Midwife Life: Midwifing you through health, motherhood, and the sacred mess of life’s transformations with Diane Ortega

Welcome to The Midwife Life—part podcast, part revolution that empowers and educates women on all things related to pregnancy, birth, postpartum care, and careers in healthcare. Whether it's understanding the options available to you, advocating for yourself in a health care setting, or simply knowing that you're not alone, I want you to leave each episode feeling stronger and more equipped.

  1. 5d ago

    You Are Not Broken — Nourishing Your Body Through Life's Transitions with Courtney Smith

    This replay is for the woman who looks like she's holding it all together — but feels very tired in her bones. Diane is joined by Courtney Smith, registered dietitian, exercise specialist, certified lactation counselor, and founder of Maternally Nourished. Courtney supports high-achieving women through fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, burnout, menopause, and major life transitions using nutrition, functional movement, nervous system regulation, and sustainable care. This conversation isn't about fixing yourself. It's about remembering how to resource yourself. Courtney brings both the clinical expertise of a double master's-educated, board-certified dietitian and the lived experience of a woman who has navigated grief, identity, and the pressure to do it all. Together, Diane and Courtney explore what the body is really communicating when it starts to break down — and what it looks like to actually listen. In This Episode, We Explore How chronic stress silently impacts fertility, digestion, blood sugar, and metabolism — and why high-functioning women are often the last to recognize it Nourishing yourself through postpartum: what your body actually needs, how to prepare your village before baby arrives, and why cutting calories while breastfeeding works against you Functional movement across life stages — from postpartum reconnection to strength training in midlife and why muscle is one of the most powerful tools women have The long shadow of diet culture: releasing the moral value attached to food and healing the relationship between stress, identity, and eating What to do first when you feel completely depleted — and three small, realistic shifts you can start tomorrow Courtney's Three Shifts to Start Tomorrow Walk more — even 10 minutes at lunch, even in your hallway. It's free, underrated, and supports your lymphatic system and nervous system alike. Cook one meal at home — it doesn't have to be complicated. A quesadilla counts. A crock pot dump counts. An act of feeding yourself is an act of self-love. Journal — pen to paper, notes app, one line, one hour, whatever you have. Try the Rose/Bud/Thorn method: one thing that went well, one area of growth coming, one thing that didn't go as hoped. Reflection for Listeners Where in your body are you feeling the cost of not slowing down — and what is one small thing you could do today to begin listening? Resources & Links Connect with Courtney Smith: Instagram: @MaternallyNourished TikTok: Maternally Nourished Website: MaternallyNourished.com Free 30-Minute Discovery Call: Available through her website

  2. Jul 27

    Holistic Healing Through Pregnancy and Motherhood with Ashley Andrews

    This week, Diane is replaying a favorite conversation with Ashley Andrews, an Integrative Nutrition & Holistic Health Coach, Yoga Instructor and Reiki Practitioner, who shares her journey into motherhood and the practices that carried her through it. From unexpected pregnancy and birth experiences to the power of integrative nutrition, Reiki, and intuitive movement, Ashley's story is a real look at what it takes to find yourself again after everything changes. What We Cover: Ashley's path to pregnancy, including a miscarriage and the conception of her son Kai Her plans for a home birth or birth center delivery, and the unexpected turn of events that led to a hospital C-section with her daughter Mia The emotional process of grieving the birth experiences she envisioned and finding beauty in the unexpected Ashley's early introduction to yoga and holistic healing, and how those practices evolved through her world travels and studies in France, India, and Integrative Nutrition The principles of Integrative Nutrition and how nourishing the whole self, relationships, career, creativity, and spirituality, can impact physical health Ashley's personal journey with food, movement, and intuitive guidance during pregnancy and postpartum Strategies for postpartum rehabilitation and balancing motherhood, career, and self-care Advice for mothers facing unexpected birth outcomes, and the importance of emotional processing and community support Resources for exploring Reiki, intuitive nutrition, and virtual wellness sessions with Ashley If Ashley's story of losing sight of who she was, and finding her way back, hits home: The In-Between Workbook walks you through naming what's ending, sitting in the middle, and figuring out who you're becoming. $37.  https://dianeortega.gumroad.com/l/the-in-between Connect with Ashley: https://www.valleymamma.com/ https://www.instagram.com/valleymamma Connect with us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.midwife.life.co/ Website: themidwifelife.co Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/The-Midwife-LifeCo/61559303575840/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/themidwifelife/

  3. Jul 20

    71: Nobody Told You Summer Would Feel Like This

    In this episode, I talk about the math of this summer season, whichever version of it is yours. If you're the mom in the thick of snack duty and referee duty and a phone that will not stop buzzing, this one is for you. If you're the mom like me, standing in the last summer before her youngest leaves, this one is for you too. My son just graduated high school. I thought that would feel like getting myself back. It felt like whiplash instead. I talk about why being last on your own list is not a character flaw, what actually happens when you hit zero, and the one small thing that can put something back on your side of the equation today. IN THIS EPISODE:    Why the juggle isn't actually the problem you think it is The math of giving out more than you take in, and why that isn't a personal failing My own version of this summer: my youngest graduating, and the whiplash of not being needed the same way What zero actually looks like, and why it doesn't look like collapse Why the impulse to wait for a big fix keeps you stuck Why boredom is not your problem to solve, for your kids or for you The one small thing that can put something back on your side of the equation today KEY TAKEAWAYS / REFLECTION PROMPTS What am I pretending not to know? What would I do if I stopped trying to get back to who I was? What do I actually want? NEXT STEP Three Questions for the Season You're In If you've been running on empty and calling it normal, you already know something is shifting. This free ten-minute audio walks through the three questions above slowly enough that you can actually sit with them. No pitch at the end, no next thing to buy. Get it here: https://themidwifelife.kit.com/22d2e5d807 Connect with Diane Website: ⁠themidwifelife.co⁠ Instagram: @‌the.midwife.life.co

  4. Jul 13

    Starting Over at 40 (And Why That's Not a Crisis)

    In this episode, I talk about starting over, not once, but twice. The first time I was forty, and I walked away from what I knew to become a midwife. The second time, I was in my fifties, standing in a birth center I built with my own hands, signing paperwork that meant it was over after sixteen years and three birth centers. I talk about why starting over gets filed under midlife crisis when it's actually something else entirely, and the three questions that keep surfacing for me every time I don't know what comes next. In this episode, we talk about: What starting over at 40 actually feels like from the inside, not the outside Why it gets called a midlife crisis when it's actually something you've outgrown What it's like to start over twice, ten-plus years apart, and still not have it figured out Living through bankruptcy, a closed business, and a day job, all in the same year The three questions I ask myself when I don't know who I'm becoming yet Why disorientation is a signal, not a crisis Key Takeaways / Reflection Prompts: What am I pretending not to know? What would I do if I stopped trying to get back to who I was? What do I actually want? Next Step: Three Questions for the Season You're In If you've been Googling "starting over at 40" at midnight, you already know something is shifting. This free ten-minute audio walks through the three questions from this episode slowly enough that you can actually sit with them. No pitch at the end, no next thing to buy. Get it here:  Three Questions   Connect with Diane Website: ⁠themidwifelife.co⁠ Instagram: @‌the.midwife.life.co

  5. Jul 6

    What's Been Running You: Healing the Patterns Underneath Your Patterns with Molly Rubesh

    There is a version of you that you didn't choose. She was built quietly, over years, by everything you watched and absorbed and inherited. And at some point, she starts running your marriage, your relationships, and the way you move through life. In this episode, I sit down with Molly Rubesh, relationship and divorce coach and creator of The Modern Marriage Blueprint. Molly helps women heal what's been running them quietly so they can build marriages and lives that actually feel like theirs. Her work lives at the intersection of conflict, intimacy, and money. Three places where we are most ourselves and most defended at the same time. In this episode, we talk about: The inherited patterns we carry into marriage without ever examining them Why marriage is not supposed to be really, really hard (and what to do when it is) The rocks-on-a-tray framework for recognizing what is yours to hold and what isn't The difference between a fixable marriage and one that cannot be fixed with better communication Intimacy beyond the physical: intellectual, emotional, and spiritual connection and why they come first Financial independence as a non-negotiable, regardless of who earns the income What women get back when they finally do this work Key Takeaways / Reflection Prompts: What did you absorb from your first family about what marriage, conflict, and money look like? Are you still living from that? Look at your tray. What are you holding that was never yours to hold in the first place? Is your marriage hard because it is fundamentally broken, or because you have been carrying too much of it alone? Next Step: The In-Between WorkbookIf this conversation opened something up in you and you're sitting with a question you haven't had language for before, start here. The In-Between Workbook is a 33-page guided companion for the season when something has shifted and you're not sure what comes next. Five sections. One honest look at where you actually are. Get it here: https://dianeortega.gumroad.com/l/the-in-between Resources and Links: Connect with Molly: mollyrubesh.com Molly on Instagram: @Molly_Rubesh The Modern Marriage Blueprint (Molly's course): mollyrubesh.com More episodes of The Midwife Life: Listen Here Connect with Diane Website: ⁠themidwifelife.co⁠ Instagram: @‌the.midwife.life.co

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About

Welcome to The Midwife Life—part podcast, part revolution that empowers and educates women on all things related to pregnancy, birth, postpartum care, and careers in healthcare. Whether it's understanding the options available to you, advocating for yourself in a health care setting, or simply knowing that you're not alone, I want you to leave each episode feeling stronger and more equipped.

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