Wow - here we are at the last episode of season 3! I was pondering what I should do for the last episode and then I thought - a lot of people have been asking to hear the speech I did at the Australia Homebirth Confernce in November last year. So here it is! The title of the presentation is: Freebirth - Taking Radical Responsibility. For those of you that already understand freebirth - I hope that it is affirming and uplifting. And for those who those of you who are still learning about freebirth - I hope it gives you some insight and understanding! I will be taking a break off the podcast til ..read more

Today on the show I speak to Fiona about about her two vastly different births. For her first Fiona found out via ultrasound that her babies organs were forming on the outside of his body. An elective c-section was strongly advice and she consented under duress. She ponders if these early ultrasound may have contributed to this condition and talks about how the over medicalisation of this pregnancy made it very hard to connect in with her baby. After her baby was born - shockingly they overdosed her baby with drugs when a nurse missed a decimal point while administering. This delayed the surge ..read more

Today on the show I speak to Prue about the wild ride that led her to freebirth. Starting at 14 Prue started dabbling in drugs and alcohol. By her 20’s she realised it had become an addiction and she checked herself into rehab. She then ended up at the other end of the spectrum on extremely strong anti-depressants which she said made her a zombie and literally drool. She ended up weighing 100kg and knew something needed to change. She got off the pharmaceutical drugs and started body building but got down to a very unhealthy 35kg. When she finally let go of that and returned to a healthy weigh ..read more

Today on the show I speak with Cass about her 2 freebirths. I love a story where first time Mums freebirth. Cass herself was born at home and we hear the story of her growing up on the Wolery - the longest running intentional community in the south west of Western Australia. Even with her upbringing there was still some undoing of conditioning to be done and she dipped in and out of the system during the pregnancy. By the end of her pregnancy though she felt confident and ready - telling her birth plans to anyone who would listen. Cass tells us about her 12 hour labour where she went to her Da ..read more

Today on the show I speak to mother of eight Elise. After losing her first (and only girl) in a hospital birth, Elise was devastated. She talks us through the process of being told her baby had died during labour and how having nearly every intervention possible didn’t save her baby. She doesn’t vilify the hospital or staff but rather reflects that sometimes as sad and as grief struck as we are - death happens. She then describes how her subsequent 3 pregnancies were test heavy and scheduled inductions. For number five she was with a new partner and decided on a homebirth with midwife which wa ..read more

Today on the show I speak with my brother Alex and sister in law Laura about the freebirth of their second child Georgia. Having had a private midwife for their first, who they decided not to call on the day - they discuss the difference in preparing for a freebirth right from the start. This episode is definitely a great listen for dads who are preparing for freebirth and Alex somehow manages to make an analogy of birth with footy! We talk about the importance of community, releasing fears and how ultimately trusting each other is paramount - a theme that has continued from their first birth ..read more

As many of you are aware, in the mainstream media recently there has been a great deal of interest in freebirth. With numerous sensationalist articles flying around I thought it would be of interest to the listeners to hear a response. So on Saturday afternoon this week, as I hung out my washing, I dialled the number of my good friend and authentic birth keeper Emily Lal. As she picked up in Melbourne, I asked her if she’d jump on a zoom call to share her thoughts. It was a hard yes and just hours later - there we were chatting in-between putting our babies to bed on the other side of the coun ..read more

Today on the show my husband Oliver Wenn and I discuss 10 reasons why we homeschool and why you might want to too.  In recent years the new wave of homeschooling has increased exponentially. Why is this so? Well - here are our top 10 reasons of why we homeschool:  1. Intuitively feels right 2. Freedom and sovereignty 3. Keeping the light in their eyes ablaze  4. Travel 5. Play 6. Mixed age learning 7. Family comes first 8. We create the culture, ethics and value for our children 9. Likeminded community 10. Kids can learn at their own pace I hope you enjoy this personal insight ..read more

Today on the show I speak to the wonderful and bubbly Sarah. Hailing from Ireland - Sarah is a natural story teller and you just won’t be able to stop listening to this one. Sarah has 3 children and has had 4 losses. She is the epitome of ‘high risk’ for the system! Having had a c-section with her first, an advanced maternal age because she is 40, she’d had significant postpartum haemorrhages and also had taken a cocktail of drugs to ‘sustain’ this pregnancy - she had all the high risk boxes ticked. Sarah talks us through her absolutely horrific first birth where she was taken for a c-section ..read more

Today on the show I speak to experienced doula and Mama of 3 Moran. Originally hailing from Israel - Moran fell pregnant with her first at 24 (nearly 20 years ago now!) after she had moved to Australia. Not knowing any friends who were pregnant or much about pregnancy at all - she went down the typical route and hired a private obstetrician and ended up with a birth that had ‘all the intervention’- just minus the c-section. Consequently the birth left her with postpartum anxiety and the thought that she would never have another biological child after that experience.  But with time, came ..read more