Demystifying Birth Psychology

Ashley Makan
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Demystifying Birth Psychology is a public education channel for the birth psychology movement, created by APPPAH — the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health. Hosted by Ashley Makan and Wendy Bruns, this podcast explores how our earliest experiences — from preconception, pregnancy, birth, and infancy — shape the foundations of human life. Grounded in APPPAH’s more than 40 years of research, education, and advocacy, each episode brings forward conversations at the intersection of science, lived experience, somatics, consciousness, and the human condition. Together, we explore how life before and around birth influences our nervous systems, identities, relationships, and capacity for connection — making prenatal and perinatal psychology more accessible for families, professionals, and communities.

Episodes

  1. Oct 16

    Birth Imprints & Rites of Passage: How Our Beginnings Shape Who We Become with Jane Hardwicke Collings

    Episode 7: Demystifying Birth PsychologyBirth Imprints & Rites of Passage: How Our Beginnings Shape Who We Become with Jane Hardwicke Collings What if the way we enter the world influences how we navigate every transformation that follows? In this episode of Demystifying Birth Psychology, we sit down with Jane Hardwicke Collings, former home birth midwife, author, and founder of the School of Shamanic Womancraft, to explore the lifelong influence of our earliest experiences. Drawing on decades of midwifery experience and the teachings of her mentor, Janine Parvati Baker, Jane shares how birth imprints, ancestral patterns, and cultural conditioning can shape our relationships with our bodies, our sense of safety, and the ways we move through life's major transitions. Together, we explore the interconnected rites of passage of menarche, pregnancy, birth, motherhood, and menopause, examining how each transition can reveal patterns established long before conscious memory. From the psychology of fear and safety in childbirth to the importance of community, nervous system regulation, and reclaiming feminine wisdom, this conversation invites us to reconsider birth not as an isolated event, but as part of a much larger human story—and an opportunity to transform the patterns we carry forward into future generations. Connect & Learn More: Jane Hardwicke Collings Website: https://janehardwickecollings.com School of Shamanic Womancraft: https://schoolofshamanicwomancraft.com APPPAH — Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health Website: https://birthpsychology.com Demystifying Birth Psychology is brought to you by APPPAH, exploring how our earliest experiences shape the way we live, connect, and relate.

  2. Oct 8

    Beyond Darwin: Birth Psychology, Subconscious Programming, & the Evolution of Humanity with Bruce Lipton

    In this episode of Demystifying Birth Psychology, hosts Ashley Makan and Wendy Bruns welcome Dr. Bruce Lipton, pioneering cell biologist and bestselling author of The Biology of Belief and his newest book, Beyond Darwin. Together, they explore how our earliest environments shape subconscious beliefs, behavior, relationships, and the way we experience the world. Drawing connections between epigenetics, prenatal and perinatal psychology, and human evolution, Bruce challenges conventional narratives of genetic determinism and competition, offering a vision of humanity rooted in cooperation, connection, and community. The conversation explores why awareness alone isn't enough to transform deeply ingrained patterns, how we can begin rewriting inherited programming, and why changing ourselves may be one of the most powerful ways to change the world. Learn more: Dr. Bruce Lipton: https://www.brucelipton.com APPPAH | Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health: https://birthpsychology.com Listen to Demystifying Birth Psychology on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts: https://birthpsychology.com/podcast/

  3. Sep 23

    The Messy Middle: Birth as Metamorphosis, Relationship, and Becoming with Britta Bushnell

    What if birth isn’t simply an event to prepare for, but a rite of passage that fundamentally changes who we are? Hosts Ashley Makan and Wendy Bruns welcome Dr. Britta Bushnell, mythologist, childbirth educator, relationship and parenthood specialist, and author of Transformed by Birth, for a conversation about the profound transformation that unfolds through pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood. Britta explores birth through the metaphor of metamorphosis—the “messy middle” of letting go, rebuilding, and becoming. Together, they discuss expectations and control, openness and resilience, how our own early experiences can surface in parenting, and the ways partners can move through transformation with greater curiosity, tenderness, and connection. The conversation also touches on self-compassion, rupture and repair, and what becomes possible when babies are understood as active participants in pregnancy and birth. In this episode: • Birth as a rite of passage and transformative process • The chrysalis, metamorphosis, and the “messy middle” • Letting go of expectations and opening to the unbidden • Openness, resilience, strength, and curiosity • How our own early experiences can surface in parenting • Supporting partners through simultaneous transformation • Moving from criticism toward curiosity and connection • Relationship as an ongoing practice • Self-compassion, rupture, repair, and our children’s inner voices • Babies as active participants in pregnancy and birth • How tending the beginning can create cultural ripple effects Learn more about Britta Bushnell, PhD: https://brittabushnell.com Instagram: @brittabushnellphd Book: Transformed by Birth Learn more about APPPAH: https://birthpsychology.com Demystifying Birth Psychology is presented by the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health (APPPAH), exploring how our earliest experiences—from preconception through birth and beyond—shape the human experience.

  4. Sep 16

    Breaking the Pattern: Epigenetics, Early Adversity, and the Possibility of Change with Dr. Bonnie Goff

    Breaking the Pattern: Epigenetics, Early Adversity, and the Possibility of Change with Dr. Bonnie Goff Hosts Ashley Makan and Wendy Bruns welcome developmental psychologist and UCLA lecturer Dr. Bonnie Goff for a conversation about how our earliest experiences shape the brain, nervous system, relationships, and sense of self. Dr. Goff reframes many responses to early adversity not as damage, but as intelligent adaptations designed for survival—and explores what neuroscience, attachment research, epigenetics, and neuroplasticity reveal about our capacity for change. Together, they discuss prenatal stress, co-regulation, rupture and repair, resilience, attachment, adult relationships, parenting, and the ways unconscious patterns can travel across generations. Most importantly, the conversation reminds us that development is not destiny: with awareness, connection, compassion, and new experiences, patterns can change—and what we heal today can influence the generations that follow. Learn more about Dr. Bonnie Goff:DrBonnieGoff.comInstagram: @drbonniegoff Learn more about APPPAH:BirthPsychology.comAssociation for Prenatal & Perinatal Psychology and Health

  5. Sep 9

    Allowed to Birth: Autonomy, Physiological Trust, and the Wisdom of Less

    Hosts Ashley Makan and Wendy Bruns welcome global midwife Kristine Lauria, whose decades of experience span home birth, humanitarian settings, breech birth, multiples, and more than 5,000 births across 25+ countries. Lauria reflects on her roots in traditional midwifery and explores how fear, over-medicalization, and loss of embodied skill have reshaped modern birth care. The conversation examines autonomy, physiological birth, breech and multiples, provider regulation, relational safety, and the difference between being at higher risk and being labeled high risk. Lauria discusses why women are so often taught to look outside themselves for authority, what it means to be “allowed” to birth, and how coercion and fear can disrupt labor physiology. She also shares the story behind the documentary Allowed to Birth, the importance of preserving traditional midwifery knowledge, and how prenatal and perinatal psychology changed the way she relates to babies and families in the birth space. Learn more about Kristine: https://kristinelauria.com/ Learn more about APPPAH: https://www.birthpsychology.com

  6. Aug 26

    Demystifying Birth Psychology | Trailer

    Ashley Makan and Wendy Bruns introduce APPPAH's new podcast, Demystifying Birth Psychology. Learn more about the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health (APPPAH): www.birthpsychology.com

  7. Aug 26

    Mothers as the Soil: Innate Design, Co-Regulation, and Postpartum Care

    Hosts Ashley Makan and Wendy Bruns welcome midwife, mother, and Innate Postpartum Care creator Rachelle Seliga for a wide-ranging conversation about what becomes possible when we understand human development through the lens of relationship, physiology, and early experience. Rachelle shares how her work evolved from a deep attunement to babies into a broader understanding of maternal wellness, describing mothers as the soil from which humanity grows. Together, they explore postpartum as a rite of passage, the role of co-regulation in healthy development, and how touch, sleep, feeding, and connection reflect our innate biological design. The conversation also examines how cultural conditioning can pull families away from physiology, how early experiences from the womb through childhood shape lifelong patterns, and why meaningful change requires support that extends beyond the individual. Rachelle shares how her work with practitioners across disciplines is helping create more integrated, non-hierarchical models of care rooted in relationship, embodiment, and the conditions that allow both mothers and babies to thrive. Learn More About Rochelle: www.innatetraditions.com Learn More About APPPAH: www.birthpsychology.com

  8. Aug 26

    Where the Human Story Begins | Introducing the APPPAH Podcast

    In the first episode of the APPPAH Podcast: Demystifying Birth Psychology, hosts Ashley Makan and Wendy Bruns explore a simple but far-reaching idea: our stories begin long before we have words for them. They introduce birth psychology and the work of APPPAH, exploring how our experiences during pregnancy, birth, and early life shape the nervous system, relationships, and the ways we move through the world. Wendy shares the origins of APPPAH and the pioneers who helped bring prenatal and perinatal psychology into greater awareness, while Ashley and Wendy share the personal experiences that led each of them to this work. From pregnancy and loss to childbirth, matrescence, doula work, and discovering APPPAH’s educational programs, this opening conversation offers a personal introduction to the field—and to the larger vision behind the podcast: making birth psychology more accessible, bringing these conversations beyond professional circles, and exploring what becomes possible when we understand more about where the human story begins. Learn more about APPPAH: www.birthpsychology.com

  • 1 Trailer
    7 Episodes

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About

Demystifying Birth Psychology is a public education channel for the birth psychology movement, created by APPPAH — the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health. Hosted by Ashley Makan and Wendy Bruns, this podcast explores how our earliest experiences — from preconception, pregnancy, birth, and infancy — shape the foundations of human life. Grounded in APPPAH’s more than 40 years of research, education, and advocacy, each episode brings forward conversations at the intersection of science, lived experience, somatics, consciousness, and the human condition. Together, we explore how life before and around birth influences our nervous systems, identities, relationships, and capacity for connection — making prenatal and perinatal psychology more accessible for families, professionals, and communities.

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