The Maiden to Mother Journey

Aimee’s Story - Unexpected pregnancy, Twins, pregnancy concerns, pre-term labour, NICU Experience and life as a twin mum

Today we talk to Aimee who tells us about her Maiden to Mother Journey which started when she found that she was unexpectedly pregnant after being with partner Alex for 5 months. 
 
Aimee found out she was pregnant with twins during her first scan and takes us through her roller coaster pregnancy where she was told that one of her babies had a high chance of having a chromosomal abnormality. After a lot of testing and being bombarded with information from health professionals Aimee decided to put her foot down and trust her intuition that her babies were going to be fine and let the pregnancy unfold without the testing. 
 
She tells us about her pre-term birth story at 29+4 weeks and we go into detail about the NICU experience and her son's, Hudson and Oakley's recovery as well as her own recovery. 
 
We also talk about breastfeeding and life as a mum of two. 

Jorden’s story - 2 daughters, conception, pregnancy, home birth, free birth, postpartum and life as a mum of 2

Today we meet Jorden who tells us about her Maiden to Mother journey when she unexpectedly fell pregnant at 22 to her high school sweet heart during the height of covid lock down. Jorden always knew she wanted to take a more natural approach to birth and after a disappointing appointment at her hospital decided it was best for her to birth at home.
She takes us through her positive home birth story with her daughter Stevie and shares her breastfeeding and postpartum journey. 
 Within a year, her and husband Matt decided they wanted to add to their family and consciously conceived their second daughter Opal. As her first birth was so beautiful, she decided to go down the same route and book her same midwife again, her second labour was much different and a lot faster which meant her midwife did not make her birth and she had an accidental, but very welcomed free birth with her Husband Matt and their birth keeper. 
We talk about breastfeeding, postpartum and what life is like as a mum of two.
 
@jordsrewildingjourney

Shenae’s Story - 2 daughters, vaginal delivery, hospital birth, water birth, placenta abruption, breastfeeding & birth videography

Today I talk to Shenae who is a Mother and Birth videographer from WA.
 
Shenae tells us about her journey into motherhood which started when her and husband consciously conceived daughter, Winter. Shenae tells us about her pregnancy, choosing her OB and what she did to prepare for her birth. To her surprise she went into labour at 37 weeks. Unfortunately, she experienced some bleeding in early labour which led to her and husband needing to advocate for themselves during her labour. She details her birth and experience with placenta abruption and her difficult breastfeeding journey due to some latching issues.
 
When Shenae fell pregnant again 9 months later with second daughter, Fleur, she was determined to have a physiological birth so she opted for midwifery care and was accepted into the Hospitals MGP program. She tells us about her labour with Fleur which was a beautiful, uncomplicated water delivery in hospital with a physiological third stage and a beautiful breastfeeding journey. Shenae also hired a postpartum doula and tells us about her postpartum experience, what life is like as a mother of two girls and we talk about her passion which is birth videography. 
 
@thebirthproject.australia

Toni’s Story - 2 births, emergency caesarean, VBAC, Blended family, breastfeeding, postpartum, returning to work

 
Today we speak with Toni who is mother to a blended family, we discuss her journey from Maiden to Mother which was unfortunately a difficult journey. Being so young and having no real plan Toni sadly had a traumatic birth and felt as though some terrible decisions were made by her medical providers and she had an emergency caesarean.
 
A few years later Toni meets now husband Trent and together they blend their family and decided to get married and decided to have a baby together. Determined to have a VBAC and now armed with so much more knowledge and confidence she sadly had to fight medical providers her entire pregnancy and fight for her decision to have a VBAC in hospital which is what she achieved, she describes her second birth as a healing birth.
 
We discuss blended families, breastfeeding, postpartum and returning to work 4 months postpartum well before being ready.
 
@myblendedchaos

Yulowirri’s Story - 3 children, 3 vaginal births, water birth, MGP Program, Autism, bottle feeding + breastfeeding

Today we speak to Yulowirri AKA Ruby. Ruby shares her journey into motherhood with us which started at 21 when she unexpectedly became pregnant, she explains what a shock this was to her and partner Nick who had not been together for very long and details her birth with her daughter Kalani which was a long and difficult labour that ended up with Kalani in the NICU for 5 weeks after swallowing meconium. Ruby felt as though her midwife did not listen to her during the entire process and that this situation could be avoided.  A few years later her and partner Nick decided to add another family member and conceived son Nakoa, being accepted into the MGP program through the local hospital for the second time, Ruby was induced with Pitocin and shares her vaginal birth with us which she explains was straight forward ,however, she still not the way she hoped it would play out. We discuss in detail Nakoa’s autism and the signs that Ruby saw early on. We talk about the diagnoses process and support services that help Nakoa now.  Years later when Ruby and Nick had thought their family was a complete, they were shocked to discover she was unexpectedly pregnant again. Determined to have the birth she always wanted, and now equipped with more knowledge and confidence she shares what she describes as her healing water birth in the Cairns hospital with her son Zaia and explains how he has fit in the family so perfectly. We further talk about bottle feeding, breastfeeding, mastitis and Hyperemesis Gravidarum as well as Autism and birth.
 

Shari Lyon - Certified Hypnobirthing Australia™️ Practitioner, Hypnobirthing & preparing for pregnancy and birth

Shari Lyon - Certified Hypnobirthing Australia™️ Practitioner and mum of 2.
 
Today I talk to Shari, one of Australia's lead hypnobirthing instructor. Shari shares her journey from Maiden to Mother and details the experience that ignited the fire within her to improve awareness of women’s birth rights and to help educate them on the options available to them during their pregnancy and birth.
 
 
We discuss what hypnobirthing is and how you and your partner can educate and empower yourself to prepare for the life changing event that is birth.
 
Shari generously shares her wisdom with us and passes on some of her top tips on what you can do to prepare for your own birth.
 
Mentions in the show:
 
https://www.belly2birth.com.au/
@nicola_laye
@belly2birth

Ally’s Story - Planned pregnancy, hypnobirthing, Private Hospital birth, epidural, vaginal delivery, 4c tear, recovery and breastfeeding, collapsed lung

Ally's Story - today we talk to Ally who shares her journey from Maiden to mother which started when he and now ex husband planned their family following their wedding in 2019.
 
After getting some check ups and discovering that Ally had a low ovarian count, Ally thought they may struggle to start their family but this was not the case when she fell pregnant naturally a few months later.
Preparing for her birth Ally went to a hypnobirthing course and hired a private OB and decided to birth at the Gold Coast Private Hospital.
 
Ally details her hospital birth which she explains was quite a difficult labour that included an epidural. After delivering her son it was discovered that Ally had suffered a 4c tear and would need to go to surgery straight away. She shares with us her road to recovery and her breastfeeding journey with her beautiful son Oakley.
 
Mentions in the show:
 
@belly2birth
Gold Coast Private Hospital

Tori’s Story - 3 daughters, 2 hospital caesareans, bottle feeding, still birth & infant loss

Content warning** In this episode we speak about the loss of Tori's third child in detail, if you are at a point in your journey where you may be vulnerable to this information, please save this episode for a later time. 
Tori's Story - Tori tell us about her journey from Maiden to Mother which started when she was 22 with a surprise pregnancy with her eldest daughter Kaia. Living in Melbourne at the time, and not having an understanding of how birth worked or a plan, Tori had a long and difficult labour which ended in a C-section. 
After moving to the Gold Coast a few years later, her and partner Cas decided to expand their family and they conceived second daughter Mia. After her experience with her first birth, Tori opted for a planned caesarean and shares the much more peaceful and smooth experience. 
A year later Tori was happy to find out she was unexpectedly pregnant again with their third daughter Eden. Tori shares that her intuition was screaming at her the entire pregnancy that something was wrong and after a few complications early in the pregnancy they found out at 20 weeks that her pregnancy was not viable and she was going to have to deliver her daughter Eden sleeping. Tori shares her vaginal birth with Eden and the entire process that happened following the birth and the devastating aftermath of losing a child. 
Eden Leonie Caspersen - 18-07-22
Services mentioned:
https://www.sands.org.au/
https://www.beyondblue.org.au
https://www.lifeline.org.au/

Katelyn’s Story - Doula, President of homebirth NSW. 2 daughters, emergency caesarean, HBAC, hospital transfer, resolving birth trauma, breastfeeding

Katelyn's Story - Today I talk with Katelyn who is a Mother of two beautiful girls, A doula and the president of Homebirth NSW.
Katelyn shares the story of going from Maiden to Mother with a private OB and care team that was unfortunately not aligned with any of Katelyn’s birth expectations. Being a first-time mother and not knowing her options Katelyn proceeded to birth with her current care team knowing that she was likely to end up with multiple interventions. She explains her labour as long and very difficult which ended in an emergency c section and resulted in her having birth trauma. 
When Katelyn found out she was pregnant with her second, she immediately knew she was going to have a HBAC (home birth after caesarean) and began putting all the plans in motion. When Katelyn's second labour began she describes that despite having such a supportive and loving medical team by her side this time the unresolved trauma from her first birth slowly start to creep in and after a long 24 hours in labour at home she was transferred to hospital which led Katelyn to a second caesarean and although not the outcome she had hoped for she details the contract between her two births with a medical team that did not allow her to make decisions vs one that was so supportive and trusting of her decisions.
Katelyn explains the fact she was attempting to heal her birth trauma by out birthing it in a healing home birth and that did not work for her which leads us to the detailed discussion about birth trauma and how she did the work to resolve her trauma and follow her dreams to become a doula to support women going through this journey. 
 
Mentions in the show:
@australianbirthstories
@coreandfloorrestore
@rheadempseybirth
@thebirthcounsel 
Birth Photographer - @naturalfocus_birthphotography
Facebook Group: VBAC Australia Support Group 
COPE WEBSITE: https://www.cope.org.au/

Kaila’s Story - Health journey to conception, missed miscarriage, pregnancy, hospital birth, induction and epidural, postpartum and breastfeeding

Kaila's Story - In this episode I talk to Kaila who shares her journey into motherhood with us. Kaila explains that she always knew she wanted to be a mother and when she felt ready to start her family, she was met with multiple health concerns that she needed to overcome prior to conceiving. 
After Kaila put in the hard work to get her health back on track, she was so excited to find out she was pregnant only to be devastated to find out she was having a missed miscarriage during her 12-week ultrasound. 
Kaila then tells us about how she fell pregnant with her son Sunny and her perfect pregnancy right up until the pointy end of the pregnancy when it was discovered she had low placenta fluid. Faced with an induction and medical intervention she explains how she navigated the final weeks of her pregnancy and had to advocate for herself. 
After making it to 39 weeks Kaila tells us her birth story which took place at the Lismore hospital and although it included an induction, epidural and a few other medical interventions that she preferred not to happen she describes it as a positive experience and hopes to help other women facing the same situation as her. 
We also talk about postpartum and establishing breastfeeding. 
Kaila's business: @socialcollective_
Instagram: @Kaila_x