Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond

In this episode, host Rose Ricketson talks with community development worker Holly, about her experience with IVF in Australia. Holly shares a very personal IVF journey that impacted every corner of her life, shedding light upon a very common experience, so we can each have more awareness of what the IVF is like for the women and couples in our communities, and how we could better support them through it all. We also explore the issues related to the IVF industry and the inequality of access, and look at ways we can help amplify the stories of people navigating this journey. Holly Rankin Smith is a community development worker with a passion for advocacy, activism and social change. With over 15 years experience in the sector, she has worked on projects addressing a range of social challenges from isolated elderly in aged care to at to at risk rural youth. She is also a marriage and funeral celebrant and is fascinated by the ceremonies and rituals through life and death. Holly is passionate about shifting the stigma around IVF since her experience of 3 years trying to conceive with a very broad diagnosis of 'unexplained infertility'. A light through this dark experience was stories and connections with other women experiencing infertility, but this seemed hard to find which is strange when it's experienced by 1 in 6 Australian couples. Holly hopes by sharing her story she can help people who are experiencing infertility feel less alone and help give context for those who know someone going through it.Contact: @hollyrsIt Starts With The Egg - The book Holly referenced https://www.amazon.com.au/Starts-Egg-Second-Naturally-Miscarriage-ebook/dp/B07NJ85ZFJ

Rose Ricketson talks with Hazel Keedle, PhD, Lecturer of Midwifery at Western Sydney University and author of her recently released book Birth after Caesarean: Your Journey to a Better Birth. They discuss her research and findings around VBAC in Australia, as well as her work in midwifery. Hazel has more than two decades of experience as a clinician in nursing and midwifery, educator and researcher. Hazel’s research interests are vaginal birth after caesarean, birth trauma and maternity experiences explored primarily using feminist mixed methodologies. Hazel's work is recognised nationally and internationally, with more than50 conference and seminar presentations including 15 as an invited speaker. Hazel has a developing publication track record as an early career researcher, with 15 peer reviewed publications and a best selling book for women based on her PhD findings, Birth after Caesarean, your journey to a better birth.Linktree: https://linktr.ee/hazelkeedle (this has all the links to my papers, events, etc)Instagram: @hazelkeedleFacebook: @VBACmattersTwitter: @HazelKeedleBook on Amazon.com.au: https://tinyurl.com/2jmrfb9p

Dr Ella Kurz is a midwife from Ngunnawal Country in the ACT.Today we chat through her work in maternal and child health research at the University of Canberra, as well the term 'parturescence' she coined in her PhD to refer to the opportunities for transformation made possible through childbirth. Ella was awarded the Stephen Parker medal for outstanding thesis for this work. She recently co-edited the anthology What We Carry: Poetry on Childbearing (Recent Work Press, 2021) and authored My Mother is a Midwife. What We Carry: www.amazon.com.au/What-We-Carry-Poetry-Childbearing/dp/0645009091www.ellakurz.com

Allison Davis joins us today from New Mexico, USA. Allison is a counsellor, educator and researcher of maternal mental health. Today we discuss the ecological domain of matrescence - learning to approach the challenges and struggles with a viewpoint of growth and transformation. We look at how our evolution can mirror the evolutionary processes of nature and how we can align ourselves with nature's desire for growth. Allison's work focuses on the development of mothers' psycho-ecological growth in matrescence, aiming to reframe eco-related distress as resilience, and offering a path through the mental health dangers of idealised 'green motherhood' towards lifestyles that are psychologically healthy, and ecologically sustainable. Through articulation and application of an ecofeminist-informed developmental approach, she fosters ecological thinking and contact with nature for psychotherapeutic healing and growth.She works in private practice at Mother Nature Therapy, teaches in the Master of Counseling program at Alliant International University, and researches in the Maternal Psychology Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University. Links:https://www.instagram.com/dr.allisondavis/https://www.instagram.com/mothernaturetherapy/https://www.mothernaturetherapy.com/climate-circles

Today's guest is Sarah Smits, who joins us from Lake Atitlan in Guatemala where she is learning traditional Mayan practices. Sarah is a home birth midwife, lactation consultant and body worker who incorporates her experience of travelling the world and learning about traditional midwifery practices, to provide holistic care to women and families, whilst supporting other birth workers on the path of reclaiming birthing wisdom as women’s wisdom.Today we discuss home birth midwifery practice, traditional approaches to maternal care, self-responsibility, community care, postpartum wellbeing and more. W: www.downtobirthmidwifery.comInstagram @down_to_birth_midwiferyDetails for The Midwife Project Guatemaya Website: www.midwifeproject.netGo fund me: www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-midwife-project-guatemayaTo our wonderful listeners.We love hearing from you and receiving your notes, questions and ideas.. how do you feel about this episode? If you have any questions/comments at any time about this, other interviews or our work at PBB Media, get in touch. You can email us through hello@pbbmedia.org or catch us on socials @pbb_media.

Hi out there to our listeners, its Annalee. It is Tuesday, 8th of March in 2022. We are bringing you a special bulletin on the catastrophic flooding in Northern NSW, Australia. In the early hours of Monday 27th February, a little over a week ago, heavy rains causing what was already severe flooding, took a fast turn and created what has been deemed by some scientists as a ‘rain bomb’. The scenes across Northern NSW have been nothing short of harrowing and the community response as a result a powerful reminder of immense good that is available within us all. I'm catching up with PBB’s Oni Blecher who’s on the ground in Mullumbimby, one of the region’s badly hit towns. We address the current needs in the community, what our organisation is doing to support families and lessons for the wider community. MUSIC:The music you will hear on this podcast is by local Artist and song- weaver Olivia Rosebery, her potent song REMEMBER echoing a message of hope for everyone in need during these trying times. Find Olivia on socials @olivia.rosebery.music and www.oliviarosebery.comDONATEPregnancy, Birth and Beyond Fundraiser for Northern Rivers Birthing Families https://gofund.me/777ad721EPISODE INFORMATION:Guest: Oni Blecher. Oni is a PBB Media Producer and Creator, Craniosacral, Arvigo, Visceral + Myofascial release practitioner and Poet @thetempleofwords and Village keeper @@earthedtobirth. Find Oni @oni_keeperofthehearthGet in touch and info about The Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond Community Hub www.pbbmedia.org / hello@pbbmedia.org SEEK/GIVE support at Northern Rivers Community Volunteer Directory NRVD.ORGGuardian Article Anatomy of a ‘rain bomb’: scientists strive to understand phenomenon that caused Australia’s east coast floods https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/05/anatomy-of-a-rain-bomb-scientists-study-phenomenon-2022-australia-east-coast-floodsMore links coming soon. Produced by Annalee Atia for PBB Media. All rights reserved. www.pbbmedia.orgThis episode was recorded on Gadigal lands and Bundjalung Country.Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond comes to you from Bundjalung Country at the Cavanbah or Byron Bay and we acknowledge with respect and reverence the Arakwal people of the Bundjalung nation, neighboring clans and people for caring for this country since time immemorial.

Lissie Turner is our guest today on Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond. Lissie is a mother, blended family parent, foster carer, grandmother and an accomplished radio host and producer in the music industry. She is the creator of several renowned Yoga and wellbeing programs and spaces including The Yoga Shack along with her Husband Shane, both of whom avid surfers. Lissie is also a fellow Vagina (as we are lovingly called by the producer of the Vagina Conversations, Zenith Virago) and is working on her next piece for the show, which we touch on too in our conversation. It’s been a while that we have wanted to interview Lissie for the show, she is a wonderful female role model in our community with a colourful past and a powerful salubrious journey of redemption. As women do, we gathered and circled and touched on several themes from this evocative journey. You can find Lissie on on the Living Harmoniously Podcast and through the links below. Show Links:https://www.lissieturner.com/IG @lissieturnerTo our wonderful listeners.We love hearing from you and receiving your notes, questions and ideas.. how do you feel about this topic? Have you had a similar experience or would like to share your insights?If you have any questions/comments at any time about this, other interviews or our work at PBB Media, get in touch. You can email us through hello@pbbmedia.org or catch us on socials @pbb_media. Guest/Interviewee: Lissie TurnerRecorded January 2022Produced and presented by Annalee AtiaThe Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond show is part of a wider nonprofit community media and journalism project, PBB Media.All rights reserved.www.pbbmedia.orgThis episode was recorded on Bundjalung Country.Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond comes to you from Bundjalung Country at the Cavanbah or Byron Bay and we acknowledge with respect and reverence the Arakwal people of the Bundjalung nation, neighboring clans and people for caring for this country since time immemorial.

During this pandemic, there has been a huge increase in the demand for home birth in Australia and private practicing midwives are being flooded with calls from women and birthing people looking to birth outside of the hospital system. However, the regulations and education pathways for private practice midwifery are yet to change, and issues around accessibility and affordability remain. So how did we get here? When the research continues to show that home birth is the safest option for birth place, and continuous midwifery care the safest model, how do we need to revolutionise maternity care in this country to truly meet the needs of all birthing people?In this episode Kirilly Dawn is joined by Dr Melanie Jackson as we unravel some of these questions and take a deep look into the history of home birth, where we are today, and where we need to go. Dr Melanie Jackson is a private midwife living in the Blue Mountains in Sydney who has been attending women giving birth at home for 13 years, and has two homebirthed children herself. Melanie has completed a PhD called ‘Birthing outside the system’ and she also works as a midwifery researcher at western Sydney university. You can find out more about Melanie and the mentorship she offers for midwives wanting to enter private practice at www.melaniethemidwife.com, her YouTube channel Melanie the Midwife, and on IG and Facebook @melaniethemidwife

In this episode, Oni Blecher interviews Eva Rose. Eva Rose is an internationally renowned Norwegian birth photographer, videographer, documentary filmmaker, doula, and by virtue of all of these things; an activist for many birth issues. Eva is a third generation photographer, and in 1999, when she was 19, Eva Rose started her career in birth photography for a magazine called ‘Pregnancy’. Eva has wholly dedicated her life to being with birth. She’s been showing the wider public the intimacies of birth for over 20 years, and through the beauty of this exposure, has normalised many parts of the huge moving picture of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. With her decades of experience, Eva has seen all kinds of birthing experiences. Now she has a huge instagram following with her grateful followers vouching that her photographs and stories create accessible education. Eva and her partner’s video ‘The Birth of Purdie’ has had 1.9 million views and counting. In her work, Eva frequently sheds light on birth related things people don’t usually talk about; including practices of clinicians, cross cultural ways of birthing, early birth, still birth, and sharing a plethora of various birth stories from her followers. Last year, Eva and her partner OJ started filming a birth around the world documentary until their filming was cut short by COVID. Now, she is doing other very inspiring things in her home country of Norway. I have been following Eva for a long time now, and was so excited to speak with her. She is passionate and the fire lit inside of her is warm and illuminating. I hope you enjoy this conversation. If you haven’t already, check out Eva’s instagram and her incredible birth photos. Find Eva at @evarosebirth evarose.carrd.co/ and Youtube: Eva Rose Birth

It’s 21st May, 2021 and some months back I caught up with Tori Heath, mother of four with a background in psychology, who has worked in child protection and executive recruitment. We meet to recount the story of her first birth experience. At the time, Tori was a young, fit and healthy pregnant woman, growing up in outback Australia on a 14,000 acre farm, heading to girl’s boarding school in Sydney for high schooling. She later stays on in Sydney for University, eventually meeting her husband and then becoming pregnant with her first child. Tori is a resilient woman by all accounts. A well educated woman, she was relatively well informed and chose a continuity model of care for her maternity care along with other support. Options that at the time, and even now, are available to few women in Australia. Even with all that, Tori’s experience of childbirth was traumatic. Tori’s family nearly lost her and her baby. Now mother of four, a clear picture emerges from her first birthing experience - unnecessary interventions from ill-informed policies and those being imposed on her and her body at the wrong time, leading to grave lasting harm that lives on today. The price of this harm being paid by mother, child, family and the wider community - but with very little awareness from the medical systems involved.Meconium present during the last leg of labour engaged a policy that failed to protect from harm and directly caused further harm to mother and baby.Follow the link to Dr Rachel Reed’s blog post to find out more about meconium during labour: https://midwifethinking.com/2015/01/14/the-curse-of-meconium-stained-liquor/This podcast was recorded on Bundjalung Country, an area encompassing Byron Bay and surrounding flatlands, hills and rivers. We pay our respect to elders past, present and those emerging and deeply acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land whose cultures and customs have nurtured and continue to nurture this land and waters for over 60,000 years and upon which we now work and live. We recognise that the sovereignty of the pre-colonial peoples of these lands was never ceded and that recognition of culture, connection to land and waters and the sovereignty of all indigenous peoples across Australia is a matter of current and vital importance.First published on Speaker on 21st May, 2021.Guest: Tori HeathProduced and presented by Annalee AtiaOriginal Music by Romy Agam Romhttps://www.romyagamrom.comAll rights reserved.www.pbbmedia.org

In March 2021 Totonaca Indigenous birth companions Montse Olmos and Mayte Acolt started a petition titled 'Removing Rebozo Teachings From Doula Trainings'. It was a call to the international birth community and large training organisations, to stop their participation in the cultural appropriation and misuse of the sacred textile, the Rebozo.In this conversation Montse and Mayte generously share on the cultural use, meaning and place of the Rebozo in their Indigenous communities and in traditional midwifery practices in Mexico, and how this knowledge is traditionally passed down. They share why they started this petition, and why proper training with Indigenous birthworkers is necessary for the Rebozo to be used safely and with respect, acknowledging it as an intervention. They also speak to being in relationship with the communities we learn from, the importance of accountability, how birth work and anti racism work go hand in hand, and give us points for necessary pause and reflection.Montse Olmos and Mayte Acolt are Totonaca Indigenous birth companions and migrants in the United States. Mayte is a traditional Sobadora since age seven, taught by her grandmother. Montse was raised by her family elders who practiced herbal medicine, Sobadas and energetic healing. They host "What You Didn't Know About the Rebozo" together and share about the history of the Rebozo from an Indigenous perspective, while connecting it to the work of anti-racism, Indigenous liberation and becoming an accomplice to historically oppressed communities. Mayte and Montse began a movement in March 2021 to remove Rebozo birth techniques from Doula Training Organization in the U.S., as a result of the excessive and inappropriate use of this sacred textile amongst Doulas and Midwives. They conduct this work with genuine concern for the commercialization and dilution of the Rebozo and propose that extensive mentorship and hands-on learning from expert Elders is necessary in order to practice Rebozo body-work in an ethical way.Link to the petition titled "Removing Rebozo Teachings from Doula Trainings"http://chng.it/K5NyHqD4XDMontse and Mayte also host a bi-weekly workshop about cultural appropriation of the Rebozo titled "What You Didn't Know About the Rebozo". Any information regarding the workshop can be found on Montse's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/montsedoulaYou can follow Montse and Mayte on Instagram here:Montse Olmos @mujer_dela_tierraMayte Acolt @maytethewombdoula

In this conversation, Oni Blecher speaks with Dylan Smith. Dylan Smith is a certified Ayurvedic Practitioner and holistic health educator based in Sydney, Australia, where he runs and operates the Vital Veda clinic for patients and for those who love to nourish themselves with precious herbal elixirs.Aimed at uncovering the root cause of ailments, Dylan shares wisdom through podcasts, teaching programs and travels the world to teach patients to effortlessly integrate foundational techniques into their daily life so they can thrive.Regularly travelling to India to train with an internationally renowned family of Ayurvedic doctors, Dylan is devoted to learning, sharing and radiating this ancient knowledge for everyone to utilise and enjoy, to experience total wellness and bliss. Dylan has a passion for treating, a Passion for Education, and a for Herbs and Nature.Staying and learning from his Guru (teacher) in India for 6 month periods started a beautiful and purposeful learning teaching relationship. revolutionised Dylan’s Ayurvedic practice and increased the effectiveness and success rates of his treatments and prescriptions profoundly.Since then until today, Dylan continues to travel back and forth to the Raju Clinic in India to work and receive advanced teachings and initiations.In this conversation, Oni chats to Dylan about health pertaining to the menstrual, pre conception, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum health. We also speak more broadly about Ayurvedic wisdom through the nature of the doshas and the masculine and feminine and how finding balance can positively effect partnership and parenthood. At the end, Dylan lists some of his generous free resources for these periods of life. Enjoy this conversation ! And please leave reviews and feedback to help us produce more of what you need !

PBB Special Bulletin/Interview with Alecia Staines, Director of Maternity Consumer NetworkIf you are tuning in from Australia, this is an important message to women, people, families and community members accessing maternity healthcare services. A federal election is coming up and your voice is needed in improving maternity care! Welcome to Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond, I’m Annalee Atia with a special News Bulletin for Australians listeners today, Tuesday 30th March. I’m speaking with Alecia Staines, Director of one of our largest maternity consumer advocacy organisations - Maternity Consumer Network, she is also the host and creator of the podcast ‘Birth - the forgotten Feminist Issue’ (check it out, its excellent), a Hypnobirthing teacher and mother of five. We caught up last night after one of Alecia’s classes to discuss our upcoming Federal elections in Australia and how we can use the opportunities federal elections bring about to improve maternity health care services. Some of you might know that I am also the National President of Maternity Choices Australia, our longest standing maternity advocacy organisation and this is the first time I have had the pleasure of interviewing Alecia, after many years of crossing paths through our work. Join us for a fast-paced and illuminating discussion on how you can participate in improving maternity healthcare services in your area, and why its so important that you do! Share this interview with friends and family, write to your local MP and keep us posted about your progress! All the details are in the show notes following. WHAT YOU CAN DO TO IMPROVE MATERNITY SERVICES: Get in touch with your local federal MP and candidates and let them know that maternity care matters to you! HOW TO DO IT:Look up the Federal PM for your electorate (your town/where you live is located within a specific electorate). You will also want to look up the candidates for this seat for the three major parties. Email them with your personal note and attach the Brief (see below) if applicable. You can request a meeting with them to ensure they understand just how important these issues are. In your email and within the brief, add your name, contact number and postal address (this will ensure a reply). Follow up with a phone call to your MP.->> Keep up posted about your progress! Email hello@pbbmedia.org or management@maternitychoices.org.au you can also let us know via socials! Use the hashtag #BetterMaternity2021 and we will find you on FB, IG, Twitter etc!WHO CAN DO IT?Anyone who cares about our Australian maternity healthcare services, especially health consumers (people who access healthcare services) and support people. THE BRIEF / AKA what to ask your elected federal MP's and candidates to commit to this coming election (you can also find this online at www.maternotyconsumernetwork.org.au under campaigns):Background:Current maternity spending by government is about $7 billion per year. The current birth rate is around 300,000 births per year. Outcomes:Despite having such high financial input, outcomes are relatively poor:* 1/3 women have birth trauma. 2/3 of this is due to disrespectful treatment* Only 8% of women can access continuity of midwifery carer- the best type of maternity care* Caesarean rate 36% - more than double the recommended rate by WHO* 43% of low risk women having their labour induced. Many are reporting not having informed consent. * 11-fold variance in 3rd/4th degree tears * Preterm birth rate of aboriginal babies is between 2 and 7 times that of non-indigenous babies. Solutions (what to ask your MP...

In this podcast episode, Oni Blecher speaks to Rhea Dempsey about her recent book launch of 'Beyond the Birth Plan, Getting Real About Pain and Power'. Rhea Demspsey is a childbirth educator, counsellor, doula trainer, and birth attendant, having attended more than one thousand births in hospitals and home settings over the past 30 years.Rhea runs birth preparation workshops, pre-natal classes, personal birth counselling sessions and speaks in presentations and seminars around Australia and internationallyRhea’s passion is to educate women about the impact of our birth culture on the outcome of our births. Instead of fear, she wants birthing women and birthing people to go into their labour with confidence in their body and their support people, and the knowledge that will give them the best possibility of natural physiological birth.Rhea has written two books ! Her first, the popular ‘Birth With Confidence: Savvy choices for normal birth’ and now her recently released second book ‘Beyond the Birth Plan: getting real about pain and power’. I consider both of these books must reads for any person interested in birth, whether that be birth attendants, midwives, pregnant women or people, birthing partners, fathers, parents, or anyone curious to understand the impact on the intersection between our social attitudes and birth. This is a longer form interview but anyone that knows Rhea’s legacy in the national and international birth world knows that any time hearing Rhea’s insights and wisdom is valuable and necessary. Feel free to listen in segments. At the end of the podcast, Rhea takes us through the chapter structure of her new book and outlines some of the content and what to expect. Enjoy this conversation and please leave your reviews and feedback.

In this episode, Oni Blecher speaks with Etienne Peirsman. Etienne is a biology and physical education teacher who has been involved with emotional training, encounter work, primal healing and meditation since 1974. He began teaching craniosacral in 1991, and founded several craniosacral institutes in Belgium and the Netherlands. He is the founder and director of PCSA (Peirsman CranioSacral Academy) in both the Netherlands and New Mexico. He is also the originator of the CranioSacral Professional Organization in Holland which began as a result of his students becoming professionals. As a result, he has a grandfather status in that organisation and is an honorary member of The Dutch CranioSacral Practitioner Association. Additionally, Etienne has taught craniosacral at the New Mexico Academy of Healing Arts for nearly a decade.  As a meditator of over 40 years, Etienne Peirsman has developed a unique teaching style that adds an extraordinarily compassionate and meditative depth to the methods used by the Upledger Institute and combines a practical, no-nonsense approach with the biodynamic style. Etienne has been teaching for nearly thirty years, bringing his life experience to the classroom. He has schools in Belgium, the Netherlands, New Mexico, Washington, and Hong Kong. Additionally, he guest teaches wherever there is interest. He, along with his late wife Neeto, is author of the book Craniosacral Therapy for Babies and Small Children, which has been translated into 7 languages. Etienne's specialty is the expression of the Heart, the long tide, and their connection to meditation and enlightenment. Etienne says, “Drop the word therapy. It is not part of who and what we are. Face it, you are perfect and your heart is perfect”. Enjoy this conversation !