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PODCAST

Australian Birth Stories

A Podcast of Mothers" stories of childbirth. Weekly interviews with mothers giving their first hand accounts of child birth in Australia. Designed to help educate and inform first time pregnant women, parents wanting to have better subsequent births and birth enthusiasts who love to hear and tell birth stories. An entertaining and heartfelt resource for pregnancy, labour and delivery and postpartum. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

kids & family parenting

All Episodes

73:22

366 | Madelyn, two babies, surprise pregnancy,...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2023/01/29

You can listen to Madelyn’s first birth experience in episode 151 but today she takes us through her surprise second pregnancy and the emotional turmoil of feeling disconnected from her baby. Her labour was powerful, intense and positive but the real challenge began in postpartum where she juggled a toddler, an unsettled newborn and her own dark thoughts. Madelyn details her most vulnerable moments with acute honesty and takes us through the choices she made to acknowledge her challenges and

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45:39

Bonus Episode: How we wrote The Complete Australian...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2023/01/29

In this special bonus episode, Jodi and I chat all about our new book, The Complete Australian Guide to Pregnancy and Birth. It’s available in all bookstores and department stores from January 31st and today we take you behind the scenes of the writing process where we laugh, cry and discuss the enormous responsibility we felt as writers. We were determined to create an educational, informative, encouraging and kind companion to pregnancy and birth and this is how we did it….See

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53:06

365 | Alethea, one vaginal birth, the birth class,...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2023/01/23

In today’s episode I chat to Alethea about her first pregnancy, birth and postpartum experience. Armed with knowledge from the podcast and The Birth Class, she experienced an empowering and positive birth with the support of midwives and a student doula. Despite her birth experience, she admits that the whirlwind of postpartum has been incredibly challenging. Her physical recovery from an episiotomy and bruised coccyx has been hard and resulted in a readmission to the hospital. While there, a

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74:04

364 | Ariel, two vaginal births, MGP, TENS machine,...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2023/01/15

In this episode I chat to Ariel from @blissbirth about her two birth experiences. A passionate advocate for TENS machines (she now has 1000 in circulation through her business), she explains how popular they are and how they help women navigate labour to achieve the births they want. In her first pregnancy she opted for continuity of care with her beloved midwife who advocated for her every step of the way. After a very long posterior labour, Ariel birthed her baby boy vaginally and despite a rocky

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56:02

239 | Clare, Maternally Assisted Caesarean, Baby...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2023/01/13

In this week’s episode, I chat to Clare about her two planned caesarean births. Despite severe endometriosis, Clare fell pregnant easily and sailed through the first half of her pregnancy. However, at her 20 week scan she discovered that her baby had ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJ) and shortly afterwards, she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Her planned caesarean was straightforward but her recovery was not; extensive adhesions in her uterus caused a long and painful postpartum. She

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63:08

363 | Mel, two babies, private obstetrician,...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2023/01/09

In this beautiful episode Mel compares her emergency caesarean with her homebirth after caesarean (HBAC) and sees the beauty, hope and healing in both experiences. She admits that she would never trade her birth journeys for the world, despite the trauma she experienced as a result of an induced labour and the cascade of intervention. Determined to do things differently for her second birth, she informed herself, advocated for what she wanted and had continuity of care with a private midwife

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50:04

362 | Jessica, two vaginal births, PCOS, clomid,...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/12/19

In episode 362 Jessica describes her two very different vaginal birth experiences. After a gestational diabetes diagnosis, induction was advised in line with hospital policy and Jess experienced the cascade of intervention including epidural, vacuum-assisted birth and episiotomy. For her second birth she had a lot of conversations about avoiding induction with her obstetrician, she did her research, got informed and embraced the lessons shared in The Birth Class. She went into spontaneous labour and

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74:33

361 | Alicia, one vaginal birth, pelvic floor...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/12/15

In episode 361 Alicia explains the overwhelm of not knowing where to go for information or guidance when she first discovered she was pregnant. She opted for midwifery care in the public hospital system and despite her fears around labour and birth, she laboured at home and in the hospital using breathing and sound practises and subsequently experienced a low-intervention birth. Shortly after her baby girl was born Alicia had a postpartum haemorrhage and she admits she still feels traumatised from

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57:23

360 | Fiona, two vaginal births, social infertilty,...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/12/11

In this episode, I chat to Fiona about her experience with two boys under two. Together with her wife, Hayley, she embarked on IVF to conceive their first son with donor sperm. Fiona is honest about the challenges of social infertility, the long wait times and the importance of a positive mindset throughout the experience. Her pregnancy was challenging due to debilitating pubic symphysis but with support from her private obstetrician she had a really positive induced birth. Her breastfeeding journey

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65:58

359 | Shehani, one vaginal birth, private...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/12/07

In this episode Shehani takes us through her first pregnancy and birth. She chose continuity of care with a private obstetrician and embraced the opportunity to have a student midwife who was a welcomed familiar face in the birthing suite. After a night of early labour at home, Shehani was admitted to hospital and agreed to have her waters broken before she opted for an epidural. She used the mirror to help guide her pushing and she placed her baby girl on her belly and watched her crawl up to the

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52:38

358 | Jessica Urlichs, birth fear, MGP, private...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/12/04

In this episode I chat to well-known author Jessica Urlichs @jessurlichs_writer about her three pregnancies and births. In her first pregnancy she was a magnet for grief-filled stories which exacerbated her fear and anxiety around birth. During labour she felt unsupported and unheard and she consequently experienced birth trauma and postnatal anxiety. Jess talks at length about her significant breastfeeding challenges and her choice to bottle feed to sustain her physical and mental health. Her

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50:57

357 | Kellee, one homebirth, postnatal depletion, low...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/12/01

In this episode I chat to Kellee @littlehumanlinens about her fourth pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Kellee’s first three waterbirths were really positive experiences and you can hear her discuss them in . When I first interviewed her she was deep in her third postpartum and experiencing severe postnatal depletion which affected every aspect of her life. Today she talks in detail about that time, the day she discovered she was pregnant again and the depth of her despair as she wrestled with what

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54:59

356 | Annabelle, physiological birth, private...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/11/28

Annabelle has been tracking her menstrual cycle since high school so when it was time to conceive her baby, she knew exactly when she was ovulating. A self-confessed wannabe midwife, she knew from the start that she wanted continuity of care with midwives. When she missed out on the MGP programme, she opted to hire a private midwife for antenatal and postnatal care through Mama Midwives. Alongside her pregnancy and incredibly beautiful birth experience, Annabelle talks in detail about the full

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87:05

355 | Steph, emergency caesarean, surprise pregnancy,...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/11/21

If you are currently pregnant and feel like you’re more sensitive to traumatic stories, you may want to listen to this episode at a later date. However, if you are a midwife, student midwife or care provider, consider Steph’s story essential listening because it highlights the importance of woman-centred care - even the power of a simple hand hold - in one of the most traumatic birth experiences. After an induction, Steph experienced a cord prolapse and had an emergency caesarean under general

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50:24

354 | Matilda, one vaginal waterbirth, hospital...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/11/16

In today’s episode I chat to Matilda who is a midwife in Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) and a first-time mum to baby Roma. When she and her wife, Al, started talking about having a baby, they presumed Matilda would carry the pregnancy using Al’s egg and anonymous donor sperm. However, Al’s brother agreed to donate his sperm so they began their conception journey doing home insemination. After five months with no success, they opted to go through an IVF clinic and started with IUI before moving onto

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83:00

353 | Penny, two vaginal births, HG, thyroid,...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/11/13

In this episode I chat to Penny from about her experience with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) - severe nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. She explains the depth of her physical and mental challenge and how she cautiously approached her second pregnancy knowing that she would spend the following nine months severely sick. Penny is really open about the effect that her traumatic pregnancies had on her marriage and she sings the praises of couples therapy which she did with her husband for two years

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95:22

352 | Laura, two vaginal births, gender...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/11/10

In episode 342 Laura details her experience with gender disappointment, a confronting experience that she never anticipated but one that she shares without reservation. After being diagnosed with placenta previa, a scan at 32 weeks revealed that she had a shortened cervix. Bed rest and progesterone pessaries definitely helped and she was induced at 37 weeks and experienced a quick and positive vaginal birth. She fell pregnant with her daughter two years later and regular scans showed that her cervix

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52:13

351 | Megan, one vaginal birth, gastric bypass...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/11/07

In today’s episode Megan shares her pregnancy and birth experience following gastric bypass surgery. Despite this she wasn’t deemed high risk but her obstetrician chose to do a few extra blood tests during pregnancy to ensure she was absorbing enough minerals. The major pregnancy concerns following weight loss surgery are low birth weight and early labour but Megan didn’t experience either of them. She admits that she was worried about whether her pregnant belly would show and how she would be

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72:54

350 | Melissa, three births, induction, emergency...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/11/03

In this episode, Melissa highlights the importance of being informed, advocating for yourself and finding a supportive and respectful care provider. Her first pregnancy was unplanned and she describes herself as a naive 25-year-old who presumed labour was out of her control. After an induction and emergency caesarean she was left feeling defeated and unheard. She was halfway through her second pregnancy and preparing for a VBAC when her private obstetrician became less supportive of her plans so she

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76:32

349 | Renee, two vaginal births, MGP, doula,...

Australian Birth Stories ·

2022/10/31

In this episode Renee discusses her surprise first pregnancy and the fact that she had no knowledge whatsoever of her birth options. She missed out on the MGP programme at her local hospital but requested to stay on their waitlist and managed to get a place at 30 weeks. From then on she felt deeply supported by her midwives and she actively prepared for a physiological birth. Her first labour was long but she birthed in the water and returned home the next day. As soon as she fell pregnant with her

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