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December 19, 2025 13 mins

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Nineteen cousins, all born without medication, and not a single birth story was copy-pasted. Angie opens up about how a simple desire for unmedicated labor grew into a family pattern shaped by childbirth education, midwifery care, and steady partner support. What started as a personal preference became a repeatable approach: learn the physiology, choose a team aligned with your goals, and keep the plan flexible enough to adapt in real time.

We walk through three sisters-in-law with very different personalities who arrived at similar choices for their own reasons. One expected an epidural and induction because “that’s what everyone does,” then flipped after a powerful class and a supportive doula. Another navigated six births, including a surprise “caboose” during COVID and one labor that needed a small Pitocin boost. A third moved from hospital to birth center to home, even welcoming an 11‑pound baby, while her partner became an effective, hands-on advocate. Across these stories, midwives, education, and continuous support show up as quiet levers that change outcomes without heavy-handed rules.

The goal isn’t a gold star for going unmedicated. It’s informed choice, compassionate care, and a team that knows when to wait, when to move, and when to use tools thoughtfully. Angie shares candid reflections, practical insights for selecting providers and classes, and a grounded reminder that empowerment comes from consent and preparation, not perfection. You’ll leave with concrete ideas for aligning your birth plan with the right setting and people, plus renewed confidence that partners and doulas can make the room feel safer, calmer, and more human.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with someone preparing for birth, and leave a review telling us what part shifted your thinking.

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Show Credits

Host: Angie Rosier
Music: Michael Hicks
Photographer: Toni Walker
Episode Artwork: Nick Greenwood
Producer: Gillian Rosier Frampton
Voiceover: Ryan Parker

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:10):
Welcome to the Ordinary Doula Podcast with
Angie Rogier, hosted by BirthLearning, where we help prepare
folks for labor and birth withexpertise coming from 20 years
of experience in a busy doulapractice, helping thousands of
people prepare for labor,providing essential knowledge
and tools for positive andempowering birth experiences.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02):
As you know, the doula's the doula, you know,
lifestyle, I guess, um isfocused a lot on childbirth and
and all the aspects of that.
And I want to share kind of alittle bit of a um interesting
story, I think, um, from my lifethat spans actually many years,
probably well over 20 years,about birth.

(01:25):
Um, so a little bit of myhistory.
I have five kids.
Um, I happen to have had all mykids what we call unmedicated,
right?
Natural childbirths without anyum medical like epidurals or
narcotics, no interventions thatway.
Um, maybe someday I'll tell kindof a little bit about my birth
stories.
Um, but I had three babies inthe hospital before I ever um

(01:49):
became a doula, like shortlybefore actually.
And I had, so that's in in someparts of the world, that's you
know, kind of a big family, butum I had two kids, well, three
kids, and then found out what adoula was, like very shortly
after.
But it was important to me forreasons that are varied.

(02:10):
Um, it was important to mebefore I knew anything about
this to have unmedicatedchildbirth.
I couldn't tell you whynecessarily.
Like there's a few little thingsthat pointed me in that
direction and pointed me prettystrongly.
I was young when I had my firstbaby, and I remember early in my
pregnancy just a little desire.
I'm like, hey, I want to havethis without medication.
Didn't know why, other than Ijust want to see if I can do it.

(02:33):
And as I read books and learnedand prepared and talked to other
people on both sides of that umdesire fence, if you will, as I
took classes, my desire for thatbecame stronger and my why got a
little bit bigger.
So that first baby I hadunmedicated.
It was very short, very umstraightforward, no

(02:54):
interventions.
She was posterior, but just anice first delivery, really.
Not easy, but you know, not thelongest, hardest thing either.
Um, and then my whys got reallybig.
And I'm like, oh, that wasawesome.
And you know, I did got intobreastfeeding and you know, all
these new journeys that I hadnot been on at that point in my
life, but would go on ummultiple times later.

(03:15):
So had another baby unmedicated,and so this just kind of became
what I liked, what I believedin, got a little bit of passion
about it, didn't know the paththat it would lead me on.
So at this time in my life, Icome from a pretty large family
too.
I am the oldest of six children,and I was being the oldest, I
was the first one to have kids.
And um, for quite a while, quitea few years, I was the only one

(03:37):
that had children.
And by then, I was um, I think Ihad uh yeah, I had two kids by
the time any of my siblings werekind of um thinking about that
in their lives.
And then I had a third baby, andas I talked to my little self,
we ever have self-talk, I'mlike, all right, Angie, now you
love this stuff, naturalchildbirth, like you're really

(03:58):
into it.
Um, you totally believe in it,you know, that's important to
you, you're passionate about it.
You could say I was verypassionate about it.
Um, but as people come into yourlife and in your family, like
you can't assume they're goingto be as well.
And that was a little bit hardfor my young little brain at the
time to understand.
And so I had a brother who gotmarried, and um, and I I set my

(04:22):
expectations, like, all right,this this new girl, this new
sister-in-law was probably notgonna feel the same way you are
about things and is probably notgonna give birth the same way
you did, and may not even thinkshe may think you're crazy, she
may not believe any of this.
And she got, you know, came intothe family, got to know her.
I'm like, yeah, she's probablynot gonna like this type of
thing.
Um, and several years later,they had a baby, and I was a

(04:45):
doula by this point.
And by golly, do you know what?
She wanted natural childbirth,and it all kind of started when
she took a really amazing classthat I referred her to um from
Claire Stanley, who is alongtime mentor and dear friend
of mine.
Um, and as she learned in herpregnancy and talked to people,
um, she was just planning ongetting an epidural, getting an

(05:05):
induction, doing whatever, youknow, the mainstream that most
people do.
That's what her friends did, hersisters did, or her, you know,
sisters-in-law, her mom andstuff.
Um, but she changed her tune alittle bit, and I was able to be
her doula for her first baby,and she was phenomenal.
She had an unmedicated birth,and I was like, wow, wow.
So my my my first you knowsibling to have a baby chose

(05:27):
this way as well and did amazingat it.
Um, she went on to have threemore babies and no
interventions, incrediblyunmedicated, um, spontaneous
labor every time with her fourchildren.
And then another one of mybrothers um was ready at that
time of life.
He got married and um was readyto start a family.

(05:50):
And and I thought, ah, there'sno way.
Yeah, it's probably they're notgonna um want or do this, you
know, like this is not foreverybody.
Really, real realisticallylooking at statistics.
Um, if we just you know grab arandom woman out of the out of
society, she's gonna say, Yeah,heck yeah, I'm getting an
epidural and I'm I'd love to beinduced it, whatever.
That's you know, that's justkind of the going um sentiment

(06:11):
for the the the general public,the general population.
Um, but she she also took thesame awesome class from my
mentor, Claire Stanley, and umand in time, and I don't I don't
remember as specifically whather plans were from the
beginning or if they changed,but she her goal was also to go
on medicated, and they all chosemidwives as well.

(06:32):
I kind of I I guess I I willadmit, I kind of said, hey, you
know, in the industry, and theydid ask me, I didn't push it on
them.
That was very important to me,not to push anything on them,
but um expectations or wherethey should go or anything.
But they did ask, like, hey,what hospital um would be great,
what provider?
And so I sent both of them to agreat midwifery group.

(06:53):
Um, and the second sister-in-lawuh she planned the same thing to
go on medicated, to do natural,you know, a natural childbirth
um with midwives.
And I think that's big, likewhere you set yourself up to do
and the providers you choose aregoing to impact that for sure.
I was her doula.
I was able to be her doula.
Um, she ended up having sixchildren.

(07:14):
Um, my first brother had fourchildren.
This one had six kids in time.
It took them a minute to getthere.
Um, and I was their doula aftertheir first, and she was amazing
unmedicated childbirth.
Her second was born right afterI had my fourth, so I was not
their doula that time.
And and they chose to kind of dotheir next few babies
unmedicated um without me, whichis so fine, right?

(07:36):
Like great.
I was happy they were doing it.
I think they did have anotherdoula at one point um for one of
their deliveries.
And then she and in those sixbabies, there's one that came
super caboose.
You know, they had a caboosebaby during COVID, actually,
about seven and a half yearsafter they thought they were
done having kids.
Um, and he had some fun twiststo his story, um, which I won't

(08:01):
really get into here, but um,there was some some interesting
stuff during that pregnancy thatwas a surprise pregnancy to
begin with.
And I mean it was a breach atone point, and he turned with
aversion, all you know, as wellas some other um kind of
challenging things in herpregnancy.
And he um was born unmedicated,but he is the only one of all my

(08:23):
nieces and nephews who used alittle bit and just a little
tiny bit of Pitocin during laborto kind of get things going.
Other than that, all the otherbabies, um, not even a drip of
Pitocin was used during um thelabor process.
I'm sure some probably wasafter, if I look at the notes.
So then I had a third brotherwho um sorry to have a family

(08:43):
and start his family and gotmarried, and um they also took
this awesome class.
Like, this is a shout out tochildbirth education and the
impact it can have.
Um, they chose midwives, I thinkit was the same midwives the
other ones started out with.
They all, I think they all hadmidwifery care throughout.
I probably had more OB care thanany of them, actually.

(09:04):
Um, having three babies withOBs.
So this particular brother andhis wife had their first baby,
and he was a big baby.
He was uh over nine pounds, andshe did it unmedicated, um, no
interventions, vaginal delivery.
She went on to have three morebabies after that.
I was able to be their doulathat first time and the second
time, and then they lived out ofstate, um, or I lived out of

(09:26):
state for the next couple, butshe with her second baby shifted
to a birth center.
Um, with her third baby shiftedto a home birth, and with her
fourth baby, also had a homebirth.
So kind of cool.
And she had one of her babieswas an 11-pound baby, so pretty,
pretty impressive.
Um so if as we look at thenumbers there, let me do some

(09:47):
quick math.
That is 19 babies.
So my parents that you know have19 grandchildren, and the
probability of 19 babies beingborn with natural childbirth
unmedicated is pretty slim.
Um, so I look at that and Ithat's just a little uh a little

(10:07):
joy I tuck in my heart sometimeswhen I do think about it.
I don't obviously don't thinkabout it often in life, but
like, holy cow, as I look at mynieces and nephews who are
hanging out together, andthey're getting older, right?
Like my oldest is 27, one oftheir oldest, he's 21, another
one's 20, their oldest kids areobviously getting older.
Um, but that cute littleyoungest, those couple cabooses,

(10:27):
they're only four or five yearsold.
So we still have some cutelittle kids around.
Um, it's just cool as I look atthem, like all of them were born
in a kind of particular way,which is kind of an unusual way
if when you look at childbirthin the United States.
Um, other than that one littleguy who had to get a little bit
of Pitocin to augment labor, um,it was all done unmedicated,

(10:50):
which is pretty impressive tome.
And even more so, like every oneof these of my sisters-in-law
who I love dearly, are suchdifferent people.
It's not like you could pick outof a crowd and say, Oh, that
type of person will do this typeof birth.
Um, but it's not that easy todo.
These are all very differentwomen with very different
strengths and very differentpersonalities, very different um

(11:13):
likes, desires, lifestyles.
Um, and they all did that.
Like I'm so incredibly impressedwith them and so proud of them.
Um, and and and just feelincredibly, I don't know,
fortunate that um that we can,you know, say that the for the
statist statistics for ourfamily.

(11:33):
Um, never a c-section, never anepesiotomy, never an epidural in
um 19 kids.
Now who knows if that will carryon, right?
I don't have any grandchildrenyet, but I do have some
daughters who are that age oflife.
So we'll see what happens there.
And again, I'm going into thiswith like zero pressure, like
how to do this, like um whattheir desires should be or could

(11:54):
be, like what their goals are.
Um, they have asked me aboutdifferent providers and things,
and I'm happy to give them, youknow, some some of what I've
observed that way.
But yeah, we'll see.
It we'll see what continues onthere.
But anyway, I just wanted toshare that little slice of story
every once in a while.
I think about that and think,wow, that's kind of remarkable.
And I'm just pretty proud of mysisters-in-law and my brothers

(12:14):
for that matter.
It was cool to see in that case,each of my brothers being a
support person and such anawesome one and um learning
right along with um the woman,you know, like about childbirth
and becoming an expert in theirown right for their own
situations as they navigatedthat.
It's been really cool to watchthat as um as us being a sister

(12:35):
of theirs.
So anyway, kind of cool.
So little tiny slice of um myfamily story there, and maybe
someday I will tell my own birthstories on this podcast.
But wanted to thank you so muchfor being here today.
Hopefully, hopefully you'rehaving a good day, whatever it
is that you're doing, and youcan find a little bit of joy.
And as I like to wrap up theOrdinary Doo podcast, um please

(12:56):
make a human connection withsomeone today.
Do something for someone else.
Um, get some good eye contact,some good skin contact, give a
big hug, give a handshake, ahigh five, whatever you can, but
please make some humanconnection today.
It's important for all of us.
Thanks for being here, and we'llsee you next time.

SPEAKER_00 (13:34):
And next time, as we continue to explore the many
aspects of giving birth.
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