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At twenty-one years old, Lacey was pregnant with her first child. She was young and healthy and expected everything to go perfectly in her labor and birth. As a result of high blood pressure, she was induced for labor. When her son was born blue and unresponsive with an APGAR score of one, she knew something was off. She held her son for only a minute before he was whisked off to the NICU. Noticing that his ears seemed disproportionally small, her maternal instincts were alert. Five days later, she learned her son had Down Syndrome when a nurse inadvertently said, “This is the second baby with Down Syndrome this week,” upon entering the room. According to Lacey, how and when the news was reported to her and her husband was more difficult and painful than receiving the diagnosis itself.

Today, Lacey shares her mission to help parents understand the gift and beauty of raising a child with Down Syndrome.

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Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters.

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You may remember midwife Lindsey Meehleis from episode #187 in our first off-the-record-style conversation. When we decide to interview Lindsay, we do so without a plan, knowing that whatever is on our minds will be a worthwhile and impactful conversation. In today's conversation, we chat about the problems with modern medicine, how midwifery has evolved over the years, what breech babies can teach us about our emotions, how Lindsey handles pregnancies that go beyond forty-two weeks, how to get your partner or family members on board with choosing home birth the first time, and we even dabbled a bit in the current political climate. Imagine you are sitting at the table next to us at a cafe, eavesdropping on our shop talk, and that's today's episode. Enjoy!

Lindsey Meehleis

The Business of Being Born

Why Not at Home

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Our sponsors:
Silverette Nursing Cups -- Soothe and heal sore nipples with 925 silver nursing cups.
Postpartum Soothe -- Herbs and padsicles to heal and comfort.
Needed -- Our favorite nutritional products for before, during, and after pregnancy.
Use promo code: DOWNTOBIRTH for all sponsors.
DrinkLMNT -- Purchase LMNT with this unique link and receive a free 8-day supply.

Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content.
Email Contact@DownToBirthShow.com
Instagram @downtobirthshow
Call us at 802-GET-DOWN

Work with Cynthia:
203-952-7299
HypnoBirthingCT.com

Work with Trisha:
734-649-6294

Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters.

Send us a text

Welcome to the October Q&A with Cynthia & Trisha. What's the most absurd thing that you've ever heard said to a woman in labor or to you? Today, we kick it off by sharing your anecdotes and our responses. In our regular episode, we answer:

If I am planning a free birth how do I know if I have a placenta previa and what should I do?

I am twelve weeks pregnant and have extremely sensitive nipples while breastfeeding my toddler. Will this get better or should I stop breastfeeding?

How often do home births transfer to the hospital?

Why do so many women planning unmedicated hospital births end up choosing to get pain medications?

In the extended version available on Patreon and Apple Subscriptions (always ad-free) we address the risk of uterine rupture after a VBAC for a planned home birth, what, if anything, can be done to avoid induction if you have Cholestasis of pregnancy, what gentle sleep training (or support) means, and if you can decline induction with well-controlled gestational diabetes.

In our Quickies segment: Is body odor postpartum is it normal? Why is a VBAC called a TOLAC? Should home birth midwives always carry oxygen? Plus caffeine in pregnancy, postpartum dryness, birthing the placenta in the tub, leaking and letdowns, infant percentiles, and how we take our coffee plus whether our own children appreciate the work we do in the world.

Ep #229 The Risk of Risk-Based Approach with Sara Wickham

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Our sponsors:
Silverette Nursing Cups -- Soothe and heal sore nipples with 925 silver nursing cups.
Postpartum Soothe -- Herbs and padsicles to heal and comfort.
Needed -- Our favorite nutritional products for before, during, and after pregnancy.
Use promo code: DOWNTOBIRTH for all sponsors.
DrinkLMNT -- Purchase LMNT with this unique link and receive a free 8-day supply.

Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content.
Email Contact@DownToBirthShow.com
Instagram @downtobirthshow
Call us at 802-GET-DOWN

Work with Cynthia:
203-952-7299
HypnoBirthingCT.com

Work with Trisha:
734-649-6294

Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters.

Send us a text

Postpartum rage is a form of emotional upheaval that many mothers experience but seldom feel comfortable discussing. Today's episode aims to break the silence and offer a compassionate and supportive look into the real lives of two mothers living with these intense emotions. Corrine lost her own mother the day after her son was born. Angela, a mother of five with number six on the way, lost her sister unexpectedly in a car accident on her way to help Angela with childcare. In today's episode, Angela and Corrine, who never met before today, share the unexpected ways grief and rage impacted their postpartum experiences from never wanting to have another child to throwing and breaking things. This heartfelt episode brings you close into the minds of women suffering with grief on top of the classic postpartum isolation and overwhelm that all mothers can immediately understand.

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Our sponsors:
Silverette Nursing Cups -- Soothe and heal sore nipples with 925 silver nursing cups.
Postpartum Soothe -- Herbs and padsicles to heal and comfort.
Needed -- Our favorite nutritional products for before, during, and after pregnancy.
Use promo code: DOWNTOBIRTH for all sponsors.
DrinkLMNT -- Purchase LMNT with this unique link and receive a free 8-day supply.

Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content.
Email Contact@DownToBirthShow.com
Instagram @downtobirthshow
Call us at 802-GET-DOWN

Work with Cynthia:
203-952-7299
HypnoBirthingCT.com

Work with Trisha:
734-649-6294

Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters.

Send us a text

If there is one best place to begin when it comes to optimizing our fertility, it is with food, and who better to bring us the lowdown on what we do and don't need for fertility optimization than Lily Nichols, RDN, the modern-day-author and guru of all things related to food and pregnancy. In today's episode, she delivers crucial information about how our modern food practices, particularly the standard American diet, set us up for sub-optimal fertility and contribute to the most common complications of pregnancy including pre-eclampsia, pre-term labor, PPROM, and more. She opens our eyes to the significant problems with folic acid in our food sources, prenatal vitamins, and birth control, and we get into the nitty-gritty on the difference between folic acid and folate. Additionally, she explains which macro- and micronutrients we need to best support the female body for conception. If optimizing fertility is on your mind, this is a must-listen, must-share episode!

Lily Nichols on Folate: Why it’s Superior to Folic Acid for Pregnancy (even if you don’t have MTHFR)

Lily Nichols on Instagram

And check out our episodes with Lily Nichols:

#203 | Pre-eclampsia: Diet, Nutrition and the Influence of Sperm with Lily Nichols

#155 | Gestational Diabetes Prevention and Management with Author Lily Nichols, RDN, CDE

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Our sponsors:
Silverette Nursing Cups -- Soothe and heal sore nipples with 925 silver nursing cups.
Postpartum Soothe -- Herbs and padsicles to heal and comfort.
Needed -- Our favorite nutritional products for before, during, and after pregnancy.
Use promo code: DOWNTOBIRTH for all sponsors.

Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content.
Email Contact@DownToBirthShow.com
Instagram @downtobirthshow
Call us at 802-GET-DOWN

Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content.
Email Contact@DownToBirthShow.com
Instagram @downtobirthshow
Call us at 802-GET-DOWN

Work with Cynthia:
203-952-7299
HypnoBirthingCT.com

Work with Trisha:
734-649-6294

Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters.

Send us a text

Emotional trauma is stored in the body and can lead to a host of health issues if left unresolved. In this episode, Courtney shares her deeply personal journey of navigating the effects of a controlling and emotionally abusive her mother -- so controlling, in fact, that her demanding mother caused early marital issues for Courtney and her husband. Further, due to being placed on hormonal birth control at a young age, Courtney developed a belief that she couldn’t ovulate or conceive naturally, leading her to IVF when she and her husband were ready to start a family.

As she recounts her experiences—including distressing moments during her hospital care that triggered her childhood coping mechanisms of freezing and disassociation—Courtney describes the thought process of being coerced by and ultimately succumbing to a doctor while in labor. Courtney herself is a hospital-based medical professional who was accustomed to doctors and hospitals in her everyday life, so the betrayal and intimidation she experienced came as a genuine shock to her system. After her first birth experience, Courtney shares the heavy emotional work she did to reframe her trauma and establish strict boundaries - for the very first time - with her mother. Courtney went on to have four children in all, ultimately experiencing spontaneous conception and a completely empowered, peaceful birth with her fourth at home.

Courtney's story sheds light on the complex interplay of early trauma and birth, and how embracing physiologic birth can facilitate healing and restore trust in the body’s innate capabilities. Tune in for a heartfelt discussion about resilience, healing, and the journey to reclaiming one's body and mind.

@_holisticourtney

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Our sponsors:
Silverette Nursing Cups -- Soothe and heal sore nipples with 925 silver nursing cups.
Postpartum Soothe -- Herbs and padsicles to heal and comfort.
Needed -- Our favorite nutritional products for before, during, and after pregnancy.
Use promo code: DOWNTOBIRTH for all sponsors.

Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content.
Email Contact@DownToBirthShow.com
Instagram @downtobirthshow
Call us at 802-GET-DOWN

Work with Cynthia:
203-952-7299
HypnoBirthingCT.com

Work with Trisha:
734-649-6294

Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters.

Send us a text

There are few things a mother can do with such a profound impact as meditation, yet it remains one of the hardest habits to incorporate into one's life, let alone the life of an exhausted, busy mother with a new baby in her arms.

In today's episode, Kelly Smith, yoga/meditation instructor and podcast host of Mindful in Minutes, explains the benefits of meditating for as little as just ten minutes a day. We also discuss the various forms of meditation (including guided), the most common barriers to meditation, and the practical tips to get started right now. In today's outtake, you'll hear about some of our own personal meditation experiences.

If you want to yell less, sleep better, be kinder to yourself, feel better, act calmer, lower your blood pressure, and age in reverse, or if you've just always wanted to meditate but have never taken that first step, then run, don't walk, to listen to this enlightening and inspiring episode!

Mindful in Minutes podcast

Kelly Smith's Website

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Our sponsors:
Silverette Nursing Cups -- Soothe and heal sore nipples with 925 silver nursing cups.
Postpartum Soothe -- Herbs and padsicles to heal and comfort.
Needed -- Our favorite nutritional products for before, during, and after pregnancy.
Use promo code: DOWNTOBIRTH for all sponsors.
DrinkLMNT -- Purchase LMNT with this unique link and receive a free 8-day supply.

Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content.
Email Contact@DownToBirthShow.com
Instagram @downtobirthshow
Call us at 802-GET-DOWN

Work with Cynthia:
203-952-7299
HypnoBirthingCT.com

Work with Trisha:
734-649-6294

Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters.

Send us a text

Welcome to the September Q&A episode with Cynthia & Trisha. Today, we begin with discussing the problem of increased reliance on Google searches and googling our way to answers that require deep introspection and self-trust rather than an automated and potentially biased and generalized result.

In our first question, Cynthia & Trisha debate one woman's question on whether or not she should stay with a midwife she does not feel emotionally connected to or fire her late in the game and choose free birth instead.

Additionally, we answer the following:

• My midwife is making me feel very uncomfortable about my weight gain. How much focus should be put on weight and nutrition in pregnancy?
• My home birth midwife told me her home-to-hospital transfer rate is 30%. Is that too high, and if so, what should I do about it?
• What happens if I don't show up for my induction, and should I do this if I don't want to be induced?

Later, in the extended version of today's episode available on Patreon or Apple subscriptions, we discuss:

Two-step delivery: what it is and why we don't like it; Pushing your baby out when you have no urge to push; Rupturing of membranes and the potential impact on causing a baby to rotate from an anterior to posterior position; What it means to have a platypelloid pelvis and if any pelvic shapes make vaginal birth impossible or more difficult?

Finally, we close with a round of quickies on the following: nipple shields; eating placentas and likening it to cannibalism; height and big babies; holding clingy babies; flying at 35 weeks; resenting sleeping husbands; prolapse after birth; making a twin pregnancy happen; morning sickness; timelines for breastfeeding babies getting back to birth weight; and personal experiences with terrible haircuts.

Livestream: Postpartum Rage: A Deep Dive into postpartum rage, why it occurs, and how to understand and break the cycle. Available on Patreon.

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Our sponsors:
Silverette Nursing Cups -- Soothe and heal sore nipples with 925 silver nursing cups.
Postpartum Soothe -- Herbs and padsicles to heal and comfort.
Needed -- Our favorite nutritional products for before, during, and after pregnancy.
Use promo code: DOWNTOBIRTH for all sponsors.

Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content.
Email Contact@DownToBirthShow.com
Instagram @downtobirthshow
Call us at 802-GET-DOWN

Work with Cynthia:
203-952-7299
HypnoBirthingCT.com

Work with Trisha:
734-649-6294

Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters.