Birth Agni

Divya Kapoor

This Podcast explores how indigenously Birth has always unfolded, among women - our tribe, where children could see how breastfeeding was done and how birth happened. This an attempt to fetch the stories of the past as well as bring out the new India’s Birth culture to expose the defining features in both. This shall join the dots to where the increasing problems of postpartum anxiety, rising rate of surgical births and poor breastfeeding outcomes are coming from.  Birth Agni - Agni meaning Fire, the Fire that brings us alive, transforms us and has the ability to burn. Birth is designed to affect a woman’s integrity. It is the fire of awakening that makes her life experience wholesome. Deep down her body knows what Birth is supposed to feel - a euphoria of bringing a new life on Earth. The cocktail of hormones are designed to give her a high. However, birth today has quickly swayed away from a phase of joy to the one marked by Fear, the constant questioning of a woman’s capacity to Birth naturally and the ugly calculation of the  odds of a healthy baby at the expense of the mother’s health. We forget that their health is interlinked and flourish as a dyad.  In India, the urban rate of Cesarean Sections on an average until 2020 is a whopping 40% which is concerning. Birth is linked to Patriarchy, Healthcare Politics and Women’s Rights. Respect in Birth is long due to women and it affects the core of who they are.  Join me Divya Kapoor, a Certified Birth and Lactation Counselor and aspiring Traditional Birth Attendant in the quest to shine light on what we can do as parents and a community to change the narrative. 

  1. 23h ago

    #155- Krupa Desai's Home Birth Story | Role of a Doula and Inner work

    A Primary Home Birth We often hear women say, oh this is my first time, so I would prefer a hospital but for my second, I will choose a home birth. This is rooted first in fear and that home births are essentially unsafe, second a trust that is yet to develop in our bodies. Hence, we expect when we would have seen better, we would be more confident.   However, Krupa decided to have her first at home.. With a doctor in Mumbai, who supports home births. We would hear from Krupa, her reasons, experience and how she feels about it now as a mother of an almost 2 year old baby.  Krupa and her husband took birth classes with me which furthered into postpartum lactation support for a month.  And about Krupa : Krupa is mum to her 20-month old baby. Professionally, she is a trained therapist and an interdisciplinary researcher in psychology, art and anthropology. She is based between Mumbai and Germany where she presently teaches creative practice and anthropology to postgraduate students.  Tune in now! Support the show Sign up for Childbirth Preparation Programs! visit https://birthagni.com/services#childbirth-preparation-programs https://birthagni.com/copy-of-services#breastfeeding-preparation-program This episode is supported and made possible by podcast recording and hosting tool Zencastr, it is impeccably made!  Use my link : https://zen.ai/vxmuJUgYKKGTF3JuTuFQ0g to sign up and record flawless remote podcast , USE my code : BIRTHAGNI Support the show: https://birthagni.com/birthagnipodcast#donate If you like what you hear, leave us a rating on Spotify app and answer the question at each episode!a review on Apple podcasts. Share on Whatsapp/Insta/FBShare on Instagram and tag us @divyakapoorvoxSupport the pro...

    #155- Krupa Desai's Home Birth Story | Role of a Doula and Inner work
  2. Aug 12

    #154 - Dr Prity's HBAC story after a previous VBAC at the hospital

    A VBAC at home, also called an HBAC Why did Dr Prity  , a dentist , a medical professional, now a Diastasis Recti Specialist  Vaginal Steaming Practitioner  Postpartum Doula  Prenatal Postnatal fitness expert , decided to have a homebirth after a prior VBAC in the hospital? What did she know that factored in her decision, how was her experience? How did she plan her care and how did her experience differ from that at the hospital to home.  Tune in now to hear her narrate the layers of her story! ~ Please note the decision to birth at home should always lie with the parents with complete information. Birthing at home is the most supportive of the biological process yet it is not for everyone.  Support the show Sign up for Childbirth Preparation Programs! visit https://birthagni.com/services#childbirth-preparation-programs https://birthagni.com/copy-of-services#breastfeeding-preparation-program This episode is supported and made possible by podcast recording and hosting tool Zencastr, it is impeccably made!  Use my link : https://zen.ai/vxmuJUgYKKGTF3JuTuFQ0g to sign up and record flawless remote podcast , USE my code : BIRTHAGNI Support the show: https://birthagni.com/birthagnipodcast#donate If you like what you hear, leave us a rating on Spotify app and answer the question at each episode!a review on Apple podcasts. Share on Whatsapp/Insta/FBShare on Instagram and tag us @divyakapoorvoxSupport the pro...

    #154 - Dr Prity's HBAC story after a previous VBAC at the hospital
  3. Feb 28

    Announcement : Season 2026 - Home Birth | Pregnancy Series

    Three weeks into February, in the soft glow of postpartum, our host, Divya shares a tender life update : welcoming her son in the quiet hours of December after a birth she deeply cherishes. Supported by her husband, daughter, and doula, this experience has begun a powerful season of slowing down, integration, and presence. In this episode, Rohit Kokane, head of productions at Birth Agni, explains the pause and officially announce the return of Birth Agni in June 2026 — with more real birth stories, diverse expert-led education, advocacy-driven conversations, and the continuation of Midwives Around the World. We also introduce a special membership-only pregnancy series launching in August 2026 , 12 intimate episodes designed to help you build your birth team, work through fears, nourish your body, and prepare for birth in a way that aligns with your life. Birth is a becoming. We’ll see you in June ’26.  Support the show Sign up for Childbirth Preparation Programs! visit https://birthagni.com/services#childbirth-preparation-programs https://birthagni.com/copy-of-services#breastfeeding-preparation-program This episode is supported and made possible by podcast recording and hosting tool Zencastr, it is impeccably made!  Use my link : https://zen.ai/vxmuJUgYKKGTF3JuTuFQ0g to sign up and record flawless remote podcast , USE my code : BIRTHAGNI Support the show: https://birthagni.com/birthagnipodcast#donate If you like what you hear, leave us a rating on Spotify app and answer the question at each episode!a review on Apple podcasts. Share on Whatsapp/Insta/FBShare on Instagram and tag us @divyakapoorvoxSupport the pro...

  4. 12/03/2025

    #151- Surabhi and Darshan's Birth Preparation | Advocacy at a Birth Center

    In this conversation, Surabhi Shekhar, founder Gubbi Gudu, women’s wellness specialist, prenatal/postnatal yoga guide, and doula-in-training joins us with her loving husband, Darshan, to share the story of their preparation for a birth center experience. They speak at length about the thorough preparation, the inner work at various crossroads, and discussions as  a couple helped them arrive at their decisions and needs in this journey. Surabhi reflects on the emotional process of choosing where to birth, while Darshan brings in the partner’s perspective. Their fun and interactive style of advocacy helped them collaborate with their birth center team and find a middle ground. 'Time -specific' boundaries helped them push for their needs over and over again. Knowledge became their strongest tool, helping them ask the right questions, make informed decisions, and cultivate genuine partnership with their care providers. And in a first for their birth center, their advocacy made them the first couple to physiologically birth their placenta.  This episode shows what preparation can look like and how it can help propell a couple further in the direction of the birth they imagine, yet embrace that birth is an unknown space.  Tune in now to know more! Support the show Sign up for Childbirth Preparation Programs! visit https://birthagni.com/services#childbirth-preparation-programs https://birthagni.com/copy-of-services#breastfeeding-preparation-program This episode is supported and made possible by podcast recording and hosting tool Zencastr, it is impeccably made!  Use my link : https://zen.ai/vxmuJUgYKKGTF3JuTuFQ0g to sign up and record flawless remote podcast , USE my code : BIRTHAGNI Support the show: https://birthagni.com/birthagnipodcast#donate If you like what you hear, leave us a rating on Spotify app and answer the question at each episode!a review on Apple podcasts. Share on Whatsapp/Insta/FBShare on Instagram and tag us @divyakapoorvoxSupport the pro...

    #151- Surabhi and Darshan's Birth Preparation | Advocacy at a Birth Center
  5. 11/26/2025

    #150 - Pregnancy at 40: Myths, Facts, and Real Stories

    Ever wondered why the age of 35 suddenly becomes this big red sign in conversations about pregnancy?  In this episode, we discuss fertility and the age of a woman’s egg. We will understand biology of what actually happens to your egg each cycle and how aging really affects fertility and a fascinating research paper I found , https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/rmb2.12652 How does your egg actually mature each cycle?What role do hormones play?How does age and the health of a woman factor in , in her fertility?By the end of this episode , you will be able to make an informed understanding of the entire dialogue around aging, women and fertility. Links to real stories: #130 - Shilpi's home birth story- meconium, true knot and a geriatric pregnancy. #114 - Part III - Ariel and Nitin's experience: #92 - Baneen's Home Birth Story with a Midwife  #105: Rashmi’s home birth story #74 - Becca's Home Birth Experience  Tune in for conversation on age, eggs, and women’s health. Support the show Sign up for Childbirth Preparation Programs! visit https://birthagni.com/services#childbirth-preparation-programs https://birthagni.com/copy-of-services#breastfeeding-preparation-program This episode is supported and made possible by podcast recording and hosting tool Zencastr, it is impeccably made!  Use my link : https://zen.ai/vxmuJUgYKKGTF3JuTuFQ0g to sign up and record flawless remote podcast , USE my code : BIRTHAGNI Support the show: https://birthagni.com/birthagnipodcast#donate If you like what you hear, leave us a rating on Spotify app and answer the question at each episode!a review on Apple podcasts. Share on Whatsapp/Insta/FBShare on Instagram and tag us @divyakapoorvoxSupport the pro...

Trailer

5
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

This Podcast explores how indigenously Birth has always unfolded, among women - our tribe, where children could see how breastfeeding was done and how birth happened. This an attempt to fetch the stories of the past as well as bring out the new India’s Birth culture to expose the defining features in both. This shall join the dots to where the increasing problems of postpartum anxiety, rising rate of surgical births and poor breastfeeding outcomes are coming from.  Birth Agni - Agni meaning Fire, the Fire that brings us alive, transforms us and has the ability to burn. Birth is designed to affect a woman’s integrity. It is the fire of awakening that makes her life experience wholesome. Deep down her body knows what Birth is supposed to feel - a euphoria of bringing a new life on Earth. The cocktail of hormones are designed to give her a high. However, birth today has quickly swayed away from a phase of joy to the one marked by Fear, the constant questioning of a woman’s capacity to Birth naturally and the ugly calculation of the  odds of a healthy baby at the expense of the mother’s health. We forget that their health is interlinked and flourish as a dyad.  In India, the urban rate of Cesarean Sections on an average until 2020 is a whopping 40% which is concerning. Birth is linked to Patriarchy, Healthcare Politics and Women’s Rights. Respect in Birth is long due to women and it affects the core of who they are.  Join me Divya Kapoor, a Certified Birth and Lactation Counselor and aspiring Traditional Birth Attendant in the quest to shine light on what we can do as parents and a community to change the narrative.