Today we talk to Lorene Mah,  founder and CEO of Glitter & Spice, a company that sells safe and beautifully designed teething products for babies and toddlers. Since it's founding in 2015, Glitter & Spice (and Lorene herself) has won multiple awards for innovation and product safety, and has provided countless parents and infants with fashionable solutions to all of their teething and sensory development needs.   We talk about the symptoms of teething in infants that compel them...

Today we talk to Bettina Gordon-Wayne, Journalist, Certified Mental Strength Trainer, and bestselling author of The Joy of Older Motherhood. Bettina became a mother for the first time at age 44, and since then has dedicated her life to coaching other women over 40 through limiting beliefs that keep them from starting their own journeys into motherhood. She is a huge advocate for over-40 motherhood, and through her coaching and writing, hopes to reshape some of the societal stigma around...

Today we talk to Kristin Mallon, obstetric nurse,  author, midwife, and medical strategist. Kristin is an expert in business for birth professionals, and particularly in birth professionals who operate out-of-network, and helping them to navigate potential pitfalls in order to run a successful practice. She has been called a visionary in the field of medicine as a business, and she has touched the birth world both by attending births herself, and by helping others to offer the best possible...

Today we talk to Tamara Hiller, midwife, herbalist, and trainer in the field of pre/postnatal herbal medicine.  Tamara has worked in the health field for over 23 years, and dedicates her practice to helping people to address current and chronic health issues through herbs and natural healing. She is a particular expert in bringing herbalism into the sphere of pregnancy and birth, which she has done for many years through her midwifery practice, and she continues to pass on her knowledge by...

Today we talk to Annette Presley, registered dietician, nutritionist, author, and creator of the Mommy Maker Method. Annette is an expert in functional nutrition and nutrigenomics, and has spent over 28 years studying the ways in which our nutrition affects how our genetics express potential health issues. Her program has helped women all over to take charge of their genes as an important step in their fertility journey.   We discuss the ways that Iodine deficiency affects health,...

Today we talk to Julie Sawaya, Founder and CEO of Needed, which provides health education and nutritional supplements for all stages of pregnancy. Needed supplements are based on intense research into the needs of both a pregnant woman and the developing fetus. Julie has been recognized nationwide for her work in ensuring optimal nutrition for both mother and baby.   We talk about how the vast majority of available prenatal vitamins are not sufficient  to meet optimal prenatal nutrition...

Today we talk to Patty Brennan, founder of Lifespan Doulas, and author of The Doula Business Guide. She offers doula education, training, and certification through her program, as well as the business training needed for independent workers to establish a stable practice. Over her 40 year career, Patty has personally trained over 2000 doulas, in addition to being a doula and a midwife herself, running a company and nonprofit, and authoring vital business resources for doulas around the...

  Today we talk to Jessica Diggs,  one of the most sought after Doulas and Midwives in the San Francisco area and Education Lead at LOOM, an empowering digital education platform that brings accessible sexual and reproductive health education to all communities, including its debut program centering on pregnancy, birth, and postpartum topics. Jessica's work goes a long way in helping to provide wider access to the sort of inclusive and comprehensive education that is vital for health and...

Today we talk to Elizabeth King, a Fertility Health Coach, ICF Life Coach, Birth & Bereavement Doula, and new parent educator. Through her practice, she helps clients through the trials of infertility and trauma of miscarriage and works with them through all possible avenues to help them conceive and bring a healthy baby to full term.   We discuss the process of preserving her own fertility that led to her wanting to specialize in fertility support. We talk about common myths about...

Today we talk to Dr. Betty DeLass, a physical therapist and world-class pelvic health expert.  Through her practice at Reborn Pelvic Health Wellness, she works with patients to craft personalized treatment regimens for patients at every stage of pregnancy or postpartum to help them return to or maintain the best quality of life possible through adjustment and strengthening of the pelvic floor.  To date she has assisted thousands of patient in improving their quality of life through their...

Today we talk to returning guest Bailey Gaddis, Author of Feng Shui Mommy, about her new book, Asking for a Pregnant Friend. Bailey is a certified Doula, Hypnotherapist, and founding member of the Ojai Valley Birth Collective, among many other accomplishments, and she uses her passion for both birth and writing to help make pregnancy and birth a comfortable and shame-free experience for everyone who reads her work.   We talk about Bailey's process in deciding to write her new book, and...

Today we talk to Julie Tupler, registered nurse, childbirth educator, physical therapist, and developer of the Tupler Technique for repairing Diastasis Recti. She is a world renowned expert in Diastasis and repairing the "pointy tummy" effect that many women experience after giving birth. With over 30 years of experience in abdominal repair, Julie trains medical and fitness professionals all over the world to repair split abdominal muscles and improve the quality of life for their...

Today we talk to Marinah Farrell, Midwife, Activist, and  Executive Director of Changing Woman Initiative, a Native American centered health and justice organization. Marinah's work serves to help indigenous peoples reclaim sovereignty over reproductive medicine, and provide safe, culturally integrated healthcare to Indigenous women in New Mexico and Arizona. We talk about the Changing Woman initiative, the meaning behind the name, and what the organization does for tribal communities in...

Today we talk to Dr. Rosita Arvigo, Naprapathic physician, International author and lecturer, and founder of The Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy®. She has dedicated her life and practice to preserving and elevating traditional Mayan abdominal massage practices, and using them to heal patients from all manner of reproductive system dysfunction in both body and spirit.   We talk about Dr. Arvigo's apprenticeship in Mayan abdominal massage with her mentor Don Elijio Panti, and...

Today we talk to Adriana Lozada, advanced birth doula,  postpartum educator, child sleep consultant, and host of the Birthful Podcast. In her work she focuses on helping clients to trust in their body's natural birthing instinct without allowing fear and overthinking to complicate the process. We discuss Adriana's call to birth work after her first birth experience made her realize that birth is a lot more complicated and messy than most people understand, and that it takes much more than...

Today we talk to Cortney and Stephanie, certified childbirth educators and doulas, and creators of My Essential Birth -- an evidence-based and holistic online childbirth education course -- as well as The Pregnancy and Childbirth Made Easy Podcast. They are dedicated to bringing the best that the birth world has to offer into one place so that new parents have the best possible head-start in preparing for their birth. We talk about how both Cortney and Stephanie got into the world of...

Today we talk to Aisha Al Hajjar, Midwife and founder of AMANI Birth, an Islamically founded childbirth education and doula training program designed to empower and support women in the birthing decisions that they make. She works together with her husband to make this education widely available, and to date, AMANI Birth has trained over 900 educators and providers and supported over 10,000 mothers worldwide with their evidence based childbirth education.   We talk about Aisha's birth...

Today we talk to Nikia Lawson, Certified Birth Doula and Birth Doula Trainer through DONA international. Nikia is an international lecturer,  thought leader, and birth educator who uses her expansive knowledge to help expectant families go into their births feeling prepared. Her non-profit organization, The Natural Way Birthing Project, offers programs and services to help reduce maternal and infant mortality rates in the Texas counties where she serves. We talk about Nikia's induction into...

Today we talk to Nefertiti Austin, Author of Motherhood So White: A Memoir  of Race, Gender, and Parenting In America. Fourteen years ago she took a journey toward adopting a child from the Los Angeles foster system as a single woman and she shares her experience and the insight she gained from it with us today. Our Digital Media Coordinator and Executive Assistant for Birth Circle, Erin, also joins us as a guest interviewer.  We talk to Nefertiti about her initial journey toward deciding...

Today we talk to Kimberly Seals Allers, founder of Irth, an app where Black and brown parents can rate practitioners in order to address bias and racism in maternity and infant care. She is also the host of Birthright, a podcast about joy and healing in Black birth that seeks to change the narrative around Black birth being a necessarily traumatic experience. Kimberly is an award-winning journalist and five-time author, and she is an outspoken advocate for maternal and infant health in...

Today we talk to Dr. Laurena White, a medical doctor specializing in both allopathic and traditional medicine, an expert in fertility and pregnancy care, and director of the Eudaimonia Center. She has spent over 15 years using her skill to improve pregnancy care for her patients in a way that promotes genuine healing and avoids invasive medical procedures.   We talk about Dr. White's upbringing, her desire to be a doctor, and the cultural womanhood ceremonies that shaped her ambition to...

Today we talk to Sarah and Matthew Bivens, hosts of Doing it at Home,  a home birth podcast sharing powerful stories and conversations to normalize home birth and support families in being as prepared and supported in their journeys. They realized the important of sharing and normalizing home birth stories after their own home birth experience, and they continue to work to make choosing home birth a normal and well understood option for any new parents who may be considering it. We talk about...

Today we talk to Parijat Deshpande, leading high-risk pregnancy specialist, somatic trauma professional, speaker, and author.  She has helped hundreds of women work safely navigate difficult pregnancies, and prevent further complications by healing past trauma with her unique neurobiological approach. She is also the author of the bestselling book Pregnancy Brain: A Mind-Body Approach to Stress Management During a High-Risk Pregnancy. We talk about the chronic structural damage that trauma...

Today we talk with Marcia Stevens, a practicing nurse and midwife in Liberia. She runs a healthcare clinic out of her front yard to serve the health needs of her community and to provide a safe birthing space for women in need. She comes from a line of traditional midwives and is passionate about preserving those traditions while also providing access to quality care for the people who need it.   We talk about how Marcia got her start into midwifery and nursing and her experience assisting...