Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond

Nicole Moore, founder of Nappy Free and Birth Into Being Australia, speaks about her passion for nappy free or elimination communication for babies.Recorded by Sally Cusack in March 2019.Presented by Kirilly Dawn at 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay on 24 June 2019.Guest: Nicole Moorehttps://www.nappyfree.com.au/Copyright 2021 PBB MediaAll rights reserved.www.pbbmedia.org

In this episode, Kirilly speaks with Rärriwuy Hick, Yolngu woman, actress, artist, storyteller and the founder of Our Kids Belong With Family - a campaign which she started on 13th February 2017, after her nephews were forcibly removed by Territory Families without following their own kinship protocols or notifying immediate family.In this episode we speak of themes of child removal, the Stolen Generation, the NT Intervention, abuse and violence by the colonial state. Please listen with care, as these topics and parts of the conversation may be distressing.We want to acknowledge and pay our respects to the people of the Stolen Generation, to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have themselves, their ancestors, and their Country, been affected by the Stolen Generation, and to those who are being impacted today by forced child removals by the state. We hope this story offers some healing to you, to know that you aren't alone and that the episode may offer some tips from Rärriwuy as you continue to fight the system - a fight we wish you did not have to endure.Our Kids Belong With Family is a four year global campaign that aims to raise awareness on the international human rights abuse of Indigenous Children and their families navigating the trauma of child removal by the Australian nation state.In this powerful and intimate conversation, Rärriwuy shares her story of the heartache, trauma and triumph in her journey to get her kids back. We ask that you listen with respect to her and her family and their privacy. Rärriwuy has also written about the campaign and her journey to create change and accountability for the Australia nation state which has historically and systematically forcibly removed Indigenous children since colonisation began. https://meanjin.com.au/blog/our-kids-belong-with-family/You can support Our Kids Belong With Family by posting an image of yourself to social media, holding a piece of paper with "#OurKidsBelongWithFamily" and please use the hashtag and tag the instagram account @ourkidsbelongwithfamily on the 13th of Feb.You can also donate to the new Go Fund Me campaign for Our Kids Belong With Family, which is raising money to help those families and children who have suffered from being forcibly removed to heal.https://www.gofundme.com/f/rarriwuy-hick-our-kids-belong-with-familyRESOURCES AND INFORMATIONFor those wanting to learn more about the Stolen Generation, and the Australian Government's policies and history of state enforced child removal, please visit:https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/track-history-timeline-stolen-generationsGrandmother's Against Removal:https://www.facebook.com/GMAR.GrandmothersAgainstRemovals/https://aftertheapology.com/ - important film to watchID Know Yourself: Mentoring and support for children who have experienced out of home carehttps://idknowyourself.com/

In this interview, Oni Blecher speaks with Jin Ong. Jin Ong is an Osteopath, Psychosomatic Therapist, Personal & Practitioner Coach. Jin lives and works with her partner and children in the beautiful lakeside town of Wanaka, New Zealand. In the recent years, Jin has moved from practicing solely as an osteopathic practitioner toward training individuals and practitioners on psychosomatics. Psychosomatic awareness is based from the theory that your stored emotions may result in adverse physical and psychological outcomes. With an ever broadening awareness around trauma resulting in physical outcomes or the memory of trauma being encoded in the viscera such as elaborated upon in Bessel Van Der Kolk’s book ‘The Body Keeps The Score’. Jin’s work focusses upon the link between the emotional and the physical and in this interview, we look at how that link can effect our way of looking at our body’s functionality, particularly in the pre conception, conception, pregnancy, birth, and postpartum stages of life. On the About page of Jin’s website; theartoflisteningtoyourbody.com, there is a short interview with Jin introducing herself and the work that she does. To receive a direct introduction from her, I recommend having a listen. A part of mine and Jin’s conversation covers infant loss, abortion and miscarriage. If these topics are sensitive or triggering for you or those around you, please listen with care. Enjoy this conversation ! 


What does birth sovereignty, and decolonising the maternity care system, look and feel like? How does the current patriarchal birth culture impact First Nations women and marginalised communities? How can we re-imagine a birth culture that centres and supports women and birthing people? And how can we all embody the change we wish to see?This episode is a recording of a live panel on 'Birth Sovereignty' by PBB and hosted at the Returning on Bundjalung Country in November 2020. PBB presenter, Barkindji woman Kirilly Dawn, speaks with four incredible birth keepers, mothers and change makers: Bronwyn Bancroft, Angela Coe, Mei Lai Swan and Aimee Aroha, who explore birth sovereignty, the context of modern birth culture through a decolonial lense, and share their stories , experiences and their visions for change. Panel members include: Bronwyn Bancroft, Bundjalung elder, artist, mother and sovereign birth advocate; Angela Coe, Wiradjuri midwife and founder of @birthingourway Mei Lai Swan, co-founder of Birth for Humankind and Yoga for Humankindand Aimee Aroha, Maori Australian birth keeper and transpersonal therapist. Each of these women share their knowledge and perspective on what decolonising the dominant birth culture and maternity care system looks & feels like, and offer their vision for change.This panel was recorded at The Returning, and Aboriginal owned and run not for profit wellbeing event that occurs twice a year on Bundjalung Country. Over 75% of tickets for this event are exchange or scholarship, for Indigenous women, single mothers, refugees and women in need, with the ethos that no woman is left behind, opening up cultural and healing spaces for all in the community. To learn more visit www.thereturningthegathering.comThe songs of kookaburras, cicadas, other winged ones and bubs and children can be heard in this episode as they added to the soundscape of the event on the day (and contributed to the panel in their own way).To connect with panel members:Bronwyn Bancroft, Bundjalung artist and elder: www.bronwynbancroft.comAngela Coe, Wiradjuri Midwife: @birthingourway on InstagramMei Lai Swan, co-founder of Birth for Humankind: www.birthforhumankind.orgAimee Aroha, birthkeeper and transpersonal therapist: www.www.thestonedchrysalis.com or @ripsnorter on instagramOrganisations mentioned in this episode are:Waminda South Coast: Birthing on Country - Best start to life — Wamindahttp://www.waminda.org.au and their Go Fund Me: https://au.gofundme.com/f/birthing-on-countrySisters Inside: https://www.sistersinside.com.auAnd their Go Fund Me: https://au.gofundme.com/f/bfvnvt-freethepeople

“If your c-section is high that means that you’re not supporting people in labour, that’s just a fact.” - Dr Neel ShahA cesarean section, or c-section is the most performed major surgery on the planet, it is also the most controversial. In the many years since they have been introduced, mortality and morbidity rates - the rates which this intervention has been introduced to lower, have increased and women are more likely to die in childbirth in this generation, than their mothers. Today on the show we bring you the insights and experience of Dr Neel Shah, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School. Listed among the “40 smartest people in health care” Dr Shah has written more than 50 peer-reviewed academic papers and contributed to four books, including as senior author of Understanding Value-Based Healthcare (McGraw-Hill). We talk equity and safety in maternity healthcare and reducing the C-section rate. Some alarming stats alongside lots of hope are in the pot today, grab your notebook and writing apparatus and enjoy the powerful slow cooked gen.“.. that means, in 2021, the biggest risk factor for a mother anywhere in the world to get a c-section, is not her personal risks or her personal preferences but which hospital she goes to”“The wellbeing of mothers is the bellwether for the wellbeing of all of us”“If mothers are unwell, society is unwell”. - Dr Neel ShahDr. Neel Shah, MD, MPP, FACOG, is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School, and Director of the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Harvard’s Ariadne Labs. As an obstetrician-gynaecologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Dr. Shah cares for patients at critical life moments that range from childbirth to primary care to surgery. As a scientist and social entrepreneur, he is a globally recognised expert in designing solutions that improve health care.Dr. Shah is also founder of Costs of Care, an NGO that curates insights from clinicians and patients to help delivery systems provide better care. In 2017, he co-founded the March for Moms Association, a coalition of more than 20 leading organisations, to increase public and private investment in the wellbeing of mothers. Dr. Shah currently serves on national advisory boards of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Office of Women’s Health Research at the National Institutes of Health.Show links:Find more about Dr Shah here: https://scholar.harvard.edu/shah/home & https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/neel-shah/Harvard's Ariadne Labs: https://www.ariadnelabs.org/about-us/March for Mums: https://marchformoms.orgExpecting More: https://www.expectingmore.orgWe'd love to hear from you, if you have any questions/comments about this, other interviews or our work at PBB Media, shoot us a line at hello@pbbmedia.org.Guest: Dr Neel ShahProduced, edited 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.orgPregnancy, Birth and Beyond comes to you from Bundjalung Country at Cavanbah or Byron Bay and we acknowledge with respect and reverence the Arakwal people of the Bunjulung nation, neighbouring clans and people for caring for this country...

In this episode, Oni Blecher speaks with Hugh Milne. Hugh Milne is a third-generation Scottish osteopath and now craniosacral teacher and educator through his self-founded education body, ‘Milne Institute’. He spends most of professional time teaching visionary craniosacral work internationally. He was born in 1948 and received his professional training at the British College of Naturopathy and Osteopathy in London after which going on to receive a rich and colourful variation of experiences and education in the healing arts. Hugh has written three books; Volume 1 and 2 of The Heart of Listening, and ‘Baghwan, The God That Failed’, about his decade of living and serving in close proximity to Bagwhan, where he continued to learn more about the body and the human capacity for extra sensory abilities and healing. In 1988, Hugh moved to Big Sur in California and now lives in Ashland, Oregon with his partner, and teaches his 7 levels of craniosacral work internationally. This was a special interview for Oni Blecher as it was Hugh that introduced her to what some would call body work, and since 2012, she has completed all of her training with Milne through Milne Institute as well as assisting him and his teachers. Oni says; "The foundations of this visionary work always underpins my understanding of the human experience, as well as allowed me to deeply understand the psychospiritual and psychophysiological nature of birth and early life. Lucky enough to be able to work with pregnant and postpartum mothers, babies, and children, I understand the sometimes hard to explain value of this work and am very grateful to Hugh for coming on the show and explaining from his deep experiential well, what he sees this value as". Enjoy this conversation. If you have feedback or would like to leave a rating for our podcast, this is greatly appreciated and helps us understand your needs around our information sharing.

Around the country and indeed around the world hustling and cajoling, therein the complex webs of healthcare and community lie dedicated individuals and organisations working tirelessly to improve services. There always have been and I suspect, there always will be. When it comes to maternity care it’s no different. Primarily comprised of women and also some men, the improvement maternity services require For this episode of the Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond show, Annalee caught up with the remarkable Helena Mooney, a Sydney resident and long-time maternity consumer advocate. They discuss what health advocacy looks like and the many challenges volunteers face in advocating for better and more meaningful maternity services.From learning new terminology and jargon across several professional areas (such as research, government, health services, specific to maternity care, policy making, medico-legal, insurance etc etc) to finding your voice and calling out the many agendas that too often trump what the patient really needs in the moment to making sure that consumer engagement isn’t left within the bandwidth of tokenism as improvement in experience and outcome are only possible with meaningful engagement coupled with robust policies based in evidence based care and most importantly with effective accountability measures in place at every level. Further information about Helena and her work is available at https://parentingwithplay.com.auWe'd love to hear from you, if you have any questions/comments about this or other interview or our work at PBB Media, shoot us a line at hello@pbbmedia.org.Produced, edited 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.orgPregnancy, Birth and Beyond comes to you from Bundjalung Country at Cavanbah or Byron Bay and we acknowledge with respect and reverence the Arakwal people of the Bunjulung nation, neighbouring clans and people for caring for this country since time immemorial.

In this episode, Oni Blecher speaks to Muse Lokajickova. Muse practices revolutionary care for the generative systems also known as evolutionary gynaecology. Muse has 15 years of hands-on practice weaving tools from western herbalism, indigenous medicine, and classical Chinese medicine. Her practice is built on her unique methods of uterine repositioning, internal pelvic floor manual therapy and holistic gynaecological care that follows the guiding force of the heart and nervous system. Through her work, Muse has helped a lot of women both get pregnant and have healthy pregnancies and births! Not only working in the pregnancy, birth, and beyond realms; muse assists and encourages people have a better connection and relationship with their pelvic anatomy including important physiological and anatomical understanding. Folks can work with Muse via distance consultations and her Sovereign Vagina Masterclass Series, a cannon of tangible tools for pelvic health, understanding gynecology as "gaiacology," and making gynecology an amazing medicine that is OURS.You can find Muse through muse@medicineofthefeminine.com@medicineofthefemininewww.medicineofthefeminine.comThanks for joining us ! I hope you liked this conversation. All feedback and ratings welcome and appreciated.

Fiona Katauskas is a cartoonist, illustrator, and author of “The Amazing True Stories of How Babies Are Made’, a children’s book about conception, and childbirth that is relevant to our current social word. Fiona once studied politics at the Australian National University, and travelled extensively, working in overseas aid and human rights. After that, she became a full time cartoonist, with work appearing in a wide range of publications, like Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian, The Australian Financial Review, The Bulletin, The Chaser, Eureka Street and New Matilda; not to mention other events and anthologies. Fiona has illustrated many books for just about every publisher, designed cards for the Ink Group and t-shirts for Mambo.Fiona loves how cartoonists are able to take all their experiences, beliefs, bile and passion, wrap them up in a metaphor and get inky fingers in the process and while having fun. In this episode, Oni Blecher speaks with Fiona about her book ‘The Amazing True Story of How Babies are Made’. We really speak about sex education for young people, appropriate messaging in education tools and resources, and how this education can imprint and shape not only our attitudes toward sex but also our relationships with our bodies. Enjoy this conversation and check out the animation of The Amazing True Story of How Babies Are Made through www.amazingbabies.tv or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldXBfTkM5Iw&feature=emb_logoFind Fiona through Email: fkatauskas@iprimus.com.au or on Twitter @fionakatauskas or through her website www.fionakatauskas.com

In this episode of Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond, Annalee Atia speaks with Dr Rachel Reed about the history and her story of midwifery and its evolution to the modern day midwife, UK & Australian differences in practice and care both in Midwifery and maternity care and the call for midwives to reclaim their expertise and rights of protection. “Instead of locating all of the risks in the women and all our job is to identify how wrong her body is and to fix it, how about looking at what we’re doing and how that may or may not influence how her body functions and her experience of birth.”Dr Rachel Reed is a midwife, academic, author, and international speaker who focuses on childbirth physiology, midwifery practice, and women’s rights (and rites). She has provided midwifery care for many women and has attended births in a wide range of settings and circumstances. Rachel is the author of the award-winning blog MidwifeThinking and the co-host of The Midwives' Cauldron podcast. She has published widely in journals and magazines, and her first book Why Induction Matters is a popular resource for women and care providers. Her most recent book Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage: weaving ancient wisdom with modern knowledge will be published early 2021. Her blog MidwifeThinking has been accessed by over 5 million readers from every country in the world. It currently has over 10,000 subscribers and around 1000 visitors per day; and is archived by Pandora (National Library of Australia and Partners). Posts have been translated into a number of languages including French, Russian, German and Spanish; and a number of posts have been published in magazines.In 2019 MidwifeThinking was awarded the International Maternity Expo – Practice Innovation Award for an ‘outstanding contribution to maternity and midwifery services’.Access MidwifeThinking here: https://midwifethinking.comFurther information about Rachel and her work is available at www.rachel-reed.websiteWe'd love to hear from you, if you have any questions about this interview or our work at PBB Media, shoot us a line at hello@pbbmedia.org.Produced, edited 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.orgPregnancy, Birth and Beyond comes to you from Bundjalung Country at Cavanbah or Byron Bay and we acknowledge with respect and reverence the Arakwal people of the Bunjulung nation, neighbouring clans and people for caring for this country since time immemorial.

Nidala Barker is Djugan woman from the Kimberley in Western Australia. She is a musician, storyteller, environmental activist, social justice warrior, and all around an insightful and deep feeling and thinking woman. In this episode, Nidala speaks to Indigenous ways of learning, of time and space and ways of connection, and the importance representation. We speak about the importance of truth telling in Australia’s history and education, and the responsibility we all have on these lands to connect to country and each other. Nidala guides us through the ways she imagines moving towards reconciliation, healing and collaborative communities can happen.

In this episode, Oni Blecher plays a recording of Gaby Tudor interviewing Mayan Midwives from Guatemala. We are so happy to respectfully share their Indigenous wisdom with you in this special edition podcast with PBB foreign correspondent Gaby. Here is a note from Gaby about her experience with Doña Dominga and Mariu Gobbato:"My journey to Lake Atitlan began in Australia with my desire to learn more about practices that heal your womb. I had heard about womb massage in post-partum while working as doula and was interested in this work. This led me to an internet search of Mayan abdominal massage in Guatemala, which led me to Mariu’s course in Lake Atitlan.Arriving to the high lake surrounded by volcanoes, I wasn’t sure what I completely expected from the Mayan abdominal course. My rational mind led me to believe that I would learn a marketable skill that I could use to deepen my practice with women. It wasn’t until the candles were lit in the Mayan cross; which give thanks to each type of corn, as well as the land, sky and with Doña Dominga giving thanks to her nahuals, that I realised I was doing some deep healing. It was during Doña Dominga's humble thanksgiving to the gods of the Mayan calendar for her gifts, that I knew that these teachings went deeper than just skills... they brought me to a place of ancestral knowing. Doña Dominga and other indigenous midwives still actively use the Mayan calendar and honour the days nahuals with candles and copal. Mariu, the organiser and facilitator of this training was the magic that wove it all together seamlessly. She has worked with Doña Dominga for several years, learning the diverse herbs and flowers used for making balms for massage and mastering the techniques of womb massage. This work is intuitive but also takes practice and guidance to initiate channels of healing to open. Mariu and Doña Dominga’s integrative work, allows you to feel held in learning the Indigenous ways as well as the usage for our modern world. This work is a homage to ways of the past but  also to empower a future generation of healers, creating a bridge between ancestral knowledge and future generations. Mariu Eugenia Gobbato is a massage therapist and midwifery apprentice. She has been working with Doña Dominga, a Mayan midwife in San Marcos la laguna in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. Doña Dominga is a Mayan midwife with over 30 years of experience attending births in her rural community in the Guatemalan highlands.Recently, large rains and floods have caused a landslide in San Marcos, Lake Atitlan and this has destroyed several houses near Doña Dominga’s home. This destruction has also caused disruption to their midwifery services. Please consider donating to PayPal at mayamassageguatemala@gmail.com or visiting Sobada Maya Abdominal Massage on Facebook to see how you can help. Thank you,Gaby Tudor,Zipolite, Oxaca, Mexico"Thank you Gaby for this episode and Doña Dominga and Mariu Gobatto for generously sharing your midwifery wisdom. Enjoy this episode !  

In this episode, Oni Blecher plays a recording of Gaby Tudor interviewing Mayan Midwives from Guatemala. We are so happy to respectfully share their Indigenous wisdom with you in this special edition podcast with PBB foreign correspondent Gaby. Here is a note from Gaby about her experience with Doña Dominga and Mariu Gobbato:"My journey to Lake Atitlan began in Australia with my desire to learn more about practices that heal your womb. I had heard about womb massage in post-partum while working as doula and was interested in this work. This led me to an internet search of Mayan abdominal massage in Guatemala, which led me to Mariu’s course in Lake Atitlan.Arriving to the high lake surrounded by volcanoes, I wasn’t sure what I completely expected from the Mayan abdominal course. My rational mind led me to believe that I would learn a marketable skill that I could use to deepen my practice with women. It wasn’t until the candles were lit in the Mayan cross; which give thanks to each type of corn, as well as the land, sky and with Doña Dominga giving thanks to her nahuals, that I realised I was doing some deep healing. It was during Doña Dominga's humble thanksgiving to the gods of the Mayan calendar for her gifts, that I knew that these teachings went deeper than just skills... they brought me to a place of ancestral knowing. Doña Dominga and other indigenous midwives still actively use the Mayan calendar and honour the days nahuals with candles and copal. Mariu, the organiser and facilitator of this training was the magic that wove it all together seamlessly. She has worked with Doña Dominga for several years, learning the diverse herbs and flowers used for making balms for massage and mastering the techniques of womb massage. This work is intuitive but also takes practice and guidance to initiate channels of healing to open. Mariu and Doña Dominga’s integrative work, allows you to feel held in learning the Indigenous ways as well as the usage for our modern world. This work is a homage to ways of the past but  also to empower a future generation of healers, creating a bridge between ancestral knowledge and future generations. Mariu Eugenia Gobbato is a massage therapist and midwifery apprentice. She has been working with Doña Dominga, a Mayan midwife in San Marcos la laguna in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. Doña Dominga is a Mayan midwife with over 30 years of experience attending births in her rural community in the Guatemalan highlands.Recently, large rains and floods have caused a landslide in San Marcos, Lake Atitlan and this has destroyed several houses near Doña Dominga’s home. This destruction has also caused disruption to their midwifery services. Please consider donating to PayPal at mayamassageguatemala@gmail.com or visiting Sobada Maya Abdominal Massage on Facebook to see how you can help. Thank you,Gaby Tudor,Zipolite, Oxaca, Mexico"Thank you Gaby for this episode and Doña Dominga and Mariu Gobatto for generously sharing your midwifery wisdom. Enjoy this episode !  

During this episode, Oni Blecher speaks to Sarah Blandiargo about her nineteen-year career in childcare and nannying. Sarah runs Move Make classes, where she combines her heart-based kids yoga classes with meditation and creative craft and play. Since COVID, Sarah has also started her Move Make classes over Zoom, Australia wide. Sarah is inspired by and has researched child psychologists and pioneers in aspects of how we see minding, communicating, and interacting with children; including Magda Gerba and Janet Lansbury. In this episode, we cover so many interesting topics including Sarah’s own wealth of experience as a nanny, how we value and respect childcare socially, how that can shift individually and collectively, and new ways of looking forward to shifts in holistic childcare. Enjoy this conversation.

During this episode, Oni Blecher speaks to Sarah Blandiargo about her nineteen-year career in childcare and nannying. Sarah runs Move Make classes, where she combines her heart-based kids yoga classes with meditation and creative craft and play. Since COVID, Sarah has also started her Move Make classes over Zoom, Australia wide. Sarah is inspired by and has researched child psychologists and pioneers in aspects of how we see minding, communicating, and interacting with children; including Magda Gerba and Janet Lansbury. In this episode, we cover so many interesting topics including Sarah’s own wealth of experience as a nanny, how we value and respect childcare socially, how that can shift individually and collectively, and new ways of looking forward to shifts in holistic childcare. Enjoy this conversation.