Lizzie gave birth to her first child in January 2022, after a rough pregnancy with lots of sickness. She gave birth in a hospital during the omicron wave of COVID-19, and both her and her husband tested positive the week before the birth. Lizzie’s labour was faster than expected, and Brody was born after less than 4 hours of active labor and only 15 minutes of pushing. She did not have that ‘love at first sight’ moment, and her bond with Brody was a slower build and included overcoming some gender disappointment. Lizzie also had some bumps in the road introducing Brody to her dog. She now has a great connection with Brody and is grateful to have been able to spend extended time with him over a 12-month maternity leave.
Lizzie Howells Bio
Lizzie and her husband James are parents to Boston terrier Dave and son Brody, who was born in January 2022. They are both from the UK and have lived in Vancouver, Canada, since 2011. Lizzie works in an operations role for a national environmental and social Justice charity. She is on instagram at @lizziejg.
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!
Nina shares 3 c-section birth stories. Each different: One with restricted growth and blood type incompatibility scare, a second attempted VBAC with a CMV diagnosis, and a final smooth going pregnancy (well deserved after the first 2 adventures!). They all take place in Ecuador and involve adventures of trying to find tests and medicine that were temporarily unavailable in the country as well as having to travel to the US for consults. She talks about how her father’s passing was important in her decision to have children and how being a working mom motivates her to be the best mom she can.
Nina Solah Bio
Nina is 37 years old and mom to 3 handsome boys (ages 4 months, 3 years old and 6 years old). She is happily married and lives in Ecuador where all 3 boys were born. She studied at Yale and returned to live in Ecuador where she works full time as marketing manager for a retail company. She loves to read, run, and figure skate. She has a passion for evidence based medicine. You can connect with her on IG @nina_solah
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Fairhaven Health
This episode is sponsored by Fairhaven Health. Fairhaven Health offers a wide range of products for fertility – including fertility supplements for women and men, like FH PRO and FertilAid, ovulation prediction tools, sperm-friendly lubricants, pregnancy tests, and more. Fairhaven Health is generously offering 15% off of all products with the code BirthHour15 at www.fairhavenhealth.com
Jasmine’s first birth was a hospital birth in Northern Virginia, that did not go as planned — starting with an induction at 41w 3d — but she says, because of the support she received from her husband, she felt empowered and super connected to him, to God, and to all the women who birthed before her. In Jasmine’s words: “Together, my husband, our baby girl, and I, turned what could have been a scary, sterile situation, into a beautiful, love-filled hospital birth! The birth transformed me and showed me my new purpose in life. I quit my 10 year career as a news reporter, focused on pouring into our family, and launched a doula business!”
Fast forward almost three years to 2021, and Jasmine and Julian’s second baby was born in the living room of their Tokyo home! After a bit of – active labor denial on her part — and 9 hours of peacefully laboring through the night, their son, Nile Alexander, eased into the water just as the sun was rising on March 5. Jasmine describes the birth as euphoric and spiritual, and says, it was a true gift to be cared for by a traditional Japanese midwife throughout her pregnancy, birth, and postpartum period — Everything from bone therapy (a Japanese practice similar to chiropractic care), acupuncture, reflexology, moxibustion, healing through foods, womb warming, and so much more.
Jasmine and her family will welcome Baby #3 in March 2023 (!!!), and will again, be supported by So San, the wisdom-filled midwife who supported their second pregnancy and birth.
Jasmine Dioulo Bio
Jasmine Dioulo is a homemaking, home-birthing, love-cultivating, light-spreading believer, wife, and mama. She and her husband, Julian, are currently raising their babies overseas, in Tokyo! For 10 years, Jasmine worked as a TV news reporter and anchor. However, she says, with the birth of her first child, came massive transformation, an extremely clear vision, and a strong calling on her life to take it back to the basics. Today, she gets to spend her days pouring into her husband and children, building community, and supporting other women and families on their journeys to and through motherhood.
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.
Melanie’s postpartum experience was wildly different than she’d expected. Giving birth 2 days after the UK went into lockdown, she spent her first few months with her twin girls in lockdown, physically isolated from family and friends. She dealt with repetitive mastitis, severe reflux and slow weight gain with one of her babies, and the general anxieties and disappointments that came with Covid lockdown. She was grateful to have her husband home from work during this time, creating an amazing bond as a new family, and especially grateful for a freezer full of nourishing postpartum meals that she’d prepared during pregnancy.
Melanie Hadida Bio
Melanie is a Canadian living in the uk with her husband Gareth and twin girls Rowan & Lior. She’s a nutritional consultant and owns a small spice blending business. She specializes in nutrition for pregnancy, postpartum, hormonal wellness, and now for toddlers!
Ergobaby
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!
At 36,5 weeks Alice had a not consented stretch and sweep performed by her doctor which fractured the trust between them. Her doctor started to push for an induction and with the high c-section rates in SA’s private hospitals (76,8%) she had a tough decision to make. Over 2 and a half weeks she researched moving her birth home, and also to another hospital. In the last few weeks of pregnancy, shifting care providers was an immensely difficult decision.
At 38,5 weeks she was seen by another doctor that she connected with immediately- who took on her birth in another practice at the 11th hour. It was the toughest and in the end most important decision she made to ensure her birth wish of a vaginal, unmedicated birth was supported because in the end, she had a mammoth labour of 4 days in latent labour and 18 hours active labour, which her previous care provider would certainly not have made space for.
As mentioned, Alice went into latent labour 4 days before baby arrived . Which looked like contractions every night from 9pm that would stop by the morning. It was a bit disheartening each morning when they would end. But her Doula kept reassuring her it was all very normal. And shared stories of similarities with other moms’ labour that sometimes had this for a week leading to D day.
After a big Christmas lunch the contractions started that evening and didn’t stop. At the time she was staying out of town with her husband and family in Stellenbosch so we left quietly at 11PM to drive through to Mowbray to be closer to the hospital.
He went back to bed and Alice dealt with the contractions – timing them on an app- and woke him up at 3:40am to tell him they were getting closer together. Then they decided to go to the hospital. So they packed the bags and left, calling their doula to meet them there.
They arrived at the hospital at around 4am and settled into the labour room. The rooms were wonderful and big and had a bath- which Alice used a lot! The doula prepared the room with essential oils, Enya and a pink salt lamp.
The nurse checked Alice and she was 4 cm …
6 hours later she had only progressed to 5 cm and it was tough because she hadn’t slept for 38 hours -so was exhausted,
By 2pm the doctor came a second time and was concerned as to why the labour was taking so long. She didn’t know what was normal but it was very tough- contractions were between 10 and 5 minutes for hours on end. She did an ultrasound and discovered Nova’s head was flexed, she said they deliver babies like this via c-section. Which was a huge blow to hear because Alice’s dream was to have unmedicated vaginal delivery. The doctor asked if I wanted to go to theatre or if Alice had 2 more hours in her. Alice said:” I have two more hours”, so she broke my
waters and offered Alice an internal head manipulation to try get the baby’s head in a better position to descend. Alice says this was the most painful part of labour:
After that, things ramped up and for the next 40 minutes she progressed into “transition”. “Wow!” She was shaking all over and couldn’t control her breathing any longer.
The doula and Julz were indispensable ( as were their poor crushed hands) and Alice suddenly (finally) felt the urge to “push”. Alice told her doula who called the nurse. When she checked Alice, she was 10 cm and ready to push the baby out! She could not believe it – it worked ! They felt elated!
She pushed hard for a short 15 mins. They allowed her to feel baby crowning which was massively motivating. Dr said she’d like to do a small cut as Alice would have torn badly due to a very strong and tight wall. Alice pushed through a contraction, made the decision to okay an episiotomy and agreed to it. She administered some local and Alice didn’t feel it at all!
One push later a head popped out! She was so happy! They asked Alice if she wanted to put her baby girl on her chest and she said yes! She grabbed her and hugged her warm tony body against her. It was the wildest, most love-filled moment of her life! Julz and her were both in tears. So was their doula. Nova Magnolia was born the day after Christmas.
Alice Toich Bio
Alice grew up in South Africa, studied classical painting abroad in Italy, France and New York and is now based in Cape Town where she is raising her first born, Nova, and her fur-born, Luna, with her husband Julz. She is a full time artist who enjoys being in nature, hiking the beautiful Cape area, baking, gardening, cooking and writing. If she doesn’t have a paint brush in her hand – or a baby on her hip- she can be found with a rolled up yoga mat heading to a hot yoga class or an outdoor session. Alice’s paintings can be found on her Instagram @alice_toich in gallery shows or art fairs throughout South Africa as well as abroad. She is passionate about painting “from life” in the traditional genres of portraiture, landscape, still life and floral painting. Alice’s favourite medium is oil paint on line canvas or wooden panel and also creates tiled murals, watercolors and textiles.
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.
With her first pregnancy, Grace was lucky enough to get pregnant when ‘trying, but not trying’. She had a straightforward pregnancy and was planning to have a homebirth under the care of an excellent midwife with a lot of experience. At 38 weeks Grace’s water broke on a Monday afternoon, contractions started, they quickly became regular with 3-4 decent contractions every 10 minutes that she had to work through. Grace labored at home through the night with her husband, sister and midwife supporting her. By Tuesday morning labor was stalling and was stop and start all day. On Wednesday Grace spent the day doing the Miles circuit and having acupuncture to try and get things moving.
On Thursday, Grace opted to go into the hospital to get induced and was only 2cm. She was given Cervidil midday, progressed to 3cm and then was put on a Pitocin drip and given antibiotics since it had now been 3 days since her waters had broken. By 2am on Friday there was still no progress and it was decided that the best course of action was a C-section. At 4am on Friday (nearly 4 days after labor first began) Ezra was delivered and much to everyone’s surprise he was Breech.
As it turns out Grace has a partial bicornuate uterus which hadn’t been picked up in any scans – this results in your uterus being a heart shape with two pockets. Ezra’s head was lodged in one of the pockets so it didn’t present as a typical breech and in all vaginal examinations and palpations of baby nobody had realized.
Despite labor being the opposite to what Grace imagined, it was a very positive birth. Grace had an amazing team around her who made sure she got to make decisions and have a voice during her time at the hospital.
Grace went on to have a beautiful postpartum period. Ezra was an excellent feeder and she was cared for well by her midwife, friends, family and church.
Grace’s journey to her second pregnancy was longer than expected. After a year of trying Grace was diagnosed with secondary infertility with no obvious answers as to why. It was thought the uterus shape may have been contributing. 2.5 years in to trying Grace was booked in for an investigative surgery to see if they could snip the septum and the uterus could resume a more normal shape. A week before surgery Grace found out she was pregnant.
Grace felt anxious in the first 12 weeks as there is a high chance of miscarriage with partial bicornuate uterus as the embryo can implant into the septum and not get enough nutrients. Thankfully there were no issues and Grace had an uneventful pregnancy up until 31 weeks when she developed an “irritable uterus”. This meant hours of sore tightening’s every few days until she gave birth at 39 weeks.
This time it was obvious by 28 weeks this baby was also breech so the decision was made to have an elective C-section, however Grace was hoping to go into spontaneous labor and then have the C-section. When Grace was 38 weeks pregnant, New Zealand was put into a strict lockdown for 8 weeks. Everyone was to remain at home and not see anybody outside of their homes. It also meant Grace’s husband was not allowed to stay once she was in recovery and would not be able to see her again until she came home. At 39 weeks, Grace woke at 1am to her waters breaking, within 10 minutes she was having regular strong contractions. She went in to the hospital with her midwife and husband and by 4am Micah was delivered via C-section. Grace spent one night in the hospital and was able to go home to be with her family the next day. Grace had another great recovery and felt well supported even if it was more from afar this time around.
Grace Sheat Bio
Grace lives in Christchurch, New Zealand with her husband James and two energetic boys, Ezra and Micah. She is a Speech and Language Therapist who loves getting to work closely with families in the community. In her spare time she can be found exploring all the beautiful places NZ has to offer with her family. Connect with Grace via email at grace.j.sheat@gmail.com.
Podcasts: The Birth Hour/ Kiwi Birth Tales/ Australian Birth stories
BabyIt from Fairhaven Health
This episode is sponsored by Fairhaven Health. Fairhaven Health offers a wide range of products for fertility, pregnancy, breastfeeding and women’s health. Today, we’re highlighting a product from their vaginal care line – BabyIt Perineal Massage and Postpartum Gel. BabyIt is a water-based, isotonic and paraben-free gel designed specifically for perineal massage during pregnancy, and to soothe sore tissues postpartum. Fairhaven Health is generously offering 15% off of all products with the code BirthHour15 at www.fairhavenhealth.com
