Welcome to Season 7 of the podcast! When today's guest, Jordan, reached out to me to explore what it looks like to move forward when birth isn't healing—when it feels unresolved or leaves lingering questions—and how to find your own healing by integrating your lived experience, I knew I had to have her on the show. Jordan shares her journey through three very different births: a long, challenging first home birth; an easy, almost freebirth during a snowstorm; and a third and final home birth that became an emergency and left her with lasting injuries. Instead of the glorious final birth she had envisioned, this last experience shook her physically and emotionally, forcing her to deeply question her beliefs around healing and recovery. It wasn't until she processed her new normal, stepped out of a "diagnosis" mindset, and viewed the birth through the eyes of her oldest daughter—her seven-year-old birth witness—that she was able to feel her third birth truly completed her as both a woman and a human being. Find Jordan on her website jordanmusser.com  and on Instagram @jordanmusscle If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts!  Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected] Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphotoJordan 

Brigid is a mother of five who began her motherhood journey knowing little about birth and fully handing her experiences over to medical professionals. By the time she was pregnant with her fourth child, she knew she needed something different. She had done a great deal of internal work, finally educated herself, and was ready for change. Brigid chose a home birth with that baby, and it was a truly transformative experience. Since then, Brigid has been on a mission to help women understand the importance of physiological birth—not only for the immediate postpartum period, but for how it affects both mother and baby throughout their entire lives. Some resources mentioned in this episode include: Billie Harriagan's Course  Rachel Reed'a Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage  Find Brigid on Instagram @brigid.tebaldi Brigid's website and course: https://www.loretowellness.com/ If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts!  Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected] Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

By most standards, Keelee had a straightforward first birth experience with a midwife at her birth center. But something about it troubled her enough that she wanted to debrief the birth afterward—and when she did, the midwife said something shocking. This sparked a deep dive into the world of freebirth, which she soon came to believe was the only "right" way to give birth. She even enrolled in a radical birthkeeper school, convinced she wanted to support women outside the medical system. But the first birth she attended was a humbling experience that ended in a transfer and a cesarean section. This prompted Keelee to step back and reconsider, realizing her belief in freebirth had become too dogmatic.  Find Keelee on Instagram @radicalflowhealthcare  If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts!  Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected] Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

This is part two of Kristin's story. I highly recommend  listening to part one first if you haven't already! After a long and difficult preconception journey with her first child, Kristin was elated when she conceived her second with ease. This time she hired a midwife and planned the home birth she had always wanted while also receiving co-care from her medical doctor. Her doctor did not approve of home birth and often spoke to her from a place of fear, yet Kristin stayed committed to her plan. Eventually, she chose to stop seeing the doctor altogether. With the support of her husband and doula, Kristin welcomed her daughter into her arms after a labor so fast that the midwife did not arrive in time. She describes her home birth as exactly what she needed to heal the trauma of her previous experience. If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts!  Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected] Check out the website for lots of other birth related offerings, and personalized support: www.healingbirth.net Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

Kristin was never sure she wanted to become a mom until she attended a friend's birth, which catalyzed something deep within her. But getting pregnant didn't come easily, a struggle she partially attributes to her long-term use of birth control. She experienced several miscarriages before turning to IVF. Her fertility doctors told her she had less than a 5% chance of conceiving on her own. When IVF failed to result in a healthy pregnancy, Kristin took six months off from treatment to focus on holistic lifestyle and nutritional changes. At the end of those six months, she became pregnant with her son—naturally. Kristin's birth was a relatively straightforward hospital delivery, but she later suffered a devastating hospital-acquired MRSA infection in the postpartum period. This is only part one of Kristin's story. Tune in next week to hear part two! If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts!  Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected] Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

After two home births with midwives, which were beautiful but still full of compromises she didn't want to make, such as repeated ultrasounds and intense pressure to induce, Lauren chose to birth her third baby without hiring any outside medical management. This pregnancy and birth pushed her to the brink. She confronted a profound fear of death, her baby remained breech until the very end, and the birth itself was wild, painful, and difficult, completely unlike her first two. She emerged from this underworld experience having met herself in a deeper way, fully grounded in her intuition, and more confident than ever in her choices as a mother, especially her medical ones. Find Lauren on instagram @laurenmclean_ and @iam_becomingmama If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts!  Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected] Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

At the end of Jenna's pregnancy, she chose to be induced. The process lasted several days and was grueling, ultimately ending in a traumatic cesarean and a NICU stay for her baby.  Both Jenna and her husband left the hospital with PTSD, and in the early days of postpartum, Jenna wasn't even sure their marriage would survive. Healing began when Jenna reconnected with one of her passions: photography. She became a birth photographer and doula to support other families in ways that had been missing from her own experience. Jenna says that capturing images of birth helps people visually process the experience, and she brings a deep sense of empathy to the families she serves, shaped by her own traumatic birth. I often share redemptive birth stories on this podcast, but what I love so much about Jenna's story is that it beautifully illustrates that there's more than one way to heal a traumatic birth.  Connect with Jenna on Instagram @doulatognj If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts!  Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected] Check out the website for lots of other birth related offerings, and personalized support: www.healingbirth.net Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto    

Before becoming pregnant herself, Alicia, a medical professional working in obstetrics, had the opportunity to witness birth working in a freestanding birth center. Seeing families welcome their babies in that calm, home-like environment opened her eyes to a different side of birth, one centered on trust, autonomy, and the natural process itself. So when it came time for her own pregnancy, Alicia drew on that experience and chose a home birth with confidence, stepping away from the conventional hospital setting she knew so well. Find Alicia on Instagram @wildflowerbirtheducation If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts!  Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected] Check out the website for lots of other birth related offerings, and personalized support: www.healingbirth.net Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

For her first birth, Paige planned a natural delivery at a local birth center. But when the day came, her labor was long, and the pushing phase even longer. Eventually, the midwives decided to transfer her to the hospital. As is often the case with transfers, the birth ended in a cesarean, which left Paige heartbroken. It took some time for Paige to conceive again, but when she did, she felt confident planning a homebirth, where she felt safest even after a surgical birth. This labor turned out to be completely different from her first. Her baby arrived so quickly that Paige caught him herself on her bathroom floor. It was wild, intense, and exactly the experience she needed. Find Paige on her website gbdoulaservices.com and on Instagram @gentlebeginnings_doula  If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts!  Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected] Check out the website for lots of other birth related offerings, and personalized support: www.healingbirth.net Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto

Jessica was a career-driven woman who never thought she wanted children, until a dream job fell through and an experience at a spiritual retreat awakened her desire to become a mother. After joyfully conceiving, she miscarried at twelve weeks, enduring not only heartbreak but also a traumatic experience with the medical care she received. Over the following year, Jessica focused on healing, and when she became pregnant again, she was amazed to discover her second baby shared the same due date as her first! With no midwives available nearby, Jessica decided to take her care into her own hands. Supported only by her husband and a close friend, she prepared for birth by immersing herself in empowering birth stories. Her baby's arrival was a beautiful, transformative experience that left her in awe of her own strength. Recorded just eight weeks postpartum, Jessica reflects on her journey through loss, healing, birth, and the early challenges of postpartum life and breastfeeding. *Please note that this episode contains a graphic description of medical trauma at around the 22 minute mark. If you're not in the space to hear that, skip ahead five minutes.  If you love the show, I would greatly appreciate a review on  Spotify or Apple Podcasts!  Follow me on Instagram @healingbirth Do you have a birth story you'd like to share on the podcast, or would like to otherwise connect? I love to hear from you! Send me a note at [email protected] Check out the website for lots of other birth related offerings, and personalized support: www.healingbirth.net Intro / Outro music: Dreams by Markvard Podcast cover photo by Karina Jensen @karinajensenphoto