In 2017, Chanice established well-woman care at a birth center and women’s care facility just two months before she and her husband were surprised by the news of expecting their first child. All was well until she developed Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) and was hospitalized at 11 weeks. She practiced prenatal yoga her entire pregnancy. After laboring for 12 hours, she gave birth at 40 weeks + 4 days at a birth center on Christmas Day.
After two months of trying to conceive their second child, Chanice and her husband became pregnant in the summer of 2019. Similar to the first pregnancy, Chanice battled HG, required IV fluids during early pregnancy, and was prescribed medication for extreme vomiting. She practiced prenatal yoga 1-2 times weekly. She went into labor while napping at 39 weeks + 6 days. While she prepared her space for laboring for an unknown number of hours, her body had other plans… a precipitous (rapid) labor and birth!
After two birth center births, Chanice and her husband made the decision to have their third child at home. Her third pregnancy mirrored her first and second pregnancies but with two energetic toddlers and continuing to work full time. Multiple false alarms led up to the real event on baby’s due date on a rainy day in February 2022. Her labor was eerily calm. She birthed baby #3 in a birthing tub in her bedroom.
Chanice Reid Bio
Chanice is a wife and mother of three. Chanice was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She is a proud Howard University graduate. She is a speech-language pathologist on the path to becoming an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). She is passionate about serving all families but especially families of color in the Phoenix area. She can be found spending time with family and friends, eating a delicious meal, planning a community event, binge-watching her favorite shows, traveling, and avoiding doing laundry at all costs. Connect with her on Instagram @thejoyfulslp and @joyfulcommunication.
This episode is sponsored by Baby Tula. Baby Tula creates unique and expressive carriers that help parents keep doing what they love while connecting with their little ones. Baby carriers are so much more than a parenting tool! When you wear your baby, you support the emotional, social, and physical well-being of your baby as well as your own! With a variety of unique prints, small batch and handwoven fabrics, inclusive sizing, and carriers for older babies too, you can find a carrier that’s distinctly you! You can use the code BIRTHHOUR at BabyTula.com and BabyTula.Co.UK.
Siri lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Jason, and 2 children, Adira (3), and Journey (7 months), 3 cats, 1 dog and 9 chickens! She has over 5 years of experience as a teacher of young children but changed career paths in 2021 and now works at her father’s electrical supply company. Siri has had type 1 diabetes since 2001 and she is excited to share the story of her first pregnancy and birth of her daughter, Adira. Connect with Siri on Instagram @sirilachmansingh
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 “BIRTHHOUR15” in their online shop for 15% off all supplies and accessories.
Kiira and her husband, David, decided to start “trying” after 4 years of marriage (13 years together) and got pregnant right away! Kiira’s pregnancy was mostly happy and calm, with the exception of first trimester nausea and second and third trimester sciatic pain. All of her prenatal care was at a local birth center, staffed by many midwives of color. It was extremely important to both Kiira and David to have OB providers who would listen and respect their wishes, and having Black midwives was one of the best ways they could think of to ensure that. They also hired a Black doula to support them through the pregnancy and labor. Kiira planned on a birth center delivery, with minimal intervention, but that’s not how things ended up.
Around the time she was 36 weeks, the birth center went on a “diversion” requiring all births to take place in a hospital. This was a huge source of disappointment and frustration for Kiira and David because it went against all their plans. They both held out hopes that the diversion would be over by the time Kiira delivered. But, when she went into post-dates and had an unsuccessful biophysical profile, she ended up needing an induction anyway. Going completely against her birth plan, Kiira wound up having an induction using Cytotec, Pitocin, nitrous, and an epidural. She labored for nearly two full days and pushed for close to four hours total. On April 26th, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in a room of incredible Black women (plus David). Although Kiira’s birth looked very different from what she had planned, it ended up being exactly what she needed. She had a care team that fully supported and cheered for her from start to finish. Kiira’s postpartum journey had challenges of PPA and low milk supply, but she immediately fell in love with being a mom and remains that way to this day.
Kiira Lyons Bio
Kiira is a wife, researcher, and mom of two. She lives in the triangle region of NC and is a lifelong Tar Heel. She is an avid podcast listener and has been a birth junkie since watching The Business of Being Born at 18. Connect with her on Facebook.
Resources
Doulas! Midwives! IBCLCs!
The Birth Hour
Evidence based birth
Kelly Mom
Facebook groups – local parent groups and national/international support groups for specific concerns (low supply)
Needed
Today’s episode is sponsored by Needed. Needed is the leading women’s health supplement brand recommended by nutritionally-trained practitioners. While most perinatal supplements include the bare minimum of the nutrients needed during pregnancy, Needed’s products are based on the latest clinical research and in-practice experience of nearly 4000 practitioners. Needed has all your needs covered, from your prenatal vitamin to pregnancy-specific Pre/ and Probiotics, to egg quality support, sleep, stress, immune and hydration support, as well as your protein needs for blood sugar balance and postpartum healing. Needed’s Complete Plan delivers unparalleled nourishment for every phase — whether you’re trying to conceive, pregnant, or postpartum! Instead of having to pair 6 different products together to meet your needs, I love that Needed has simplified things by bundling together four core products you need, in an easy and flexible monthly plan. Save 20% off your first order of Needed’s Complete Plan or any of their other perinatal nutrition products at thisisneeded.com with code BIRTHHOUR.
Ja’Nae is part of a family of four from Northern California, rooted in the Bay Area. They love the outdoors – snowboarding, stargazing, camping, farmers markets. Ja’Nae enjoys photography on the side while working and juggling life. She is a Mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a grand daughter and a niece. Ja’Nae’s husband Justin, her son Darion and her daughter Alannah are all on this crazy ride of life with her. Ja’Nae wanted to tell her birth stories to add to the vast and wide library the Birth Hour holds and to put her little stamp of herstory out there, for her son and daughter. She also wants to share this story with others traveling down this path, creating comfort and community. Connect with her @jlee_carns on Instagram.
Today’s episode is sponsored by Needed. Needed is the leading women’s health supplement brand recommended by nutritionally-trained practitioners. While most perinatal supplements include the bare minimum of the nutrients needed during pregnancy, Needed’s products are based on the latest clinical research and in-practice experience of nearly 4000 practitioners. Needed has all your needs covered, from your prenatal vitamin to pregnancy-specific Pre/ and Probiotics, to egg quality support, sleep, stress, immune and hydration support, as well as your protein needs for blood sugar balance and postpartum healing. Needed’s Complete Plan delivers unparalleled nourishment for every phase — whether you’re trying to conceive, pregnant, or postpartum! Instead of having to pair 6 different products together to meet your needs, I love that Needed has simplified things by bundling together four core products you need, in an easy and flexible monthly plan. Save 20% off your first order of Needed’s Complete Plan or any of their other perinatal nutrition products at thisisneeded.com with code BIRTHHOUR.
Despite a beautiful, complication free pregnancy, Megan’s path to motherhood was not easy. After years of struggling to conceive, several fibroid removal surgeries, a difficult new role at work and the loss of her father during her first trimester, it felt as if she was stuck in knee-deep mud not knowing whether to grieve or allow herself to be happy.
Before long, at 41 weeks, she arrived at the hospital for her scheduled induction. After a great response to the Foley balloon, labor was in full swing. Despite the immense pain over the course of 15 hours, Megan felt like she was finally able to release the anguish that had accumulated over the past 9 months and finally, her son Sterling Dagger was born in a dimly lit room surrounded by his father and grandmother.
Megan’s postpartum wasn’t without stress and unfortunately, because of incorrect information regarding her LOA benefits, her maternity leave was cut from 16 weeks to 12 weeks. Returning to work was difficult for her and her husband, and ultimately, it was decided that she would leave her full-time job and pursue part-time work to once again be the primary caregiver of their son. Watching her son grow and explore the world around him felt like the best decision for her emotionally and her family.
Megan Spar Bio
Megan is a 38 yr old creative millennial who, after graduating college, landed in the world of visual merchandising. She enjoys making things with her hands, listening to birth and tech podcasts and spending time with family. She met the love of her life, Brian, right after high school and after 10 years together they got married in Newport, RI on a cliff overlooking the water surrounded by a small group of friends and family. Now almost 20 years later they are raising their first child, Sterling Dagger and looking forward to this new adventure they’re on called parenthood. Connect with her on IG @everythingafteryou.
This 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 and new Evolve 3-in-1 Bouncer that we discussed on the podcast!
Michelle Coles is the mother of 5 boys between the ages of 10 and 7 weeks, no twins included. Each birth was a unique experience. All births were vaginal. Her first three were born in hospitals and her last two were born at home with midwives. She was in labor with her first son for around 20 hours and with her last son for only an hour and a half. She received an epidural for her two largest babies, weighing in at 9 and 10 lbs, and went unmedicated for the others. As a result of these varied experiences, she learned a lot about giving birth and is happy to share what she’s learned with others.
Michelle Coles Bio
Michelle Coles is an award-winning young adult novelist, civil rights attorney, and public speaker. Her goal in writing is to empower young people by educating them about history and giving them the tools to shape their destiny. Her debut novel, Black Was the Ink, a young adult historical fiction about the Reconstruction Era, was published in 2021. Black Was the Ink received numerous awards including the 2022 Grateful American Book Prize, a 2022 Skipping Stone Award, a 2023 In the Margins Award, and the 2019 New Visions Award Honor.
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, learn about the new hands free, Aura pump, and see how you can get pumps covered through insurance at motifmedical.com/birthhour.
