Down to Birth

Anne Margolis is a Certified Nurse Midwife, author, and trauma specialist who has been catching babies for over twenty-seven years. Anne began as a nurse, whose first birth experience ended in a fourth degree episiotomy and vacuum delivery after being told she needed an emergency cesarean because her baby's heart rate was decelerating.  She was so "checked out" due to stress and shock that Anne describes her first birth as an out-of-body experience. Her baby was born with normal APGARs, which immediately refuted her doctor's fetal distress diagnosis, and she was left completely traumatized in the aftermath. This led her to develop a program for birth trauma healing and turn to home birth midwifery practice, where she could put the mother at the center of the decision-making process. She joins us today to share stories of obstetric violence and redemptive births alike, and to discuss how women can shift their mindsets and make the commitment to birth their babies on their terms, no matter where they choose to give birth.Instagram: HomesweethomebirthNatural Birth Secrets: An Insiders Guide on How To Give Birth Holistically, Healthfully and Safely, and Love the Experience! Trauma Release Formula: The Revolutionary Step by Step Program for Eliminating Effects of Childhood Abuse, Trauma, Emotional Pain and Crippling Inner Stress, ... without Drugs or Therapy This show is sponsored by:Silverette USA*DYPER*NOM Maternity*Vyana Infant Massage*Wildbird.co*Beautiful Births and Beyond*Postpartum Soothe**Use promo code DOWNTOBIRTH**********Send us Fan MailNeeded <-- this link for 20% off your whole subscription orderDrinkLMNT <--  this link for FREE 8-day supplyPrimally Pure:  ingredients good for you and the earth. Promo code: DOWNTOBIRTHPostpartum Soothe: Organic herbal padsicles for healing. Promo code DOWNTOBIRTHENERGYBits: <--this link for 20% offJoin Patreon for our exclusive contentIG @downtobirthshowDown to Birth ShowCall 802-GET-DOWNWatch full videos of all episodes on YouTube! Please note we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed provider for all healthcare matters.

Unlock the power of sexual energy for optimal birth experiences and overall life fulfillment. Learn how to maintain intimacy and sexual connection in relationships post-baby. Address misconceptions around female orgasm and explore the controversial topic of cervical orgasms. Discover the transformative potential of harnessing sexual energy for emotional healing and personal growth.

It's the last Wednesday of the month, and you know what that means!  We are back with our monthly Q&A episode. Today, we are discussing how long it is safe to go after your bag of waters releases (see link to our amazing birth story below); What can be done to treat or prevent Hyperemesis Gravidarum? Is Aspirin in pregnancy really necessary and what does ACOG have to say about it? When your hospital says waterbirth increases the risk of infection and is harmful to the baby--is that true? The world-expert in water birthing, Barbara Harper, founder of Waterbirth International, steps in to answer this one. And one woman was told her uterus wouldn't be "safe" to have another baby for one year. Also, is it normal to have nipple pain in pregnancy and how will this impact breastfeeding...and quickies!Remember you can access the extended, ad-free version of this episode by subscribing on Apple. This month's extended version includes:Severe carpel tunnel in pregnancy and what can be done about it; Fetal scalp electrode monitoring: what is it, and do the benefits ever outweigh the risks? You'll hear our thoughts on this "extreme" intervention; Having a two-vessel umbilical cord that was identified during the 20-week anatomy scan; What's the lowdown on red raspberry leaf tea? What are the benefits, and when/how much to consume during pregnancy.Thank you as always for your excellent questions and see you next week! If you would like to submit a question, please call and leave us a message with your question at (802) 438-3696 That's 802-GET-DOWN. (Cute, right?)#78 | Christina's Run From Induction to a Home Birth with Group B Strep**********Send us Fan MailNeeded <-- this link for 20% off your whole subscription orderDrinkLMNT <--  this link for FREE 8-day supplyPrimally Pure:  ingredients good for you and the earth. Promo code: DOWNTOBIRTHPostpartum Soothe: Organic herbal padsicles for healing. Promo code DOWNTOBIRTHENERGYBits: <--this link for 20% offJoin Patreon for our exclusive contentIG @downtobirthshowDown to Birth ShowCall 802-GET-DOWNWatch full videos of all episodes on YouTube! Please note we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed provider for all healthcare matters.

Nicole Alfred the @csectionrecoverycoach is a cesarean recovery coach, massage therapist, and mother of two. She has given birth two times by C-section: one emergent and traumatic, the other empowered and planned. Her different experiences opened her eyes to the abject lack of support mothers receive post-operatively. Nicole sees a need for much more emotional and physical attention. In today's episode, she shares with us the key steps she believes mothers must take, beginning immediately after surgery and through the first 12 weeks postpartum for optimizing  recovery. These steps include restoring healthy digestive function, wound & scar healing, pelvic floor recovery, and connecting with the incision scar to facilitate emotional processing and healing. This show is sponsored by:Silverette USA*DYPER*NOM Maternity*Vyana Infant Massage*Wildbird.co*Beautiful Births and Beyond*Postpartum Soothe**Use promo code DOWNTOBIRTH**********Send us Fan MailNeeded <-- this link for 20% off your whole subscription orderDrinkLMNT <--  this link for FREE 8-day supplyPrimally Pure:  ingredients good for you and the earth. Promo code: DOWNTOBIRTHPostpartum Soothe: Organic herbal padsicles for healing. Promo code DOWNTOBIRTHENERGYBits: <--this link for 20% offJoin Patreon for our exclusive contentIG @downtobirthshowDown to Birth ShowCall 802-GET-DOWNWatch full videos of all episodes on YouTube! Please note we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed provider for all healthcare matters.

Should we really be treating fevers in young children? Why are babies so gassy? Are germs helpful or harmful for our kids?  Do kids actually need cows' milk?  What is the problem with dairy?  Dr. Joel Gator Warsh , an integrative pediatrician in Los Angeles, CA, joins us today to discuss what is happening in our environment that is contributing to making kids sicker in the past generation rather than healthier, despite all the resources of modern society.  He answers our most pressing questions as new parents, gives us tips on how to make our households healthier and teaches us the most important step we can take to protect our children's health for the long term. Integrative Pediatrics and Medicine* * * * * * * * * *Connect with us on Instagram @DownToBirthShow, where we post new information daily related to pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. You can reach us at Contact@DownToBirthShow.com. We are always happy to hear from our listeners and appreciate questions for our monthly Q&A episodes. To submit a question, visit the Down To Birth website or send us a voice memo through Instagram messenger.This show is sponsored by:Silverette USA*DYPER*NOM Maternity*Vyana Infant Massage*Wildbird.co*Beautiful Births and Beyond*Postpartum Soothe**Use promo code DOWNTOBIRTH**********Send us Fan Mail Needed <-- this link for 20% off your whole subscription orderDrinkLMNT <--  this link for FREE 8-day supplyPrimally Pure:  ingredients good for you and the earth. Promo code: DOWNTOBIRTHPostpartum Soothe: Organic herbal padsicles for healing. Promo code DOWNTOBIRTHENERGYBits: <--this link for 20% offJoin Patreon for our exclusive contentIG @downtobirthshowDown to Birth ShowCall 802-GET-DOWNWatch full videos of all episodes on YouTube! Please note we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed provider for all healthcare matters.

The Business of Birth Control is a new documentary directed by Abby Epstein and produced by Ricki Lake, who achieved international acclaim for their revolutionary 2008 film, "The Business of Being Born". Abby joins us today to discuss why she and Ricki made their new film, which boldly shines a light on some of the severe side effects that accompany hormonal birth control, including death -- and the fact that congress, and the pharmaceuticals who make the pill, have long known about these adverse outcomes and have done nothing about it. Most disturbing of all, even though women have gathered, protested and demanded a safer and better-quality pill since the 1960s when these side-effects became known, there has been absolutely no advance in technology nor any improvement in safety standards in decades. In fact, the majority of the budget is allocated toward marketing and advertising. And while most bereaved families have been gagged in exchange for financial settlements, in the film we meet the parents of those who refused and who are demanding change.  Did you know a full fifty-percent of women who go on the pill come off it due to side effects? This only drives up the risk of unwanted pregnancies. We also discuss the lack of informed consent and unnecessary risks taken with  women and young, prepubescent girls, who are encouraged to go on the pill to clear up acne. Abby gives us an insider's look into how the film is spun in the media as controversial and is  mischaracterized as "anti-birth control" when the opposite is true: The Business of Birth Control is overt in its demand for safer birth control and more education; and, for those who wish to come off the pill, it seeks to empower women to understand their fertility cycles so they can choose the birth control that's safest and most effective for them. Abby and Ricki have been on a busy media tour and we're so grateful they came on the Down to Birth Show to invite us into this important conversation regarding  women's health, choice, autonomy and consent.To view The Business of Birth Control, visit the website and use promo code DOWNTOBIRTH to stream at 50% off. Instagram: businessofbirthcontrolThis show is sponsored by:Silverette USA*Send us Fan MailNeeded <-- this link for 20% off your whole subscription orderDrinkLMNT <--  this link for FREE 8-day supplyPrimally Pure:  ingredients good for you and the earth. Promo code: DOWNTOBIRTHPostpartum Soothe: Organic herbal padsicles for healing. Promo code DOWNTOBIRTHENERGYBits: <--this link for 20% offJoin Patreon for our exclusive contentIG @downtobirthshowDown to Birth ShowCall 802-GET-DOWNWatch full videos of all episodes on YouTube! Please note we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed provider for all healthcare matters.

Hello! This month's Q &A begins with a story from one of our Instagram followers on the pressure to have a vaginal exam to document cervical status so that her doctor can schedule an induction that she didn't need or want. Next, we jump into our questions starting with, "I have a narrow pelvis and grow big babies; what can I do stretch my pelvis for birth?" What can be done about plugged ducts and "Is my haaka helpful or hurtful?" Do I have to be on my back for a cervical exam?  What are the risks of external cephalic version for breech babies? Is it normal to have no libido at four months postpartum?  Should I use castor oil to induce labor? What is actually necessary for baby care; do we really need all the things? Why is cord prolapse dangerous? And finally, why is postpartum sex so painful?And if you want a lot more Q&A content, please subscribe to Down To Birth + on Apple subscriptions to get our extended version of this episode. For our Apple subscribers, our ad-free, extended version includes:Oral Vitamin K for babies, placental encapsulation, bad breastfeeding advice from pediatricians,  what to do about prodromal labor, trans-vaginal ultrasounds, and how to process a birth that did not go as planned. Thank you as always for your wonderful questions and see you next week! Connect with us on Instagram @DownToBirthShow, where we post new information daily related to pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. You can reach us at Contact@DownToBirthShow.com. We are always happy to hear from our listeners and appreciate questions for our monthly Q&A episodes. To submit a question, visit the Down To Birth website or send us a voice memo through Instagram messenger.This show is sponsored by:Silverette USA*DYPER*NOM Maternity*Vyana Infant Massage*Wildbird.co*Beautiful Births and Beyond*Postpartum Soothe**Use promo code DOWNTOBIRTH**********Send us Fan Mail Needed <-- this link for 20% off your whole subscription orderDrinkLMNT <--  this link for FREE 8-day supplyPrimally Pure:  ingredients good for you and the earth. Promo code: DOWNTOBIRTHPostpartum Soothe: Organic herbal padsicles for healing. Promo code DOWNTOBIRTHENERGYBits: <--this link for 20% offJoin Patreon for our exclusive contentIG @downtobirthshowDown to Birth ShowCall 802-GET-DOWNWatch full videos of all episodes on YouTube! Please note we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed provider for all healthcare matters.

Danielle Daure holds a Master's Degree in Education and has over 20 years' combined experience in education and behavior analysis. She is a Board Certified and Licensed Behavior Analyst (BCBA, LBA). For years, Danielle worked with children as old as five with extreme anxiety around toilets, to the point where they had severe constipation through tears and tantrums. She saw frustrated parents trying to reward and/or punish their children into potty-training; children who couldn't start preschool because they weren't out of diapers; and even older toddlers with impacted bowels who had to be hospitalized because of days of withholding bowel movements. Toilet training isn't inherently difficult to learn; it is only that adults haven't been taught how to property introduce children to the toilet in a way that's natural and developmentally-appropriate. She has learned personally and professionally that when parents take simple daily steps, just 2-3 minutes per day from about four months on, toilet training will develop as easily and naturally as learning how to walk and talk and ride in a carseat. Her method is called Developmental Toilet Training, and doesn't subscribe to the diaper-free approach of the well-known Elimination Communication method because she says it's not practical, nor is it especially beneficial, to rush the process during infancy and avoid diapers entirely. Danielle, who offers a video series for parents, also encourages her clients to avoid using training-potties. Today, she walks us through her method for creating the easiest transition from diapers to toilet, and, surprisingly, the process isn't about getting to the goal of potty-training as soon as possible; it's about creating a safe, happy, stress-free and rewarding process for parents and children along the way.Developmental Toilet Training WebsiteThis show is sponsored by:Silverette USA*DYPER*NOM Maternity*Vyana Infant Massage*Wildbird.co*Beautiful Births and Beyond*Postpartum Soothe**Use promo code DOWNTOBIRTHSend us Fan Mail Needed <-- this link for 20% off your whole subscription orderDrinkLMNT <--  this link for FREE 8-day supplyPrimally Pure:  ingredients good for you and the earth. Promo code: DOWNTOBIRTHPostpartum Soothe: Organic herbal padsicles for healing. Promo code DOWNTOBIRTHENERGYBits: <--this link for 20% offJoin Patreon for our exclusive contentIG @downtobirthshowDown to Birth ShowCall 802-GET-DOWNWatch full videos of all episodes on YouTube! Please note we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed provider for all healthcare matters.

"There is something going on against midwives, against birth centers, and against choice for women." Cathy Parisi is the director of the Connecticut Childbirth & Women's Center in Danbury, Ct since 1999. The center is the only free standing birth center in Connecticut and promotes physiologic birth under the midwifery model of care, offering women choice, freedom, and empowered decision making in their care in the birth center itself or across the street at Danbury hospital.  Recently, the hospital administration cited more than one midwife for practicing "out of their scope of care" and revoked one midwifes' privileges to attend birth at the hospital for an incident that happened within the birth center, was clinically appropriate, and entirely within her scope of practice. Cathy joins us today to share the battle that not just her team of midwives are facing from the hospital monopoly; but also, what she believes to be a trend nationwide--punishing midwives and the women who choose to birth with them for choice and autonomy over their own bodies and birth.  This episode is close to our hearts as it impacts our local community of women and midwives, is where Cynthia gave birth to her first child and where Trisha provides her breastfeeding services. We stand with the midwives of CCWC.  The Connecticut Childbirth & Women's CenterHelp Support The Fight Against Danbury Hospital and Defend the Midwives**********Connect with Cynthia and Trisha at:Instagram: @downtobirthshow on InstagramEmail: Contact@DownToBirthShow.comCall: (802) 438-3696 (802-GET-DOWN)Work with Cynthia:Email: Cynthia@HypnoBirthingCT.com Text: 203-952-7299 to RSVP to attend a free information session live on Zoom. Upcoming dates are posted at HypnoBirthingCT.com. You can also sign up for our Fourth Trimester Workshop,  Breastfeeding Workshop or Cynthia's HypnoBirthing classes and weekly postpartum support groups at HypnoBirthing of Connecticut. Work with TSend us Fan MailNeeded <-- this link for 20% off your whole subscription orderDrinkLMNT <--  this link for FREE 8-day supplyPrimally Pure:  ingredients good for you and the earth. Promo code: DOWNTOBIRTHPostpartum Soothe: Organic herbal padsicles for healing. Promo code DOWNTOBIRTHENERGYBits: <--this link for 20% offJoin Patreon for our exclusive contentIG @downtobirthshowDown to Birth ShowCall 802-GET-DOWNWatch full videos of all episodes on YouTube! Please note we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed provider for all healthcare matters.

Dr. Nathan Riley is a board certified obstetrician in California advocating for autonomous birth. Through his experiences as a hospice care provider he learned that choices around end of life care are no different from choices in birth: What matters is that mothers feel in charge of their bodies during their birth experiences.  He argues that birth is so much more than the standard metrics of vital signs, length of labor, fetal status or any variable routinely measured in labor in the medical model of care. Join us in this stimulating conversation on how women can better empower themselves in birth and hear one  courageous OB's perspective on what his role actually is in birth: Supporting your sovereignty and your choice without coercion or judgement.  Dr. Nathan Riley OBGYNThis show is sponsored by:Silverette USA*DYPER*NOM Maternity*Vyana Infant Massage*Wildbird.co*Beautiful Births and Beyond*Postpartum Soothe**Use promo code DOWNTOBIRTH**********Send us Fan MailNeeded <-- this link for 20% off your whole subscription orderDrinkLMNT <--  this link for FREE 8-day supplyPrimally Pure:  ingredients good for you and the earth. Promo code: DOWNTOBIRTHPostpartum Soothe: Organic herbal padsicles for healing. Promo code DOWNTOBIRTHENERGYBits: <--this link for 20% offJoin Patreon for our exclusive contentIG @downtobirthshowDown to Birth ShowCall 802-GET-DOWNWatch full videos of all episodes on YouTube! Please note we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed provider for all healthcare matters.