October 7, 2024 • 35 mins
Have you ever questioned the conventional norms of childbirth and wondered about embracing a more natural approach?
Join me in this episode as we reconnect with Katie Stroud, my dear friend, inspiring fellow childbirth educator, and co-creatrix of Birth Bliss.
Katie shares her transformative journey, influenced by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it led her to explore the philosophy of sovereign birth during her second pregnancy and now again in her current pregnancy.
Together, we introduce our exciting new collaboration, Birth Bliss, a comprehensive childbirth education course designed to guide you on your journey to pursuing a natural and undisturbed birth experience, regardless of the setting.
This episode, and our Birth Bliss course, isn't just about the mechanics of childbirth; it’s a deep exploration of the emotional and physical journey that comes with it.
Whether you're about to have your first child or are on a subsequent pregnancy, our conversation and our Birth Bliss Childbirth Education Course offers valuable perspectives and heartfelt encouragement for those considering a natural birth approach.
MyMaine Birth is a space where we share the real life stories of familes and their unique birth experiences in the beautiful state of Maine. From our state's biggest hospitals to birth center births, and home births - every birth story deserves to be heard and celebrated. Whether you are a soon to be mom, a seasoned mother, or simply interested in the world of birth - these episodes are for you.
Thank you again for listening, don't forget to subscribe and leave me a review - and I'll see you back here again next week!
Enrollment for Birth Bliss is Now OPEN - Save Your Spot & Embrace Knowledge as Power for Your Natural Birth
October 27, November 2, and November 10
9am - 11am
Lead by Childbirth Educators Katie Stroud and Angela Laferriere
Location: Mainely Succulents, Orono Maine
Register: HERE
Birth Plan Essentials - A FREE Workshop where I walk you through all of the intracacies of creating your own personalized Birth Plan.
October 12, November 23, & December 14 from 11am - Noon
Location: Old Town Public Library
Register: HERE
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Angela (00:01):
I'm Angela and you're listening to my Maine Birth a
space where we share thereal-life stories of families
and their unique birthexperiences in the beautiful
state of Maine.
From our state's biggesthospitals to birth center births
and home births, every birthstory deserves to be heard and
(00:22):
celebrated.
Whether you're a soon-to-be mom, a seasoned mother or simply
interested in the world of birth, these episodes are for you.
Welcome back to the my MaidBirth Podcast.
Today I have a very specialepisode as we reconnect with
past guest Katie Stroud, who iscurrently navigating a wild and
(00:46):
beautiful pregnancy journey ofher own.
As a passionate childbirtheducator and graduate of the
Free Birth Society's RadicalBirth Keeper School, katie is
embracing the philosophy of freebirth and she's here to share
the intimate details of herexperience, from the moment she
discovered she was pregnant tohow she's nourishing her body
(01:07):
and managing her own prenatalcare.
But that's not all.
Katie and I have teamed up tocreate Birth Bliss, a
comprehensive childbirtheducation course designed for
anyone planning a natural birth,whether that's in a hospital, a
birth center or at home, with alicensed midwife or through
sovereign birth.
(01:27):
Our shared vision is groundedin the fundamental belief that
birth works best when it'sallowed to unfold in a natural
and undisturbed progression.
Knowledge is power, and we'rededicated to equipping you with
the tools that you need for aconfident and informed birth
(01:48):
experience.
As I am currently undergoing mytraining at the Free Birth
Society's MatriBirth MidwiferyInstitute, our combined
expertise is infused into thiscourse, ensuring that you
receive the most holistic andsupportive natural birth
education possible in Maine.
Now again, birth Bliss is athree-part complete childbirth
(02:12):
education series.
We're hosting it at MainleySucculents in Orono on October
27th, november 3rd and November10th.
We're holding it from 9 am to11 am each of those days.
We're holding it from 9am to11am each of those days.
Enrollment for the entire thingis only $129 for all three
classes, and this includes aseat for you and one birth
(02:32):
partner.
And, as an added bonus, if youpay in full, you'll receive an
invitation for a complimentarybirth coaching session with
either myself or Katie, and thisis valued at $129.
So if you're desiring a naturalbirth and want to learn more,
this is a no brainer.
Not only are we going to begathering in person, but there's
(02:56):
also going to be a privateonline community to stay
connected with us and the otherlocal parents in the group.
And in our final class, we'regoing to be getting our hands
dirty and creating a succulentbirth arrangement courtesy of
our hosts mainly succulents.
So if you're pregnant andcraving a natural birth
(03:17):
experience, this episode is foryou.
If you're interested in signingup for Birth Bliss, you can
head over to my website.
If you're interested in signingup for Birth Bliss, you can
head over to my website,mymainbirthcom.
Slash birthbliss.
All right, let's get to it.
Hi, katie, welcome back to myMain Birth.
Hey, angela, I am so excited tohave you back on the podcast
(03:41):
today.
You shared your first two birthstories in episode 48.
So for anyone that hasn't had achance to listen to that one
yet, go check it out.
I've got it linked over in theshow notes.
It's actually the second mostdownloaded episode of the
podcast, so lots of women havefound a great deal of value in
(04:03):
the wisdom that you share overin that episode.
But for anyone that might nothave heard it yet, will you
start by sharing a little bitabout you and your family?
Katie (04:13):
I'm Katie.
I live in northern centralMaine, in Sabat.
I am a wife and a mother of twoboys and I'm currently pregnant
with our third baby.
And I'm currently pregnant withour third baby.
They are coming early next year, sometime January, and I am a
sovereign birth coach, I like tosay also I'm a free birth
(04:33):
advocate, but I mainly like tosupport women in making the
decisions that are best for them, while also giving them all of
the information and tools tonavigate getting through their
pregnancy, whether it's theirfirst time, second, third,
whatever.
I'm just super passionate aboutwomen's work really, and that
(04:57):
didn't really start from a youngage.
But I always thought I was likea midwife in another life or
something.
And, uh, it kind of startedwhen I learned fertility
awareness method actually, and Igot really really into learning
about my body and how, howeverything works in my cycle and
I just I was obsessed with likethe fact that I could know all
(05:19):
of this about my body just bylike listening to it and
observing the signs and beingmore in deep with my body.
So that kind of started thenand I kind of went down this you
know more natural lifestyle atthat point as well for my first
son, so my first when I waspregnant with my first son he's
(05:40):
three and a half and I wentthrough the medical system with
him.
I actually worked in themedical system as an x-ray tech
and I never pictured it beingany other way because that's
just kind of how I grew up.
I grew up very medically minded.
It's normal to birth in ahospital, right, and that is the
norm now.
So, yeah, I went through themedical system with him.
(06:00):
I birthed him at a hospital inVancouver and ended up being
with a midwife.
But I worked at an.
I went through an obstetricpractice that had midwives there
as well.
His birth was overall okay.
But after that it kind of sentme down this path of wanting to
(06:22):
dig deeper into, I guess, all ofthe things about mothering.
Like I never questioned orlooked into vaccinations and
stuff like that before I had mychildren.
I just was like a given thatthat was going to happen.
But suddenly I had this babyand my world just shifted and
(06:42):
changed so much and I feel likethat was like a big catalyst for
me, as well as the COVIDpandemic.
That was a big eye opener forme.
So anyway, long story short, itset me down a path of
uncovering a lot, going downrabbit holes, evolving as a
person and as a mother, and yeah, and so a couple years later we
(07:05):
decided or a year and a halflater we decided we wanted to
try for another baby.
And it was at that point that,before actually I got pregnant,
I somehow came across a podcastcalled the Free Birth Society
podcast, which I'm sure a lot ofyour listeners are familiar
with.
If they're not, definitelyrecommend giving it a listen.
There's so much medicine inthose stories, as well as all
(07:28):
birth stories really.
I kind of came across thatbecause I was obsessed with
listening to birth storiesthrough my first pregnancy and
then kind of even after.
I continued here and there, butI always listened to stories of
like the quote unquote naturalbirths or like unmedicated
births, and then I kind ofstarted slowly getting to like
(07:48):
the home birth stories.
And then I discovered the freebirth society and it was like
this whole new realm of birth,pregnancy and birth that I
didn't, I wasn't even aware of,I didn't know was a thing I and
it seems like it would be commonsense to like be aware that
that would be a thing like oh,some women just have pregnancies
(08:10):
and give birth and don't evergo to a doctor, and it's totally
normal and natural and a partof their life.
But it just didn't hit me asthat.
I know women that that has comeso natural to them and I love
that because I think it's reallycool that they don't need a
podcast to kind of like knowthat, like in their deep down
and with their intuition that oh, this just makes sense, right.
(08:32):
But also when you're going tothe doctor on a regular basis
and like you're seeing your gynoand you're seeing all the
people, if that's a part of yourday-to-day life, it would make
sense that when you get pregnantthat continues.
You go to the doctor for thatand stuff.
But I guess at this point in mylife I wasn't really doing that.
(08:55):
I wasn't seeing a doctor, Iwasn't.
That just wasn't in my realm.
There was nothing I needed fromthem.
I was learning a lot aboutnatural remedies and holistic
medicine and everything and howto heal my family at home and
with nutrition and through ourdaily practices.
So when I discovered thepodcast, it kind of just made
(09:16):
sense, it clicked for me and Ihad the thought when we have
another baby, I think I want todo this this way.
So that's what that's what Idid and it wasn't really scary
for me but it was really eyeopening and just it opened up a
lot for me.
(09:37):
So I get pregnant in aroundAugust and start listening to
the podcast before then.
So I'm like familiar with freebirth society and I see that
they have a really amazingprogram called the radical birth
keeping school and it likeexcited me so much to see that I
was like what is this?
(09:58):
I want to know more.
So I, you know, I followed somepeople that I knew that had
taken the course and I justlooked more into it and all of
it was getting me so excited tothink about becoming a birth
support person or like a birthcoach or like all the different
ways I could go with it.
So the Free Birth Society has acourse called the Radical Birth
(10:19):
Keeping School school and it'skind of like I guess if you want
to use the word doula, you canuse that word just to make it
the most comparable to whatpeople understand, because a
birth keeper isn't a term peopleare familiar with, but I guess
the closest thing would be kindof like a doula.
Anyway.
So I decided I think I want toenroll in this school and I'm
(10:42):
going to be pregnant while I'min this school.
It's a three month long programand I feel like it would be so
amazing and just like it's goingto feel really good to be
around that kind of community ofwomen who truly believe in the
biological design of birth inour bodies.
(11:03):
And you know, I was excited forwhat I was going to learn.
What tools are they going tobring to the table?
What kinds of things are goingto make my life as a woman and a
mother and a wife better?
Because that's what the programwas about really, not just
about how to be a birthkeeper.
But I was very in-depth andused a lot of tools Like, for
(11:27):
example, if anyone's familiarwith Byron Katie's work, it's
called the work.
We used a lot of that and youknow the drama triangle or you
could call it the victimtriangle People know it that way
as well and just all thesetools.
And then there were the toolsthat I learned.
And then there were also thecalls, the weekly calls, three
(11:48):
days a week, of two hours beingon these Zoom calls, surrounded
with women who just had thiscraving for the knowledge about
learning about physiologicalbirth and being there to support
women and helping shed light onhow birth can really be and how
it is biologically designed tobe and how it works best.
(12:11):
And you know how the systemisn't really always there for us
in the best way, of coursethere it's there for a reason
and I believe it's there foremergency reasons.
That's my opinion.
It's kind of a radical opinion,but I know that some listeners
may resonate more than othersand I encourage you, if you
don't resonate, maybe just kindof think about why you feel
(12:35):
differently and like I don'tknow.
It's an invitation to becomemore curious, I guess, in
general, instead of judgmental.
Of course, we all kind of jumpto the judgmental train because
we're human, I do, of course,but I think that really
everything that everything thatwe come across is an opportunity
to become more curious and justlike, hmm, I wonder why they
(12:58):
feel that way, or I wonder what,what this is about.
So, um, yeah, I was actually inmy radical birth keeping school,
which is called RBKk.
There were at least 10 otherwomen pregnant with me during
this time and it was like sobeautiful to just see us all
like walking this journey ofcalled wild pregnancy, I like to
(13:20):
just say that, like it's justliving your life, you continue
to live and you're just pregnantas well and you're doing the
things that feel good for you.
Whether that's your prenatalcare would be maybe like walking
with a friend once a week,going on a nice walk.
Maybe you have a birth keeperand you're meeting with them
monthly or every other week orwhatever, and you're getting to
(13:42):
just talk and work out all ofyour fears and talk about your
dream birth.
And so, yeah, what my wildpregnancy looked like was really
just continuing to live,listening to birth stories,
because I really find medicinein that and it gave me just more
confidence.
Some women don't like listeningto stories while they're
pregnant because they get thesethoughts in their head that
(14:04):
aren't their own and whatever.
And if that doesn't feel rightfor you, then yeah, that's great
, but I really liked listeningto them at that point in my
pregnancy.
So, and then just being in thiscommunity with a bunch of other
women and my teachers, emilySaldea and Yolanda Norris-Clark,
who are just like two of thebiggest pioneers right now in
sovereign birth, physiologicalbirth, and they just it was just
(14:27):
incredible and it felt reallygood.
It just gave me more confidenceand knowing in my body that
like this is designed to workpretty well when it's left alone
and disturbed.
So the pregnancy was overall youknow it was it was good,
besides some outside things thatwere happening in my family
that were kind of out of out ofour control.
(14:48):
But yeah, so I ended up havingmy second baby.
It was a free birth.
So in the episode we've alreadyrecorded I talked about my
birth, so I'm not going to gointo a whole lot of detail.
But yeah, my second baby wasborn at home, sovereign birth.
It was amazing and beautifuland perfect and literally the
birth dream that I had beenenvisioning throughout my
(15:11):
pregnancy.
It was pretty much exactly that, which I think is a testament
to just how powerful, if youwant to call it manifestation is
, or just kind of speaking outour desires and our hopes and
wishes.
It's a lot more powerful thanpeople give it credit for.
And yeah, I mean, and if itdidn't go exactly that way,
that's great too, but it'sreally still powerful to have
(15:33):
those birth dreams.
So, anyway, it was beautiful.
I pretty much was kind of justby myself while my husband and
son were hanging out laboring inmy room just doing the birth
dance I call it.
It was really so, so mild, andI don't like saying that
necessarily, because I feel likewomen think that's how it's
(15:54):
supposed to be and it's notnecessarily.
It can be somewhat hard andlong.
The birth that happens for usis the birth that's meant to be
there to show us whatever it is,reveal to us things.
But I think a big part of it isbecause I was not being watched
.
I felt really safe andcomfortable.
I was in my bed.
There weren't like brightfluorescent lights over me and
(16:18):
just all of that plays into thehormonal blueprint of what was
going on in my body.
Everything was cascadingexactly the way it was supposed
to, cascading exactly the way itwas supposed to.
So, yeah, and then I went intothe tub and my transition was
like 30 minutes and he was bornin the bathtub.
My husband picked him up,caught him and brought him up to
me and he took like a minute tocry and it was beautiful.
(16:41):
And I realized, you know,within 10 seconds I looked, of
course I'm like, oh, I haveanother son, I had said it's
another boy and yeah, and sothat birth was.
It was really beautiful and itjust really set my already deep
knowing that, like, this is howit's supposed to be and this is
truly the design.
It set that knowing in deeperfor me and I don't know if
(17:05):
things would have wentdifferently if I would feel
differently.
But I think that there'ssomething to still trusting,
even when things don't gonecessarily perfectly, because
with life comes death, andthat's a big topic for the birth
world and I don't think thatthere's enough talk about that.
When it comes to medical birth,it's just like you assume that
(17:27):
your baby's going to be aliveand that you're going to live
through it and there's peoplethere to save you, basically.
But I think that's a specialpart about the sovereign birth
community is that women don'tthey don't shy away from these
topics of their fears in birth.
What they're actually maybescared of they don't shy away
from talking about the if, thewhat if, because there's always
(17:50):
that possibility.
So that's just to say that like, just because the birth was
like perfect, of course I feellike it, like that's how it's
supposed to be Right, but I dostill fully believe that like,
even if things didn't line upexactly like that, that I would
still have those beliefs, notexactly like that, that I would
(18:12):
still have those beliefs.
So yeah, so anyway, postpartumwasn't great though, I will
admit, and that's kind of mademe even more passionate about
postpartum work as well.
When it comes to pregnancy,birth and postpartum, I think
that gets neglected way too muchand it's just as important as
the birth.
So, yeah, that's kind ofbecoming more a part of my work
in birth work, so yeah.
Angela (18:35):
Awesome.
So now will you share with mewhen you found out you were
pregnant for the third time andI guess a little bit about your
thoughts in choosing your care,although it seems obvious after
your second pregnancy, right?
So how yeah?
Katie (18:52):
care, although it seems obvious after your second
pregnancy, right?
So how?
Yeah, yeah.
So after I had my baby, Iactually I did things so much
different with him.
I wasn't working full time, Iwas determined to exclusively
breastfeed.
I really didn't want to have apump in my life.
It's just like extra work, youknow, washing the parts, doing
it, and I didn't feel like my,like you, you don't need that,
right?
Like our bodies aren't designedto really do that.
(19:13):
It's great if you do, if itfeels good, but so, yeah, things
.
But things are different withhim.
With my first, I didn't get mycycle back until I was
completely done nursing and Ihad like an extra oversupply
with him and maybe that wasbecause I pumped.
I mean, who knows, maybe it wasbecause I was anxious about a
tongue tie that he had, so I waspumping extra and doing all
(19:35):
these extra things.
But so maybe I think that extrasupply or something had
something to do with my hormonesnot being ready to have my
cycle again.
But with my second, I was justnursing and my cycle returned at
like eight months postpartumand I was like, whoa, okay, you
know, not super ready.
(19:55):
But also I felt like, oh, maybethis is a sign of like vitality
, I don't know.
So it came back in eight months.
So I mean it was still a goodamount of time.
It wasn't like right off thebat.
But with my first it was 17months, and then my second or 16
months and my son was eight.
So it was quite a bigdifference and I was kind of
like, oh, maybe it's because youknow the way we're doing it or
(20:20):
whatever, my son, my second son,is just so different and it's
like, oh, you can't control thetemperament of your baby, you
can't control the soul that'sgoing to come to you and you
have to like just surrender.
And he just was he wasn't intonursing that much like he really
just.
And it kind of broke my heartbecause it made me feel like,
you know, I don't know, you takeit kind of personally as a mom,
(20:41):
I guess, but I really had tojust surrender and he ended up
like kind of weaning himself atlike 10 months postpartum and I
was, I was just heartbroken andI just had to let it go.
I tried like pumping to.
You know, at that point I waslike maybe I can try to get my
supply up, but with my cycle andmaybe some stress in life.
(21:03):
I just wasn't able to produceenough.
It was causing me more stress,so I was getting like maybe two
ounces every time, and so I justlet it go and I said you know
what he's doing this, becausethis is what his body needs.
And so, yeah, and so I was kindof tracking with fertility
awareness method, but veryloosely, and obviously, when
(21:27):
you're not tracking something oryou know, on her hormonal break
control, there's a largerpossibility that you're going to
conceive.
And that's what happened.
It was it must have happenedabout 11 months postpartum.
And so funny I actually.
So I, I had my second baby,axel, on mother's day of 2023.
It was beautiful, perfect.
(21:48):
And then this year we had hisbirthday party and everything.
And then the next day wasMother's Day and I took a
pregnancy test that day and,surprise, I was pregnant.
So I just think it was justlike.
So it's just funny that you know, a year later I'm finding out
I'm pregnant again and, to bevery honest, I was really sad
(22:13):
and scared because I was notready.
I was, we were not trying, itwas not conscious conception and
I had a lot of plans for likesome health journeys that we
were going to go on mostlymyself just dealing with my gut
health.
I was going to go in like thetotal gaps protocol if anyone's
(22:34):
familiar with that it's.
It's incredible and it can doso much healing for not only
like physical symptoms but likea lot of mental symptoms autism,
adhd, schizophrenia, so many,so many things.
So anyway, I had some big plansand this baby kind of like put
a stop to that and I felt likereally sad and it was mostly
(22:58):
because I wanted to heal myself,because I knew we would have
more children and I reallywanted to be able to have a
pregnancy where I could fullyfeel nourished and be drinking
raw milk and making just likereally nourishing foods that I
can tolerate.
That as of now, I can'ttolerate those things, so there
(23:21):
are times where I don't feellike I'm getting as much
nourishment.
So anyway, I really wanted to.
I was determined to have mythird pregnancy be one where I
could fully be just likenourished, and so that's what
made me the most sad, and then Iwas kind of upset with myself
for letting it happen and notgiving this baby the best chance
(23:41):
.
That's how I feel.
I think as mothers and women,we often kick ourselves a lot
more.
We're hard on ourselves and Ijust once again the word
surrender had to happen, like Ireally had to surrender because
there wasn't another option forme.
I didn't think about any otherthing.
But okay, we're having thisbaby, but, yeah, it took me a
(24:03):
little while to come to termswith it and to really let it be
the reality, I guess.
And of course, yeah, like yousaid, my plans for this
pregnancy have been the same asmy last, same for my birth.
Angela (24:23):
What are some things that?
Katie (24:23):
you're considering for your prenatal care?
Yeah, so, being outside of themedical model, obviously I'm not
going to check up, not seeingany providers, which is a huge
plus.
It takes so much stress off myplate and it's just something
like I don't even think aboutanymore.
Like you, it's not, you know.
But that being said, my versionof prenatal care for me in this
(24:47):
pregnancy is kind of just doingthings that feel good for me in
the moment.
It sounds really basic andsimple, but like it doesn't have
to be complicated.
I don't think and Ithinkplicate it.
So, yeah, I'm just trying tonourish my body with lots of
home-cooked foods and having alot of herbal infusions that are
(25:09):
loaded with vitamins andminerals.
I choose not to take a prenatalvitamin.
That's a whole other topic thatwe could talk about for a while
but prenatal vitamins justaren't bioavailable for our
bodies.
So I prefer to get my nutritionfrom as much as I can for my
diet and I supplement a littlebit with collagen and protein,
(25:31):
because protein is a hard onefor me to get daily.
So having a really good proteinpowder has been helpful for me
to meet my goals of at least ahundred grams of protein a day.
I think that nutrition is sounder under talked about, I
guess, um, for pregnant women,and because of that, there's
(25:52):
more like things likepreeclampsia and or the
diagnosis of those things, whichthat's debatable as well.
But, yeah, so I think thathaving a good foundation of
nutrition is so important forall women in pregnancy, and so
that's a big one for me.
And then, yeah, I'm justspending a lot of time with my
family and I'm home pretty muchevery day with my boys, while my
(26:16):
husband's working, and we getoutside multiple times a day.
My youngest loves being outside, so that helps, even sometimes
when I don't feel like it.
It's always very grounding,quite literally, to get outside
and get fresh air and just tryto check out of my to-do list.
(26:36):
That's been something that I'vebeen working through through
this pregnancy and that it'sbeen teaching me.
In the beginning I was prettytired and my body just wanted to
rest more and like stop doingmore, and I really had to like
stop my ego from trying to tellme that I needed to do more and
(26:57):
like do the same things.
I usually try, because I'vealways got like a to-do list
going on in my head, so I'vebeen really trying to lean into
rest more.
It's still been a struggle in alot of ways, but I think that's
a big thing that I'm beingtaught through this pregnancy.
So, yeah, taking baths isanother big one, magnesium baths
(27:18):
and I really think that'spretty much, pretty much all the
things that I can think of that.
That, yeah, whatever feels goodto me, you know.
So, yeah, just living your life, yeah, exactly Living my life.
And you know, sometimes I'lltake my fetus scope out and
listen to my belly, just becauseit's fun for me.
(27:39):
The baby's moving, so like, Iknow, you know they're living.
But even with things like that,like like when people buy the
Doppler's, you can check it onemoment and the next moment, you
know it could be different.
So, yeah, I just think, I thinkit's fun with a fetus scope
because you you're more likeconnected and you're kind of you
kind of have to like searcharound and you get to just hear
(28:02):
all the other sounds of yourbody, I guess, and it's just
really fun.
And yeah, so that's another funone I like to do.
Some days Sometimes I've likerandomly measured my fundus just
because I'm like, oh, what ifthere's two babies in there?
Maybe?
I'm like, you know, I'm goingto be showing more or whatever,
and it's it is what it is Like.
You know, I'm going to beshowing more or whatever, and it
is what it is Like.
(28:23):
There are so many stories ofwomen who have twins and who had
no idea, or who think they havetwins and they don't.
So I'm just kind of like takingit day by day but, yeah, pretty
much just living my life andtrying to live in the moment and
not stress about all the littlethings.
Angela (28:39):
Yeah, oh my gosh.
So is there anything thatyou're doing like specifically
to prepare for birth that youwant to share about?
Katie (28:47):
Yeah, not really, to be honest, and there's kind of been
a lack of that between myhusband and I.
We haven't really talked muchabout it up until now, but there
has been a very big emphasisfor us this time around making
sure that we have enough supportpostpartum.
That was kind of a big downfalllast time was he didn't feel
(29:07):
like he had enough support to,you know, to do all the things
like cleaning up and taking careof our other son and and he was
trying to do those things andso we kind of missed out on
spending time with the baby.
So, yeah, we're focusing a bigtime on that, hoping to have you
there to help us and be thatpostpartum support that we need
(29:29):
and really just trying to havemy birth vision in mind.
I actually, for the first time,started envisioning it a couple
of weeks ago and it felt reallygood and really nice and I felt
like what I had in mind wasexactly what I wanted, and so,
yeah, I'm focusing on that andreally making sure and that's
what we're going to do, becausethat's that's another very
(30:03):
important thing.
That kind of got ruined lasttime and so I think I think I'm
preparing more for postpartumthan the actual birth.
I have like an amazon cart withsome some supplies and stuff,
just some basic things for likea home birth kind of thing, like
you know umbilical cord clamps,more towels cause you could
(30:24):
always use more towels someChuck pads and, oh you know,
another big one is herbs forYoni steaming, postpartum and
sits bath, because that wasthose are so key.
Yeah, so just just the littlethings, but um other than that
there isn't really a whole lot,I feel like for birth that I'm
(30:45):
preparing, for just having agood mindset and keeping my
birth vision in mind all thetime forget about it was my
first mentor in this line ofwork, Naya.
Angela (31:04):
She shared her birth story in episode 29 of the
podcast.
She says birth alone and dopostpartum in community.
Katie (31:10):
Exactly it gets.
There's a huge lack and youdon't.
You don't know it until youexperience it, and I don't want
other women to experience it.
Like I, truly it's like itsucks to not have that support
when you need it the most andlike, truly, it's like it sucks
to not have that support whenyou need it the most and like
you really don't need it foryour birth.
Like that, like I mean, maybeyou do, maybe you want to invite
, you know certain people andyou still need that.
(31:31):
But yeah, postpartum is sacredand that's what's going to
really the birth kind of setsthat's a lot into your mothering
.
Angela (31:44):
But postpartum really does as well.
So, yeah, that's definitely big.
Yeah, and that's why we'vegotten together and created this
really awesome module in birthbliss about how to set yourself
up for a blissful postpartumperiod, and we cover all of the
things about breastfeeding,early mothering and parenting.
I'm super excited to teachabout this with you.
Katie (32:04):
I know I'm so excited.
Yeah, I'm just.
I'm excited to see other womenthere and who have this craving
to learn more and to setthemselves up for the best that
they can, because they deserveit really.
And I've been really motivatedand excited to get more into
birth work because I just tookthe RBK school last year.
(32:26):
I have been hosting women'scircles and I'm feeling really
passionate about that and Ithink that's one of the best
ways to get communities of womenso.
And then, you know, being inconnection with you, we kind of
decided, hey, maybe we should dosomething together Because
we're both passionate about this.
And yeah, motherhood is honestlyone of the most vital roles
(32:51):
there will ever be, and thismeans whether you're becoming a
mother the first time, the thirdtime, the fourth time, because
every time you give birth you'rebecoming a new mother again.
And stepping into that can bereally challenging in the
society we live in today, wherewe're kind of all alone and not
in community and we don't havethe tools and the resources.
(33:13):
And that's a big part of why wewanted to bring this course,
because it's just loaded with somany wanted to bring this
course because it's just loadedwith so many, so many tools and
so many different layers ofpregnancy and birth and
postpartum that we feel that allwomen should have access to and
there should be more of more ofa stress on that.
(33:35):
For women becoming pregnant,there should be more
opportunities for learning,because we don't get that
knowledge passed down anymorethrough our Grammys and, you
know, and our mothers.
It's just different.
So so when we meet incommunities like birth forces
and women's circles, we get wekind of get that with them and
we are really excited aboutcreating this force for the
(33:56):
women in our community.
Because we're just sopassionate about it.
And even if you're just curiousmaybe you don't necessarily
plan the natural birth but youstill want to learn I think this
course is still for you.
Whether you're giving birth athome or in the hospital or
however you're doing it, justcome and join us and learn with
(34:17):
us and you will feel theexcitement from us and the
passion and the love and thatwill transfer to you and your
partner and just it will lightyou up, I think, and really make
your pregnancy and birth allthat more exciting and that's
the end of another episode ofthe my main birth podcast.
Angela (34:37):
thank you for joining me and listening.
If you're looking to documentyour birth story or if you're
interested in doula support foryour upcoming birth, head over
to my website, mymainbirthcomand check out my packages.
I'm a certified professionalbirth photographer and an
experienced doula, and I offerin-person services to families
(35:00):
throughout the state of Maine,as well as virtual birth
coaching worldwide.
I want to invite you to grab mytop free resource for newly
pregnant moms.
It's called 37 questions to askyour care provider, whether
you've already established careor if you're in the process of
interviewing new providers.
This is for you.
(35:21):
Not only are you going to getthe questions to ask, but I also
share how to assess theiranswers and the major red flags
that you should be looking for.
So go grab that.
It's at mymainbirthcom slashdownload.
Thank you again for tuning inand I look forward to bringing
(35:41):
you more amazing birth stories.
Don't forget to subscribe andleave me a review, and I'll see
you back here again next week.
I'm Angela and you're listening to my Maine Birth a
space where we share thereal-life stories of families
and their unique birthexperiences in the beautiful
state of Maine.
From our state's biggesthospitals to birth center births
and home births, every birthstory deserves to be heard and
(00:22):
celebrated.
Whether you're a soon-to-be mom, a seasoned mother or simply
interested in the world of birth, these episodes are for you.
Welcome back to the my MaidBirth Podcast.
Today I have a very specialepisode as we reconnect with
past guest Katie Stroud, who iscurrently navigating a wild and
(00:46):
beautiful pregnancy journey ofher own.
As a passionate childbirtheducator and graduate of the
Free Birth Society's RadicalBirth Keeper School, katie is
embracing the philosophy of freebirth and she's here to share
the intimate details of herexperience, from the moment she
discovered she was pregnant tohow she's nourishing her body
(01:07):
and managing her own prenatalcare.
But that's not all.
Katie and I have teamed up tocreate Birth Bliss, a
comprehensive childbirtheducation course designed for
anyone planning a natural birth,whether that's in a hospital, a
birth center or at home, with alicensed midwife or through
sovereign birth.
(01:27):
Our shared vision is groundedin the fundamental belief that
birth works best when it'sallowed to unfold in a natural
and undisturbed progression.
Knowledge is power, and we'rededicated to equipping you with
the tools that you need for aconfident and informed birth
(01:48):
experience.
As I am currently undergoing mytraining at the Free Birth
Society's MatriBirth MidwiferyInstitute, our combined
expertise is infused into thiscourse, ensuring that you
receive the most holistic andsupportive natural birth
education possible in Maine.
Now again, birth Bliss is athree-part complete childbirth
(02:12):
education series.
We're hosting it at MainleySucculents in Orono on October
27th, november 3rd and November10th.
We're holding it from 9 am to11 am each of those days.
We're holding it from 9am to11am each of those days.
Enrollment for the entire thingis only $129 for all three
classes, and this includes aseat for you and one birth
(02:32):
partner.
And, as an added bonus, if youpay in full, you'll receive an
invitation for a complimentarybirth coaching session with
either myself or Katie, and thisis valued at $129.
So if you're desiring a naturalbirth and want to learn more,
this is a no brainer.
Not only are we going to begathering in person, but there's
(02:56):
also going to be a privateonline community to stay
connected with us and the otherlocal parents in the group.
And in our final class, we'regoing to be getting our hands
dirty and creating a succulentbirth arrangement courtesy of
our hosts mainly succulents.
So if you're pregnant andcraving a natural birth
(03:17):
experience, this episode is foryou.
If you're interested in signingup for Birth Bliss, you can
head over to my website.
If you're interested in signingup for Birth Bliss, you can
head over to my website,mymainbirthcom.
Slash birthbliss.
All right, let's get to it.
Hi, katie, welcome back to myMain Birth.
Hey, angela, I am so excited tohave you back on the podcast
(03:41):
today.
You shared your first two birthstories in episode 48.
So for anyone that hasn't had achance to listen to that one
yet, go check it out.
I've got it linked over in theshow notes.
It's actually the second mostdownloaded episode of the
podcast, so lots of women havefound a great deal of value in
(04:03):
the wisdom that you share overin that episode.
But for anyone that might nothave heard it yet, will you
start by sharing a little bitabout you and your family?
Katie (04:13):
I'm Katie.
I live in northern centralMaine, in Sabat.
I am a wife and a mother of twoboys and I'm currently pregnant
with our third baby.
And I'm currently pregnant withour third baby.
They are coming early next year, sometime January, and I am a
sovereign birth coach, I like tosay also I'm a free birth
(04:33):
advocate, but I mainly like tosupport women in making the
decisions that are best for them, while also giving them all of
the information and tools tonavigate getting through their
pregnancy, whether it's theirfirst time, second, third,
whatever.
I'm just super passionate aboutwomen's work really, and that
(04:57):
didn't really start from a youngage.
But I always thought I was likea midwife in another life or
something.
And, uh, it kind of startedwhen I learned fertility
awareness method actually, and Igot really really into learning
about my body and how, howeverything works in my cycle and
I just I was obsessed with likethe fact that I could know all
(05:19):
of this about my body just bylike listening to it and
observing the signs and beingmore in deep with my body.
So that kind of started thenand I kind of went down this you
know more natural lifestyle atthat point as well for my first
son, so my first when I waspregnant with my first son he's
(05:40):
three and a half and I wentthrough the medical system with
him.
I actually worked in themedical system as an x-ray tech
and I never pictured it beingany other way because that's
just kind of how I grew up.
I grew up very medically minded.
It's normal to birth in ahospital, right, and that is the
norm now.
So, yeah, I went through themedical system with him.
(06:00):
I birthed him at a hospital inVancouver and ended up being
with a midwife.
But I worked at an.
I went through an obstetricpractice that had midwives there
as well.
His birth was overall okay.
But after that it kind of sentme down this path of wanting to
(06:22):
dig deeper into, I guess, all ofthe things about mothering.
Like I never questioned orlooked into vaccinations and
stuff like that before I had mychildren.
I just was like a given thatthat was going to happen.
But suddenly I had this babyand my world just shifted and
(06:42):
changed so much and I feel likethat was like a big catalyst for
me, as well as the COVIDpandemic.
That was a big eye opener forme.
So anyway, long story short, itset me down a path of
uncovering a lot, going downrabbit holes, evolving as a
person and as a mother, and yeah, and so a couple years later we
(07:05):
decided or a year and a halflater we decided we wanted to
try for another baby.
And it was at that point that,before actually I got pregnant,
I somehow came across a podcastcalled the Free Birth Society
podcast, which I'm sure a lot ofyour listeners are familiar
with.
If they're not, definitelyrecommend giving it a listen.
There's so much medicine inthose stories, as well as all
(07:28):
birth stories really.
I kind of came across thatbecause I was obsessed with
listening to birth storiesthrough my first pregnancy and
then kind of even after.
I continued here and there, butI always listened to stories of
like the quote unquote naturalbirths or like unmedicated
births, and then I kind ofstarted slowly getting to like
(07:48):
the home birth stories.
And then I discovered the freebirth society and it was like
this whole new realm of birth,pregnancy and birth that I
didn't, I wasn't even aware of,I didn't know was a thing I and
it seems like it would be commonsense to like be aware that
that would be a thing like oh,some women just have pregnancies
(08:10):
and give birth and don't evergo to a doctor, and it's totally
normal and natural and a partof their life.
But it just didn't hit me asthat.
I know women that that has comeso natural to them and I love
that because I think it's reallycool that they don't need a
podcast to kind of like knowthat, like in their deep down
and with their intuition that oh, this just makes sense, right.
(08:32):
But also when you're going tothe doctor on a regular basis
and like you're seeing your gynoand you're seeing all the
people, if that's a part of yourday-to-day life, it would make
sense that when you get pregnantthat continues.
You go to the doctor for thatand stuff.
But I guess at this point in mylife I wasn't really doing that.
(08:55):
I wasn't seeing a doctor, Iwasn't.
That just wasn't in my realm.
There was nothing I needed fromthem.
I was learning a lot aboutnatural remedies and holistic
medicine and everything and howto heal my family at home and
with nutrition and through ourdaily practices.
So when I discovered thepodcast, it kind of just made
(09:16):
sense, it clicked for me and Ihad the thought when we have
another baby, I think I want todo this this way.
So that's what that's what Idid and it wasn't really scary
for me but it was really eyeopening and just it opened up a
lot for me.
(09:37):
So I get pregnant in aroundAugust and start listening to
the podcast before then.
So I'm like familiar with freebirth society and I see that
they have a really amazingprogram called the radical birth
keeping school and it likeexcited me so much to see that I
was like what is this?
(09:58):
I want to know more.
So I, you know, I followed somepeople that I knew that had
taken the course and I justlooked more into it and all of
it was getting me so excited tothink about becoming a birth
support person or like a birthcoach or like all the different
ways I could go with it.
So the Free Birth Society has acourse called the Radical Birth
(10:19):
Keeping School school and it'skind of like I guess if you want
to use the word doula, you canuse that word just to make it
the most comparable to whatpeople understand, because a
birth keeper isn't a term peopleare familiar with, but I guess
the closest thing would be kindof like a doula.
Anyway.
So I decided I think I want toenroll in this school and I'm
(10:42):
going to be pregnant while I'min this school.
It's a three month long programand I feel like it would be so
amazing and just like it's goingto feel really good to be
around that kind of community ofwomen who truly believe in the
biological design of birth inour bodies.
(11:03):
And you know, I was excited forwhat I was going to learn.
What tools are they going tobring to the table?
What kinds of things are goingto make my life as a woman and a
mother and a wife better?
Because that's what the programwas about really, not just
about how to be a birthkeeper.
But I was very in-depth andused a lot of tools Like, for
(11:27):
example, if anyone's familiarwith Byron Katie's work, it's
called the work.
We used a lot of that and youknow the drama triangle or you
could call it the victimtriangle People know it that way
as well and just all thesetools.
And then there were the toolsthat I learned.
And then there were also thecalls, the weekly calls, three
(11:48):
days a week, of two hours beingon these Zoom calls, surrounded
with women who just had thiscraving for the knowledge about
learning about physiologicalbirth and being there to support
women and helping shed light onhow birth can really be and how
it is biologically designed tobe and how it works best.
(12:11):
And you know how the systemisn't really always there for us
in the best way, of coursethere it's there for a reason
and I believe it's there foremergency reasons.
That's my opinion.
It's kind of a radical opinion,but I know that some listeners
may resonate more than othersand I encourage you, if you
don't resonate, maybe just kindof think about why you feel
(12:35):
differently and like I don'tknow.
It's an invitation to becomemore curious, I guess, in
general, instead of judgmental.
Of course, we all kind of jumpto the judgmental train because
we're human, I do, of course,but I think that really
everything that everything thatwe come across is an opportunity
to become more curious and justlike, hmm, I wonder why they
(12:58):
feel that way, or I wonder what,what this is about.
So, um, yeah, I was actually inmy radical birth keeping school,
which is called RBKk.
There were at least 10 otherwomen pregnant with me during
this time and it was like sobeautiful to just see us all
like walking this journey ofcalled wild pregnancy, I like to
(13:20):
just say that, like it's justliving your life, you continue
to live and you're just pregnantas well and you're doing the
things that feel good for you.
Whether that's your prenatalcare would be maybe like walking
with a friend once a week,going on a nice walk.
Maybe you have a birth keeperand you're meeting with them
monthly or every other week orwhatever, and you're getting to
(13:42):
just talk and work out all ofyour fears and talk about your
dream birth.
And so, yeah, what my wildpregnancy looked like was really
just continuing to live,listening to birth stories,
because I really find medicinein that and it gave me just more
confidence.
Some women don't like listeningto stories while they're
pregnant because they get thesethoughts in their head that
(14:04):
aren't their own and whatever.
And if that doesn't feel rightfor you, then yeah, that's great
, but I really liked listeningto them at that point in my
pregnancy.
So, and then just being in thiscommunity with a bunch of other
women and my teachers, emilySaldea and Yolanda Norris-Clark,
who are just like two of thebiggest pioneers right now in
sovereign birth, physiologicalbirth, and they just it was just
(14:27):
incredible and it felt reallygood.
It just gave me more confidenceand knowing in my body that
like this is designed to workpretty well when it's left alone
and disturbed.
So the pregnancy was overall youknow it was it was good,
besides some outside things thatwere happening in my family
that were kind of out of out ofour control.
(14:48):
But yeah, so I ended up havingmy second baby.
It was a free birth.
So in the episode we've alreadyrecorded I talked about my
birth, so I'm not going to gointo a whole lot of detail.
But yeah, my second baby wasborn at home, sovereign birth.
It was amazing and beautifuland perfect and literally the
birth dream that I had beenenvisioning throughout my
(15:11):
pregnancy.
It was pretty much exactly that, which I think is a testament
to just how powerful, if youwant to call it manifestation is
, or just kind of speaking outour desires and our hopes and
wishes.
It's a lot more powerful thanpeople give it credit for.
And yeah, I mean, and if itdidn't go exactly that way,
that's great too, but it'sreally still powerful to have
(15:33):
those birth dreams.
So, anyway, it was beautiful.
I pretty much was kind of justby myself while my husband and
son were hanging out laboring inmy room just doing the birth
dance I call it.
It was really so, so mild, andI don't like saying that
necessarily, because I feel likewomen think that's how it's
(15:54):
supposed to be and it's notnecessarily.
It can be somewhat hard andlong.
The birth that happens for usis the birth that's meant to be
there to show us whatever it is,reveal to us things.
But I think a big part of it isbecause I was not being watched
.
I felt really safe andcomfortable.
I was in my bed.
There weren't like brightfluorescent lights over me and
(16:18):
just all of that plays into thehormonal blueprint of what was
going on in my body.
Everything was cascadingexactly the way it was supposed
to, cascading exactly the way itwas supposed to.
So, yeah, and then I went intothe tub and my transition was
like 30 minutes and he was bornin the bathtub.
My husband picked him up,caught him and brought him up to
me and he took like a minute tocry and it was beautiful.
(16:41):
And I realized, you know,within 10 seconds I looked, of
course I'm like, oh, I haveanother son, I had said it's
another boy and yeah, and sothat birth was.
It was really beautiful and itjust really set my already deep
knowing that, like, this is howit's supposed to be and this is
truly the design.
It set that knowing in deeperfor me and I don't know if
(17:05):
things would have wentdifferently if I would feel
differently.
But I think that there'ssomething to still trusting,
even when things don't gonecessarily perfectly, because
with life comes death, andthat's a big topic for the birth
world and I don't think thatthere's enough talk about that.
When it comes to medical birth,it's just like you assume that
(17:27):
your baby's going to be aliveand that you're going to live
through it and there's peoplethere to save you, basically.
But I think that's a specialpart about the sovereign birth
community is that women don'tthey don't shy away from these
topics of their fears in birth.
What they're actually maybescared of they don't shy away
from talking about the if, thewhat if, because there's always
(17:50):
that possibility.
So that's just to say that like, just because the birth was
like perfect, of course I feellike it, like that's how it's
supposed to be Right, but I dostill fully believe that like,
even if things didn't line upexactly like that, that I would
still have those beliefs, notexactly like that, that I would
(18:12):
still have those beliefs.
So yeah, so anyway, postpartumwasn't great though, I will
admit, and that's kind of mademe even more passionate about
postpartum work as well.
When it comes to pregnancy,birth and postpartum, I think
that gets neglected way too muchand it's just as important as
the birth.
So, yeah, that's kind ofbecoming more a part of my work
in birth work, so yeah.
Angela (18:35):
Awesome.
So now will you share with mewhen you found out you were
pregnant for the third time andI guess a little bit about your
thoughts in choosing your care,although it seems obvious after
your second pregnancy, right?
So how yeah?
Katie (18:52):
care, although it seems obvious after your second
pregnancy, right?
So how?
Yeah, yeah.
So after I had my baby, Iactually I did things so much
different with him.
I wasn't working full time, Iwas determined to exclusively
breastfeed.
I really didn't want to have apump in my life.
It's just like extra work, youknow, washing the parts, doing
it, and I didn't feel like my,like you, you don't need that,
right?
Like our bodies aren't designedto really do that.
(19:13):
It's great if you do, if itfeels good, but so, yeah, things
.
But things are different withhim.
With my first, I didn't get mycycle back until I was
completely done nursing and Ihad like an extra oversupply
with him and maybe that wasbecause I pumped.
I mean, who knows, maybe it wasbecause I was anxious about a
tongue tie that he had, so I waspumping extra and doing all
(19:35):
these extra things.
But so maybe I think that extrasupply or something had
something to do with my hormonesnot being ready to have my
cycle again.
But with my second, I was justnursing and my cycle returned at
like eight months postpartumand I was like, whoa, okay, you
know, not super ready.
(19:55):
But also I felt like, oh, maybethis is a sign of like vitality
, I don't know.
So it came back in eight months.
So I mean it was still a goodamount of time.
It wasn't like right off thebat.
But with my first it was 17months, and then my second or 16
months and my son was eight.
So it was quite a bigdifference and I was kind of
like, oh, maybe it's because youknow the way we're doing it or
(20:20):
whatever, my son, my second son,is just so different and it's
like, oh, you can't control thetemperament of your baby, you
can't control the soul that'sgoing to come to you and you
have to like just surrender.
And he just was he wasn't intonursing that much like he really
just.
And it kind of broke my heartbecause it made me feel like,
you know, I don't know, you takeit kind of personally as a mom,
(20:41):
I guess, but I really had tojust surrender and he ended up
like kind of weaning himself atlike 10 months postpartum and I
was, I was just heartbroken andI just had to let it go.
I tried like pumping to.
You know, at that point I waslike maybe I can try to get my
supply up, but with my cycle andmaybe some stress in life.
(21:03):
I just wasn't able to produceenough.
It was causing me more stress,so I was getting like maybe two
ounces every time, and so I justlet it go and I said you know
what he's doing this, becausethis is what his body needs.
And so, yeah, and so I was kindof tracking with fertility
awareness method, but veryloosely, and obviously, when
(21:27):
you're not tracking something oryou know, on her hormonal break
control, there's a largerpossibility that you're going to
conceive.
And that's what happened.
It was it must have happenedabout 11 months postpartum.
And so funny I actually.
So I, I had my second baby,axel, on mother's day of 2023.
It was beautiful, perfect.
(21:48):
And then this year we had hisbirthday party and everything.
And then the next day wasMother's Day and I took a
pregnancy test that day and,surprise, I was pregnant.
So I just think it was justlike.
So it's just funny that you know, a year later I'm finding out
I'm pregnant again and, to bevery honest, I was really sad
(22:13):
and scared because I was notready.
I was, we were not trying, itwas not conscious conception and
I had a lot of plans for likesome health journeys that we
were going to go on mostlymyself just dealing with my gut
health.
I was going to go in like thetotal gaps protocol if anyone's
(22:34):
familiar with that it's.
It's incredible and it can doso much healing for not only
like physical symptoms but likea lot of mental symptoms autism,
adhd, schizophrenia, so many,so many things.
So anyway, I had some big plansand this baby kind of like put
a stop to that and I felt likereally sad and it was mostly
(22:58):
because I wanted to heal myself,because I knew we would have
more children and I reallywanted to be able to have a
pregnancy where I could fullyfeel nourished and be drinking
raw milk and making just likereally nourishing foods that I
can tolerate.
That as of now, I can'ttolerate those things, so there
(23:21):
are times where I don't feellike I'm getting as much
nourishment.
So anyway, I really wanted to.
I was determined to have mythird pregnancy be one where I
could fully be just likenourished, and so that's what
made me the most sad, and then Iwas kind of upset with myself
for letting it happen and notgiving this baby the best chance
(23:41):
.
That's how I feel.
I think as mothers and women,we often kick ourselves a lot
more.
We're hard on ourselves and Ijust once again the word
surrender had to happen, like Ireally had to surrender because
there wasn't another option forme.
I didn't think about any otherthing.
But okay, we're having thisbaby, but, yeah, it took me a
(24:03):
little while to come to termswith it and to really let it be
the reality, I guess.
And of course, yeah, like yousaid, my plans for this
pregnancy have been the same asmy last, same for my birth.
Angela (24:23):
What are some things that?
Katie (24:23):
you're considering for your prenatal care?
Yeah, so, being outside of themedical model, obviously I'm not
going to check up, not seeingany providers, which is a huge
plus.
It takes so much stress off myplate and it's just something
like I don't even think aboutanymore.
Like you, it's not, you know.
But that being said, my versionof prenatal care for me in this
(24:47):
pregnancy is kind of just doingthings that feel good for me in
the moment.
It sounds really basic andsimple, but like it doesn't have
to be complicated.
I don't think and Ithinkplicate it.
So, yeah, I'm just trying tonourish my body with lots of
home-cooked foods and having alot of herbal infusions that are
(25:09):
loaded with vitamins andminerals.
I choose not to take a prenatalvitamin.
That's a whole other topic thatwe could talk about for a while
but prenatal vitamins justaren't bioavailable for our
bodies.
So I prefer to get my nutritionfrom as much as I can for my
diet and I supplement a littlebit with collagen and protein,
(25:31):
because protein is a hard onefor me to get daily.
So having a really good proteinpowder has been helpful for me
to meet my goals of at least ahundred grams of protein a day.
I think that nutrition is sounder under talked about, I
guess, um, for pregnant women,and because of that, there's
(25:52):
more like things likepreeclampsia and or the
diagnosis of those things, whichthat's debatable as well.
But, yeah, so I think thathaving a good foundation of
nutrition is so important forall women in pregnancy, and so
that's a big one for me.
And then, yeah, I'm justspending a lot of time with my
family and I'm home pretty muchevery day with my boys, while my
(26:16):
husband's working, and we getoutside multiple times a day.
My youngest loves being outside, so that helps, even sometimes
when I don't feel like it.
It's always very grounding,quite literally, to get outside
and get fresh air and just tryto check out of my to-do list.
(26:36):
That's been something that I'vebeen working through through
this pregnancy and that it'sbeen teaching me.
In the beginning I was prettytired and my body just wanted to
rest more and like stop doingmore, and I really had to like
stop my ego from trying to tellme that I needed to do more and
(26:57):
like do the same things.
I usually try, because I'vealways got like a to-do list
going on in my head, so I'vebeen really trying to lean into
rest more.
It's still been a struggle in alot of ways, but I think that's
a big thing that I'm beingtaught through this pregnancy.
So, yeah, taking baths isanother big one, magnesium baths
(27:18):
and I really think that'spretty much, pretty much all the
things that I can think of that.
That, yeah, whatever feels goodto me, you know.
So, yeah, just living your life, yeah, exactly Living my life.
And you know, sometimes I'lltake my fetus scope out and
listen to my belly, just becauseit's fun for me.
(27:39):
The baby's moving, so like, Iknow, you know they're living.
But even with things like that,like like when people buy the
Doppler's, you can check it onemoment and the next moment, you
know it could be different.
So, yeah, I just think, I thinkit's fun with a fetus scope
because you you're more likeconnected and you're kind of you
kind of have to like searcharound and you get to just hear
(28:02):
all the other sounds of yourbody, I guess, and it's just
really fun.
And yeah, so that's another funone I like to do.
Some days Sometimes I've likerandomly measured my fundus just
because I'm like, oh, what ifthere's two babies in there?
Maybe?
I'm like, you know, I'm goingto be showing more or whatever,
and it's it is what it is Like.
You know, I'm going to beshowing more or whatever, and it
is what it is Like.
(28:23):
There are so many stories ofwomen who have twins and who had
no idea, or who think they havetwins and they don't.
So I'm just kind of like takingit day by day but, yeah, pretty
much just living my life andtrying to live in the moment and
not stress about all the littlethings.
Angela (28:39):
Yeah, oh my gosh.
So is there anything thatyou're doing like specifically
to prepare for birth that youwant to share about?
Katie (28:47):
Yeah, not really, to be honest, and there's kind of been
a lack of that between myhusband and I.
We haven't really talked muchabout it up until now, but there
has been a very big emphasisfor us this time around making
sure that we have enough supportpostpartum.
That was kind of a big downfalllast time was he didn't feel
(29:07):
like he had enough support to,you know, to do all the things
like cleaning up and taking careof our other son and and he was
trying to do those things andso we kind of missed out on
spending time with the baby.
So, yeah, we're focusing a bigtime on that, hoping to have you
there to help us and be thatpostpartum support that we need
(29:29):
and really just trying to havemy birth vision in mind.
I actually, for the first time,started envisioning it a couple
of weeks ago and it felt reallygood and really nice and I felt
like what I had in mind wasexactly what I wanted, and so,
yeah, I'm focusing on that andreally making sure and that's
what we're going to do, becausethat's that's another very
(30:03):
important thing.
That kind of got ruined lasttime and so I think I think I'm
preparing more for postpartumthan the actual birth.
I have like an amazon cart withsome some supplies and stuff,
just some basic things for likea home birth kind of thing, like
you know umbilical cord clamps,more towels cause you could
(30:24):
always use more towels someChuck pads and, oh you know,
another big one is herbs forYoni steaming, postpartum and
sits bath, because that wasthose are so key.
Yeah, so just just the littlethings, but um other than that
there isn't really a whole lot,I feel like for birth that I'm
(30:45):
preparing, for just having agood mindset and keeping my
birth vision in mind all thetime forget about it was my
first mentor in this line ofwork, Naya.
Angela (31:04):
She shared her birth story in episode 29 of the
podcast.
She says birth alone and dopostpartum in community.
Katie (31:10):
Exactly it gets.
There's a huge lack and youdon't.
You don't know it until youexperience it, and I don't want
other women to experience it.
Like I, truly it's like itsucks to not have that support
when you need it the most andlike, truly, it's like it sucks
to not have that support whenyou need it the most and like
you really don't need it foryour birth.
Like that, like I mean, maybeyou do, maybe you want to invite
, you know certain people andyou still need that.
(31:31):
But yeah, postpartum is sacredand that's what's going to
really the birth kind of setsthat's a lot into your mothering
.
Angela (31:44):
But postpartum really does as well.
So, yeah, that's definitely big.
Yeah, and that's why we'vegotten together and created this
really awesome module in birthbliss about how to set yourself
up for a blissful postpartumperiod, and we cover all of the
things about breastfeeding,early mothering and parenting.
I'm super excited to teachabout this with you.
Katie (32:04):
I know I'm so excited.
Yeah, I'm just.
I'm excited to see other womenthere and who have this craving
to learn more and to setthemselves up for the best that
they can, because they deserveit really.
And I've been really motivatedand excited to get more into
birth work because I just tookthe RBK school last year.
(32:26):
I have been hosting women'scircles and I'm feeling really
passionate about that and Ithink that's one of the best
ways to get communities of womenso.
And then, you know, being inconnection with you, we kind of
decided, hey, maybe we should dosomething together Because
we're both passionate about this.
And yeah, motherhood is honestlyone of the most vital roles
(32:51):
there will ever be, and thismeans whether you're becoming a
mother the first time, the thirdtime, the fourth time, because
every time you give birth you'rebecoming a new mother again.
And stepping into that can bereally challenging in the
society we live in today, wherewe're kind of all alone and not
in community and we don't havethe tools and the resources.
(33:13):
And that's a big part of why wewanted to bring this course,
because it's just loaded with somany wanted to bring this
course because it's just loadedwith so many, so many tools and
so many different layers ofpregnancy and birth and
postpartum that we feel that allwomen should have access to and
there should be more of more ofa stress on that.
(33:35):
For women becoming pregnant,there should be more
opportunities for learning,because we don't get that
knowledge passed down anymorethrough our Grammys and, you
know, and our mothers.
It's just different.
So so when we meet incommunities like birth forces
and women's circles, we get wekind of get that with them and
we are really excited aboutcreating this force for the
(33:56):
women in our community.
Because we're just sopassionate about it.
And even if you're just curiousmaybe you don't necessarily
plan the natural birth but youstill want to learn I think this
course is still for you.
Whether you're giving birth athome or in the hospital or
however you're doing it, justcome and join us and learn with
(34:17):
us and you will feel theexcitement from us and the
passion and the love and thatwill transfer to you and your
partner and just it will lightyou up, I think, and really make
your pregnancy and birth allthat more exciting and that's
the end of another episode ofthe my main birth podcast.
Angela (34:37):
thank you for joining me and listening.
If you're looking to documentyour birth story or if you're
interested in doula support foryour upcoming birth, head over
to my website, mymainbirthcomand check out my packages.
I'm a certified professionalbirth photographer and an
experienced doula, and I offerin-person services to families
(35:00):
throughout the state of Maine,as well as virtual birth
coaching worldwide.
I want to invite you to grab mytop free resource for newly
pregnant moms.
It's called 37 questions to askyour care provider, whether
you've already established careor if you're in the process of
interviewing new providers.
This is for you.
(35:21):
Not only are you going to getthe questions to ask, but I also
share how to assess theiranswers and the major red flags
that you should be looking for.
So go grab that.
It's at mymainbirthcom slashdownload.
Thank you again for tuning inand I look forward to bringing
(35:41):
you more amazing birth stories.
Don't forget to subscribe andleave me a review, and I'll see
you back here again next week.
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