37 episodes
The Real Birth Podcast Lucy Hill
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- Kids & Family
This is the Real Birth Podcast: a safe, welcoming platform to share birth stories. I'm Lucy Hill, a doula, mother, wife and total birth nerd living in Frome, Somerset in the UK. When I was pregnant, one of my favourite things to do was to listen to birth stories. During this time I read and listened to literally hundreds and hundreds of birth experiences shared by all kinds of parents, having all kinds of births. I quickly became obsessed with the narrative of birth and the power of storytelling. I am convinced that because I was so regularly exposed to hearing about REAL birth - the glory, the mess, the trauma, the comedy, the boredom, the ecstasy - I didn't fear it, because I knew so much about what could unfold. When eventually I went into labour, my planned natural home birth turned into an undiagnosed breech and very unexpected cesarian. Of course I felt shocked. But beneath this, I felt calm and safe in the knowledge that birth can and does take twists and turns we can't predict. I had, in essence, heard it all before. I felt part of a wider collective of humans, each with stories as unique yet familiar as mine. The magic of birth stories existed not just for me as an expectant parent learning something unknown, but I also noticed the profound healing and peaceful resolution which often came from families revisiting and reflecting on their births. All of the podcasts I found dedicated to birth stories were either American or Australian, and I deeply wished there had been a bank of UK birth stories I could have mined for information, particularly when it came to NHS care which is so different to care models overseas. Since having my son in 2019 I have continued to listen to birth story podcasts, but have still yet to find a consistent, birth-story-dedicated podcast in the UK. Enter The Real Birth Podcast! Series 1 launches in early 2022, featuring a range of stories from UK parents and a variety of different birth experiences. Whether you're pregnant, on the other side of birth or just love geeking out about birth, I'm so excited for you to join me.
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Hannah | Long Labour, Water Birth, Medical Gaslighting, Broken Arm, Healing C-Section Birth
Today’s guest is Hannah, who shares her two births - which could not be more different from each other.
Her first son was born when she was 21, and as a young mum Hannah felt she was continually ignored by the medical staff - who denied her pain relief, refused to listen when she said she felt something was wrong with her baby, and left her alone and unable to sit up or hold her baby immediately after birth. Hannah's intuition was right, as her baby was born with a broken arm, something which was continually referred to as 'impossible'.
What Hannah went through was extremely traumatic, and while I don’t usually do content warnings, I wanted to let listeners know that this experience was deeply distressing for Hannah - and I think it would be very understandable for you to feel that while listening, too.
Hannah’s second baby was born 8 years later by elective c-section - and was profoundly healing for her. I’m so glad Hannah was able to share both her stories with me - I hope you enjoy hearing them!
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If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!
Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.
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Jo | Fast Labour, Heart Defect, NICU Baby, Necrotising Enterocolitis (NECS), Surgery
Hello and welcome back to The Real Birth Podcast! This week I chat to Jo, whose daughter was diagnosed with a heart defect at her 20 week scan. This meant she needed surgery very soon after birth, and so Jo and her husband were preparing for an induction in Bristol, where a team of paediatric experts would be on hand.
However, Jo's waters broke early and what followed was an incredibly stressful journey to hospital during a bank holiday weekend, where they encountered several major road collisions and more than quadrupled their estimated journey time, all without pain relief. When she arrived at hospital, Jo was fully dilated and her baby was born soon afterwards.
Whilst in NICU waiting for surgery, baby Malia was also diagnosed with NEC, a serious bowel disease. Jo shares how the support of other NICU parents and people who had children with heart defects was invaluable to her - but is also very honest about her ongoing trauma from those weeks and months in and out of hospital with her little girl.
Malia is now a very happy and healthy little girl - and it's wonderful to hear Jo talk about her. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did.
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If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!
Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Mez | Non-Binary Parent, IVF, Induction, Hypnobirthing, Queer Family, Inclusive Midwife
Hello everyone! This week I'm thrilled to be joined by Mez, who shares the birth story of their son. Mez is a non-binary parent who has 4 older children with their wife - however this pregnancy was the first time Mez had carried and birthed a child themselves.
After a successful IVF round, Mez threw themselves into learning everything they could about pregnancy, labour and birth, and used hypnobirthing techniques to combat anxiety during their induction process.
Mez's midwife in pregnancy and birth was supportive, inclusive and respectful, but the care they received afterwards was not so positive. Huge thanks to Mez for sharing their experience on the podcast today - it's wonderful to be able to highlight the experiences of queer and non-binary parents on this platform, and I have no doubt your story will be a great resource to many.
I hope you love listening to this one as much as I enjoyed making it...
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If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!
Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Jenny | Positive Induction Story, Multiple Miscarriage, Silent Coeliac, Water Birth, Lockdown
Hello all!
This week my guest is Jenny, who shares her two birth stories. Jenny's first birth was many people's ideal experience - a natural delivery in the water, with very little intervention - and so when she was faced with an induction for her second baby's birth she was unsure she could have the same kind of positive experience. But as you will hear from Jenny's birth stories, she and her team came together and made the birth of her second daughter a truly positive induction.
Jenny and I also discuss her experience of multiple miscarriage, and how her forward-thinking GP helped diagnose her with silent coeliac disease - a condition linked with recurrent miscarriage. By making diet changes, Jenny was able to go on to have a healthy pregnancy with her second baby.
I hope you enjoy listening to Jenny's birth stories!
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If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!
Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Lucy | CBAC, Home Birth Transfer, Back to Back Baby, Miscarriage
Hello and welcome back to series 4 of The Real Birth Podcast!
To mark the start of a new season, and my return from maternity leave, I'll be sharing my own birth story. My second baby arrived in April 2023, and was born by CBAC - caesarean birth after a previous caesarean. I did everything in my power to achieve a HBAC - home birth after caesarean - but events unfolded in a way which meant this didn't happen for me. While I am still grieving the birth I never had, I am proud to share our story and hope you enjoy hearing it.
It's wonderful to be back!
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If you enjoyed this episode please do share it with a friend, rate and review the podcast on whichever platform you're using, and subscribe or follow to keep up to date with future episodes. If you have found the work I do valuable in any way, you can buy me a coffee - it helps fuel the passion when I’m editing into the night!
Please do follow me on social media - I'm @RealBirthPodcast on Instagram, and Real Birth Podcast on Facebook.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Ashley | High BMI, Induction, 2 caesareans, VBAC, Home Birth, Freebirth, HBAC
Hello everyone! Welcome to this special bonus episode of The Real Birth Podcast. I actually wasn't intending to release something so soon after the last episode, but sometimes an opportunity presents itself and it's just too good to pass on! This special episode features Ashley Winning, the host of the VBAC Home Birth Stories podcast.
VBAC stands for vaginal birth after caesarean and is a safe and valid choice for most - if not all - women having a subsequent baby after a surgical birth. However it's rare that home birth is encouraged or discussed, and it largely comes down to families and care providers not necessarily understanding the risks of HBAC. Many people assume it's not even an option!
After two C-sections, birth trauma and being discriminated against during both her pregnancies, Ashley decided her third birth would be a different story. She had an undisturbed home birth VBAC with her third daughter - attended only by her husband and doula. Ashley has so much wisdom to share, not only through her podcast which is committed to sharing stories and evidence based information about home birthing after caesarean, but also through her coaching business (The Motherhood Circle) where she works with women to help them plan and achieve empowered births - however they may turn out.
Thanks for joining me for this special bonus episode - please feel free to share it with someone you know! As I go off on maternity leave properly, remember we have over 30 episodes of The Real Birth Podcast you can catch up with, and you can always get in touch with me via my social media - I'm @realbirthpodcast on Instagram and Facebook.
Until next time, I wish you all love and happy birthing! Bye...
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