Looking for all the best freebies and downloads?!

Show Notes:

[1:38] Our Reviewer of the Week, Lbg1188, says: "I started listening when I was around 6 weeks pregnant and I cannot get enough of this podcast. I’m now 25 weeks and will be signing up for the birth course this weekend. I already feel so much more prepared and well educated about pregnancy and birth just from listening and can’t wait to start the course. I love how all the information is presented in an objective way for you to interpret and make educated decisions on your own. I HIGHLY recommend this podcast to all my pregnant friends and even anyone who is trying to become pregnant. I look forward to continuing to listen and learn!"

[2:38] Our guest this week is, Dr. Robyn Thompson, an experienced midwife, family, child and maternal health nurse MCaFHN, breastfeeding specialist and founder of The Thompson Method Breastfeeding Program. For nearly 5 decades, thousands of women and their babies have experienced the benefits of her gentle and intuitive...

Show Notes:

[2:04] Our Reviewer of the Week, ERees307, said: "This podcast was my best resource during pregnancy! I just had my first baby and before the birth I listened to every episode of this podcast! My birth preferences went out the door when my babe was diagnosed with fetal growth restriction, and I was scheduled to be induced early. This podcast gave me the strength and knowledge to stay positive and continue forward to have the most amazing natural(ish) hospital birth. Now I have a beautiful baby girl who is as healthy as can be at 1 week old. Thank you!"

[3:01] We have a birth story fromKatelynn Monty, who lives in Michigan with her husband and son, who was born October 2022.

[3:26] Katelynn shares her overall pregnancy experience and how she knew she was pregnant before she had missed her period.

[8:41] She went to a Midwife group and tried to meet as many midwives as possible. Once she found a midwife she loved, she tried to schedule all her appointments with...

Show Notes:

[1:10] This week’s reviewer of the week, hellotrb, said: “Starting listening during my first pregnancy and fell in love. Through the encouragement of this podcast, I switched my provider at 32weeks. I doubted my feeling about the previous provider, and once I switched, it was like a breath of fresh air. Now pregnant with my second kiddo and have started again to listen to this amazing podcast!”

I’m so glad you’re here and listening to this week’s birth story! There is so much to unpack and learn here!

Instead of letting birth just "happen" to you, be an active participant in it! Educate yourself, know your options, and stand up for yourself! Your baby and your body are working together to help you achieve your best birth.

[1:53] Cassidy Jacobsen introduces herself and her family. She’s been married for six years and is a mama of two! She originally lived in Utah and moved to Texas so her husband could attend medical school....

Show Notes:

[1:11] Our reviewer of the week is Madi Mackley, and she said: “I started listening to the podcast as soon as I found out I was pregnant. My goal was to give birth at the hospital with a walking epidural, and I was hoping to be induced. After listening to every episode and learning every unbiased aspect of birth, my perspective changed, and I had an unmedicated birth at a birth center at 41 weeks and 1 day! I owe it all to this podcast and the My Essential Birth course for achieving the birth I wanted! :) Just found out baby number 2 is on the way and it’s time to start listening to every episode again!

We’ve had Madi on our podcast before, and she shared her birth story! You can listen to it here! Thank you to all of those who love listening to the podcast and who have left a review!

While it's so important to be prepared for birth, labor, and delivery, at the end of the day, you need to get out of your own way! You can do all the things, but your...

We love positive birth stories here at My Essential Birth! This week, I interviewed, Stephanie Garrity, who shared about her birth experience with her rainbow baby. While the birth map she pictured for the birth of her son may not have included many of the things that brought him into her arms, she felt the birth course prepared her for all the options, which allowed her to look back at her experience in a positive light. 

Show Notes:

[1:12] The Review of the Week is from banandjdnsbaish, who says: “My new fave podcast!” She is halfway through her second pregnancy and longing for information to expand her knowledge on what she can do to have a more natural birth, no induction, no Pitocin, etc. This podcast gives her all the details! “I love it!” She recommends to moms who want to be in charge of their birth instead of letting hospitals decide how you birth.

Thank you, Carson! We are so excited for you and your second pregnancy. At My Essential...

OB’s and MD’s and Midwives, oh my! We’re going to talk about the training, certification, and background each of these providers is required to have in order to practice. Maybe you’re like me, and once upon a time, I thought OB’s were the only option when it came to a provider for your birth experience. My goal is for you to know what your options are so you can choose a provider based on the birth experience you want to achieve! 

Show Notes:

[1:12] Jguar9, our reviewer of the week, says: “So thankful! I can’t say enough positive things about this podcast! Educational, organized, captivating, empowering, charming!” She is a mama at the end of pregnancy number five and feeling equipped for labor and delivery! She is thankful to My Essential Birth for providing a much needed resource and changing other mama’s worlds and birth stories. 

Quick commercial break. Have you left us a review yet? This is the #1 way to...

Are you overwhelmed with what to ask your provider, midwife, or hospital regarding what you want for your birth experience? Well, listen in! I walk you through what questions to ask, give background information behind those questions, and encourage you to educate and empower yourself to stand up for the birth you want.

Show Notes:

[1:11] Lulu2394, our reviewer of the week, says, “THE best podcast for birth preparation! I highly recommend this podcast to anyone expecting, and I highly recommend the course as well.” She felt empowered by the podcast and birth course to switch her provider at 32 weeks, and she was able to have the home birth she wanted. Her midwife and doula were impressed with the information she knew and how prepared she was for birth. All thanks to my Essential Birth!  

We love hearing stories about how the podcast empowers our listeners to make such important decisions for their birth experience. We promise the My Essential Birth Course...

Madison shares how her birth goals changed over time and a red flag that caused her to change service providers for the better. Madison also discusses the moment she found the perfect birth center for her and what led her to that decision. Madison shares the preparation she did regularly for an empowered birth. She shares the spiritual side of her birth story and how she surrendered her body after a long and exhausting labor. Her story is beautiful and inspiring...and even full of some challenges, especially postpartum, so take a listen! I hope you enjoy this week's episode!

Show Notes:

[1:16] Reviewer of the week, SydneyAdairG, shares that she is 22 weeks pregnant and has been listening to the podcast "Every Step of the Way" since she found out she was pregnant. The podcast has helped her feel informed and in control of the process. She says she's also enrolled in the birth course and cannot wait to dig deeper into...

Do you know how to tell if your provider is going to be a supportive part of your birth team? I see moms run into this issues a lot. You know how much I talk about the importance of a supportive provider BUT how do you know if you're provider is the right one?! One of the things I hope this episode does for you, is make some of your own assumptions about your provider's supportiveness, or lack thereof, clear and give you ideas about what questions you should ask to figure out if you're on the same page. I'm covering things like how you choose to birth (medicated or unmedicated - yes providers may have unsupportive opinions about this), cesarean birth rates, inductions, vaccines, birth plans, doulas and more. 

Trigger warning! Some of the topics we cover in this episode are sensitive to some mamas. Everything here is meant to inform, give you excellent examples, and be a starting point to having those tough conversations with your provider. If you have questions about...

This week I'm so excited to welcome Carly and her husband, Robbie who are sharing the story of the birth of their firstborn!Dive in to hear about how they navigated switching providers in the middle of their pregnancy from an OB, preparing for a  hospital birth, to a Midwife at a birth center and how they made it through the most challenging part of their labor, the final hour.

Show Notes:

 1:12 - Reviewer of the week

3:05 - Introducing Carly, a pediatric speech-language pathologist and her husband, Robbie, a 5th grade teacher who are here to share the birth story of their first baby. 

4:32 - Carly shares how she found her provider and why she decided to switch midway through her pregnancy from an OB at a hospital to Midwives at a birth center.

8:06 - Robbie shares how Carly's switch felt to him as a dad with limited knowledge about birth .

11:54 - Carly completed the 3 MEB exercises to help prepare for birth (way to go!) along with other great prep tools.

17:40...