Femammal Greer

Kimberly Sharpe, who has practiced as a postpartum doula, explains the role of a doula in pregnancy, delivery, and after delivery, and discusses others forms of women-centric birthing care a mother may receive. She shares these resources: 
In the Flo, by Alisa Vitti 
The Business of Being Born 
Pacific Birth Collective  
DONA International 
Contact Femammal:
Email femammalpodcast@gmail.com Follow the podcast on Facebook at Femammal Podcast If you have feedback or want to be a future guest, please get in touch!

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Today's guest is Rachel Bergin. Rachel is a middle-grade science teacher in Nashville, Tennessee. In her freetime, she is also a contra dance caller who is particulary adept at calling family-friendly dances as well as techno/pop dances. In this episode, she shares the story of how she and her husband became foster parents, with all of the joys and challenges that the role of a foster mom brings.Contact Femammal:
Email femammalpodcast@gmail.com Follow the podcast on Facebook at Femammal Podcast If you have feedback or want to be a future guest, please get in touch!

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Today's guest is Christina Valenzuela, who is the owner and creative director of Pearl & Thistle, LLC, where she offers a unique blend of theology and science to bring better body literacy to Catholics. She has been a certified instructor in the Boston Cross Check™ method of Natural Family Planning since 2013. Her latest book, The Language of Your Body: Embracing God's Design for Your Cycle, is scheduled for release with OSV in 2024. In this conversation, she shares information from her Perimenopause Prep: Navigating NFP with Shifting Fertility resource, and reflects on the transitions she is getting ready to navigate as she approaches perimenopause. She also shares these resources:https://fertilityscienceinstitute.org/directory/https://readyourbody.com/educators-directory/https://www.larabriden.com/hormone-repair-manual/https://pearlandthistle.podia.com/perimenopause-prep-navigating-nfp-with-shifting-fertilityContact Femammal:
Email femammalpodcast@gmail.com Follow the podcast on Facebook at Femammal Podcast If you have feedback or want to be a future guest, please get in touch!

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Today's guest is Meli Barber, who works in the field of family social services in Indianapolis. She holds a Master's of Social Work degree and a Master's of Arts in Theology degree. She shares the story of her marriage to her wife, Carli, and the professional transition out of Catholic parish ministry she had to make to prioritize her relationship. She also reflects on the ways in which her imagination for what her family could be expanded after coming out in college and after marriage equality was federally recognized in the United States.
She shares this resource for LGBTQ+ Catholics and allies:
Dignity USA
https://www.dignityusa.org/
Contact Femammal:
Email femammalpodcast@gmail.com Follow the podcast on Facebook at Femammal Podcast If you have feedback or want to be a future guest, please get in touch!

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Today's guest is Mia McCarthy. Having navigated a long journey to parenthood, Mia is a proud mother of one who works in the area of sustainability. Having spent many years working focused on social justice issues, both professionally and personally, Mia is currently running in local elections in Ireland hoping to bring her knowledge and experience to ensure equitable access to the infrastructure needed to ensure a connected liveable community for residents. In this conversation, Mia shares about her journey to parenthood, which included several rounds of IVF and ultimately included surrogacy.
For another perspective on surrogacy, she shares this information about a new short documentary from Netflix, entitled "Two Mothers," by filmakers Anna Rodgers and Zlata Filipovic (not available in all countries):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CRxJAgIYtY
https://www.joe.ie/movies-tv/two-mothers-netflix-documentary-irish-films-790944
Contact Femammal:
Email femammalpodcast@gmail.com Follow the podcast on Facebook at Femammal Podcast If you have feedback or want to be a future guest, please get in touch!

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Amy Houghtaling is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary and has spent most of her career working with people struggling with homelessness. She now holds the position that she believes will do more good in the world than any job she’s ever had:  she is a stay at home mom to her son and daughter, biological siblings adopted as embryos.  In this episode, she shares about the process she went through to adopt six embryos and attempt to give birth to each of them. She reflects on how she grew into her motherhood and developed a deep sense of connection to all six embryos through this challenging process. And she's offered to be in touch with anyone considering embryo adoption who would like to connect with her personally—you can do that by emailing femammalpodcast@gmail.com, and I will make sure your message reaches Amy.
Contact Femammal:
Email femammalpodcast@gmail.com Follow the podcast on Facebook at Femammal Podcast If you have feedback or want to be a future guest, please get in touch!

Logo design: copyright Darragh Hannan