Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health, motherhood, and the sacred mess of life’s transformations with Diane Ortega

16:07

63: The Women I’m Most Drawn to Right Now

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/05/25

What happens when ambitious women stop trying to perform perfection - and start craving deeper, more honest connection instead?In this reflective solo episode, Diane shares what surfaced during a recent “Build Your Dream Network” challenge and the unexpected realizations it brought up about community, self-reliance, visibility, generosity, and receiving support. This conversation explores: Why high-capacity women often struggle to receive support The hidden loneliness beneath

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9:25

62: What Happens When Survival Mode Ends

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/05/18

What happens when the thing you’ve been surviving finally ends… but your nervous system doesn’t get the message? In this episode, Diane shares honestly about the weeks following the closure of Willow: the lingering exhaustion, waking up in the middle of the night, getting sick again, and the unexpected realization that rest doesn’t always feel peaceful when your body has been living in survival mode for too long. This is a conversation about: leadership loneliness over-functioning and

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41:27

Bonus Replay: Confessions of a Midwife: Stories,...

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/05/11

In this bonus replay, I sit down with Brielle Jenson, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, a midwife with over 20 years of experience, an IBCLC, and the author of the stunning new book Confessions of a Midwife. Brielle has worked in hospitals, home births, and birth centers, bringing a rare, unfiltered perspective on the challenges, triumphs, and deeply human moments of birthwork.Her work has been recognized in the field of midwifery, including a nomination for the ACNM Media Award in

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10:47

61: You’re Not Burned Out - You’re Outgrowing Your Life

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/05/04

Something in your life doesn’t feel the same anymore. Not in a dramatic way…but enough that you can feel it. You’re still showing up. Still doing what needs to be done. Still holding everything together. But something feels… off. In this episode, I’m exploring a shift I’ve been moving through personally, and what I’m seeing in so many women right now: A lot of what we call burnout…is actually something else. It’s outgrowing. Outgrowing a role. A version of yourself. A way of working or

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8:20

60: The Phoenix Phase: When Everything You Built...

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/04/27

Something in your life doesn’t feel the same anymore. Not in a dramatic way…but enough that you can feel it. In this episode, I’m sharing a more personal reflection on a season I’m currently walking through , where something I built is coming to an end… and something new is beginning to take shape. We talk a lot about the “phoenix rising” moment- the strength, the clarity, the transformation. But what about the part where everything burns? What about the in-between? The space where you can’t

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5:20

59: In Transition — On Closing, Grief, and Trusting...

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/04/20

This week, Diane almost didn't hit record. But she's glad she did. In one of her most personal and vulnerable episodes yet, Diane shares that after years of serving families, her freestanding birth centers in Arizona will be closing their doors on April 30th. And while the decision to close was hard, she's discovering that the transition itself is harder. Join Us: Rebirth Conversations (Live Event) If this episode resonated, you’re invited into a deeper, in-person experience. Rebirth

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9:38

58: You’re Not Meant to Do This Alone (But You’ve...

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/04/13

You can be surrounded by people… and still feel like you’re carrying everything on your own. In this episode of The Midwife Life, Diane explores the hidden loneliness many women experience during seasons of transition, especially high-functioning women who are used to being the strong one. If you’ve been trying to find clarity, make decisions, or navigate change on your own, this conversation offers a different perspective: What if clarity doesn’t come from thinking harder… but from being seen

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8:59

57: Spring Doesn’t Rush…and Neither Should You

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/04/06

Spring is here. But not everything blooms right away.There’s a part of this season that’s quieter than we expect, the in-between phase where something is shifting… but nothing fully makes sense yet. You can feel that something is different. But your life doesn’t look like clarity. It looks like uncertainty, space, and unfinished edges. And it’s easy to make that mean you’re behind. In this episode, I’m talking about that phase: the one where growth is happening beneath the surface, even when

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8:55

56: The Moment You Know Something Has to Change

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/03/30

There’s a moment… quiet, often easy to overlook… when you realize:you can’t keep doing it this way. Not because everything is falling apart. Not because you have a clear next step. But because something deeper… isn’t working anymore. In this episode, I’m talking about that moment, the one many women feel but don’t always name. The subtle signs. The internal shift. And why the space before action might be the most important part of all. If you’ve been feeling off, disconnected, or like your

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69:23

55: Your Body Isn’t Broken: Rethinking Women’s...

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/03/23

For decades, women have been told that fatigue, weight gain, slower recovery, brain fog, and hormone shifts are simply part of aging. But what if the real issue isn’t that women’s bodies are failing them? What if the real problem is that we’ve been given incomplete information about how our bodies actually work - especially in midlife. In this episode of The Midwife Life, Diane sits down with Stephanie Gambetta, founder of Loop and host of The Loop Podcast, to explore a new way of thinking about

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62:01

54: You Are Not Broken — Nourishing Your Body Through...

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/03/16

This episode is for the woman who looks like she's holding it all together — but feels very tired in her bones.Diane is joined by Courtney Smith, registered dietitian, exercise specialist, certified lactation counselor, and founder of Maternally Nourished. Courtney supports high-achieving women through fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, burnout, menopause, and major life transitions using nutrition, functional movement, nervous system regulation, and sustainable care. This conversation isn't about

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8:52

53: What I’m Building Now

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/03/09

Last week, I shared the news about the closing of Willow Midwife Center and the complicated emotions that come with releasing something you built with your whole heart. Today’s conversation is different. This episode isn’t about loss or reaction. It’s about orientation. In this solo reflection, I share what I’m building now - not as a grand announcement, but as a deeper shift in how I want to create, lead, and grow moving forward. For years my work lived in the clinical world: birth centers,

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7:20

52: When something you built ends - Closing Willow,...

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/03/02

This week’s episode is a personal one.After publicly announcing the closing of Willow, Diane shares a reflection on what it means to release something you built, not as failure, but as completion. In this conversation, she explores grief, identity, leadership, sovereignty, and what integration looks like in real time. What does it mean to close a chapter without collapsing?How do we separate endurance from alignment?And how do we step into a new season without rushing to prove what’s next? This

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12:00

50: Chapter Five: Becoming — Living From the Ground...

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/02/16

In Chapter Five of the Rebirth Journey, Diane explores what comes after shedding, remembering, rebuilding, and learning to live rebirth as a way of being.This episode is about Becoming — not as reinvention, but as embodiment. Becoming is the quiet integration that happens when you stop abandoning your body, stop making decisions from urgency, and begin living from nervous system safety and inner timing. In this deeply personal episode, Diane shares reflections from her own season of recovery and

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38:56

BONUS REPLAY: From Dreams to Decisions: Life Lessons...

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/02/09

In this bonus replay, Diane welcomes two inspiring guests—her daughter Julia Ortega and her “adopted” daughter, Klea Soliman. Both are 23-year-old nurses navigating the ups and downs of their early 20s, from building careers in healthcare to prioritizing health and relationships. Together, they dive into the challenges of this transformative stage of life and share lessons on self-discovery, balance, and empowerment.What We Cover: Defining Your 20s: The pressure to "have it all figured out"

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11:18

49: Rebirth as a Way of Living (Chapter Four of the...

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/02/02

What if rebirth isn’t something you go through once, but something you learn how to live inside of?In this episode of The Midwife Life, Diane weaves together the four chapters of the Rebirth Journey: shedding, remembering, rebuilding, and integration—to explore what it looks like when rebirth becomes an orientation rather than a phase. This is a grounded, embodied conversation about cyclical living in a linear world, listening to the body before urgency takes over, and learning to live in rhythm

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11:30

48: Rebuilding Without Burning Yourself Down

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/01/26

After shedding and remembering comes rebuilding—but not thekind that asks you to override your body or repeat the patterns that led to burnout. In this episode of The Midwife Life, Diane explores what it means to rebuild from capacity instead of urgency, and how the body—not the mind—signals when it’s time to begin again. This is a conversation about rebuilding slowly, honestly, and sustainably—without self-abandonment. In this episode, we explore: • How rebuilding actually begins in the

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47:29

BONUS REPLAY: Yoga, Birth, and the Power of...

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/01/19

In this bonus replay, Diane sits down with Nikki Brewer—ayoga instructor, doula, birth educator, and mom of three—to explore thepowerful connection between yoga, birth, and the motherhood journey. With over 15 years of yoga experience and a background supporting laboring women, Nikki brings deep wisdom and compassion to every class she teaches. From embracing strength and surrender during pregnancy to building community in postpartum recovery, Nikki shares how yoga can guide women through the

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11:10

47: Before You Decide Anything, Come Back to Your Body

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/01/12

(Chapter Two: Remembering)After shedding comes the in-between. In this episode of The Midwife Life, Diane explores the quiet, often misunderstood season that follows collapse, the moment when the old skin is gone, but clarity hasn’t returned yet. If you’re feeling foggy… undecided… or unsure of what direction to take next, this conversation is for you. Drawing from her own recovery and lived experience, Diane shares why fog isn’t failure, why a healing body can’t access long-term vision, and

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9:37

46: The Skin I Had to Shed: Collapse, Surrender, and...

Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health,... ·

2026/01/05

In this intimate solo episode, Diane returns after a podcast hiatus to share what the end of 2025 asked her to release, and what she’s carrying forward into a new year.Rather than rushing into goals or reinvention, this conversation centers on collapse as initiation, illness as intelligence, and rebirth as a way of living rather than something to hustle toward. Using the symbolism of the Year of the Snake, feminine, cyclical, and rooted in shedding—Diane reflects on the old skins that could not

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