Today we're talking with Maria Mengel about her 2 birth stories. Maria's first daughter was born at a birthing center with a midwife, and her second was an unassisted home birth (also known as "freebirth"). In this episode Maria gets honest about her two birth experiences and shares some of the things she learned during the process. Maria reached out to us after listening to the show and felt inspired to share her experience of home birth. We love stories like these - full of candor, vulnerability and humor. Maria has the experience and perspective of giving birth in a birthing center as well as at home, so we were really excited to sit down and pick her brain about it all. We learn about the birthing center experience and why Maria was certain on the drive home with her new daughter that she’d never do it like that again. We also hear about the process of home birth, and what can happen when your waters break and you don’t go into labor that day...or even the next day! Birth was such a transformational experience for Maria that it ignited a passion that would shift her career. She became a doula and now owns a business dedicated to birth work which includes placenta encapsulation and childbirth education. Offers From Our Awesome Partners: Needed: https://needed.sjv.io/XY3903 - use code DIAH to get 20% off your order The FamilyAlbum app: Share your family’s precious moments with your loved ones + get 11 free photo prints delivered each month CLICK HERE. More From Doing It At Home: Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/ DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC DIAH Merch: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/doingitathome Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices