Nkite gave birth to her baby girl through an unmedicated vaginal birth at a birth center in South Africa. Her baby was born 2 weeks early and she had a doula supporting her and her husband during the birth.
Nkite Magale Bio
Nkite and her husband live in Johannesburg South Africa and have a 9 month old baby girl. She works as a consult in the financial advisory space.
Aeroflow Breastpumps
Today’s episode is sponsored by Aeroflow Breastpumps. Aeroflow has helped millions of new and expecting parents discover the breastfeeding and postpartum essentials covered by their insurance including breast pumps, maternity compression, and lactation education & support.
They take care of everything – including all paperwork, working with your insurance company, and explaining your options to get these free essentials shipped straight to your door. Aeroflow offers all major breast pump brands including Medela, Spectra, Motif, Lansinoh, Ameda, Elvie, Willow and more.
All you have to do is go to the Aeroflow Breastpumps website and fill out their free and easy Qualify Through Insurance form. Be sure to go to aeroflowbreastpumps.com/birthhour so they will know we sent you! Bonus — use the promo code “TBH15” in their online shop for 15% off all supplies and accessories.
After a 58 hour induction turned emergency cesarean, Shannon began her postpartum journey with her son, Ethan. They had many struggles with breastfeeding which resulted in 3 months of triple feeding, tie revisions, and eventually led to exclusively pumping. She was able to donate milk to other moms, however, which made all of the hard work extra worth it.
At around 3 months postpartum, Shannon’s husband went through a major mental health crisis. Trying to support him and care for their baby was really challenging, but after the right medication and a great therapist, things are finally looking up!
Shannon has found a lot of joy in cooking with and for her son and exploring baby led feeding together. Her postpartum experience has been a mixed bag with the lowest of lows as well as highest of highs.
Shannon Coyne Bio
Shannon is a musician and teacher living in Mount Vernon, Washington. She loves to get outside and hike with her son, Ethan, and black lab, Ruby. She also enjoys cooking, baking, and playing cello with her husband. You can connect with her on Instagram @shannonn37 or on Facebook at Shannon Coyne.
Resources
@karrie_locher
@heysleepybaby
@bemybreastfriend
Ergobaby
Today’s episode is sponsored by Ergobaby. Founded in 2003, Ergobaby has pioneered the gold standard for comfortable, ergonomic soft structured carriers. Their commitment to providing parents with the foundation to thrive has launched the company into creating a broad range of award-winning products that fit into families’ daily lives seamlessly, comfortably, and safely – where function and quality are not compromised. In 2020, they launched Everlove by Ergobaby, a first of its kind baby carrier buy back and resale program, a sustainability effort to support families and the planet. Check out Ergobaby’s Embrace in Soft Air Mesh that we discussed on the podcast!
Rafa, October 2017: Emily was diagnosed with cholestasis at 35 weeks, and as a result her midwives scheduled her for an induction at 37 weeks. She was induced with Cytotec over a period of 24 hours. At the end of the 24 hours, the baby’s heart rate started to drop. She was taken to a pre-op room for monitoring where it was quickly determined that the baby was not tolerating the induction well and she needed a C-section. The doctors put her under general anesthesia because she had just eaten (due to an outdated, not-evidence-based hospital policy). She met her son about two hours after he was born.
Joaquín, July 2021: Emily really wanted a VBAC after her traumatic C section birth. Around 25 weeks she learned that her baby was measuring small, in the 11th percentile. His percentile continued to drop and he was diagnosed with intrauterine growth restriction. At 37 weeks he was measuring in the 4th percentile. As a result, Emily was scheduled for an induction at 38 weeks. This time she wasn’t eligible for cervical ripening meds like Cytotec so she was offered a Foley balloon. After 48 hours, 3 different Foley balloons, an epidural, and some Pitocin, she had a successful VBAC.
Emily Taylor Bio
Emily lives in Northeast Washington D.C. with her wife Sofia, her sons Rafa and Joaquín, and their many, many houseplants. She works as a product manager for an education tech company. Emily loves baking projects, swimming laps, city adventures, and that 8 p.m. moment when both kids are finally asleep. She dislikes diet culture, the American healthcare system, and when people put bananas and melon in fruit salad. Feel free to connect with her via email at tayloremily2@gmail.com, especially if you live in the DC area and are looking for mom friends!
Today’s episode is sponsored by Premama Wellness. Premama creates doctor-backed supplements that support every stage of your maternity wellness journey. From balancing hormones, to trying to conceive, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and breastfeeding nutritional support. All Premama supplements are gluten-free, non-GMO, vegan or vegetarian, with no additives and no synthetic flavors. Discover why moms (and dads-to-be!) trust Premama wellness for their nutritional support by visiting Premamawellness.com. You can use the code BirthHour25 for 25% off your purchase!
Erica Chidi is the Co-founder and CEO of LOOM, a wellbeing platform empowering women through sexual and reproductive health education.
She is a Black lesbian woman, passionate about helping people cultivate body literacy and giving them the tools to advocate for their health and wellbeing. At LOOM she’s pioneering a new form of online education that weaves together inclusivity, empathy and science to help women thrive in their bodies at every stage of their lives. LOOM builds on her work as the author of the best-selling book, Nurture: A Modern Guide to Pregnancy, Birth and Early Motherhood. In her work as both a doula and health educator, she has helped thousands of women cultivate and deepen their self-care.
Erica began her practice in San Francisco, volunteering as a doula within the prison system, working with pregnant inmates. She took her passion for women’s health and went on to build a successful perinatal coaching practice in Los Angeles, while continuing to work with Reproductive Justice organizations that center and serve BIPOC’s and the LGBTQIA+ community. She has been featured in Women’s Health, Vogue, Goop, The Cut and Marie Claire.
Today’s episode is sponsored by Ergobaby. Founded in 2003, Ergobaby has pioneered the gold standard for comfortable, ergonomic soft structured carriers. Their commitment to providing parents with the foundation to thrive has launched the company into creating a broad range of award-winning products that fit into families’ daily lives seamlessly, comfortably, and safely – where function and quality are not compromised. In 2020, they launched Everlove by Ergobaby, a first of its kind baby carrier buy back and resale program, a sustainability effort to support families and the planet. Check out Ergobaby’s Embrace in Soft Air Mesh that we discussed on the podcast!
Amia went into labor around dinner time on March 2nd. Contractions were light, she was able to cook dinner and progress through the night. Her husband was working late that night but her mom lived with them so she was able to care for Amia’s son. There had been so many Braxton Hicks that she wasn’t sure this was really “it”. After a few hours of consistent contractions she called her midwife Nikki, doula Sarah, and her husband Ricardo.
Her Midwife told her to head to the birth center when her contractions were 5 minutes apart and lasting 90 seconds with increasing intensity. One of the biggest things she regrets is telling her husband not to rush home, saying “it’ll be fine.” She also regrets not telling her Doula to come to her house. As the night went on, the contractions got worse. Amia’s husband got home around 9pm or 10pm. He was really tired so he laid down to rest after Amia told him it was fine and they weren’t leaving soon.
With Amia’s first pregnancy she got a lot of relief sitting in a warm bath. So her mom helped her get her bathtub filled. However, her mom was worried since with Amia’s first pregnancy she had progressed really quickly after sitting in the tub. Amia insisted she needed to sit in warm water because at this point the contractions were getting more intense and unbearable. She was glad to get the relief she needed and after about an hour she felt like she was dilating more.
This is the point where things moved very quickly. Amia decided to get out of the tub as she knew it was time to head to the birth center. She told her mom to wake up her husband and went and laid down on the couch to wait for him to get up. By this time it was close to midnight and she waited what seemed like an hour for her husband to get up. She lost her temper and started yelling for him to hurry feeling it was really time for them to go! By the time they both got dressed Amia was probably 9 cm dilated. She was laying on the couch moaning and coaching herself through contractions. At this point she knew she wasn’t going anywhere and told her husband she couldn’t get up to go to the car.
Ricardo called the midwife, Nikki and told her what was going on. Nikki decided to come to them. They video called the entire 45 minute drive. Amia’s mom prepped for an impromptu home delivery. Ricardo was so nervous and unsure. He asked Amia if she was sure she couldn’t get in the car. It was a funny moment thinking back on it.
Nikki was so close to being at Amia’s house in time to catch the baby but she got pulled over right down the road from Amia’s house and pulled up 10 minutes after the baby was born. Aniya was caught by her grandmother on March 3rd in the early morning.
Amia Paulemon
Amia is a wife and mom of 2 kids Jace (3 year old boy) and Anoya (1 year old girl). They live in the country outside of San Antonio. She and her husband got married in 2013. They waited several years before having kids and are glad they did! Currently Amia is at home with her kids full-time. Connect with Amia on Instagram @making.paulemons.out.of.lemons.
Panda Crate subscription from KiwiCo, your baby receives a new crate filled with two-months’ worth of products and content every other month. Build a foundation for early learning this new year with Panda Crate from KiwiCo! Get 30% off your first month on ANY crate line with code BIRTHHOUR at kiwico.com.
Ariel, a self-proclaimed birth nerd, prepped for labor by taking a Bradley Method Class and was prepared to labor at home for as long as possible in hopes of avoiding interventions and having an unmedicated labor. Early labor felt like cramping so neither Ariel or her husband realized what was going on. Ariel took a shower and two baths to help relax what she thought was cramping from overdoing it and being a little dehydrated. After Ariel took her second bath and was beginning to hum and rock through “waves of pain” they finally processed that Ariel was in labor.
Ariel became nauseous and started throwing up and planted herself on their bathroom floor. Eventually Ariel asked her husband to start timing contractions only to realize that contractions were 2 and a half minutes apart. After about 45 minutes of intense and powerful contractions Ariel’s water broke as she was throwing up. Unsure what to do, Ariel and her husband called the OB around midnight who instructed them to head to the hospital.
Knowing his wife had expressed wanting to labor at home for as long as possible, Benjamin was hesitant to head in so soon as Ariel had only been having contractions for about 2 hours. Ariel was feeling very overwhelmed and even scared, so she insisted on going to the hospital right away. Ariel climbed in the car while her husband packed their bags and drained her tub water from earlier. While in the car waiting, Ariel began to feel the urge to push. They eventually arrive at the hospital around 1:30am. Once Ariel made it up to L&D the triage nurse informed her she was completely dilated and it was time to have a baby. 15 minutes and 4 pushes later, to their surprise, their baby boy was delivered at 1:56am. He was so precious, at just 5lbs and 14 oz, and fit perfectly into their arms and hearts right away.
Ariel D’Souza Bio
Ariel D’Souza is 30 years old and lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband Benjamin and their son, Caleb. She works as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at the local Children’s Hospital. She loves birth and can remember watching shows like ‘Birth Day’ and ‘A Baby Story’ when she was just a young girl. In her free time she enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, traveling, and baking. You can connect with Ariel on Instagram @goarielgo.
Resources
The LA County Department of Public Health is leading a broad African American Infant and Maternal Mortality (AAIMM) Initiative to combat the disproportionately high rates of Black/African American infant and maternal deaths countywide. Doulas are part of the solution. “Black women experience higher rates of poor birth outcomes, including cesareans, preterm and low birth weight infants, and infant death, than other racial groups (Thomas et al., 2017). The AAIMM Initiative is committed to eliminating preventable Black infant and maternal deaths.” https://www.blackinfantsandfamilies.org/doulas
Today’s episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Pregnancy and new parenthood can be extremely stressful and many struggle with their mental health. Which is why we want you to Check out BetterHelp.combirthhour. BetterHelp will assess your needs and match you with your own licensed professional therapist so you can Connect in a safe and private online environment and you can start within 48 hours of signing up!
BetterHelp matches you with a counselor based on questions you answer during sign up AND they make it easy and free to change counselors if needed. BetterHelp is more affordable than traditional offline counseling and financial aid is available. As a listener, you’ll get 10% off your first month by visiting our sponsor at BetterHelp.com/birthhour.
Amy Porter describes her fertility and pregnancy journey with her second child as “a delicate balance of luck and chaos.” From the accidental thawing of their donor sperm units before her IUI treatment to the routine ultrasound that discovered their son’s fatal heart defect amidst the global pandemic, Amy’s second journey to parenthood definitely was not what she and her wife imagined it would be.
With the help of a team of medical professionals, the Porter family was able to prepare themselves mentally and emotionally for the birth of a critically ill newborn who would require open-heart surgery within his first few days of life to survive. Listen and learn about just how common of a birth experience this is and what parents can do at their 20-week anatomy scan to advocate for the heart health of their children.
Amy Porter Bio
Amy Porter is an educator, receiving Bachelor’s degrees in Education and Music. Amy is a passionate Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) advocate and public speaker. Conventionally unconventional, she and her wife built their own family and are mothers to two young children.
Amy is a self-proclaimed “research nerd.” Her curiosity about the world, her passion for knowledge, and the lived experience of her son’s critical heart defect diagnosis have led her to educate sonographers and parents about the importance of early detection. More information and resources can be found on her website www.1in100.org and her son’s medical journey can be viewed on her Instagram @amye_porter. You can also email her at amy@1in100.org.
This episode was sponsored by Motif Medical. Motif 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.
As a first time mom, pediatrician, and medical trainee, Megana thought she would be well-equipped for her first pregnancy. She and her husband talked about starting a family after a wedding planned in March 2020. When it was cancelled, and they were plunged into COVID-19, they decided not to put our lives on hold any longer. They had a small wedding in a dog park in New Mexico where they had lived for three years, found out they were pregnant the next month, sustained the loss of Megana’s beloved grandmother, and packed up their lives and two dogs and moved cross country to Pittsburgh where they were starting the next phase of training and where their families are close.
They were nervous about COVID and especially nervous as the dating ultrasound had not shown a fetal pole before they left NM. Despite the chaos of moving cross country during a pandemic, they settled well into our lives in Pittsburgh. At 10 weeks, after Megana’s OB was unable to find the fetal heartbeat and they were sent for an ultrasound, they finally knew the pregnancy was healthy. Megana had an uneventful pregnancy, running every day until 39 weeks.
The world, however, continued to be eventful. Megana was privileged to be among the first offered the COVID vaccine while there were no clear recommendations about receiving it while pregnant. Because of restrictive policies in pediatric fellowships at the time, Megana was scheduled to go back at 5.5 weeks postpartum. As the pregnancy ticked past its due date, they scheduled an induction right before the 41st week and she met her daughter 36 hours later.
Because of significant tearing from a precipitous labor, Megana was physically debilitated for the first time in her very lucky life. She was not at all prepared with how emotionally and physically difficult postpartum life was. She had PPD/PPA, could barely walk without her knees together, and though loved her daughter, did not love being a mom.
Her sister sat her down to make a plan for making maternity leave more bearable. She started a moms group, started walking in the park, and attended a virtual conference. Going back to work so early, she struggled—lactating inopportunely, continuing to bleed. She could not perform as she did prior to mat leave, and it was difficult to admit and recognize. She wrote an op-ed while breastfeeding about how shortsighted the policies around leave were for trainees.
Megana slowly regained the ability to run after about 12 weeks, which helped her mental health, but balancing work and motherhood felt impossible. One year later, she realized just how big her village needed to be. She finally feels whole: her colleagues and supervisor, her therapist, her moms group, her partner, and family have been instrumental in her recovery. As a pediatrician, she had to let go of perfectionism and embrace her emotions as they came. She can confidently say now those emotions around motherhood are joyful ones.
Megana Dwarakanath Bio
Megana is a pediatrician and adolescent medicine fellow in Pittsburgh. She lives with her husband, Rahul, their 1 year old Meera, and two dogs. They have their parents and her sister closeby and are grateful for the community in which their daughter is being raised in. Connect with Megana via email mdwarakanath20@gmail.com
This episode is sponsored by Milkies by Fairhaven Health. Milkies is a line of thoughtfully designed products for moms, by moms, to help support you in your breastfeeding journey. Products include breast milk collection and storage, like the award winning Milk-Saver, supplements, teas, nursing pads and much more! Milkies is generously offering 15% off all Milkies products with the code BirthHour15 at www.fairhavenhealth.com.
Rana Campbell is a marketing professional and host of the Dreams In Drive Podcast. She is mom to a 17 month old baby boy who she delivered pain medication free after 40 long, but exciting hours of labor. Connect with her personal IG @rainshinelove or check out her podcast Dreams in Drive or on IG @dreamsindrive.
Resources
Solid Starts – Baby Led Weaning
Holistic Psychologist
Kelly Mom for Breastfeeding
Childbirth Center of New Jersey
Cozy Earth
Today’s episode is sponsored by Cozy Earth. I first learned about Cozy Earth when their sheets were named one of Oprah’s favorite things in 2018 and I was having a baby in the Fall of 2018 and treated myself to the softest sheets I’ve ever slept on! I’ve been sleeping on Cozy Earth’s best-selling bamboo sheet sets ever since. Cozy Earth sheets are temperature-regulating and incredibly soft which is so perfect for all of the life stages we talk about on The Birth Hour. Seriously, if you are a hot sleeper these are a game changer and worth the investment! They’d also make a great baby registry item. Cozy Earth provided an exclusive offer for our listener’s today. Get 35% off site wide when you use the code “BIRTHHOUR”
First time mom, Lexie, has always wanted to be a mom and spent years thinking about the kind of pregnancy and birth she would someday have. She originally planned for a low intervention hospital birth with midwives and the support of her husband and doula. But as is typical, the way she imagined it was far different from the reality!
Lexie became pregnant at the very start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Pregnancy brought many of the usual challenges, like intense nausea and fatigue and pelvic pain. The nausea was particularly difficult for Lexie to manage due to her emetophobia (fear of vomiting) but with the help of therapy and medication, she was able to endure the tough first trimester. She also experienced pelvic pain starting very early at 10 weeks that eventually became Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, and she sought care with both a chiropractor and a pelvic floor physical therapist.
As her pregnancy progressed, new challenges presented themselves that puzzled her midwives. Lexie experienced frequent migraines as well as fainting spells and episodes of heart racing. The midwives sent her to several specialists to rule out any serious conditions, although none could be found. But as these puzzling symptoms persisted and her blood pressure began to rise around 34 weeks, the midwives became uncomfortable continuing her care. They risked her out to an OB in their practice at 34 weeks, which ended up being a very smooth transition and her new OB was genuinely supportive of her birth preferences.
Labor started spontaneously at exactly 39 weeks with contractions. During several days of intense prodromal labor, Lexie was unable to make much progress or get adequate rest. Two days later, around 3:00am, the hospital admitted her at 3cm and she got an epidural hoping it would provide much needed rest so her body could dilate. But soon after it was placed, construction noise nearby was too loud to sleep. With rest and mobility off the table, they looked to other interventions that might help labor progress. Her OB broke her water and started Pitocin, and her doula helped position her legs to keep her pelvis as open as possible. They continued this through the entire day with no progress, until dinnertime when things picked up with a bang.
Lexie was able to vaginally deliver her daughter after roughly an hour of pushing. As Isla was born, her shoulder got stuck under Lexie’s pubic bone and her collar bone broke during delivery. It also became apparent that Isla had been asynclitic during labor, as she had a very dramatic and asymmetrical cone head. This is likely the reason labor was such a long and painful endeavor. In total, her labor was about 50 hours long.
The challenges for Lexie and Isla continued after delivery, with Isla being jaundiced and struggling with nursing due to an undiagnosed posterior tongue tie, and Lexie experiencing a DVT blood clot the day after being discharged from the hospital. Lexie had to be readmitted to the hospital for several days while they treated the blood clot and observed her for complications. Thankfully there were no complications, and they were able to diagnose a blood clotting disorder called Factor V Leiden before sending her home for good this time.
Things settled down after a few weeks, and Lexie could finally enjoy this dream turned reality of becoming a mom. Although pregnancy and birth did not go as planned, Lexie still feels positively about her experience overall and attributes this to having such a wonderful and supportive team of providers.
Lexie Smith Bio
Lexie lives in the greater Nashville metro area in Tennessee with her husband Michael, daughter Isla, and two very large dogs, Mozzie and Delta. She is an executive assistant for a marketing agency that works with banks on their brands. Although free time is scarce these days, she enjoys listening to podcasts about true crime, watching (and rewatching) shows on Netflix, and spending quality time with her little family. If you would like to connect with Lexie, you can email her at alexkosto8390@gmail.com or find her on Instagram @lexasaurusrex12.
Part I of this episode is sponsored by Premama Wellness. Premama creates doctor-backed supplements that support every stage of your maternity wellness journey. From balancing hormones, to trying to conceive, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and breastfeeding nutritional support. All Premama supplements are gluten-free, non-GMO, vegan or vegetarian, with no additives and no synthetic flavors. Discover why moms (and dads-to-be!) trust Premama wellness for their nutritional support by visiting Premamawellness.com. You can use the code BirthHour25 for 25% off your purchase!
Kindred Bravely
Part II of this episode is brought to you by Kindred Bravely. From adorable maternity wear to comfortable nursing bras, this mom-owned company has you covered. See all of their comfy clothing at kindredbravely.com! I especially love their Simply Sublime nursing tank, their high waisted leggings (for pregnancy AND postpartum). Listen to this episode for a special coupon code and to hear about my new favorites in their summer line of clothing and loungewear!
3 years into MAT and addiction recovery, Shannon finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. After jumping through hoops to find health care in metro Atlanta, and an early bleeding scare, she discovers that she has a bicornuate uterus and decides to switch providers. At her anatomy scan they find that her son’s umbilical cord is marginally incerted, and that he is growing in the 4th percentile. Due to her bicornuate uterus, methadone treatment, and marginal cord insertion, Shannon is requested to see MFM for bi weekly and weekly growth scans. Her son is also mistakenly diagnosed with dwarfism.
Due to IUGR Shannon is induced at 39 weeks. The induction and delivery were relatively smooth and easy, and her son is born at over 6 lbs and proportionally average.
NICU Stay for Withdrawal Symptoms from Methadone
12 hours after delivery, her son begins to experience withdrawal symptoms from Shannon’s medication, and is admitted to the hospital’s NICU for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). Shannon and her husband spend the next 14 days in the NICU helping their son through his symptoms, and working with Child Protective Services to ensure that their baby has a healthy future. On Thanksgiving day 2018, Shannon’s son is released from the hospital and the family is able to start their new lives.
Shannon and her husband Mike used to live in Metro Atlanta, but recently relocated to North Georgia with their 3 year old son, James Jude. They are expecting baby #2 in April 2022. Shannon is 6 years sober from opiates and a stay at home mom, while her husband installs and manages security tech for public schools and offices. Shannon can be found on Instagram at @mama.sha.oc, and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/shanonnigans.
While you’re planning for the arrival of your baby, now is a great time to think about saving for their future learning opportunities. Backer is a smart way to save together for your kid’s college education, starting from birth all the way to graduation. You can create a college savings account at any time, and invite family & friends to contribute. When you’re ready, invest your savings and watch it grow as fast as your little one does!
And, with Backer 529 you can upgrade to a gold-rated 529 Plan, and invest your savings tax-free. So when your child is ready, they’ll be able to achieve the career of their dreams. Over time, your savings could grow four times as big as you could manage alone. Don’t wait until the baby is here when you probably won’t have time to think about it. Open your first fund today, share the link, and ask family and friends to pitch in from day one. Go to backer.com to get started and as an added bonus, click this link for a $10 voucher to get you started saving today!
Both of Allison’s births were unmedicated natural labors ending in a tub at the Fort Worth Birthing & Wellness Center. However, Allison nicknamed her first birth, to her son, the birth marathon. It was long, hard, and full of exercise. Her second birth she nicknamed the sweetest surprise. It was still hard, but full of rest until pushing out a baby girl!
Allison Lauderdale Bio
Allison Lauderdale is a mom of two in her early thirties living in Fort Worth, Texas. She is a Speech Language Pathologist by degree but is thankful to get to be at home right now with her babies. She loves crafting, baking, going for walks, and reading.
Panda Crate subscription from KiwiCo, your baby receives a new crate filled with two-months worth of products and content every other month. Build a foundation for early learning this new year with Panda Crate from KiwiCo! Get 50% off your first month on ANY crate line with code BIRTHHOUR at kiwico.com.
