Down to Birth
Join Cynthia Overgard and Trisha Ludwig once per week for evidence-based straight talk on having a safe and informed birth, which starts with determining if you've hired the right provider. If we had to boil it down to a single premise, it's this: A healthy mom and baby isn't all that matters. We have more than 30 years' experience between us in midwifery, informed rights advocacy, publishing, childbirth education, postpartum support and breastfeeding, and we've personally served thousands of women and couples. Listen to the birth stories of our clients, listeners and celebrities, catch our expert-interviews, and submit your questions for our monthly Q&A episodes by calling us at 802-GET-DOWN. We're on Instagram at @downtobirthshow and also at Patreon.com/downtobirthshow, where we offer live ongoing events multiple times per month, so be sure to join our worldwide community. We are a Top .5% podcast globally with listeners in more than 80 countries every week. Become informed, empowered, and have a great time in the process. Join us and reach out any time - we love to hear from you. And as always, hear everyone, listen to yourself.
Episodes
Finally, after all these years, Trisha tells the stories of her three home births. Pregnancy, birth, & midwifery are woven into her life story, from her early obsession with pregnancy to her decision to pursue a career in midwifery, allowing her to understand every aspect of birth from a physiological and intellectual perspective. Hear how she became a midwife, how she got herself into labor with her first, grueli...
In this extraordinary episode, Leslie shares her deeply personal story of discovering a lump in her breast at 34 weeks pregnant—an aggressive, triple-negative breast cancer. A wellness coach who hadn’t taken over-the-counter medication in five years, Leslie spent her adult life doing everything she could to prevent disease. As she prepared to welcome her second baby at home, she was forced to face a diagnosis that wou...
Drawing from our their personal experiences, your words, and our intimate birth story processing sessions, Cynthia & Trisha delve into the neuroscience around beliefs and birth. Our brain constantly wants to make sense of things, but it often lands on unhelpful conclusions. This episode is about recognizing those negative beliefs and actively replacing them with empowering ones. It's about taking charge of yo...
Emily Woodward is a mother of two who planned a home birth for each of her babies. Her first labor began with confidence and joy—and stretched across multiple days, testing her endurance, her trust in her birth team, and her ability to surrender when the path ahead took an unexpected turn. She transferred from home to hospital with a crowning baby. Her second pregnancy was smooth and uneventful—until 31 weeks, when sh...
Welcome to the June Q&A with Cynthia & Trisha. This month we kick things off with a conversation about a midwife who dropped her client in early labor because her HBAC labor was taking too long to get going--as you can imagine, we have a lot to say about this! Next we take your questions:
One mom writes about her 3rd attempt at a homebirth after two hospital transfers and wonders if it is ok to keep her birth p...
Neuroscientist and author of The Nurture Revolution, Dr. Greer Kirschenbaum, PhD, joins us today to discuss the profound impact of nurturing care in the first three years of life. Drawing from decades of brain research, Greer explains how responsive, connected parenting in early life lays the neurological foundation for emotional regulation, mental health, and lifelong resilience—and why this critical window is so oft...
Welcome to the June Breastfeeding Q&A episode with Trisha & Cynthia. Today, we open with a follow-up discussion to our recent Patreon discussion on the predatory marketing of formula companies followed by a listener's comment about a hospital who forbade a mother and baby from doing skin-to-skin. Next, Trisha answers the following questions:
- Does a baby need to feed in the first 24 hours?
- What are your ...
Devon Stockton was deeply rooted in health and wellness and armed with years of medical experience. She had only ever envisioned a natural, low-intervention birth and took all of the necessary steps to prepare herself. But her birth took an unexpected turn upon arrival at the hospital when she discovered her baby was footling breech and a cesarean would be necessary. Devon recounts the emotional shift, the support of ...
Welcome to the May Q&A with Cynthia & Trisha. If you have been wondering what you should plan to eat after giving birth, we've got the answers in today's episode, and we think they'll surprise you! For today's regular episode, we answer the following:
- Can you remove an epidural for pushing?
- Can the cervix swell shut if you push before it is fully dilated?
- Can you prevent a tear in a precip...
What's the one question every woman wants to answer when considering a VBAC? Is it safe for me and my baby? In today's episode, Cynthia & Trisha break down the available data on VBAC, why we should discard the term TOLAC, the actual risks of uterine rupture, whether induced with Pitocon versus a prostaglandin or having spontaneous labor versus expectant management. We present the few cases in which a wom...
Did you know that how you breathe on a daily basis can influence how your birth goes? Yes, your rib cage impacts your pelvic tension! On today's episode, we have Lindsay McCoy, a birth doula, exercise physiologist, and co-founder of the Body Ready Method. She explains how breath, mobility, and pelvic balance all come together to support a smoother, more efficient labor—and how a few simple daily practices in preg...
Preeclampsia is an increasingly common diagnosis, but are we getting it right? This episode tackles the alarming reality of misdiagnosis and the rush to intervene prematurely with induction. Join us and functional medicine expert Sarah Thompson, researcher and author of Functional Maternity, as we dive into the deeper nature of preeclampsia, beyond simple blood pressure readings. Learn about the crucial roles of sleep...
Welcome to the April Q&A episode! Today's episode begins with your answers to our question: How do you cope when you are at your breaking point in parenting? If you are looking for some creative ideas, you will find them here! And someone, please tell us where one Mississippi, two Mississippi came from?
Next, we get down to birth and answer the following questions:
- Why do some women choose unmedicated, phy...
What happens when we invite our children into the sacred space of birth? In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Morgan MacDermott, a naturopathic doctor, perinatal health specialist, and mother of four, to talk about the transformative experience of having siblings present at birth. We tackle the key questions: Should all children be present at birth, and if not, which considerations should be considered? Will they be s...
Today we’re talking about one of the most important—and misunderstood—topics in maternity care: the unnecessary cesarean. In the U.S., about one in three babies is born by C-section, but in physiologic birth settings, that number can be as low as 2–4%. So what’s driving the difference?
In this episode, Cynthia and Trisha unpack the many layers behind the rising cesarean rate and offer a grounded, evidence-based approac...
In honor of Black Maternal Health Week, we’re joined by Stephanie Etienne and Kanika Harris, creators of the documentary Listen to Me. The film follows the pregnancy and birth journeys of several black women. It reveals a devastating reality: Black mothers in the U.S. and U.K. are dying in childbirth at far higher rates than white women regardless of education, income, or resources.
Kanika shares the heartbreaking stor...
What if sleeping beside your baby isn’t dangerous—but actually protective? In this episode, we talk about one of the most instinctive things mothers do—and one of the most feared and judged: co-sleeping. Today's guest is Isadora Ambrose, founder of Happy Co-Sleeper and a certified holistic infant sleep specialist.
Why are parents told to never sleep with their babies when every cell in their body wants to keep the...
Cynthia and Trisha are back with the March Q&A episode! This one kicks off with a fun discussion on things that our Instagram followers think people should know but don’t—like how, when you say you’re eating a kiwi, you’re actually referring to either a kiwi bird or, worse, a person from New Zealand!
In today’s Q&A episode, we answer these questions:
- Do I need to schedule a cesarean at 40 weeks if I’m planni...
In today's episode, Dr. Jenn Simmons shares her powerful journey from a leading breast cancer surgeon to an advocate for functional medicine and holistic health. Drawing from her personal experience with illness and healing, Dr. Simmons discusses the dangers and limitations of traditional breast cancer screening with mammography and offers insight into safer, more effective alternatives like QT imaging, the ARIA ...
Labor dystocia, often labeled as "failure to progress," is the leading reason for cesarean birth in the United States. At its core, prolonged labor is frequently influenced by suboptimal fetal positioning, as well as the mother’s biomechanics, anatomy, and physiology. In this episode, we delve into the true causes of labor dystocia and explore how intentional movement and positioning—both during pregnancy an...
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