Birth Choices Alice Godfree and Elysia Hansen

In this episode we hear from physio and internal pelvic release practitioner, Olivia, about the births of her two sons. Olivia received private midwifery care in her first pregnancy. Her plans for homebirth changed when she chose induction at 41+3, and Olivia talks us through her experience of birthing in hospital without the support of her private midwife due to covid restrictions, and the unplanned emergency caesarean section under general anaesthetic that followed. Olivia reflects on the d...

In this episode we speak Fiona Hallinan and Agia Nenke, midwives and internal pelvic release practitioners, about the role of the pelvis in understanding labour and birth, the role of soft tissue and the impact of tension, perineal massage (or more relevantly, perineal kneading, and what not to do!), spinning babies and how to best support women and babies bodies to work together and minimise trauma both emotionally and physically when doing the birth dance.Fiona and Agia speak beautifully ab...

In this episode we hear from co-host Alice and her husband Dave about their road from birthing in a private hospital under private obstetric care, through the grief of two miscarriages, to then birth at home via a publicly funded homebirth program. Alice looks back on her first vaginal birth, which she emerged from feeling victorious, now through the lens of greater understanding of birth and the role that her model of care and place of birth played in influencing the dynamic in the birth spa...

In this episode we speak with obstetrician Dr Natalie Elphingstone about her obstetric training and how that contributes to a certain dominant philosophy of birth, her road to “doing” less and learning from and collaborating with midwives and doulas, the question of obstetric care for “low risk” or uncomplicated pregnancies, homebirth, curating postpartum support, and your choices in caesarean section. As you can see, this is a juicy one, and a must listen for all entering the maternity setti...

In this episode we speak with Karli Smith, a doula with a background in international human rights law and humanitarian aid, who now spends her time supporting women and birthing people on an individual and broader systems level in advocating for rights in maternity care. We speak about the role of doulas in pregnancy, birth and postpartum, the power and magic of birth and having someone hold you in your vision for birth, the importance of informed consent and autonomous decision-making in bi...

In this episode we hear from our very own Elysia, as she and her husband Andrew give us a snapshot of their first three birth experiences — the first two in integrated birth centres in the UK, the third in a Melbourne public hospital, before delving into what led them to choose homebirth for their most recent birth of baby number 4, at home via a publicly funded homebirth program. We discuss the cultural and social influences on your choices around how and where to birth, as well as the ...