At Nathalie’s twenty week ultrasound, she learned that she was at high risk for placental challenges and pre-term labor. In the eighteen weeks between her twenty week ultrasound and birth, she would make over 52 visits to various doctor’s offices, including twice-weekly non-stress tests and dopplers. The gravity of Nathalie’s health challenges and her desire to make it to term caused an overwhelming amount of stress. To cope with her anxiety, Nathalie turned to Expectful’s meditations and hypnobirthing. Within one week of using Expectful, Nathalie saw her condition stabilize, and she was able to make it to term.
At 38 weeks and one day, Nathalie went into precipitous labor. She was so entranced with her hypnobirthing exercises that she didn’t realize she was in labor. Nathalie arrived at the hospital eight centimeters dilated and continued to labor unmedicated until it was time to push. At this time it became evident that she was having a placental abruption. Nathalie was quickly whisked away to the operating room, where she received general anesthesia and had an emergency c-section. Her delivery doctor called her birth “an emergency of all emergencies.”
Thankfully, Nathalie and her son, Everett, have recovered, and both are doing well today. Her experience with the failure of the US healthcare system as it pertains to nurturing the mental and emotional wellbeing of pregnant and new mothers prompted her to leave her career in tech to join Expectful as the CEO. Her motivation for joining Expectful is to provide universal access to evidence-based wellness solutions, such as meditation, that help millions of women worldwide navigate the new state of parenthood.
Nathalie Walton Bio
Nathalie is the CEO of Expectful, the go-to wellness app for growing families. She has spent the last eight years in leadership roles at Airbnb, Google, and eBay. Nathalie lives in San Francisco with her husband, Max, and their one-year old son, Everett. You can find Nathalie on IG @expectful or @nathaliewalton
This episode is sponsored by Expectful – the #1 guided meditation & sleep app for your fertility, pregnancy, and motherhood journey. Just like you probably take a prenatal vitamin for your body, Expectful’s meditations are like a prenatal vitamin for your mind and can help you have a happier, healthier journey to parenthood. Whether you are TTC, pregnant, or postpartum, everything in the Expectful app was made just for this special moment in your life and created based on interviews with hopeful, expecting, and new parents just like you. Ready to reduce stress, improve sleep, and connect with your little one? Go to expectful.com/birthhour or download Expectful in the App Store to get started with a free trial today.
With her first pregnancy, Kate had a bleeding scare early on which ended up being a subchorionic bleed that resolved itself, and she had an otherwise healthy pregnancy. Kate felt pressured around her due date to get a membrane sweep and induction, but advocated for what she wanted and was able to labor at home until transition. She used hypnobirthing and went very inward and solitary for her labor. She describes her birth as a great unmedicated hospital birth but was frustrated that the staff never called her midwife whom she was hoping would attend her birth. She ended up delivering with an OB from the practice instead. She talks about her good postpartum period physically but unfortunately struggled with undiagnosed PPA.
With her second pregnancy, Kate used the Ava bracelet and got pregnant on the first attempt. She had a rough first trimester with nausea and exhaustion all while juggling a toddler. Kate ended up changing OBs after what happened with her first delivery, but ended up not being happy with her new OB either. She hired a doula who helped encourage her to switch to a birth center at around 28 weeks and she was very happy with her decision.
Kate used spinning babies techniques and saw a chiropractor during her pregnancy and drank tons of red raspberry leaf tea and ate dates every night during her third trimester. She struggled with some anxiety issues and what she describes as pregnancy rages which caused her to have high blood pressure. She started taking 5-HTP which helped tremendously with her moods.
Kate’s second labor was very similar her first as she labored pretty independently but this labor progressed more quickly. Her midwife told her to contact her when contractions were 7-1-1, but her contractions jumped out of nowhere from 8-1-1 to 4-1-1 and they still had a 45 minute drive up to the birth center. She describes that experienced as the worst drive of her life. She could feel her baby descending but didn’t tell her husband because she was worried it would freak him out while driving.
When they got to the birth center and got checked immediately, the baby’s head was crowning. She says her body completely took over, and the fetal ejection reflex happened. Within 6 minutes of getting to the birth center, her baby was born in one contraction without any conscious pushing.
She describes her immediate postpartum recovery this time as amazing. They had one hour of uninterrupted time, and then four more hours after his birth at the birth center before they headed home.
Unfortunately, she had a lot of issues with mastitis due to over-supply but the haaka was a big help. She had to go dairy-free due to her baby’s intolerance and it helped baby a lot. Kate found support for this via a Facebook group.
Kate is 31 years old, married to Casey and they have two sons Hudson and Ronan. They live in Davenport, Florida and both work for Disney World as VIP Tour Guides but were unfortunately recently laid off along with 28,000 other Cast Members.
Babylist
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Justina conceived in 2019, and saw the same midwife for all of her pregnancy care and for her baby’s birth. Justina gives credit to the midwifery model of care and a Hypnobirthing course for her positive birth experience.
She kept active as a part-time group-fitness instructor and continued teaching spin classes until 22 weeks. She enjoyed swimming and walking as exercise in her 3rd trimester.
Justina planned for an unmedicated birth. Her vision was to labor in the tub and that her baby would emerge by using relaxation techniques and in a very peaceful way. Her birth plan was to limit any intervention, no medications, and allow her baby to come when she was ready.
Justina endured 36 hours of prodromal labor at home until “real” labor began in the middle of the night. She labored in the tub at the hospital, which allowed for tub-labor but not birth.
Once the baby’s heart rate decelerated, there was a team effort to get the baby out quickly and safely. Justina was instructed to push on all-fours and that was how she ultimately birthed her baby girl.
Something about that position allowed the baby to be in better alignment and to avoid tearing. The nurses helped her flip over with the cord still attached. They did skin to skin and the baby breastfed. Justina was surprised by how much coaching she needed for pushing even during an instinctive birth.
Justine Perry Bio
Justina Perry is a Physical Therapist from New Bedford, Massachusetts who specializes in pelvic health. She lives with her husband and 1 year old daughter in their hometown. Where to find me: linknd Justina Perry southcoast.org/pelvicrehab
Peanut is an app that helps you make meaningful connections throughout all stages of motherhood. Peanut provides a safe space for mothers, expectant mothers and those trying to conceive to build friendships, ask questions and find support by introducing you to others nearby who are at a similar stage in life, Peanut provides access to a community who is there to listen, share information and offer valuable advice: Whether it’s understanding IVF, adoption, pregnancy, baby’s first years or beyond, Peanut is a place to connect with other moms in the thick of it.
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Prior to this pregnancy, Teisia had two chemical pregnancies back-to-back. She had never heard about chemical pregnancies before trying to conceive, so they were devastating. She thought something was wrong with her and that she might never have a successful pregnancy. She wants all women who have experienced any kind of loss to know that there is nothing wrong with them, they are not alone and there is hope. She hopes to see more light shed on how common this is so that women can feel less alone and more supported.
Teisia had planned an unmedicated water birth at a hospital attached Midwifery Center. She prepared with hypnobirthing methods in anticipation. She went into labor at 39 weeks and left for the hospital soon after her water broke at home. While the midwife staff were blowing up the birthing pool, she was able to labor peacefully in the bathtub. It was the serene, beautiful experience she had imagined. Later on, the baby’s heart rate got too high and she was asked to get out of the tub. Once she was out of the water, the labor became much more difficult.
She was told at 37 weeks that the baby was posterior but tried a lot of different things to get the baby to turn at home – so she thought that the baby had turned by the time labor started. No one told her that the baby was still posterior and therefore pushing was very hard. After an extremely challenging 3 hours, her baby girl was born. Her husband, Brian was there every step of the way and was the most supportive and amazing birth partner she could’ve asked for. Everyone was joking about how he was a “dude-la”. Although she didn’t get to have the calm water birth that she wanted, with the help of hypnobirthing and the support of her doula and husband, Teisia was able to go through with the unmedicated birth she had planned. It was the most magical and empowering moment of her life.
Teisia Wantuch Bio
Teisia is a working mom (software engineer) and lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband Brian, daughter Eleanor and two cats (Mozart and Dwight). She loves the outdoors and seeing live music. After becoming pregnant with her first, she has become very passionate about pregnancy, birth and motherhood – and loves to talk about it and follow companies that are empowering women and mothers. You can connect with her on Instagram @_teisia.
This episode is sponsored by Crane Humidifiers. Crane’s colorful humidifiers are a nursery necessity to help relieve your baby’s tiny congested nose, which can make feeding and sleeping a struggle for both baby and mom. A happy baby is a healthy baby. Crane is generously offering $10 OFF and free shipping on all of their full-priced, 1 gallon, adorable animal shaped humidifiers and drop humidifiers with the code BIRTH20 at www.crane-usa.com.
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To listen to this episode, and hundreds more birth stories in The Birth Hour archives, join our listener supporter Patreon here!
Zahra Kassam, an early childhood education entrepreneur, delivered her two children with unmedicated hospital births using midwives and the hypnobirthing method. Having experienced both postpartum bliss and postpartum depression, she contrasts her two births, her miscarriage, and discusses the importance of mothers caring for themselves.
Zahra Kassam Bio
Zahra Kassam is Founder and CEO of Monti Kids: the only subscription service for children ages 0-3 that provides an authentic Montessori education, proven in schools for over 100 years. Zahra holds a BA in Psychology from Harvard and a Master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is an internationally certified Montessori teacher at the infant, toddler, and preschool levels and a mother to two young boys.
Through Monti Kids, Zahra is filling the education void from birth to preschool, the most critical years of development when 85% of the brain is formed. Zahra has been invited to the White House Early Education Summit, named a Global Education Influencer, named a ‘World Changing Woman’ by Conscious Company Media, and was nominated for the Dalai Lama Unsung Heroes of Compassion Awards for her work with children. Zahra has appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank and recently gave a TEDx talk on education for babies. Follow Zahra on Instagram @zahraikassam.
The people at Babylist believe that you should be able to get exactly what you need for your unique and growing family. That’s why their baby registry lets you add any item from any store. Even add cool services and favors like prenatal yoga, doula support, home-cooked meals or dog walking. Start your registry today to be eligible for a free Hello Baby Box of goodies for baby worth up to $190 while boxes last.
To listen to this episode, and more than 350 other birth stories in The Birth Hour archives, join our listener supporter group here!
Megan became pregnant with her first child unexpectedly after 4 years with an IUD. Fortunately, the pregnancy was healthy and viable and continued uneventfully until her son decided to enter the world earlier than she anticipated (37 weeks and 3 days). After being in labor almost a full day without realizing it, Megan made it to the hospital at 10 cm and delivered a healthy baby via waterbirth almost 3 hours later.
Megan Freeland Bio
Megan is a public health pharmacist by trade and a healthcare copywriter by profession. She has a husband, son, and is awaiting the arrival of her daughter.
Motif Medical designs insurance-eligible products for busy moms. With a focus on innovation and empowerment, Motif’s line of breast pumps and maternity compression garments are sophisticated, yet discreet, and made to support mothers as they navigate new motherhood. Discover why moms are reporting more milk in less time with the Luna breast pump, and see how you can get it covered through insurance at motifmedical.com/birthhour.
