Let's Talk Birth Rights

Your Legal Doula
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Most of us walk into pregnancy, birth, and postpartum without knowing our rights. Let's Talk Birth Rights changes that. Host Andi Orwoll is a birth rights attorney, an SMBC (single mother by choice), and the founder of Your Legal Doula®. After an unplanned C-section left her asking what she was legally entitled to, she built the tools she wished she'd had. Each episode helps you understand, assert, and protect your birth rights through pop culture breakdowns, conversations with birthworkers, and plain-language legal teaching. U.S.-based legal information, education , and cultural breakdowns. For expecting parents and the birthworkers who support them. Let us know if you want to talk YOUR birth rights!

Episodes

  1. Oct 22

    Episode 3 - Let's Talk Cherise Doyley, Pt. 2

    Let's Talk Birth Rights | Episode 3: Court-Ordered C-Sections, Part 2 — What To Do When Your Birth Rights Are Violated (w/ Doula Tiara Flynn, The Phenomenal Mama) *** New here? Start with Ep. 2, where we break down how a Florida judge ended up on a tablet in a laboring woman's hospital room. In Part 2, we get into the question everyone in the comments asks: "She should sue!" Maybe. But a lawsuit is the nuclear option, and there are a lot of steps between "my rights were violated" and "see you in court." Tiara walks through the multi-phase plan she gives her families, Andi shares how she approaches birth-rights cases as an attorney, and both talk about the part that matters most: healing. IN THIS EPISODE - Why this keeps happening in FL - Lessons from Ben Crump and Charles Johnson of 4Kira4Moms: "If I can't appeal to your compassion, let me appeal to your wallet" - Why prevention — education, confidence, and knowing your rights — is always the first line of defense (and why it still isn't always enough) - Tiara's four phases after a rights violation - Why every partner and support person should be a note-taker, not just a body in the room - Your right to your medical records, and why federal law says the copy fees have to be reasonable - Where to file a complaint: patient relations, patient advocacy, nursing leadership, risk management, the state nursing and medical boards, the state health department, and the HHS Office for Civil Rights for discrimination - My two-prong question for any rights violation: Who am I going after, and what do I want? (Money? Changed policies? An apology?) - Why personal injury and med mal attorneys may not see your case, and how to find an attorney who actually knows birth - Finding a trauma-informed, perinatal-specialized therapist, and why "go find a therapist" is as unhelpful as "go find a lawyer" - Our parting advice: be intentional, be flexible, and build your village Up next: insights, tips, and tricks from the Birth Rights Course over the next 5-6 episodes. BIRTH RIGHTS COVERED - The right to bodily autonomy and integrity - The right to informed consent and refusal - The right to access your medical records - The right to file complaints and seek accountability - The right to care free from discrimination MEET TIARA FLYNN, THE PHENOMENAL MAMA Tiara is a full-spectrum doula in Las Vegas, an Air Force veteran, and a pregnancy justice advocate and speaker. She also mentors doulas through her Doula Business Blueprint. Website Instagram Facebook Email: tiara@thephenomenalmama.com RESOURCES MENTIONED - Andi's birth story - Birth Justice Bar (formerly the Birth Rights Bar Association), including its attorney member directory (Instagram: @birthlawyers) - 4Kira4Moms, founded by Charles Johnson IV in memory of his wife, Kira Johnson - Civil: Ben Crump (documentary, 2022, Netflix) - ProPublica, "They Didn't Want to Have C-Sections. A Judge Would Decide How They Gave Birth," by Amy Yurkanin (March 14, 2026): https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-court-ordered-c-sections FREE GUIDE Your Birth Rights in Brief: all your birth rights on a single page. It's free, it fits in your hospital bag, and it's waiting for you here. CONNECT WITH YOUR LEGAL DOULA Website Instagram Threads TikTok Facebook YouTube Substack LinkedIn Email: andi@yourlegaldoula.com Attorney advertising. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not legal or medical advice. Listening does not create an attorney-client relationship. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Responsible attorney: Andi Orwoll, Esq., A.D. Orwoll Legal, PLLC, dba Your Legal Doula®, Las Vegas, NV.

  2. Oct 2

    Episode 2 - Let's Talk Cherise Doyley, Pt. 1

    Let's Talk Birth Rights | Episode 2: Court-Ordered C-Sections And "Black Robe Syndrome" (With Doula Tiara Flynn, The Phenomenal Mama) — Part 1 *** A nurse walks in with a tablet. On the screen: a judge in his black robe, and a room full of hospital attorneys. The woman in the bed is in active labor — and she's about to spend nearly three hours arguing, alone, for her right to decide how she gives birth. That really happened to Cherise Doyley in Florida in 2024, and to Brianna Bennett the year before. In this episode, I'm joined by my own doula, Tiara Flynn of The Phenomenal Mama, to break down ProPublica's reporting on court-ordered C-sections: how a court got anywhere near a laboring woman, why she had no lawyer, and what every pregnant person needs to know about informed consent and the right to refuse. IN THIS EPISODE How Tiara and I met (over coffee outside a Starbucks, coming out of Covid, when none of us knew how to people anymore) — and my doula-vetting spreadsheetWhat happened to Cherise Doyley and Brianna Bennett, and why "Florida woman" headlines shouldn't make anyone feel safe in other statesThe Black maternal health crisis, the CDC's finding that 1 in 5 women report mistreatment during maternity care, and why the U.S. has some of the worst maternal outcomes in the developed worldThe history behind modern obstetrics, including experimentation on enslaved women — and why Tiara says everyone in this work should read it"Black robe syndrome": the legal cousin of white coat syndromeBioethics 101: informed consent is a foundational principle, not a box to checkThe BRAIN acronym: Benefits, Risks, Alternatives, Intuition, Nothing"If they're discussing and not directing, you still have options"Signing a hospital form is not signing away your body: you can give consent and take it backHow a court gets jurisdiction over anyone, and why it doesn't automatically have it over a patientThe emergency petition for declaratory relief that brought Cherise to court — and why she had no right to appointed counselACOG's ethics position on court-ordered C-sections, and why leaving it out of the hearing is, in my view, a candor-to-the-court problem Part 2 of this conversation is coming next week. We had a lot to say. MEET TIARA FLYNN, THE PHENOMENAL MAMATiara is a full-spectrum doula in Las Vegas, an Air Force veteran, and a pregnancy justice advocate and speaker. She also mentors doulas through her Doula Business Blueprint. (And she was my doula.) Website: https://thephenomenalmama.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepnmmama/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PNMMama RESOURCES MENTIONED ProPublica, "They Didn't Want to Have C-Sections. A Judge Would Decide How They Gave Birth," by Amy Yurkanin (March 14, 2026): https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-court-ordered-c-sectionsBirth Rights Bar Association, "Birth Rights: A Resource for Everyday People to Defend Human Rights During Labor and Birth": https://birthrightsbar.orgACOG Committee Opinion No. 664, "Refusal of Medically Recommended Treatment During Pregnancy" (2016)In re Baby Boy Doe, 260 Ill. App. 3d 392, 632 N.E.2d 326 (Ill. App. Ct. 1994)Harriet A. Washington, Medical ApartheidDorothy Roberts, Killing the Black Body CONNECT WITH YOUR LEGAL DOULAWebsite: https://yourlegaldoula.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourlegaldoulaThreads: https://www.threads.com/@yourlegaldoulaTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourlegaldoulaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558998736954YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yourlegaldoulaSubstack: https://substack.com/@yourlegaldoulaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/105581659/Email: andi@yourlegaldoula.com Attorney advertising. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not legal or medical advice. Listening does not create an attorney-client relationship. Responsible attorney: Andi Orwoll, Esq., A.D. Orwoll Legal, PLLC, dba Your Legal Doula®, Las Vegas, NV.

  3. Sep 25

    Episode 1 - Let's Talk Friends

    Let's Talk Birth Rights | Episode 1: Birth Rights In the 1990s Classic, Friends (With Special Guest Karen Orwoll, a.k.a. My Mom!) *** In our first episode, birth rights attorney Andi Orwoll takes a pop culture look at birth in one of the most rewatched sitcoms of all time: Friends. Going in, I expected to cringe. Instead, I found a 90s sitcom that (mostly!) got it right — women deciding who's in the room, providers giving calm, evidence-based care, and breastfeeding right there on screen. Special guest Karen Orwoll (my mom!) joins to share her take on the moments we all know and love. IN THIS EPISODE - Carol kicks Ross and Susan out of the delivery room — and why "get out" is a birth right, not just a punchline - Phoebe fires the Fonzie-obsessed doctor (and then the Doogie Howser one): your right to choose your provider, at any time, for any reason - Rachel's 17-hour labor, and a doctor who lets her body do its thing instead of rushing to Pitocin or a C-section - A breech baby mid-pushing — and why breech is a variation of normal, not an automatic emergency - Carol breastfeeding (while the guys suddenly remember "something funny about sneakers"): your right to breastfeed anywhere you have a legal right to be, protected in all 50 states - Karen's take: how friends and family — not just doctors — can make it harder to use your rights, and the burden of having to educate everyone while pregnant BIRTH RIGHTS COVERED - The right to choose who is in the room, including support people (and to ask anyone to leave) - The right to choose — and change — your provider - The right to be treated with dignity and respect - The right to clinically sound, evidence-based care - The postpartum right to breastfeed in public UNDERSTAND + ASSERT This episode walks through two parts of my birth rights framework: understand what your rights are, then assert them — out loud, no second-guessing, in the moment when it counts. FREE GUIDE Your Birth Rights in Brief: all your rights on a single page. It's free, it fits in your hospital bag, and it's waiting for you at https://yourlegaldoula.com COMING UP A How I Met Your Mother episode — and yes, there are some yikes moments. More on what your birth rights actually are! CONNECT WITH YOUR LEGAL DOULA Website: https://yourlegaldoula.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourlegaldoula Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yourlegaldoula TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@yourlegaldoula Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558998736954 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@yourlegaldoula Substack: https://substack.com/@yourlegaldoula LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/105581659/ Email: andi@yourlegaldoula.com Have a question? Reach out anytime — and let me know if you want to talk your birth rights. This has been part of your kitchen table birth prep. Because triage is no place to start learning your rights. Attorney advertising. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Listening does not create an attorney-client relationship. Responsible attorney: Andi Orwoll, Esq., A.D. Orwoll Legal, PLLC, dba Your Legal Doula®, Las Vegas, NV. "Friends" and all audio clips discussed are the property of their respective owners and are used here for commentary and educational purposes. Opening and closing song is "Simple Life" - licensed through Foximusic.

  • 3 Episodes

About

Most of us walk into pregnancy, birth, and postpartum without knowing our rights. Let's Talk Birth Rights changes that. Host Andi Orwoll is a birth rights attorney, an SMBC (single mother by choice), and the founder of Your Legal Doula®. After an unplanned C-section left her asking what she was legally entitled to, she built the tools she wished she'd had. Each episode helps you understand, assert, and protect your birth rights through pop culture breakdowns, conversations with birthworkers, and plain-language legal teaching. U.S.-based legal information, education , and cultural breakdowns. For expecting parents and the birthworkers who support them. Let us know if you want to talk YOUR birth rights!

Information

  • Creator
    Your Legal Doula
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    3
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Your Legal Doula
  • Show Website
    Let's Talk Birth Rights