Labor began on a Sunday, contractions intensified and after over an hour of consistent contractions, Jeannette and her husband began their journey to hospital. Jeannette labored in triage for 7ish hours before getting formally admitted to labor and delivery. This would be the hardest part of labor for Jeannette as those contractions intensified and she was required to stay in the hospital bed in a small room that did not have a mobile monitor she could wear to monitor both contractions and baby’s heartbeat to roam freely. Handling the contractions bed bound were challenging and intense. Jeannette was determined to handle them utilizing all of her learned coping skills. Once she was dilated close to a 4, she was finally formally admitted. She utilized hydrotherapy, aromatherapy, practiced breathing, meditations, and visualizations strategies during labor with her husband as her birthing support partner. She struggled to progress after nearly 16 hours of labor. At this point, she felt discouraged and weary. At the 16th hour mark, she consented to the epidural, hoping it could be successfully placed despite having a lower lumbar scoliosis diagnosis. The epidural was successfully placed and after consenting to the breaking of her water and support of pitocin, she progressed to full effacement and dilation after about 2 hours and then began pushing. She pushed for 40 minutes and soon welcomed her son, Lucas Cole into the world, weighing 7 lb 15 oz and 20 inches long on Tuesday evening, February 28th, 2023. The “second birth” or birth of her placenta was traumatic for Jeannette as it resulted in post delivery placental abruption due to undiagnosed marginal cord insertion. The midwife and nursing staff worked to retrieve and piece together all of her placenta to ensure nothing was retained and would cause further complications or surgery. The placental root was abnormally thin and looped as opposed to being centered with a strong root, despite this miss, Lucas grew healthily throughout the pregnancy and was born without any complications. Jeannette shares her story in hopes to bring awareness to often missed placental abnormalities in pregnancy such as marginal cord insertion and its impacts on pregnancy and birth.
Jeannette Chase Bio
Jeannette is a first time mom living in Virginia Beach, Virginia with her high school sweetheart now husband, Hudson, and their 11 month old baby boy, Lucas. They love living near the beach and getting outside together as a family. Jeannette works in the public school system and provides speech-language therapy to young children and Hudson is a geospatial engineer. Jeannette has a private instagram you can reach her under the name of jeannette.m.chase.
Resources
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth: Birth Stories Portion
Meditation Mama on Spotify for pregnancy, postpartum, motherhood, etc.
The Birth Hour Podcast: Immerse yourself in Uplifting Birth stories, familiarize yourself with things you are curious or concerned about.
Online Birth course and breastfeeding courses: Injoy Health Education.
Local IBCLC for breastfeeding support.
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 “BIRTHHOUR15” in their online shop for 15% off all supplies and accessories.
Alessandra and Jim were elated to find out they were pregnant after about 3 months after their wedding. She had a fairly normal start to pregnancy but did experience nausea. At around 30 weeks, Alessandra began experiencing itchy hands which led to a cholestasis diagnosis. This diagnosis called for two doctor appointments to check on the baby, which caused extra anxiety. But Alessandra and Jim remained optimistic and focused on keeping her and baby healthy. At 37.5 weeks, Alessandra’s doctors encouraged her induction which lasted a grueling 2.5 days. After an exhausting 4 hours of pushing, Layla was born but Alessandra began hemorrhaging and suffered major blood loss.
Alessandra labor and birth was traumatic for her and Jim. Her postpartum experience wasn’t any easier recovering from a 3rd degree tear and being readmitted to the hospital 2 weeks postpartum due to preeclampsia. Followed by postpartum anxiety and self-doubt of how to navigate this new life.
Alessandra Migliore Bio
Alessandra, her husband Jim, daughter Layla (16 months) and three dogs live in NJ. She can be found on instagram @alessandra_migliore.
Today’s episode is sponsored by SNP Therapeutics, makers of the Genate Test. Based on over 16 million dollars in NIH grants, and more than 30 years of nutrition and genetic research, SNP Therapeutics is leading the charge in the field of prenatal, precision-nutrition genetic testing.
SNP Therapeutics is committed to providing accurate and usable information to help mothers provide the best possible nutrition to their babies through The Genate Test: a prenatal, precision-nutrition, genetic test that offers personalized dietary adjustments and supplement recommendations based on your DNA.
You can rest easy knowing that your prenatal nutrition has been optimized by tailoring it to your genetic code. Find peace of mind about your prenatal nutrition with the Genate Test by SNP Therapeutics. Learn more at genate.com and Use code BIRTHHOUR15 for 15% off your order.
First time mom Jenni had an unmedicated hospital birth in Austin, TX in June of 2021 that was 13 hours from start to finish. She had an easy pregnancy, magical hospital birth, and what she describes as a shocking and difficult postpartum. Jenni and her son had latch issues, followed by triple feeding, followed by exclusive pumping for 14 months. Jenni was diagnosed with postpartum depression and anxiety around 6 months postpartum. Around 20 months postpartum, other health issues emerged & she was also diagnosed with a prolactinoma (pituitary tumor); treatment is ongoing. Jenni credits the KYO Childbirth Course & The Birth Hour with giving her the courage to switch providers at 28 weeks pregnant!
Jenni Gordon Bio
Jenni is a lifelong dancer & dance educator, and currently training to become a classical Pilates instructor. She lives in Austin, TX with her husband, son, and dog, Lady. You can find Jenni on Instagram @jennibegordon.
Part I of this episode is sponsored by Redd Remedies. Redd Remedies has strong roots in the natural product industry and crafts Master Herbalist formulated supplements from premium ingredients, ensuring natural and effective solutions for life’s physical and emotional challenges. Peaceful Mama, one of their star products, provides stress support to all moms, including pregnant and nursing women!
To learn more about Peaceful Mama, Rhythm and Flo, and Redd Remedies and to view testimonials, head to www.reddremedies.com and use code BIRTHHOUR at checkout to get 20% off any 2 or more items.
Ergobaby
Part II of 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 new Life with Baby Podcast and follow Ergobaby on Instagram and Brandi Sellers-Jackson (host of their podcast) as well! Use code BIRTHHOUR for 15% off at ergobaby.com.
Nicole was supported by her healthcare team to have an empowering and redemptive elective maternal assisted cesarean birth with the birth of her second son, Harrison. The decision to pursue this option was following a traumatic first time vaginal birth with several postpartum complications (planned homebirth turned hospital transfer for prolonged rupture of membranes and prodromal labor after attempting an at home castor oil induction followed by multiple days of a long labor once at the hospital. Nicole then experiences a retained placenta and cervical laceration with attempt at manual removal of placenta followed by the cervical laceration being improperly repaired and healing abnormally. She ultimately needed a D&C which was followed by having a latex Foley catheter inserted despite a known latex allergy that was listed in her chart. In the months that followed Nicole experienced profound postpartum urinary incontinence requiring multiple interventions and procedures and ultimately a surgery to correct at 6 months postpartum which thankfully worked. Nicole’s second pregnancy was complicated by a shortened cervix, ptsd, anxiety, and perinatal OCD but her maternal-assisted cesarean birth was the most empowering and redemptive experience she could’ve imagined.
Nicole Minghine Bio
Nicole is a registered nurse and certified nurse midwife. Presently, she is a stay at home mom to her 2 children. Nicole lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her husband Josh and their 2 sons (Jude 2yo & Harrison 7w). Connect with her on Instagram @nminghine.
Resources
Best pads for urinary incontinence: Poise Ultra Thin Incontinence Pads & Postpartum Incontinence Pads, 4 Drop Moderate Absorbency, Long Length, 144 Count (3 Packs of 48), Packaging May Vary https://a.co/d/iSfoF2R
The CONfidence app enables people with bladder and bowel leakage to find useful information, self-care tips and links to support – all in one place. The app was developed in collaboration between Expert Self Care Ltd and the Bristol Health Partners Bladder and Bowel Confidence (BABCON) Health Integration Team, and co-produced with public contributors, topic experts, charities and other partners.
PMSL: Or How I Literally Pissed Myself Laughing and Survived the Last Taboo to Tell the Tale https://a.co/d/0VknfCy
MC3 offers no-cost psychiatry support to prescribing health care providers who treat behavioral/mental health in youth and perinatal people in Michigan through same-day phone consultations to offer guidance on diagnostic questions, safe medications, and appropriate psychotherapy. MC3 offers direct perinatal mental health services to patients of providers enrolled in MC3 in select counties. This is a pilot program that includes free same-day access to behavioral health consultants that will provide virtual counseling, case management, and care coordination for your patients. The MC3 program offers psychiatry support to health care providers in Michigan who are managing patients with behavioral/mental health concerns. This includes children, adolescents, young adults through age 26, and women who are contemplating pregnancy, pregnant, or postpartum (up to one year). MC3 is part of the Michigan Medicine Department of Psychiatry. It is funded by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) via general funds, Medicaid Administration funds, Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) funds, and Flint Water Crisis funds.
Today’s episode is sponsored by SNP Therapeutics, makers of the Genate Test. Based on over 16 million dollars in NIH grants, and more than 30 years of nutrition and genetic research, SNP Therapeutics is leading the charge in the field of prenatal, precision-nutrition genetic testing.
SNP Therapeutics is committed to providing accurate and usable information to help mothers provide the best possible nutrition to their babies through The Genate Test: a prenatal, precision-nutrition, genetic test that offers personalized dietary adjustments and supplement recommendations based on your DNA.
You can rest easy knowing that your prenatal nutrition has been optimized by tailoring it to your genetic code. Find peace of mind about your prenatal nutrition with the Genate Test by SNP Therapeutics. Learn more at genate.com and Use code BIRTHHOUR15 for 15% off your order.
Kara shares the story of her son’s vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) birth after the two cesarean births of her daughters. She ended up having to drive two hours to find a care provider who was supportive of her decision to VBAC. She also discusses the difference in postpartum recovery, both physically and mentally, between her three different births.
Kara Swanson Bio
Kara is a proud mom of three, a certified nutritionist, and the founder of Life Well Lived. She shows women how to get to the root of their health problems by overcoming inflammation in a lasting way. This allows them to go from stuck to thriving so they feel good now and ten years from now! Connect with Kara on IG at @karaswanson or her website: lifewelllived.fitness.
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.
After a tough pregnancy and a low Papp-A diagnosis, Sruthi’s water broke unexpectedly at 36 weeks. On the bus to the hospital, her contractions intensified, and by the time she had her first cervical check, she was fully dilated. She pushed for 30 minutes before her healthy baby boy was born. Even though she found birth empowering, postpartum and the fourth trimester was unexpectedly rough with a painful physical recovery from birth and breastfeeding issues.
Sruthi Ramesh Bio
Sruthi is originally from California but has been living in London for 4 years with her husband, cat, and 5 month old son. You can contact her on her Instagram at @sruthi.co
Today’s episode is brought to you by the Sleepybelly Pregnancy Pillow which is guaranteed to give you better sleep in 30-nights or they will give you a full refund! Sleepybelly is a three piece, adjustable pregnancy pillow designed to prevent back sleeping, whilst giving you support for your growing bump and helps align your hips to reduce hip and back pain. Being an adjustable set, it grows with you on your pregnancy journey and can be used in 5 different configurations – it is even used as a breastfeeding pillow postpartum.
Sleepybelly has offered listeners of The Birth Hour an exclusive promo, use the code THEBIRTHHOUR10 for 10% off your order, at sleepybelly.co for a more comfortable night’s sleep! With free shipping and a 30-night money back guarantee, try the Sleepybelly today!
