39 episodes

Birth. It is everywhere. Literally. Every day with each birth there are new stories to be told, wisdom to be shared and knowledge to be learned. Elizabeth Bachner sees birth in a unique way: As life lessons that help us grow as spiritual beings having human experiences. Childbirth is her prose, her jam, and her calling. We are your safe space for the sharing of those experiences from all different perspectives and many walks of life.

Through curious conversation and storytelling, there is always something new to learn about how amazing we are as humans in body, mind, and spirit!. BBJ is packed with practical advice and helpful tips. We will discuss not only the joys and triumphs, but we go there - towards the challenges to learn how they were navigated so you can learn how resilient and strong we are.

We talk with the pregnant person, their partner(s), the doula, midwives, OBs, and grandparents - anyone who was part of the birth! We will cover it all - pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period.

Join us to not only listen and be inspired but to feed your mind, open your heart and let your inner Birth Junkie out!!

Big Birth Junkie Gracefull.com

    • Kids & Family
    • 4.9 • 57 Ratings

Birth. It is everywhere. Literally. Every day with each birth there are new stories to be told, wisdom to be shared and knowledge to be learned. Elizabeth Bachner sees birth in a unique way: As life lessons that help us grow as spiritual beings having human experiences. Childbirth is her prose, her jam, and her calling. We are your safe space for the sharing of those experiences from all different perspectives and many walks of life.

Through curious conversation and storytelling, there is always something new to learn about how amazing we are as humans in body, mind, and spirit!. BBJ is packed with practical advice and helpful tips. We will discuss not only the joys and triumphs, but we go there - towards the challenges to learn how they were navigated so you can learn how resilient and strong we are.

We talk with the pregnant person, their partner(s), the doula, midwives, OBs, and grandparents - anyone who was part of the birth! We will cover it all - pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period.

Join us to not only listen and be inspired but to feed your mind, open your heart and let your inner Birth Junkie out!!

    38 • Jeni & Monique IUI Conception, Planned Birth Center Birth, Unmedicated Vaginal Breech Birth

    38 • Jeni & Monique IUI Conception, Planned Birth Center Birth, Unmedicated Vaginal Breech Birth

    This is a fun podcast for me because I have been on (literally) the whole journey with Jeni and Monique. I supported them with their conception and then they chose to birth with the GraceFull Midwives to have an unmedicated out of hospital birth. Their plans changed when they found out their child was breech; but, we are very lucky in Los Angeles because we have an amazing doctor in town who will support unmedicated vaginal breech births in the hospital.
    This podcast is choc-o-bloc filled with great information about same-sex couple conception, using acupuncture for conception (thank you Susan Minich!) IUI and vaginal breech birthing (thank you Dr. Emiliano Chavira). We hope you find this episode as inspirational and fun as we did!
     
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    For more information about me, Elizabeth Bachner, go to GraceFull.com or follow us: @gracefullbirth  or @BigBirthJunkie. Our guest Jeni is a therapist with coaches same-sex couples navigate the conception process from the emotional to the legal. You can find Jeni at @yarbroughlcsw

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    This episode is also sponsored by GraceFull where you can find BBJ's host Elizabeth's free ebook Birth Planning: All the Questions to Ask and all kinds of educational videos including Childbirth Education, Advanced Doula Trainings and Lactation Support. Go to GraceFull to download the ebook for free.
     
    And if you are doula, watch for it! We are doing international case reviews real soon...

    If you live in Los Angeles, check out GraceFull's midwives for home births, water birth, and our accredited birthing center. We also have a full wellness facility with NDs, Chiropractic, Therapy, Massage, Lactation and lots of amazing classes.

    • 1 hr 30 min
    37 • Becky Vroom - Resilience & Strength: Modified Bedrest, Prodromal Labor, Hospital Midwife Unmedicated Birth, Cervical Tear & Postpartum Hemorrhage

    37 • Becky Vroom - Resilience & Strength: Modified Bedrest, Prodromal Labor, Hospital Midwife Unmedicated Birth, Cervical Tear & Postpartum Hemorrhage

    Becky is an active and healthy person, so she assumed pregnancy and birth would come easily to her. Instead, she was met with many complications and challenges that forced her to slow down and take it easy as she was on modified bed rest and medicated until she made it to 36 weeks.
    Becky experienced prodromal labor and daily contractions for the last 8 weeks of her pregnancy. When her son was finally born at 39 weeks, he came very quickly. 
    In the immediate post-partum at the hospital, she experienced a severe post-partum hemorrhage and lost 3/4 of her blood supply because her cervix was torn during birth.
    The postpartum recovery was challenged by a lack of support after almost losing her life during birth. She found that people asked about the baby, but not about her and she had to return to work 6.5 weeks after giving birth. As you can imagine, she was still very much healing physically and mentally.
    Yes, a lot happened. Becky women are strong, and Becky is able to resource how resilient and strong she was during her son's birth. She reminds herself to this day that she was able to remain calm and do what needed to be done to save her and her baby. A real lot happened at the birth of her son, but she knows that she can handle anything now and that she will do anything she can for her child.
     
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    For more information about our hostess, Elizabeth Bachner, go to GraceFull.com or follow us: @gracefullbirth  or @BigBirthJunkie. You can find our guest at IG: @becca__mv or Becky Marie Vroom 
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    This episode is also sponsored by GraceFull where you can find BBJ's host Elizabeth's free ebook Birth Planning: All the Questions to Ask and all kinds of educational videos including Childbirth Education, Advanced Doula Trainings and Lactation Support. Go to GraceFull to download the ebook for free.
     
    And if you are doula, watch for it! We are doing international case reviews real soon...

    If you live in Los Angeles, check out GraceFull's midwives for home births, water birth, and our accredited birthing center. We also have a full wellness facility with NDs, Chiropractic, Therapy, Massage, Lactation and lots of amazing classes.

    • 1 hr 19 min
    36 • Jamie Batten: 3 babies, 3 pregnancies and 3 very different postpartums. Hyperemisis, Formula Feeding, Breastfeeding, Induction, Water Birth, Hospital Birth, Testicular Tortion

    36 • Jamie Batten: 3 babies, 3 pregnancies and 3 very different postpartums. Hyperemisis, Formula Feeding, Breastfeeding, Induction, Water Birth, Hospital Birth, Testicular Tortion

    “There are all different normals”. That basically sums up the 3 very different pregnancies, births and post partum period for Jamie Batten. We cover a lot of ground on this epic (in length) podcast: induction, pitocin, epidural, bed rest, early labor, OP (Back Labor), formula feeding, cutting of the cord on the perinium, reastfeeding for 2 years, hyperemisis, placenta previa, birth center, waterbirth, testicular torition and trusting your care provider.
     
    There is SO much growth, and learning and growing up that Jamie shares with us. Yes, this is a long podcast, so grab a cuppa and enjoy the wisdomshared.
     
    Also, a shout out to Jamie’s OB Dr. Tara Wiebe and her birthing center @Mountain_Midwifery who I am very impressed with!
     
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    For more information about me, Eizabeth Bachner, go to GraceFull.com or follow us: @gracefullbirth  or @BigBirthJunkie and our guest at @jamie.nicole.batten.

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    This episode is also sponsored by GraceFull where you can find BBJ's host Elizabeth's free ebook Birth Planning: All the Questions to Ask and all kinds of educational videos including Childbirth Education, Advanced Doula Trainings and Lactation Support. Go to GraceFull to download the ebook for free.
     
    And if you are doula, watch for it! We are doing international case reviews real soon...

    If you live in Los Angeles, check out GraceFull's midwives for home births, water birth, and our accredited birthing center. We also have a full wellness facility with NDs, Chiropractic, Therapy, Massage, Lactation and lots of amazing classes.
     

    • 2 hr 25 min
    35 • Amy Meyers: Mother of 3, Pitocin Inductions, Epidurals, Waterbirth, Homebirth, Post Partum Depression`

    35 • Amy Meyers: Mother of 3, Pitocin Inductions, Epidurals, Waterbirth, Homebirth, Post Partum Depression`

    Amy lives in Utah with her husband and is the mother of 3 children (all under the age of 3!). The first two were born in the hospital and both were pitocin inductions with an epidural - the first at the suggestion of her doctor the second at her request. Looking back Amy realized there was trauma and a lot of feelings that were not validated, which lead her to do her research and start to becoming informed about her choices when she became pregnant with her third child. There was a lot of healing that happened for Amy after she experienced connected prenatal care where she was seen and heard. Oh, and she had a beautiful water birth too.
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    For more information about me, Eizabeth Bachner, go to GraceFull.com or follow us: @gracefullbirth  or @BigBirthJunkie. You can find out guest Amy at @Meyersfam
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    This episode is also sponsored by GraceFull where you can find BBJ's host Elizabeth's free ebook Birth Planning: All the Questions to Ask and all kinds of educational videos including Childbirth Education, Advanced Doula Trainings and Lactation Support. Go to GraceFull to download the ebook for free.

    And if you are doula, watch for it! We are doing international case reviews real soon...

    If you live in Los Angeles, check out GraceFull's midwives for home births, water birth, and our accredited birthing center. We also have a full wellness facility with NDs, Chiropractic, Therapy, Massage, Lactation and lots of amazing classes.

    • 1 hr 38 min
    34 • Faith Freeman : Eldest of 10 Children, Homebirth Midwife, Birth of her First Child at Home

    34 • Faith Freeman : Eldest of 10 Children, Homebirth Midwife, Birth of her First Child at Home

    Faith is the eldest of 10 children, 7 of whom were born at home. When she became pregnant with her daughter Kiss, she had an idea of what to expect, but it did not prepare her fully for her own homebirth journey. We chat about birthing babies in Oklahoma as a midwife, expectations vs reality in birth and what it is like to grow up where low-risk births at home are normalized.
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    For more information about me, Elizabeth Bachner, go to GraceFull.com or follow us: @gracefullbirth  or @BigBirthJunkie. And if you want to watch Faith’s birth video and learn more about her go to gracefull.com and click on “About Us”.

    __________

    This episode is also sponsored by GraceFull where you can find BBJ's host Elizabeth's free ebook Birth Planning: All the Questions to Ask and all kinds of educational videos including Childbirth Education, Advanced Doula Trainings and Lactation Support. Go to GraceFull to download the ebook for free.
    And if you are doula, watch for it! We are doing international case reviews real soon...

    If you live in Los Angeles, check out GraceFull's midwives for home births, water birth, and our accredited birthing center. We also have a full wellness facility with NDs, Chiropractic, Therapy, Massage, Lactation and lots of amazing classes.

    • 1 hr 7 min
    33 • Jessica Hooper: IUGR, Induction, Healing Shame, Loosing Control of Your "Plan"

    33 • Jessica Hooper: IUGR, Induction, Healing Shame, Loosing Control of Your "Plan"

    This is not only the story of an unexpected diagnosis of IUGR and the need for a hospital induction but also how Jessica's past history influenced her current thinking. Jessica was holding on to a lot of shame and polarised thinking that showed up to be healed so she could step fully into the role of motherhood.
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    For more information about our guest, Jessica Hooper and her events go to: @stuffjesslikes or @onthefence.life
    me, Eizabeth Bachner, go to GraceFull.com or follow us: @gracefullbirth  or @BigBirthJunkie

    _________

    This episode is also sponsored by GraceFull where you can find BBJ's host Elizabeth's free ebook Birth Planning: All the Questions to Ask and all kinds of educational videos including Childbirth Education, Advanced Doula Trainings and Lactation Support. Go to GraceFull to download the ebook for free.
    And if you are doula, watch for it as we are doing international case reviews real soon...

    If you live in Los Angeles, check out GraceFull's midwives for home births, water birth, and our accredited birthing center. We also have a full wellness facility with NDs, Chiropractic, Therapy, Massage, Lactation and lots of amazing classes.
     

    • 1 hr 5 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
57 Ratings

57 Ratings

xtotes ,

Powerful

Love this podcast and recommend it to all my doula/midwife friends.

On a side note... Out of all the birth podcasts I listen to this one I like most because the host has the parent interviews in person rather than over the phone or over Skype. I have a hard time hearing those and it also feels more special to me to have that in person connection.

kcholmes ,

great for pregnant mamas!

i’ve searched thru all the birth story podcasts during my pregnancy and this is one of my favorites.

Media fly ,

Life changing. Mind blowing. Binge worthy.

And so much more.

I can’t believe I only found out about this podcast last week (!). I’m hooked.

The content is so earnest and ridonkulously compelling. I started listening as a birth worker, but I found this appealing to my heart as a woman TTC. The stories as visceral, human and passionate.

What’s more, you have Elizabeth peppering each story with background and medical tidbits. If you want to know more about foley balloons & the ‘foley 4,’ cervical lips and everything in between, it has all of that for the folks who really want (and need) to geek out on technical training.

I have fallen in love with this podcast and the women telling their stories. Dive in! You won’t regret it.

You may want to start with episode 16, but all of the accounts are so masterfully guided and told.

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