Happy Homebirth

Monday Nov 28, 2022

Ep 206: Raising Children While Healing Your Inner Child with Greta Zukoff

Monday Nov 28, 2022

What do we do if we notice that we have some negative patterns of thinking? Or maybe we find ourselves repeating the same mistakes over and over…feeling totally blocked. How can we become unblocked? How can we view the world from a positive lens.

I’m so thrilled to have my guest today, Greta Zukoff. Greta is my own personal tapping coach, and I’ve worked with her to heal some of the consistent patterns that were showing up over and over in my life.

Today we’ll be diving into what causes these patterns, and what we can do to begin shifting gears and considering the world and our experiences in a new, truly positive way.

Tapping and inner child work is helpful at any point, but motherhood? I know that personally my interactions with my children can often expose my anxieties, frustrations, fears and patterns. Greta, and her business collegue Naomi have created a group program where we get to work with other mothers together. We’ll have 4 group tapping calls, as well as 2 group prayer/meditation calls, and a private FB group.

Episode Roundup

The inner child: It wasn’t something that naturally called to me. I thought it was a bit silly— that I’m not a child, and I should just do better. But when we realize that so many programs that we’re running are created in those first few years of life, we can see that, perhaps some of those programs may be outdated! Are these serving me? Are these TRUE? This can be an incredible place to start.
Tapping Specifically: EFT has been a huge help for me in my life. Like Greta and I spoke about, it’s so beneficial for both the “acute” and the “chronic.” During the panic attack, and to deal with the deeper layers of reprogramming.
Pregnancy and postpartum are massive times of flux. We may be drawing on a lot of subconscious programs, and we’re certainly in hormonal flux. I love tapping to connect with my baby, and I’m thrilled to have it as a resource in my postpartum phase so that If I do begin experiencing any type of postpartum mood disorders, I already have this massive tool.

If this information was helpful for you, please be sure to join us inside of Finding Freedom.

Finding Freedom (4 month Subscription):

$149 pay per month price
$ 119 pay in full incentive ($476 total)

Includes:
-4 group tapping calls (per month)
-2 group prayer/meditation calls (per month)
-Private Fb group for support

Ready to join us? Email greta@gretazukoff.com with subject line: Finding Freedom

Resources:

Monday Nov 21, 2022

Ep 205: Free Your Family From Harmful EMFs (and 2 freebirths!) With Courtney Taylor

Monday Nov 21, 2022

Are you ready to have all of your EMF questions answered?

This week we're speaking to Courtney Taylor. Courtney is a freebirth mom to two children, and she works as a researcher and customer support provider for BluShield USA.

In this episode, we'll hear Courtney's two birth stories, and then we'll spend the remainder of the show answering the listener questions submitted regarding EMFSs. Courtney does such an incredible job of breaking this information down in a way that's both understandable and empowering.

Episode Roundup:

Courtney shared about the fact that nature never repeats the same pattern consistently. In fact, it never repeats itself exactly! This repetition, which is found in harmful EMFs, is what actually causes our bodies to be on guard. BluShield's mitigation products, like nature, provide a variety of frequencies that allow our body to enter safety.
Another incredibly important topic that Courtney covered is the idea of taking responsibility for our own health. Courtney did this in terms of her birth experience: giving birth free birth unassisted with her first baby. She felt so strong and confident in her decisions, and she chose not o outsource t her health. It's the exact same when it comes to her journey with EMFs.
Finally, we must remember: Let's do our best. Let's do what we can to protect our families, and then let's not stress about the rest. Additional stress and fear is only going to cause more inflammation, more chronic illnesses, and more acute illnesses. For me, this involves trusting the Lord--trusting that He is the true source of provision and protection. I'm doing my part, and then letting go--having an hand open with the rest.

Don't forget BluShield's Black Friday through Cyber Monday sale! The code HOMEBIRTH is going to get you 18% off during this time, and 10% off at any other time of the year.

Resources:

http://www.natalieamalani.com/

BluShield Products

Discount Code: HOMEBIRTH (10% year-round, 18% off for Black Friday-Cyber Monday!)

Monday Nov 14, 2022

Ep 204: Conscious Conception and Conscious Protection of Our Families

Monday Nov 14, 2022

What you can't see can't hurt you, right?

This week, we're speaking with the incredible Natalie Amalani. Natalie is an accomplished woman who strikes a delicate balance between her personal and professional life. She has a bachelor's degree in art with an emphasis in painting, she is an entrepreneur who owns and operates two businesses, which we'll be discussing today, all while making time for her husband and 2 young daughters.

Natalie had two successful, all natural home births, and lovingly raises her children with a holistic mindset.

Today we'll be discussing Natalie's births and businesses, one of which focuses on mitigating electromagnetic fields. Natalie and her husband own Blushield US, which happens to be my favorite EMF-mitigating company.

We'll be sharing information regarding EMFs after her birth stories, and we'll be going into even more depth answering your specific questions regarding EMFs next week as well. This is all perfect timing, as blushield is about to have their most massive sale of the year for Black Friday through Cyber Monday, and if you decide you're ready to begin protecting yourself and your baby, my coupon code 'homebirth' which is all one word, will get you a full 18% instead of the 15% you'd get from their discount code. I'll have the link and code in the show notes-- but make sure you wait until black friday for those unbelievable savings!

If you're excited to join the next cohort of The HBC, which will run from January to March, make sure you're signed up for our waitlist! You'll be the first to know when applications are open, and you can grab your spot quickly, as spots are incredibly limited!

Go to myhappyhomebirth.com/collective to learn more and sign up.

Episode Roundup:

Natalie's births were all conscious conceptions- thoroughly planned and prepared for. While this is certainly not the case for many of us, isn't it so neat to hear? What deep consideration and thoughtfulness that went into their welcoming of these new lives. I like to think that that deep consideration of Natalie and Brandon extends into every endeavor they take up. It's so clear to see that very same thoughtfulness in both of the companies that they run together.
The body is so incredible: Who knows how long Natalie was sitting at 10cm.... I love how her midwife did not encourage her to push until she was ready, which leads into the realization that size of the baby matters less than our ability to tune into what our body is asking from us. Natalie was able to listen to her body instead of outside opinions, and this led her to have a beautiful birth with her baby at 43 weeks. NORMALIZE 43 WEEKS, BABY!
And finally, there's so much to constantly be learning in terms of how to protect ourselves and our families in a modern world where technology is changing daily. Unfortunately, these big companies and massive decisions don't always have our health and best interest at heart. As the caretakers and shepherds of our children, we have a responsibility to look into what's going on, and decide how to best protect our little ones. I'm so grateful for Blushield for making this easier. We've seen such massive differences since purchasing our cube, and I would never be without it at this point.

Special Links:

https://shenblossom.com/

https://www.blushield-us.com/

Resources:

BluShield Products

Discount Code: HOMEBIRTH (10% year-round, 18% off for Black Friday-Cyber Monday!)

Monday Nov 07, 2022

Ep 203: From Hormone Healing to a Happy Homebirth with Amanda Montalvo

Monday Nov 07, 2022

When your Nutritionist is on point and you're doing everything seemingly correctly and yet you still have trouble conceiving or maybe even going into labor, where can we look? What is it that may be impacting our experience?

This week, we are speaking with my friend Amanda Montalvo she is a Hormone healing Rd (@hormonehealingrd) on Instagram if you follow her there. She also has an incredible podcast called Are You Menstrual we're going to be discussing her journey of how she got out of the Hormonal birth control pill had really had to help rebalance and then became pregnant eventually and went on to have a home birth. We're gonna get to hear how all of this unfolded and some of the really beautiful gems that she has learned along the way. One issue that we are going to discuss several times throughout the episode is this idea of stress and how it can impact us in so many ways how you can be doing everything seemingly right but if we are overwhelmed with stress there are still going to be issues you know kind of consistently popping up so be sure to listen through on that theme and hear some of the advice that Amanda gets throughout.

Go to myhappyhomebirth.com/collective to learn more and sign up. Okay, let's jump into this beautiful story with Courtney.

Episode Roundup:

You can prepare all you want, you can do everything right and still struggle to conceive and what we need to remember is that stress can play a critical role in this and you know truthfully timing is everything Amanda wanted to get pregnant and thought she would get pregnant very quickly and yet it took a year but once it was finally the right time, everything was in position she was in a feeling environment she and her husband were able to conceive and what a precious little baby they did make.
Now on that same idea same concept if we move that over to labor what talk about how stress can also play a role in win that begins you know part of the importance of going into labor is relaxing letting loose getting comfortable if we are in a state of stress and panic it will be hard to get into that separation phase to get the contraction moving and going obviously it's gonna happen at some point. We're going to come to labor but the best thing that we can actively let go to actively release our responsibilities as much as possible and focus inward on the massive transformation that is about to take place. Once Amanda was able to let go of that go go go intensity really actively focus on relaxing she was of course able to step into that separation phase and to relax and release into the laboring process and apparently reflexology really really help together there.
Next, we were trying different time is not linear it's not the same thing that we experience from day-to-day and why is that well we're in what's called liminality we're in this other worldly out of our typical mind experience which is beautiful but don't expect the clock to make sense when you're in labor because it's going to be totally different from what you expect almost always. It’s one of those experiences where a minute may feel like an hour or an hour may feel like a minute. It is an absolutely unlike clear version of time so relaxing into that and allowing the process to just unfold without the concerns of protective “Oh no did you get that contraction timer down like if everything written and recorded” that's going into liminality releasing all of that thinking brain allows that to be OK no matter whether you're labor is 30 minutes or 30 hours.
Finally Amanda stated that birth forced her to truly look in word, Can you do this Amanda? Do you want to meet your daughter? or Do you wanna transport? Do you want to outsource to the hospital have them do something for you to stimulate labor to relax you in some way? But you know what and Amanda in this situation decided to dig in and meet her baby and this is what motherhood is about. Digging into your intuition no matter what it takes that doesn't necessarily mean they get home every time it may be something very different but digging into your intuition and what's right from you. Instead of immediately outsourcing to somebody else's idea or what somebody else thinks is right for you. This not only served Amanda during labor but it has served her already tremendously and motherhood and making those decisions for her family making those decisions for Eliana with confidence. That is what motherhood is all about and that is what labor can teach us if we are open and willing and ready to accept it alright my friends I hope that you enjoy.

Resources:

instagram@hormonehealingrd

Are You Menstrual

Monday Oct 31, 2022

Ep 202: Birth is Medicine: Courtney Valdez Steps into Sovereign Motherhood

Monday Oct 31, 2022

What does it mean to fully embrace motherhood? To fully embrace the God-given responsibility of caring for your children?

This week, we're speaking to Courtney Valdez, a 26-year old mom of two beautiful girls + a business owner/hairstylist, with a love of homemaking and holistic wellness. Courtney's experience of pregnancy and birth has changed the way her family lives in every way for the better, as we are going to hear in this powerful journey of growth and strength.

And not to give a huge spoiler alert, but I do want to say this. The mother that Courtney becomes during this experience-- powerful, confident, radically responsible-- that is who I want you to meet and become inside of The Homebirth Collective. In the HBC, we dedicate 12 weeks to getting to know the deepest layers of yourself. To meeting that primal mother inside of you, and encouraging her to to take the driver's seat-- not only of your pregnancy and birth, but of your life.

We work in sisterhood, as community is so vital to preparation for birth, and so missing in most contexts. How unbelievable is it to be able to share a common goal with a group of mothers-- a group of aligned mothers who totally supports your decision to give birth at home? Who wants to form deep relationships and connect authentically?

It's been incredible to see these mothers enter and re-enter motherhood after having completed The HBC. Seeing them take radical responsibility in their births, and knowing how deeply this will impact generation after generation-- because they chose to invest in themselves and their families.

Go to myhappyhomebirth.com/collective to learn more and sign up. Okay, let's jump into this beautiful story with Courtney.

Episode Roundup:

Let's start with how Courtney views her first birth experience. While there is plenty for her to be upset and frustrated about in regards to her care, I love the way that Courtney chooses to frame her experience. She isn't sitting in victimhood, but accepting responsibility-- accepting the experience for what it was, and choosing to see and appreciate the beautiful moments. Sometimes we've got to tease through the event to find the beauty, and that can feel frustrating, but how much more powerful than to allow the event to pull you down into despair? We don't always have a choice in regards to outcomes, but we can ALWAYS choose our perspective.
Sovereign motherhood. Courtney felt that she shed her old skin-- the questioning, uncertain skin of the past-- in the birth pool when she met her second daughter. She was reborn as the sovereign mother to her two daughters that she was designed to be. No more questioning herself, no more outsourcing... she understands that her intuition was given by God, and she will us it.
And lastly, I want to take a moment to touch on care providers. Courtney's experience were both at the hands of midwives. We've got to remember that a title alone means absolutely nothing. One manipulated and pushed for her own way, while the other sat on her hands, peacefully watching Courtney enter back into motherhood. We've got to remember that who we select as our care provider does carry a massive amount of weight. I understand that some of us have more options than others, but this is something to be considered deeply. Does your midwife see herself as a hero or a servant? The answer will dictate much.

Resources:

Monday Oct 24, 2022

Ep 201: Navigating Birth with Power

Monday Oct 24, 2022

How do you navigate a situation in which your birth plans must be modified?

This week we're speaking to Jocelyn, mama to 3 with 3 very different birth stories. Today we'll hear about Jocelyn's experience in the birth center, in the hospital, and finally at home.

Episode Roundup:

I'm struck by Jocelyn's ability to keep positive and to advocate for herself when her birth plans changed after a diagnosis of hydrocephaly with her second son. She could have been bullied out of her plans, but she remained strong and pushed for what she desired. In the end, she saw that her strength paid off and she was able to avoid an unnecessary c section. Your thoughts, opinions and desires DO matter, and it would seem that some obstetricians tend to lean towards "NO" instead of "YES". With this in mind, remember that you are always the one in charge of your care, and you do have options. Sometimes we may not like our options-- I'm sure Jocelyn would have preferred to have the original birth she'd desired, but within the context of her situation, she still made the best of her situation and made the decisions that were best for herself and her baby. You can do the same, too.

Resources:

Monday Oct 17, 2022

Ep 200: Giving Birth on the Go: Shelby’s Baby is Caught by Jenna in the Car!

Monday Oct 17, 2022

What makes for a birth that encourages immediate connection with your baby? Was "surprise car birth" the first thought that came to mind? No? Maybe it will be after this story!

This week, we're speaking with Shelby and Jenna. Two sisters who have supported each other throughout their pregnancies. We'll be talking about Shelby's stories specifically today and how Jenna was a part of her very unusual experience.

Episode Roundup:

Sometimes the situations that unfold can impact us in ways that we were not expecting. After her first birth, Shelby ran into difficulties with bonding and breastfeeding, much of this due to harmful hospital policy. When these things happen, it can be difficult not to carry our concerns into our next experience.
Shelby experienced perinatal depression with her second baby, and I'm so glad that she was able to bring up the struggle and difficulty that it brought upon her pregnancy, because we see that once she felt comfortable bringing up what was going on, she was immediately validated, loved and understood by her husband and sister. When we can find the courage to speak up about what is troubling us, half of the work is done already. We are then able to have the people who love us support us through whatever it is that we need. There are plenty of counselors and therapists who support women through perinatal depression specifically, so if you find yourself in this position, I lovingly encourage you to seek that support.
Finally, sometimes the gift of our birth experience comes in a very unexpected package. Despite the fact that Shelby wasn't envisioning an unassisted car birth on the side of the road, this turned out to be a beautiful gift for herself and her son. They were able to bond and breastfeed immediately, and she was able to bathe in the beautiful connection that she wanted so desperately during her first experience.

Resources:

Monday Oct 10, 2022

Ep 199: LaDaiju’s Dream Homebirth After Cesarean

Monday Oct 10, 2022

How can we enter pregnancy and labor with excitement and anticipation after a previous birth that ended in Cesarean?

This week, we're speaking to LaDaiju, a mama who decided she was not accepting the same birthing situation as before as she prepared for her most recent birth. HBAC stories are some of the most requested on the podcast, and I know you're going to love the perspective that LaDaiju brings to this discussion.

Episode Roundup:

LaDaiju walked into her second birth with the confidence and deep knowing that her body was made to do this. She had been thoughtful, prayerful and so considerate, and she knew this birth experience at home was exactly what she needed.
So much of this confidence came through education. Between her first and second birth, LaDaiju took education seriously. She knew she wanted something different, and she worked hard to make it happen. What an amazing experience. LaDaija, I'm so thrilled for your successful homebirth, and so glad you made it onto the podcast to share!

Resources: