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PODCAST

Birth Tales

Welcome to Birth Tales. Conception, pregnancy, birth and those first hazy postpartum days are a physical and emotional whirlwind. My hope is that by sharing these unique experiences we can support, educate and inspire others on their journeys to becoming parents.

kids & family parenting

All Episodes

56:53

081 - Jess | midwife, third baby, hospital birth,...

Birth Tales ·

2026/03/26

In this episode Jess shares her experience of birthing her third baby. As a midwife and a mum who had previously had two uncomplicated births, her plan was always to have a homebirth. Unfortunately her third trimester threw some unexpected curveballs and Jess ended up being induced at 39 weeks. We talk about midwives' intuition, how incredible intervention can be when it's truly needed and how her induced labour compared to her previous physiological births. This is such a beautiful example of how

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54:27

080 - Lydia | PCOS, miscarriage, letrozole,...

Birth Tales ·

2026/03/12

In this episode Lydia shares her journey into motherhood. After a difficult start conceiving, she very sadly miscarried her first pregnancy and talks about how that loss affected her emotionally when she became pregnant again. Lydia shares the many ways she prepared for birth, including how valuable she found listening to a wide variety of birth stories, and describes her experience of consultant-lead care within a private hospital. After a few sweeps and a very special reflexology treatment,

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01:11:11

079 - Monika | 2nd baby, homebirth, doula,...

Birth Tales ·

2026/02/26

In today's episode I'm welcoming Monika back to the podcast to share the story of her youngest son's birth. After a traumatic induction first time around, she didn't engage with preparing for the birth until about 20 weeks, at which point Monika hired a doula and made the decision to birth her second baby at home. We talk in depth about how she juggled pregnancy sickness with caring for her toddler full time, managing a borderline gestational diabetes diagnosis and moving both house and hospital in

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45:51

078 - Eleanor | post dates induction, epidural,...

Birth Tales ·

2026/02/12

In this episode we're hearing from Eleanor about her first pregnancy and birth during lockdown. Having learned lots about birth from her midwife sister and planning for a homebirth, her estimated due date came and went with no sign of labour starting. At nearly 42 weeks she accepted an induction and was able to return home to wait for things to begin. When her contractions became regular, Eleanor and her husband went to the midwife-led unit where she laboured in the pool until concerns were raised

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52:04

077 - Ella | fertility awareness method, mizan...

Birth Tales ·

2026/01/29

In today's episode we're hearing from Ella about her son's birth. She explains how using the fertility awareness method helped her to conceive, how much she loved being pregnant and why she chose to plan a homebirth with the support of a doula. Ella talks honestly about finding it mentally challenging to go beyond 40 weeks and describes her long labour at home, including the coping techniques she leant on. After hours of pushing the decision was made to transfer, which was a scary experience for

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50:57

076 - Loren | ICSI, talipes, homebirth, BBA,...

Birth Tales ·

2026/01/15

In today's episode we're hearing from Loren, who reflects on her homebirth at just 9 weeks postpartum. She generously shares the challenges she faced conceiving, how she processed her son's talipes diagnosis and how she and her partner are navigating his ongoing treatment. Loren talks us through her labour, which was surprisingly quick, with the midwives arriving just after her baby was born. Despite the unexpected twists along the way, she reflects on the birth as a positive experience and talks

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56:33

075 - Molly | positive induction, continuity of...

Birth Tales ·

2025/12/18

In today's episode we're hearing from Molly about her daughter's birth. Having loved being pregnant, the biggest challenge she faced was deciding whether or not to accept an induction. Molly talks us through her decision-making process and shares her experience of the different stages of her labour in the hospital. She reflects on the importance of feeling well supported, the brilliant care she received throughout and how that helped her come away from the experience feeling really positive, even

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53:19

074 - Lara | precipitous birth, PCOS, membrane sweep,...

Birth Tales ·

2025/12/11

In today's episode we're hearing from Lara about her precipitous birth. When she found out she was pregnant she threw herself into reading, researching and preparing for labour. She hoped to give birth in the midwife lead unit, but when her contractions started it became clear her baby was coming very quickly. Lara and her partner called the paramedics who managed to get her to the hospital and her baby was born after just 95 minutes of labour. Lara talks about the mental challenge of convincing

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55:35

073 - Sarah | 2nd baby, doula, PGP, heart condition,...

Birth Tales ·

2025/12/04

In today's episode Sarah is back on the podcast to share her second birth story. Having had a difficult experience first time around, she knew what mattered most to her this time; to feel strong, to advocate for her wishes and to feel like she had more agency. She hired a doula, planned a VBAC, changed hospitals and got lots of independent support to help her prepare for the birth. Unfortunately she faced endless obstacles along the way, which resulted in her birthing her daughter via planned

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52:57

072 - Anna | freebirth, doula, waterbirth,...

Birth Tales ·

2025/11/27

In today's episode we're hearing from Anna who freebirthed her son with the support of her partner and doula. Having always felt trusting of the birthing process, Anna knew she wanted to have her baby at home. She shares how amazing it was to have the reassuring presence of a doula through her pregnancy and labour, about the pressure she felt to comply with maternity care that didn't feel right for her and why she ultimately chose to give birth without any midwives present. 9th December FREE

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51:26

071 - Maria | ectopic pregnancy, positive induction,...

Birth Tales ·

2025/11/20

In today's episode I'm chatting to Maria about her two pregnancies. Her first was very sadly an ectopic pregnancy and she shares her journey of expectant management, which left her feeling very lonely and anxious. When she conceived again and got through the first trimester, Maria loved her second pregnancy. She planned to birth her baby at home but ended up accepting an induction at 42+2. She talks about her experience of a 3rd degree tear, the amazing postnatal care she received and how healing

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39:08

070 - Tassy | small baby, hypnobirthing, planned...

Birth Tales ·

2025/10/30

In this week's episode I chat to Tassy about her planned c-section. She conceived quickly after coming off the pill and Tassy really enjoyed being pregnant and learning about birth. At 32 weeks her midwife flagged concerns around her baby's small size and after accepting some additional growth scans she quickly realised the birth centre birth she had hoped for was becoming increasingly unlikely. Tassy shares how empowering it felt to choose a caesarean over the induction she was being recommended

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01:14:42

069 - Serena | 2nd baby, homebirth, doula,...

Birth Tales ·

2025/10/23

In today’s episode I’m sharing my own story of birthing my second son, Sidney. I talk about how I experienced pregnancy with a toddler in tow, the choices I made differently this time and how much I loved birthing my baby at home. After a long and physically exhausting previous birth, this labour challenged me mentally so I share all the coping techniques and comfort measures that helped me through when self-doubt arose. Throughout pregnancy and labour I was cared for by the most awesome midwife

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49:55

068 - Laura | 2nd baby, homebirth, post dates...

Birth Tales ·

2025/10/09

In this episode we’ve got Laura back on the podcast to share her second birth story. After a long back to back labour in the hospital with her daughter, Lauren knew she wanted to approach things differently this time and planned to birth to her baby at home. She shares how different her experience of conceiving was second time around, why hiring a doula was the best decision she made and how she dealt with the immense pressure she felt to accept an induction once she passed 42 weeks. She trusted her

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51:43

067 - Beth | type 1 diabetes, induction, ARM,...

Birth Tales ·

2025/10/02

In today’s episode Beth shares her experience of conception, pregnancy and birth with type 1 diabetes. She talks us through the support she received from a fellow nutritional therapist, the preparation she undertook for her son’s birth and the implications of her condition. Whilst induction wouldn’t have been her preference, Beth managed to create a plan that both aligned with the recommendations of her care providers and also felt good to her, so despite the challenges that arose during her labour

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39:56

066 - Alice | homebirth, hypnobirthing, waterbirth,...

Birth Tales ·

2025/09/25

In today’s episode we’re hearing from Alice. She always knew she wanted a homebirth so when she found out she was pregnant it felt like the obvious choice. She shares how she prepared in the lead up to birth; what she read, how she loved science behind hypnobirthing and how supportive she found affirmations for her mindset. Alice’s patience was tested with a few days of latent labour, but after chatting to some helpful midwives she was able to relax into it and once things got going her son ended up

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57:42

065 - Bec | traditional birthkeeper, wild pregnancy,...

Birth Tales ·

2025/09/11

In this episode Bec shares her wild pregnancy and freebirth. As a traditional birth keeper she had plenty of experience supporting women choosing to birth outside the system, so this felt like the obvious choice for her own pregnancy. From the moment she conceived she had no tests, scans or interaction with the maternity system and she talks about how she worked through the range of emotions that came up throughout the process. Bec takes us step by step through her blissful final few weeks of

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59:42

064 - Anna | 2 births, unplanned c-section,...

Birth Tales ·

2025/09/04

In this episode I’m chatting to Anna about the birth of her 2 little boys. She shares how much she enjoyed pregnancy and the healing effect it had on her relationship with her body. After going into spontaneous labour shortly before 40 weeks, her baby was born via c-section due to concerns around his heart rate and whilst this wasn’t what she’d hoped for, she still found the birth to be really positive and amazing. Anna was hoping to experience a vaginal birth second time around and threw herself

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01:00:05

063 - Shanna | 2 births, induction, post dates...

Birth Tales ·

2025/08/21

In today’s episode we’re hearing about Shanna’s two births; one at the hospital and the other at home. Throughout her pregnancy she had a very clear idea of what she was and wasn’t comfortable accepting in terms of intervention and she was very confident in her intuition around the birth. She explains how she resisted the pressure to accept an induction until she was nearly 43 weeks and shares how her birth was managed when her baby was born with a shoulder dystocia. Her first labour and the way it

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57:25

062 - Annie | 2nd baby, IVF, HBAC, prodromal labour,...

Birth Tales ·

2025/08/06

In this episode we’re hearing from Annie about her amazing HBAC. This is Annie’s second time on the pod so you might remember her first birth story; a lengthy induction that lead to a c-section. Today we’re hearing how that experience heavily influenced the choices she made this time around. She knew that birthing at home would give her the best at the VBAC she wanted, so she gathered her support team, researched the risks of a vaginal birth following a caesarean, and focussed on building up trust

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82 results

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