Jane had two births—but they felt like two entirely different lifetimes.
With her first, she followed the script she thought she was supposed to: decorate the nursery, stock the freezer, trust her OB, and let the hospital handle the rest. She was still working full-time as a fashion buyer in New York City, traveling for work and squeezing every last task into her calendar.
Labor started unexpectedly while she was still at the office. She rushed home, packed a hospital bag, took a quick shower (and even snapped a photo), then she and her husband headed to the hospital. But at triage, she was told she was only 1cm dilated and sent back home—into a snowstorm. With nowhere else to go, they spent hours walking stairwells in their apartment building. She labored overnight, catching moments of sleep between contractions, until it was finally time to return. The epidural brought instant relief. She delivered her daughter pain-free. But the postpartum period blindsided her. A catheter left her unable to pee without intense pain. She tore, received stitches, and discovered she had a pelvic prolapse. Breastfeeding, which she’d expected to be instinctual, was agonizing. A poor latch went undiagnosed for weeks, and her nipples were left raw and bleeding. Through sheer determination, she pushed through and ultimately breastfed for a year. Still, that first experience left her physically drained and emotionally rattled.
Her second birth began long before labor—with a mindset shift.
After becoming a Pilates instructor, Jane immersed herself in birth education, pelvic floor work, and mindful movement. She decided she wanted a medication-free hospital birth and trained accordingly. She and her husband became a team—reading, watching, and learning how to navigate labor together. Instead of hiring a doula, she empowered him to be her support system.
Her water broke at her daughter’s gymnastics class. She went home, took a shower, and labored for about six hours using movement, breath, and birth prep techniques. Eventually, she moved uptown to her parents’ apartment to stay close to the hospital. By the time she arrived at triage, she was 7cm dilated and deep in labor. Her contractions were intense. She stayed upright, moving and swaying, with her husband applying counter-pressure through each wave. At one point, she turned to him and said, “I think I want the epidural.” He looked her in the eye and calmly said, “You’ve got this.” She dug deep and kept going. Less than two hours later, she felt her baby crown. With one more push, she reached down, caught her son, and brought him to her chest herself. Her mom captured it all on video.
This time, she walked herself to recovery. This time, she was protected—by her preparation, by her partner, by her own inner strength. And this time, she felt powerful, whole, and at peace. This was the beginning of her pursuit to better the postpartum experience for moms everywhere, and founding Anya: a company dedicated to postpartum recovery.
Jane Baecher Bio
Jane is a mother of two and the founder of Anya, a one-stop-shop for all things postpartum, with wellness products to support new moms with exhaustion, nutrient gaps, postpartum hair loss, stretch marks, lactation struggles and more. Anya’s first-of-its-kind Postpartum Recovery Plan products address a new mother’s changing needs with an evolving subscription of products each month tailored to the stages of postpartum recovery. Connect with Jane via IG: @thisis.anya and use discount code: ANYAPOD20 on their website.
Resources
- First Forty Days by Heng Ou
- The Partum Post: A What To Expect Guide to Postpartum from Anya
Motif Medical
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.
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