added threat of a potential hysterectomy should the fibroids cause extensive bleeding.The OB advised Zarna against attempting a VBAC for any future pregnancies. But when pregnant with her next baby, her body told her otherwise. Zarna chose not to have any medical or midwifery care throughout her pregnancy, and despite her fibroids clearly taking up a good portion of space in her lower womb, she planned a home birth with just her man present, and a birth keeper in the wings.Zarna’s is a remarkable story of tuning in, trust, and healing. She is eager to share her story of birthing with fibroids because she found there was such a lack of such stories for her to lean on in her own pregnancies. Just after our interview she sent me a message to say:“... part of why I had wanted to share my story about having fibroids is because drs had told me that so many women have them but just don’t know they do, but many women have all of the symptoms of having them and will often be told that’s ’normal.’ I think the stats are even 1/4, and with me having them I haven't yet found a lot of support for holistically supporting the female body, and the options from the medical world I have been offered are for chemical menopause, surgery or womb removal! A huuuge part of my journey leading up to Taeo’s accidental conception was supporting my body to get ‘rid’ of the fibroids as I thought that if I did, that would be one less ‘obstacle’ for me to overcome in birth, and when we conceived him I had come to this point where I had no more symptoms of having the fibroids aside from being able to feel them with my hands. So I had wanted it to be known for any women who were listening and had fibroids and who wanted to speak or connect as well, I would love that, also because I’d love to hear what other women are doing and their wisdom and learning around them. It is cool that now after this birth the fibroids no longer feel like obstacles - I have such acceptance and love for them and all they have brought me for calling me deeper into trust in my body.”Also discussed in this podcast episode:* Microbiome seeding* Managing fears that came up in pregnancy* Women’s Circle support in Far North* Empathy Angels service* Meconium in the waters* Partner’s ecstasy* Vaginal tear - healed naturally with Manuka honey* Wonderful postpartumConnect with Zarna via her Instagram page @alignedwithzarnaFind out more about the far North Women’s Circle via Zarna or Hannah @embody_ensoulLearn about Empathy Angels support (NZ only): empathyangels.co.nz

Today I speak with blossoming birth worker, and mother of two, Libby, from Birth Liberation. Her story reveals the lessons and growth her mothering journey has brought about, especially in trying to plan a reverent and undisturbed second birth. Libby birthed both of her babies at home, with the second being a free birth.Tune in to hear about the challenges Libby faced in trying to achieve her desired birth, the reasons why her free birth was not the experience she had hoped for, but was the one she’d needed, and how the work that we did together helped Libby to unravel her trauma. Part of that work was training with me to become a certified Healing Birth practitioner so that she is now equipped with the skills and tools to help others to find healing after a traumatic birth experience.If this podcast episode piques your own interest around my Healing Birth Practitioner Training course, you might want to explore joining my next training round, beginning on February 23rd, 2026. It’s an online course with both self-paced lesson content, and a weekly interactive Zoom session. This course is open to anyone with an interest in holistic birth trauma support, no matter where in the world you are based. A link to further details is posted below.But for now, enjoy this enlightening journey that Libby takes us on, in sharing her story.Follow Libby’s work on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birthliberation/Learn more about the Healing Birth Practitioner Training course: https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-trainingAnd more on an ‘Unravelling Your Trauma’ session: https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/unravelling-your-traumaFollow Ella’s work on Instagram to find out when upcoming Freebirth Circles are happening: https://www.instagram.com/earth.mama.wellbeing/Take a look at Sophia’s offerings on her website: https://www.motherscircle.co.nz/Libby’s postpartum doula, Leeya’s, Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/leeya_essence/

In this podcast episode I chat with Aleisha Black. She and her sister co-founded Miscarriage Matters, a charitable organisation whose aim is to improve the experiences of families who are met with the heartbreak of an early pregnancy loss. Tune in to hear about the compassionate work that Miscarriage Matters is undertaking, and the campaigning they’re doing to ensure maternity services are better meeting the needs of women who experience miscarriage.Just a wee note first, since recording this podcast, Aleisha brought to my attention that in March this year, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) released new 'Miscarriage, Recurrent Miscarriage and Ectopic Pregnancy Clinical Guidelines'. Within the document RANZCOG defines recurrent miscarriage as the loss of two or more intrauterine pregnancies of up to 20 weeks gestation, whereas in our interview, Aleisha defines recurrent miscarriage as being the old definition of 'three or more consecutive miscarriages' since she was unaware of the new guideline at the time.Check out the Miscarriage Matters website, and sign up to be a supporting member: [email protected] Miscarriage Matters on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miscarriage_matters_nz/ and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miscarriagemattersnz

In this podcast episode I speak with Emma Perks, a pelvic health physiotherapist. Emma is not only incredibly talented in her work, she has a heart of gold and a trauma informed approach, vital pieces of the puzzle when it comes to birth trauma prevention and healing.In talking with Emma, I learnt that our pelvic floor is basically the bottom of our nervous system. In other words, what is going on with our pelvic floor will pretty much tell us how safe we are on the planet. Through this lens she explains why those who have a history of period problems, or PCOS, or endometriosis, or painful sex, or recurrent UTIs, anything related to the pelvic region, would do well to work with a pelvic health physio before giving birth.So much of what Emma and I discuss highlights the powerful mind-body connection, and how key a subjective experience of safety is in preventing needless birth trauma and pelvic floor damage. Among much else, we talk about perineal massage, prenatal movement, pelvic girdle pain, reducing the likelihood of bad tears in birth, and what postpartum physio support entails.I hope you find this podcast episode as informative, enlightening and encouraging as I did.To connect with Emma, head to the Full Circle Physiotherapy website: https://fcphysio.co.nz/Find Emma on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fullcirclephysio/And on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FullCirclePhysioPurchase Emma's Pregnancy Prehab course for a reduced price: Health Practitioner Discount Prehab

This isn’t Chloe’s first podcast episode with me. I interviewed her back in May 2024 after learning about her traumatic first birth when she requested a debriefing session with one of the trainees from my Healing Birth Practitioner Training course. At that stage, Chloe hadn’t yet become pregnant again, so she didn’t have a story to share of a healing birth experience. Instead, she talked about Olivia’s difficult birth, and the journey she had travelled over the time since, including the healing work she’d done, and readying herself for the conscious conception of her next baby.Today’s interview is all about that ‘next baby’ of Chloe’s - her pregnancy with him, his birth, and their early postpartum weeks. The two birth and new motherhood experiences Chloe has had couldn’t be more contrasting. Throughout Ruben’s pregnancy and birth Chloe chose to have no medical or midwifery input, not even a pregnancy test to confirm that the signs her body was giving were indeed due to a little bub growing in her womb. She so generously shares her powerful story of tuning in, trusting, asking for what’s needed, and surrender.I highly recommend having a listen to Chloe’s first interview with me before diving into this one, if you haven’t already done so. Links to watch or listen are found below.YouTube link for Chloe’s 1st episode: https://youtu.be/w39KiuTGx-k?si=m0DgbHfs4O4kipVyPodcast link for Chloe’s 1st episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6CzZtHBlPdK16JZnSf86xM?si=BknUK9quRGaegVFkrQ46iAAlso discussed in this episode:* partner's hesitations with unassisted birth* Mother Blessing* Reconciling a positive birth and postpartum after a traumatic first* postpartum preparation* community postpartum support* naturally healing a tear

Georgia’s first baby was 5.1kg (that is, 11lb, 5oz), something that curtailed her initial home birth plans and saw her birthing in the hospital. This, along with feeding into a narrative which convinced Georgia that she shouldn’t feel pain in her birth, led to a less than ideal experience and a second degree tear. As well, Georgia and her man were sent spiralling down a postpartum anxiety hole, in part because of poor preparation, unhelpful expectations and a lack of support. This was all exacerbated by the Covid lockdown restrictions at the time.Hear about how Georgia and her man navigated their relationship as struggling new parents, and how they set themselves up for an incredibly healing, beautiful and empowering home birth with their second, along with a peaceful and joy-filled postpartum. By the way, Georgia’s second baby was 4.6kg (10lb, 2oz), and was born after just 2.5 hours of labour, something she forgot to share during our interview.Also discussed in this episode:* Stretch and sweep* Irregular contractions* Artificial rupture of membranes* Maternal and paternal postnatal depression and anxiety, including panic attacks* Intrusive thoughts* Counselling* Postpartum preparation* Birth planning process - birth mapping* Home birth with sibling present* Fast labour* Birth photosCheck out Georgia's website: https://www.alightbeheld.com/Follow Georgia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alightbeheld/And here's the link to the Manawatu Home Birth Association Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MHBAInc

In this podcast episode I catch up with Kate Hicks of Birth Trauma Aotearoa, a timely episode during Birth Trauma Awareness Week, running from July 14-20.I last spoke with Kate around 2.5 years ago, so Kate will update us on the mahi (work) they've done over this time as well as plans for the future, including launching in-person support, developing research in the Aotearoa context, and the continual push for birth trauma prevention and improved support.Kate will also tell us about Birth Trauma Awareness Week, this year's theme, what the week aims to achieve and how you might like to get involved (you can head to this webpage to learn more: www.birthtraumaaotearoa.org.nz/take-action).Follow BTA on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birth_trauma_aotearoa/or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/birthtraumaaotearoa