Danielle shares how as a doula she became disillusioned with the commonly-held New Zealand narrative that they have the 'gold standard' of maternity care. After seeing so many women traumatised and abused, not just in hospital but at homebirths too, she started to delve deeper into what was actually going on. Forced to examine her own behaviours and conditioning, Danielle began to see what was really needed to help women in their births. Danielle can be contacted via her Instagram @daniellejamescoaching or email: daniellejamescoaching@gmail.com Music credit: Vanlig by Jahzzar (CC BY-SA), Slo ..read more

Kelly shares her story of following her calling to become a midwife in her teens. Despite her desire to serve women, Kelly found herself unable to do so, in a system set up to hurt and control. Even though she continued to seek out models of care outside the hospital, she found over time, they kept moving towards medicalisation and betrayal, and led to her burnout. This eventually culminated in her leaving the system, to unlearn decades of indoctrination and arrive in a place of caring for women how she'd always envisioned. Kelly can be contacted via her Instagram @bloom.birthkeeping or email ..read more

Barbara, originally from Brazil, shares how her powerful first birth experience led her to become a birth educator and doula. She wanted women to know the lessons she had learned that had helped her navigate the hospital system. But as time went on, Barbara began to witness and hear so many birth stories, especially from foreigners like herself, which made her realise the education course she was teaching wasn’t enough. This coupled with her doula work and attending births in hospital, began to take its toll on her mental health. Barbara knew it was time to make a change. Hear how she decided ..read more

My friend, author and writer Kim Lock shares with us many of her life lessons. She talks about her shock first pregnancy, and its traumatic post-partum, and how she became a breastfeeding and mothering mentor. Kim explores her change of career from graphic designer to published author, and the devastating affects anxiety and panic attacks have had on her ability to live her life freely. And finally, she offers up the wisdom she discovered by learning to find and value her true self ..read more

Overcoming the birthing culture she grew up with in Brazil, Carolina chose to birth her first baby at home. She was then devastated by a hospital transfer that led to caesarean, as well as the appalling after-care she and her baby received. Carolina is then faced with an unexpected pregnancy, and is overwhelmed by fear and her need to know all the things. To have the birth she wants she knows she must go deep to prepare. When her partner reveals his fear and trauma and wants her to birth in hospital, Carolina continues to do the work so she can believe in her ability to freebirth her baby ..read more

After birthing her first baby in a midwife assisted homebirth, Tina knew she wanted her next baby to be born at home alone. But after the death of her beloved father altered her whole world, her ability to step into this space of responsibility fell apart. Hear how Tina cycles back to herself to reclaim her power to birth exactly how she'd always envisioned, and filled with absolute love ..read more

On this episode I talk with Nelle from Wild Wombyn – a folk herbalist. After running her birth business for several years Nelle realised it was no longer working for her. Hear how she taps into what she truly loves, moving past her blocks to create a business working with plants and nutrients, that lights her up. Diving deep into old habits and finding ways to release them, enabled Nelle to take radical steps in her life including reaching out to connect with her biological father in a move she’d been afraid to make her whole life. Join me as Nelle describes her vision of women reclaiming thei ..read more

Pregnant and feeling in optimal health, Lorraine receives news that sends her world crashing around her. Through this lens she discusses how she went on to navigate the hospital system to birth her baby naturally. High on the satisfaction of her birth outcome, Lorraine then fell victim to a system and society that does not know how to support the breastfeeding dyad.  In intimate detail Lorraine describes the exhausting and despairing cycle of sabotage she endured that brought her to rock bottom. She goes on to describe her transformation of learning how to trust herself and her baby to se ..read more

Rebecca reveals her unique family structure, how she came to terms with witnessing a traumatic birth that wasn’t her own and preparing for her own first birth experience with new fears and old patterns. Rebecca is a master reflector and an evocative storyteller. Her pregnancy cracked her wide open, no longer allowing her to ignore aspects of herself that had previously held her back. Journey with Rebecca and her family as she confronts her biggest fears so that she can be witnessed birthing as her whole magnificent self ..read more

I’m joined by Claire, who worked with me to birth her business The Primal Dyad. After Claire experienced a difficult breastfeeding journey, she knew she wanted to help other women. She wasn’t quite sure what this would look like, and she also knew she had her own healing to do first. Listen to Claire as she shares how she discovered her own unique path to support breastfeeding women and the story of how she healed her own trauma. Claire talks about how she moved through her personal blocks in starting her business and how she learned to recognise her own self worth so that she could go on to c ..read more