Fear Free Childbirth Podcast with Alexia Leachman

When it comes to birth, dads are often left out in the cold. I mean this metaphorically and in reality. During pregnancy, a lot of the focus is on the mum. Dad is often neglected from appointments during pregnancy and a lot of the communications directed towards pregnant couples are actually for mum. Poor dads aren’t really being spoken to in all of this. And yet, they should be. There should be more information available on how to prepare dads for childbirth.. but where is it? Even if you put a simple google search how to prepare dads for childbirth you’ll only get a handful of articles show up. It’s a shocking state of affairs! The thing is, Dads-to-be are known to experience pregnancy symptoms alongside their partner and they also experience the hormonal changes. Their lack of knowledge around birth can lead to them experiencing a lot of fear too. Coupled with the fact that childbirth is an inherently female event, can make it terribly alienating for them. They too are about to become a parent. The thing is, dads are the best person to support mum throughout pregnancy and birth, and yet very little is being done to support them. One of my previous podcast guests is on a one-man mission to change all this. Mark Harris, who’s the man behind Birthing for Blokes, has just released a book, Men, Love and Birth and is working tirelessly to help prepare men for birth. Well, on today’s podcast I’ve got a guest who’s also throwing her weight behind supporting dads in birth. Today, I’m chatting to Rachel Gardner, founder of Doula Daddy. Rachel believes that dads are the perfect birthing companion and that all they need is some loving support to help guide them. Once they are equipped with the knowledge and practical tips, they can be amazing birth partners. Rachel is a highly experienced hypnobirthing teacher and doula, who has taught over 250 couples and attended 44 births. Rachel is Lead of Sheffield Maternity Services Liaison Committee and is currently working with midwives at Jessops on an exciting research project. Rachel’s great passion together with supporting couples (which includes dads as well as mums!) in pregnancy and birth, is supporting and protecting maternal mental health. Rachel lectures on this subject at Midwifery conferences and is currently helping Sheffield Public Health in this area. After years of teaching Hypnobirthing, Rachel was asked to attend a couple of births and enjoyed this so much she decided to train to be a doula. In the course of this training she was dismayed to find that the Doula’s in training were encouraged to give Dads little jobs to keep them busy “and out of the way”. This went against everything Rachel wanted for Dads at births and also for the Mothers. Rachel is a fierce believer in the role of the Father and Birth Partner at a birth. Rachel has long said that the difference between a good hypnobirth and an exceptional one is the Daddy/birth partner. In today’s episode, Rachel shares how she works with couples on how to prepare dads for childbirth. Rachel believes that midwives are the expert on birth, the mother is the expert on her body and her partner is the expert on her, and that mummy and daddy are the experts on their own birth. Some of the advice she has for dads which she shares includes; If you have positive thoughts about your partner during birth - share those with her, rather than keeping them to yourself. Shower her with love and affection… this does wonders for stimulating oxytocin during birth which helps keep labour moving Touch is super important: stroking, handholding, touching, kisses. Make sure there is that physical contact and support for mum ALL the time Pack some facecloths in dads bag so that you can run them under cold water to help cool mum down during birth if she needs it

When I was pregnant for the first time, I remember vividly coming back from that first doctor’s appointment. It was the one where the doctor said to me “yes you’re pregnant!”. So now I’m a bit dazed and in shock, and she says to me “well, congratulations! I’ll probably next see you with baby. Good luck!” And I remember thinking WHAT?! What do you mean you’re only going to see me after baby’s born?! Who’s going to look over me? Of course it was the midwife, but I remember feeling completely abandoned in that moment and slightly panicky. Like I needed help being pregnant. It seems silly looking back, but I’m sure I wasn’t alone in feeling this. What I think I needed in that moment was to fast forward in time and listen to the chat that you’re about to hear that I had with today’s guest. Today I’m speaking with Kicki Hansard who’s a bit of a legend in the birthing world. Kicki is a certified birth and postnatal doula with experience in all aspects of pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting. During the last 12 years, she has been preparing couples for the arrival of their baby and supported many of them through the birth and postnatal period. Kicki is also a doula course facilitator and has trained over 500 aspiring doulas. Kicki has studied with Ina May Gaskin, Sheila Kitzinger, Dr. Jack Newman and the "grandmothers of all doulas", Penny Simkin and Phyllis Klaus. In 2005, she took part in a television programme called "Mum + One" about doulas, which can still be seen on the Discovery Home & Health Channel. Kicki was also rewarded the Pregnancy & Birth Magazine and Doula UK award "Doula of the Year" in 2009, the first and only time this award has been presented. Kicki is a chapter contributor to the Amazon #1 bestseller, The Roar Behind the Silence and has just launched her own book, The Secrets of Birth. (I'm sorry but this free guide is no longer available.  If you are looking for super useful resources such as this then join the Fearless Mama Ship. Find out more here.) She was also invited to contribute to the UK government initiative 1001 Critcal Days at the Houses of Parliament which is about helping to improve the 1001 days from conception to when a child is 2 years old. Kicki believes that birth is a truly normal, and at the same time, deeply profound event that is optimised by personalised support defined birth goals with flexibility built in and a solid education. Her goals are to instill confidence with true information, equipping women and families for the work of labour, birth and the postnatal period and to understand each family's unique needs and birth goals. During my chat with Kicki we really dance about the whole pregnancy, birth and motherhood thing, but what makes it so great is that you really get a sense listening to Kicki of her philosophy when it comes to pregnancy, birth, and motherhood; and it’s the same for both. Be open and flexible. Know your choices - so do your homework - but trust yourself. Trust your innate wisdom to do what’s right for you and for your baby. There are no shoulds just go with the flow and be flexible to respond to each moment. And be ok with just being ok. It’s really liberating! Pregnancy birth and motherhood Some of the things we talk about include; Using birth and pregnancy to find out more about yourself and use what you learn in other parts of your life Why its important to be flexible and open in your mind when it comes to birth and motherhood The futility of the fight against wanting it to be normal. It being birth or motherhood. She says “it was the struggle that was painful, not what was going on around me. When I accepted it and enjoyed it, it became easier.” Being open to finding a new “normal”  in motherhood and the lessons for us to learn in bei...

Are you facing intense pressure to induce? Well, I hope that today's podcast will help! This time last year I was 11 days over my due date so I was never more than a few hours away from hearing the word “induction”. Being an older mum also put me in the high-risk category, so I was under some pretty intense pressure to induce from my consultants too. This experience forced me to educate myself on various aspects of induction; the risks of induction versus the risks of waiting, especially if you’re high risk or an older mum. I was committed to having a natural home birth so it was important for me to be able to stand my ground with confidence against this pressure to induce knowing that I wasn’t putting myself and my baby at risk. How to cope in the face of pressure to induce So, I thought it would be a good time to explore the whole induction thing in a podcast. Most pregnant mamas are going to have to wrestle with this one and it can be pretty stressful, especially if you just don’t know what to do. When you’ve been so focused on your due date for so long, and it comes and goes, it can be really tempting to just go with whatever your consultant or midwife is suggesting. Perhaps it’s because you trust them, you believe that they have your best interests at heart, you’re worried about your baby or maybe you’re just fed up already with being pregnant and just want to meet your baby. Whatever it is, the one thing that I would urge you to do is BE INFORMED and make your decision from a calm informed place, rather than a fearful place. I hope that today’s podcast episode will bring you nearer to being in the informed, calm place. To help me, today I’m going to be chatting to Patti Good. Patti Good is an empowerment expert for powerful women. Her mission is to help women transform their fear into power, their baggage into blessings and live a life of renewed health and inspired joy! She is a Senior Accredited Journey Therapist, a HypnoBirthing Practitioner and Practitioner Trainer, a Certified BodyTalk Practitioner, Doula and Training Reiki Master. Patti is mom to darling Max who is 6. She loves chocolate, spending time snuggled up in her marshmallow bed and helping women take their power back makes her want to skip! During our chat, we talk about loads, including... Patti explains how our muscles in the uterus work, and how one is dependent on mum’s stress levels and another isn’t…. and WHY it’s important to get these working together efficiently… but importantly HOW! We talk about due dates - AGAIN! And why it’s important to be working toward a due date that you have more confidence in. Here's my Due Date Cheat Sheet  if you haven’t got it already. Use this to calculate your due date based on calculation methods that are based on research. If you want to know more about the farce that is the due date calculation method then check out this podcast episode here. Patti shares some of her top tips for staying in a great place mentally in the due date drop zone so that you can better handle the pressure to be induced situation. (I’m sorry but this free guide is no longer available.  If you are looking for super useful resources such as this then join the Fearless Mama Ship. Find out more here.) We also talk about the importance of fear release and letting go of your fears.. after all, it could be your mind and body that is stopping baby from coming out. When you’re fearful, your fears reside in your mind AND your body which is why it’s so important to do the fear clearance work. We talk about why energy psychology techniques are the best techniques for this kind of clearance work. Some of the techniques we mention include Reflective Repatterning, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and Body Talk. A talk about inductions wouldn’t be complete without mentioning monitoring so ...

Are you wondering how your behaviour during pregnancy affects your baby? Well, I hope to be able to shed some light on that for you. I know, I've been there... when you’re pregnant, you’re bombarded with so much information about what you should and shouldn’t do that it can be hard to have a guilt-free day when you can just think about what YOU want. The last thing I want to do is to add to this cacophony of 'recommended behaviour during pregnancy', but I’d like to show you a slightly different perspective on things. This is NOT about all the usual stuff you’re likely to have come across. Instead, I want to share with you some of the more subtler ways that your behaviour during pregnancy can affect your baby. Everything that I’m sharing with you is supported by research, but it’s information that rarely surfaces. It certainly didn’t in ALL the stuff that I read during both my pregnancies... and I read A LOT! So today I want to share with you how your behaviour during pregnancy can affect your baby, in ways that you may not have fully appreciated. If you like you might prefer to hear me talk through this blog post as a podcast. You can listen to that right here by clicking the play button below. You might also like to subscribe to the podcast and listen to it on your phone. Here are the seven ways that your behaviour during your pregnancy will affect your baby: 1. Smoking & Drinking Alcohol It’s widely known that alcohol and smoking are bad for the baby, and one effect is that babies who are subjected to a smoking and drinking mum are underweight and this is probably due to the fact that alcohol and cigarettes are known to suppress they appetite. But, what’s not always known is exactly what happens to the baby when you drink. LIKE THE MOMENT that you’re drinking! It can be easy to brush the comment "suppress their appetite" aside. We all lose our appetite sometimes, right? no big deal! But let me shed a bit of light on what is going on. It might make you change your mind about that cheeky glass of wine…. and no I’m not one for piling the guilt on here, you know me by now... it’s about being conscious and mindful in our actions. Alcohol causes a baby to stop liquid breathing There was some research whereby mothers drank a shot of vodka. Once the mother had ingested the vodka, the baby stopped breathing. The baby would only start breathing again once the alcohol had cleared itself out of her system. For one shot this might be for just over an hour. I never realised this when I was pregnant and I think if I had known that they STOPPED BREATHING (!) then I would have completely stayed off alcohol. Who knows what kind of long-term impact it has on your baby if he or she not breathing for a few hours. So now when we go back to that phrase.. suppressing the appetite.. perhaps it's probably due to the fact that they’re no longer taking in nutrients through the amniotic fluid because they’ve stopped liquid breathing. Smoking makes them breathe faster… probably so that they can get more oxygen from you. It also suppresses their appetite. Alcohol can be pretty damaging around the time of conception too; If you’re drinking around the time of conception, then it can lead to an increased risk of malformations in the eyes, ears, lips, head and face. 2. What you eat… before you conceive Diet is important when we’re pregnant. In fact, the healthier our diet during pregnancy, the better for both mum AND baby. But what about just before you become pregnant? There’s mounting evidence to support the idea that your diet before and around conception is also hugely important for your baby’s growth and development.

Are you due any day? Then this is for you! This post is inspired by and dedicated to Alia, one of my podcast listeners. I decided to touch base with Alia as I knew she was due around now and she replied to let me know that I was emailing her ON HER DUE DATE! Her little mister still hadn't made an appearance but that she was feeling great and looking forward to the birth. When I was replying to her, I immediately thought of lots of things I wanted to say to her, but it was late and I was supposed to be turning the light out and going to sleep, so I kept it short. But in the morning, I thought that I'd still like to share some words with her and then it hit me.. why not turn it into a podcast?! I'm sure there there are other mamas who are due any day might appreciate hearing these words too. So that is where today's podcast has come from. Here are the 4 things that I want to say to you if you're due any day 1. Be patient I know this bit can be really hard. We can’t help it, we have a due date in our heads and we focus on it waiting for it to arrive. It symbolises such a momentous event; the actual birth, meeting our little one, becoming a mother..again maybe, saying goodbye to our old life, welcoming the new… This is BIG! and yet, we don’t know exactly when it’s going to unfold. Towards the end, you can feel pretty fed with the whole pregnancy thing and you just want it to end. The trick here is be mindful and stay in the present. Easier than it sounds I know! But if you focus on anything other than the here and now 2. Create a bubble of positive calmness for yourself Try to start disconnected from the real world.. social media, TV and start going within. This calmness before the storm won’t last long so claim it while you can. This is when we reap the benefits of telling people a due month, or adding a couple of weeks to the due date that you share with people because you probably won’t be getting all those texts and FB messages asking for updates yet. You can read more about my view on due dates here. 3. Connect & talk to your baby Some people find this hard, but it’s actually very simple. Find a quiet spot for you to be undisturbed…maybe sitting under a tree at the park, on a lounger in the garden, or just at home on a load of cushions. Once you’re comfy, just start to feel your baby through your belly. Maybe push down a bit to let them know you’d like to chat. And then, just start talking! You can do this in your head if you want, it doesn’t really matter. What matters is the intention and the feeling that lies behind what you’re saying. Here are some of the things that I was saying to my little one while I was waiting for her How are you? I’m really looking forward to meet you! Are you ready to come out? I’d just like to share with you how I’d like our birth to go... you, me and my body know exactly how to do this so it should all be fine. I totally trust you and my body to be able to bring you out safely and smoothly I know that the best thing for me to do is to step aside and let you two run the show.. but I’ll be there if you need me to... you know that right? It’s going to be painless for both of us… so there’s no need to worry. I’m saying that for my benefit too by the way! We’re going to enjoy it... it’s exciting! I bet you’re excited… I am! Daddy CAN NOT WAIT to meet you! He’s going to be the first person that you touch.. how’s that for a welcome! We’re going to be able to look back on your arrival with joy and happiness Now, I’ve heard that second births are half as long as first births, so this means that you might show up in 3 hours. I’m totally cool with that. In fact, a short birth would be nice. So,

[spp-player optin="off" ctabuttons="off" url=“youraudio.mp3"] I'm thrilled to be able to share with you another fabulous positive birth story. Today I'm chatting to Shakira Akabusi all about her pregnancy journey and her birth. Shakira is a personal trainer, fitness coach and a writer and commentator. If you're a Brit, you might recognise her surname; her dad is the former UK athlete and gold medalist Kriss Akabusi, so you could say that she has health and fitness running in her DNA. Shakira gave birth to her son Rio on new year's eve last year so her birth is still fresh in her mind. We've been trying to get this chat done since March but both our diaries have been a bit crazy and our little ones have a habit of disrupting plans! But we made it in the end. When Shakira first found out she was pregnant, she was completely over the moon, but also totally terrified. During our chat, she shares the fears that she had during her pregnancy and how she dealt with them and overcame them to have the positive birth experience that she wanted. Shakira chose to have an epidural for her birth from the outset and during our chat she explains why, despite having a fear of injections. She talks alot about what it was like giving birth having had an epidural so if this is something that you're considering, it's well worth a listen. Now one things that's really interesting to listen to is Shakira's persepctive on fitness and exercise during pregnancy as well as post-natally. As a personal trainer she was really keen to maintain her fitness levels and had to find ways to adjust as her pregnancy progressed. During our chat she also shares with us how she prepared for birth as well as kind of things she did post-birth. As a result of her experiences as a mum trying to stay fit and regain her body post-birth, she's started to develop a fitness concept to help mums continue to exercise WITH baby.. by using baby as part of the exercises. She even posts videos of some of her work-outs with baby Rio on her Twitter feed and on her YouTube channel. This has kicked off a whole new venture for her which she'll be launching next year at Strong Like Mum so stay tuned if you're interested in learning how you can stay fit with your baby. Here's a little peak at one of her videos. Shakira is a regular contributor to Huffington Post and her latest article is about breastfeeding: Bullied Into Breastfeeding: Rise of the Midwife Mafia? so we spent a bit of time talking about the challenges she had with breastfeeding. She is still breastfeeding little Rio, but it wasn't always a smooth ride for her and she has some great advice for new mums to help them cope. You can follow Shakira on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay tuned with all the great post-baby fitness stuff that she's sharing. What has been your fitness experience during your pregnancy? And what about post-birth? Tell me in the comments or come and find me on Facebook!

Well, today's podcast is the first one back after my August break and boy am I pleased to be back! I had some great news while I away; I found out that the podcast is a finalist in the UK Podcasting Awards which is amazing! Unfortunately as I was on holiday in places with no wifi and very poor phone reception, I wasn't able to make a huge song and dance about it. The award ceremony is in a couple of weeks so I'll let you know how I get on. In today's show I chat to Giuditta Tornetta. Giuditta is a doula and best-selling author based in LA who works with the rich and famous, and is rumoured to have been Pink's doula. Guiditta also works with those who are in needy and disadvantaged through her foundation, the Joy in Birthing Foundation where she leads a team of doulas who support women who are alone and isolated in their birthing experiences. Here's a little bit more about Guiditta from a snippet on her website Joy in Birthing "Giuditta Tornetta is a certified birth and postpartum doula, lactation educator, a certified clinical hypnotherapist, a NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) practitioner. Giuditta practices clinical hypnotherapy and a method of natural childbirth that uses hypnotic techniques to reduce stress and fear during labor and delivery.  Her love for women and the birthing and parenting experience has  enabled her to help hundreds of women in her practice and thousands with her book and lectures, to obtain the birthing experience they deserve and desire. She focuses on infant mental health and pre-post birth bonding, where she uses guided meditations and visualizations to help women communicate and empower their babies before birth. As a lactation educator and postpartum doula, Ms. Tornetta helps couples settle into a natural routine once the baby comes home. Through education, compassion, practical as wells as emotional support, Doula Giuditta teaches new parents how to decipher the newborn’s vocal and body language. Giuditta is also a published author of the best selling book Painless Childbirth: An Empowering Journey Through Pregnancy and Birth." During our chat Guiditta shares so much wisdom and insight that it's really worth making yourself a nice hot cup of something and taking a moment. Some of the things we talk about include Painless childbirth; what painless childbirth means and how a painless childbirth is possible. How to think about pain so that you have can have a positive birth experience Why having a conscious birth is important if you want a painless childbirth experience What being conscious means when it comes to pregnancy and birth How we can approach the task of doing the work and use our chakras for guidance How the 9 chakras are reflected in our 9 months of pregnancy How tapping into Red Tent communities and the Red Tent concept can help you to embrance and reclaim your feminitity - all inspired by the book Red Ten by Diana Dimant You can find out more about her books here     You can find out more about her work at Joy in Birthing Joy in Birthing Foundation - her foundation that supports disadvantaged pregnant women Loving the Mother - the workshops she runs with Nicola Goodall (who I interviewed a few weeks back)

When you're pregnant, the emotional ups and downs that come from having a boost in your crazy hormones can mean that there are days when being pregnant just sucks. Or, there are days when you're just DONE with it. Let me have this baby already! Towards the end of my second pregnancy, this was definitely where my head was at and I knew it wasn't a good place to stay for very long. Feeling frustrated and stressed is OK in short bursts, but if it seems like it's lurking and lingering then it needs attention. For me, towards the end of my pregnancy I was just getting fed up with lots of little tiny things that on their own are nothing; but together felt like crap and I realised that I just need to shift my thinking a bit so that I wouldn't get as frustrated by it all. So I decided to turn to an exercise that I use quite a bit with my Head Trash Clearance clients. It's super simple.... When you're feeling affected by something that you're perceiving to be negative (because remember, things aren't ACTUALLY bad, we just THINK they're bad), then all you need to do is this; come up with 30 reasons why the thing you think is bad, IS GOOD. Or to put it another way, Think of 30 reasons why you love this thing that you hate. What's great about this exercise is that is can very quickly change your thinking. Why? Well for starters... you're focusing on the positive aspect of something you're actively searching for positive things about this thing 30 is quite a big number and you'll probably find it hard, so it pushes you to be creative, silly and open-minded you drop assumptions about things to hit your target, assumptions which might turn out to be silly and pointless, but you held onto them anyway and perhpas now you realise how silly they are I started with all of the things that were winding me up and tried to turn them on their head. In doing so, it made me look for the possible positive aspect within it... and for many of them, it turned out that I was able to hold on to that view in the weeks that followed. It really helped me to stay calm when faced with those things that previoulsy wound me up... I just wish I had done it sooner! Before those things got to the wind-me-up stage! The truth was that most of the time I'd put my hand on heart and say that "I love being pregnant" but sure, there were days when I didn't.. and I just wanted to make sure that the "I love being pregnant" vibe was the one that was sounding the loudest to my baby. So here are my 30 reasons why I love being pregnant.... hopefully some of these resonate with you too! 30 reasons why I LOVE being pregnant 1. Enjoy the daily awe-inspiring feeling that comes from knowing that you're growing a life-form inside you. 2. Appreciate other women who feel an immediate connection to you and come over and make conversation... and enjoy those conversations as the precious moments they are. 3. Have the perfect excuse to slum about in slip-on flats, baggy tops and leggings. 4. Amuse at other people touching your body/bump without invitation... and yet enjoy the fact that it's not a sexual pervy thing.. FOR ONCE! 5. Have the perfect excuse to EAT WHAT YOU WANT!!!! IN THE QUANTITY YOU WANT!! No - I didn't deprive myself of the usual pregnancy no-go foods - apart from mussels and pate. I gave my body and baby what they wanted. 6. Appreciate the forced slowness in movement that, gives you a new perspective when out walking. 7. Indulge in developing your hermit qualities.... necessary side effect of needing to be within 20 yards of a toilet. 8. Have an excuse for whiskers on your legs.. as cats do, we pregnant women need them to see if we can get through the gap. 9. Enjoy the lack of guilt that comes from not bothering with the housework or cleaning...

In today's podcast I chat to mum of two gorgeous little girls, Laura Morrison. I recorded this conversation with Laura a few months back now and she's just annouced that she's expecting her third... So a huge congratulations! As I was listening to my conversation with Laura again, it really struck me how Laura epitomises the Conscious Mama. Laura used her pregnancy journey to take time to reflect on who she was and who she wanted to be for her children. In doing so she helped to pave the way for two fabulous birth experiences. [spp-player optin="off" ctabuttons="off" url=“youraudio.mp3"] A conscious mama's birth story Despite her first pregnancy not being planned, the minute Larua found out that she was pregnant it really focused her mind and was the trigger for setting in place the beginings of a huge life shift. In the midst of a successful corporate career, Laura began planning her exit strategy from corporate in creating a life that would enable her to be there for her children while still doing fulfilling work. Listening to Laura is a real treat, because here is a woman who is calm and measured, and who consciously and deliberately took the steps she needed to to help her to prepare mentally and emotionally for her life as a mother and parent. In my eyes this makes her a conscious mama! During our chat, Laura shares What she did to help her prepare for birth including yoga, exercise, natal hypnotherapy and regular reflexology treatments Resources that she found useful; What to expect when you're expecting, the Babycenter app How journalling helped her to reflect and understand who she was Why a plastic-backed picnic blanket is a useful thing to have while waiting for baby's arrival... and jasmine oil! How she dealt with her medical team when they disagreed on her due date The importance of her talking to her employer about winding things down Why she thinks pregnancy offers that perfect opportunity to take the time and space to reflect, to make sure you’re going into it as well prepared as you possibly can. Laura shares some wonderful wisdom and advice during our conversation including these gems; On how to approach your pregnancy: Pregnancy is the perfect opportunity to take the time to reflect and understand what kind of parent you want to be, what you want that relationship to look like with your child... to to address what has brought you from your past to now, and how do you want to move that forward positively. On how to think about your birth: Women can have a better birth experiences if they can accept there’s not one particular type of birth; they’re not all the same, anything can happen. And if we can walk into that with an awareness, with a prepared-ness, then we’re in a much better position to make confident choices. On dealing with the medical professionals: It's important to be calm and clear about what you want and where you’ll compromise on. I'm sure you'll enjoy listening to Laura share her pregnancy journey and the tales of her wonderful births. You can find out more about Laura and her work at The Game Changer Consultancy here and her Talented Women Project can be found on Facebook - just look for the group Talented Woman - Tips for Success. [spp-player] Was it helpful to you to listen to Laura share her story? What do you think makes a conscious mama? Let me know in the comments!  

When I first found out I was pregnant, I had a bucket-load of what I call, head trash. Head trash is a term I give to those negative thoughts, feelings and emotions that stop you from being at your best, and for me that translated as having a serious amount of deep-rooted fear around all things childbirth. This fear resulted in loads of emotional stress as the countdown timer rapidly approached D day. Because of the research that I'd come across over the years that linked maternal stress to babies developing things like eczema, asthma and allergies (conditions that I was unfortunate to have), I had decided that I wanted to do what I could to keep my stress-levels as low as possible during my pregnancy. The problem was that I had some horrid dark fears lurking that weren't immediatelyt obvious as to what they were EXACTLY. Like, I couldn't actually put them into words. So, my pregnancy journey became one of curiosity and enquiry. I wanted to know. I wanted to know WHY I was so terrified of birth. It's hard to clear a fear that you can't label. So, without realising it my pregnancy became a conscious pregnancy. [spp-player optin="off" ctabuttons="off" url=“youraudio.mp3"] What is a Conscious Pregnancy? When I think about what a conscious pregnancy means, the first thing that comes to my mind is the very simple idea that you're takeing a conscious, deliberate approach to your pregnancy. You're thinking about what you're eating, how you're feeling and what you're body is telling you. You're taking steps to improve your state of health and wellbeing by being mindful in your approach. During a conscipis pregnancy, you connect to your baby and you're taking an active role in understanding your emotional life because you understand how it can impact not only you, but your birth experience and your baby. Choosing to have a conscious pregnancy doesn't mean we have all the answers, but that we're prepared to ask the question, and importantly, be open as to what the answers might be, even if we might not like them. This is quite a big topic actually, so to help me explore it further I've found a fabulous guest for the podcast. In this episode I chat to Julie-Anne Mullan who helps me to dive down deep into the idea of what having a conscious pregnancy means. Julie-Anne works with mums through each of the 4 trimesters, whether it's preparing for birth, or coping with the arrival of a new baby. During our chat we talk about; what does it mean to have a conscious pregnancy? how the invisible can affect our pregnancy, birth and baby; the invisible being our emotions, our life force energy what our pregnancy symptoms might be telling us, including the important message behind morning sickness how she helps people move on from birth trauma experiences how I used the Tapas Acupressure Technique (TAT) to help me clear my own birth trauma and the difference it made. Get hold of the TAT process at www.TATlife.com how Julie-Anne works with mothers post birth to help resolve challenges with baby like problems breastfeeding, endless crying and why this is usually a reflection of what it happening in the mothe   FREE PDF - How to achieve more joy in pregnany, birth & beyond - To receive your free PDF, just leave a review on iTunes for the podcast and let me know that you've done that by emailing alexia [at] fearfreechild.birth [dot] com [spp-player]  

I truly believe that doulas are the unsung heros of the world; the work they do in supporting mums and dads in bringing their babies into the world is truly magical. The thing is, until you're pregnant, it's quite possible that you will have never come across the work of a doula and might not even know what they do. So as part of my mission in helping women prepare for a fear free birth, I want to help bring awareness of those people you can call on for support during your pregnancy journey so that you can enjoy and treasure your birth experience. The birth of your baby is so much more that your experience, it's your partner's and your baby's too. One question I've been asked time and time again by listeners who have emailed me is this: What does a doula do? And I have to be honest, I think defining the work of the doula is not straightforward. Supporting a family in bringing their little one earthside can entail such a huge range of tasks that to list them out would be pretty hard. Every woman is different and every birth is dfferent. Every mum will have different needs and things that she needs support with. But, also every doula is different. The work of a doula is incredibly personal, after all, she is supporting you through a hugely intimate and transformational life event. So it follows that doulas can vary massively from what they bring to their work and the ways in which they can offer you support on your pregnancy and birthing journey. So for me, I think the best way to better understand the fabulous work of doulas is to talk with them so today I'm chatting to Nicola Goodall, doula and birthkeeper. Nicola also runs Red Tent Doulas an organisation which trains and develops doulas so she is wonderfully placed to talk about the work of doulas. As the founder of Wyse Women,  which is a space for women to connect and share stories and wisdom about all things that affect women, Nicola is a huge advocate for creating a supporting network for women, inspired in part by her own life experience, which you can hear more about during our chat. Nicola also recently did a TEDx talk calling for a change in how we think and talk about birth. her talk, Reframing Birth talks about the negative portrayal of birth in the media is taking away the magic of what birth is all about. It's fab talk and at just under 10 minutes, well worth a quick watch. She too calls for us to petition the makers of TV and film to help change the narrative and storytelling around birth. I started a petition here in the UK for Channel 4 to portray childbirht in a more balanced way; if you'd like to find out mroe about it or indeed sign it, you can find out more about it here. During our we of course chat about the work of a doula, but also how doulas help and support women what they're not trying to be when a woman might want to start speaking to a doula during her pregnancy the role of ritual and blessings during pregnancy and childbirth and so much more! I hope you enjoy!