After 3+ years and 138 episodes, the Birth Kweens Podcast is coming to an end! Listen to this final episode to hear Karly and Ali wrap things up. Thank you all for supporting us and listening to the show over the past few years. We love and appreciate all of you! 

**TRIGGER WARNING: Infant Loss** Today we’re talking with Jeanette Fant about the births of her four babies. Jeanette has had a wide variety of birth experiences including medicated hospital births, a home birth, and the birth of her stillborn daughter, Natalie. Jeanette shares about how her approach to preparing for birth has changed over the years, what prompted her to choose a home birth for her youngest baby Nayeli, and how the devastating loss of her second baby Natalie has impacted her...

Angie Ponce is with us today to share the story of the birth of her first baby! Earlier this year, Angie had an unmedicated hospital birth with the support of her husband and doula. We hope you enjoy Angie’s wonderful birth story! --- SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Sign up for a subscription with Ritual Vitamins today! Get your daily multivitamin or prenatal delivered right to your door by visiting Ritual.com/kweens. Use the promo code KWEENS at checkout for 10% off during your first 3 months! Get...

In this episode we’re talking with Ryann Kipling about nutrition during preconception and pregnancy. Ryann is a clinically trained Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Certified Lactation Educator, and Author of The Feel-Good Pregnancy Cookbook. She is the founder of The Prenatal Nutritionist, a virtual nutrition private practice, which focuses on preparing women for pregnancy and conquering nutrition during and after pregnancy. She helps women feel confident in their ability to properly...

Anissa Ballesteros is here today to share her two birth stories with us. For her first baby, Anissa had planned and prepared for an unmedicated hospital birth but her baby was breech so she ended up having a cesarean. When she got pregnant with her second baby, she knew she wanted a different experience so she hired Karly and planned a home birth. Anissa shares about how difficult her cesarean birth was for her and how healing and positive her HBAC (home birth after cesarean) experience was. ...

Today we’re talking with Dr. Melinda Elliott about preterm birth and navigating an unexpected NICU stay. Dr. Elliott is chief medical officer of Prolacta Bioscience where she serves as the voice of the patient, working to ensure that the needs of critically ill and premature infants are being articulated and that the relevant treatment and product opportunities are identified. As an experienced neonatologist and researcher in neonatal intensive care, Dr. Elliott has committed her career to...

Chloë Lubell of Cosmos Midwifery is here to share her birth story with us! Chloë had been a midwife for many years before becoming pregnant with her first child. She shares in depth about her pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experiences, including what it was like to have an ultra-fast labor and lots of other surprises along the way. Enjoy! --- SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Get a high quality, fully breathable, washable, and recyclable baby mattress from Newton Baby! Go to NewtonBaby.com and enter...

In this episode we’re talking with Cheyenne Varner of The Educated Birth about representation and inclusivity in the birth world. Cheyenne is a birth and postpartum doula and graphic designer in Richmond, VA. She started The Educated Birth, a collection of childbirth education materials including Everyday Birth Magazine, in 2016, when she couldn't find materials with representation of families of color. She has been learning, creating, and partnering with other professionals to provide more...

Johanna Penn shares her two birth stories with us in this episode. Her first son was born in the hospital after a long, difficult labor. This birth experience really impacted Johanna and it inspired her to go into birth work. It also caused her to make an entirely different birth plan for her second son who was born quickly at home. Johanna shares what her two very different labors were like for her, what she learned from them, and what kind of birth work she’s doing now (including her new...

In this episode we’re talking with Jessie Harrold of MotherSHIFT about how pregnancy and birth are rites of passage and what an enormous identity shift it is to become a parent. Jessie is a coach, women’s mentor and doula who supports women to traverse radical life transformation and other rites of passage. She is the founder of MotherSHIFT, a program to support women through the identity shift of motherhood, and author of a forthcoming book of the same name. Registration for her 2020...

Laci Silva shares about the birth of her daughter, Lilás. Laci and her husband Jimmy had planned a home birth with Karly and Ali but after a long few days of early labor with no progress they made the decision to transfer to the hospital for medical intervention. Despite things not going as planned, Laci and Jimmy still had a very positive (albeit exhausting) birth experience! --- SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Support your mind and body with high quality CBD and adaptogen products from FOCL. Go to...

In this episode we’re covering vitamin K for the newborn. You’ll hear about what vitamin K is, why it’s routinely given to newborns, the two ways it can be administered, and the risks and benefits of receiving it, including it’s effectiveness. The resources used to put together this episode are listed below: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3021393/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24059412/ https://evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-for-the-vitamin-k-shot-in-newborns/...

Today we’re talking with the amazing Gena Kirby about the rebozo! We discuss what it is, it’s history and cultural significance, and how it can be integrated into pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. To get information about Gena’s workshops or buy her e-books visit her website GenaKirby.net. Check out Gena’s mentorship program The Doula’s Doula and support Gena via Patreon!  Click here to read the article titled “The Rebozo: Fashion, Feminism and Death” that Gena mentions.   --- ...

In this episode we’re talking about back labor, including its possible causes, how to prevent it, its impact on labor progression, and what to do if you find yourself experiencing it. We also delve into sterile water injections – what they are, why they’re useful in labor, and what it’s like to get them. Here are the links for the resources mentioned in this episode: The Spinning Babies website, specifically the pages for daily and weekly activities to do during pregnancy and the section...

In this episode we’re talking about common pregnancy discomforts and some remedies to treat them. We cover morning sickness, back pain, heartburn, sleep problems and more! --- SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!   Treat yourself to some amazing skincare products from OSEA Malibu. Go to www.OSEAMalibu.com/birthkweens for $10 off your first purchase of $50 or more. Free shipping for US orders over $75 and free samples with every order! Sign up for a subscription with Ritual Vitamins today! Get your daily...

Dr. Elizabeth Winter, ND, LM, CPM joins us in today’s episode to discuss breast implant illness. Dr. Winter is naturopathic doctor in San Diego, CA who specializes in women’s health and pediatrics. In this episode we discuss what breast implant illness is, the signs/symptoms of it, and treatment options for those who have it. --- SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR! Sign up for a membership with Thrive Market and start saving 25-50% off traditional retail prices on all your favorite clean, organic...

This episode features Anna Verwaal, a maternal-child health nurse, conscious conception & birth consultant, midwifery, nursing and doula instructor, primal period & childbirth educator, UCLA certified lactation educator, and birth photographer from the Netherlands. After a 25-year nursing career in various countries in obstetric, pediatric, neonatal and home-health settings, she preferred to work with families and babies as an educator and started her own private birth consulting...

Drea Haire joins us on today’s episode to share about the birth of her first baby. You’ll hear about what she and her husband did to prepare for labor, her goal of having a water birth in a birth center, and how her plans got turned upside when she found out her baby was breech at 37 weeks (and AGAIN at 39 weeks!). This is a super unique birth story and we’re so happy to be able to share it with all of you! --- SUPPORT OUR SPONSOR! Sign up for a membership with Thrive Market and start...

In today’s episode we’re talking with Maria Pokluda about placenta encapsulation. Maria is a doula, childbirth educator, and placenta encapsulator who teaches encapsulation workshops through her training organization, BEST Placenta. In this episode we discuss: The history of placenta consumption A book about the topic – Placenta: The Forgotten Chakra The existing data on placenta consumption The benefits, risks, and contraindications of consuming your placenta What’s contained in the...

In light of all the craziness currently happening with COVID-19, we decided to re-release this episode about comfort measures in labor. Many people will be having their babies with little or no support because of the current hospital restrictions and we hope that these tips will help with managing the intensity of labor, especially if you’re doing it without the support you’d planned on having. Additionally, here are a few helpful resources that we mentioned at the top of the episode: ...

Today we’re talking about painful sex with Emily Sauer, the creator of Ohnut. Ohnut is a wearable tool that helps solve the problem of painful sex by customizing penetration depth without sacrificing sensation for you or your partner. In this episode we talk about the typical causes of painful sex (both physical and mental), how common it is, and how Ohnut can help. Use code BirthKweens at checkout to get a discount on your purchase (*offer valid until June 5, 2020). And don’t forget to check...

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Sign up for a subscription with Ritual Vitamins today! Get your daily multivitamin or prenatal delivered right to your door by visiting Ritual.com/kweens. Use the promo code KWEENS at checkout for 10% off during your first 3 months!   Treat yourself to a beautiful piece of luxury jewelry from Noemie! Go to hellonoemie.com/KWEENS to see their collections and get $50 off your first purchase with promo code KWEENS. --- In this episode Karly and Ali explore some natural...

In this episode we’re talking to Lindsay McCoy of One Strong Mama about pain during pregnancy and how exercise can be used to mitigate it. Lindsay is an Exercise Physiologist, birth doula, childbirth educator, and co-founder of the online prenatal exercise birth prep and recovery program, One Strong Mama. She is also one of the creators of the Body Ready Method professional training program that helps birth and fitness pros assess and train pregnant clients- specifically for core and pelvic...

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Sign up for a subscription with Ritual Vitamins today! Get your daily multivitamin or prenatal delivered right to your door by visiting Ritual.com/kweens. Use the promo code KWEENS at checkout for 10% off during your first 3 months! --- Dominique Richey is back on the show to share the birth story of her third baby, Aminah! You may remember Dominique from episode 70 where she shared about her first two births (an unmedicated hospital birth and a home birth that...