Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond

Oni Blecher interviews Steven Kennedy about his work with Birthing Dads and inquires into Steven's birth story. Steven speaks to preparing fathers for birth and the postnatal period. He speaks about how fathers and male birth support are the 'sleeping giants' of the birth world and if fathers are more prepared, they could assist and take extra weight and responsibility off midwives. When Steven suffered depression and trauma after the birth of his son in 2017 he turned to academic literature to research the experiences of expectant fathers at birth. He discovered a grim picture of modern society’s relationship with childbirth. A common theme was the suggestion that care providers prepare expectant fathers to better support themselves and their families in the perinatal period.  Steven knew he had to act when further exploration revealed the research was being ignored. See more at birthingdads.org

This episode is in two parts:Firstly Sally speaks with Moran Liviani, mother of 3 girls and doula based in Brisbane. Moran talks about the trends she's noticing with her clients during the COVID-19 pandemic. She says all of her clients would choose homebirth, if they could afford it. And that these are families who would have never considered homebirth before but they have now come to see birthing in hospital as dangerous and birthing at home safer. She also discusses the significant drop in inductions of labour.A recent Lancet study on the safety of homebirth for low risk women: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100319Moran and her work as a doula and childbirth educator can be found at: www.2life.com.au.In the second half, Nicola Liebke, mother of 3 boys and one step-daughter, teacher, postnatal doula and parent group leader shares why she believes self-care for mothers is so important during this time where so many find themselves teaching their kids at home while also balancing their work and other commitments. Nicola also shares her top 5 tips for self-care for mothers during this time: physical care, creative care, nature care, mind care and joining a women's circle.Nicola can be found at www.moonhutmamas.com where she facilitates online women's circles.Thank you Moran and Nicola!First aired live on 99.9BayFM in Byron Bay, Australia on 27 April 2020.Produced and presented by Sally Cusack for PBB MediaGuests: Moran Liviani, www.2life.com.au and Nicola Liebke, www.moonhutmamas.comCopyright 2020 PBB Media and Sally CusackAll rights reserved.www.pbbmedia.org

This episode is in two parts:Firstly Sally speaks with Moran Liviani, mother of 3 girls and doula based in Brisbane. Moran talks about the trends she's noticing with her clients during the COVID-19 pandemic. She says all of her clients would choose homebirth, if they could afford it. And that these are families who would have never considered homebirth before but they have now come to see birthing in hospital as dangerous and birthing at home safer. She also discusses the significant drop in inductions of labour.A recent Lancet study on the safety of homebirth for low risk women: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100319Moran and her work as a doula and childbirth educator can be found at: www.2life.com.au.In the second half, Nicola Liebke, mother of 3 boys and one step-daughter, teacher, postnatal doula and parent group leader shares why she believes self-care for mothers is so important during this time where so many find themselves teaching their kids at home while also balancing their work and other commitments. Nicola also shares her top 5 tips for self-care for mothers during this time: physical care, creative care, nature care, mind care and joining a women's circle.Nicola can be found at www.moonhutmamas.com where she facilitates online women's circles.Thank you Moran and Nicola!First aired live on 99.9BayFM in Byron Bay, Australia on 27 April 2020.Produced and presented by Sally Cusack for PBB MediaGuests: Moran Liviani, www.2life.com.au and Nicola Liebke, www.moonhutmamas.comCopyright 2020 PBB Media and Sally CusackAll rights reserved.www.pbbmedia.org

Hello there wonderful people, its Annalee from PBB, in this episode of Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond I am chatting with Dr Igor Tabrizian from the Byron Bay Health Lodge (in Australia). The Health Lodge takes a modern and advanced approach to medicine and healthcare and provides meaningful continuity of care to its patients. Practitioners come with a holistic whole-person attitude to healthcare and work together as a team. Clients can access the care, experience and support of Integrative General Practitioners, Naturopaths, Psychologists, Acupuncturists, Physiotherapists, Health Coaches and more, all in one place. If needed the team of care providers work together to support the one patient, pooling valuable insights and solutions together. Dr Igor Tabrizian is an integrative GP with a Functional Medicine approach. Working in hospital medicine for 14 years and then going into combined private and general practice specialising in nutritional medicine. He looks ay at inflammation, genetics, cytokines (inflammatory messages), gut microbiome, neurotransmitters, mineral and toxic metal levels, inflammatory markers, family history and life story when treating patients. He then prioritises which issues to remedy first and works through the solution(s) as needed. Dr Tabrizian specialises in supporting patients with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), child behavioural issues, pre-conception nutrition, auto-immune disorders and inflammation. We discussed pre conception nutrition and why it is so important for both partners and especially the mother to be well prepared and healthy before becoming pregnant, we touched of course on Covid-19 and unpacked some of the common childhood disorders and how many of these can be related to nutrition and inflammation. I had a wonderful time chatting with Dr Tabrizian and I am looking forward to picking his brain again in the future! If you want to find out more about this episode and others like it, check out our website pbbmedia.org and we would love to hear from you! Did you enjoy this episode, have any comments, would love for us to cover a specific topic? Let us know through hello@pbbmedia.org or through our socials on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, search for PBB Media. More info about Dr Tabrizian and the Health Lodge can be found here www.thehealthlodge.com.auPre-recorded the week before and aired live on 99.9BayFM in Byron Bay, Australia on April 14th, 2020.Produced, edited and presented by Annalee Atia for PBB Media Guest: Dr Igor TabrizianAll rights reserved. www.pbbmedia.org+This episode is sponsored by MooGoo Skin Care. www.moogoo.com.au.For a limited time our listeners can get a 15% discount on online purchases by quoting the code PBBPODCAST.

Oni Blecher interviews dynamic couple Laura and Russell Brand on the importance of play, creativity and making a fun mess while also discussing the deeper topics of birth politics, making conscious informed decisions for birth, parenting philosophy and teamwork within the pregnancy, birth and postnatal periods.

Oni Blecher interviews Dr. Greg Emerson on his wealth of experience as an emergency medicine specialist come integrative doctor. He discusses building immunity, viral combative measures and how these measures affect healthy fetal growth, birth and resilient postnatal outcomes. Greg looks to a brighter social and integrative healthy future.

Jane Hardwicke Collings is fiercely rallying the birth community, as well as the community at large, to come together during this time of crisis to enact real and radical change in the care birthing women are receiving during the Coronavirus pandemic. Jane speaks of the impact the crisis is having on birthing women and mother-babies, and how we must come together now to provide better birthing options in response to what women are seeking at this time. Together with a group of women, Jane has founded Hygieia Health, a not for profit dedicated to making such changes. They recently surveyed over 800 women and found that 80% are re-assessing their birth and maternity care options in the middle of this pandemic. Jane shares how we as a community must come together to adapt to meet the needs of women and babies, and the impact that this pandemic will have if we don't - particularly on mothers mental health.Jane is the founder of The School of Shamanic Womancraft, has been a home birth midwife for over thirty years. and can be found at www.janehardwickecollings.comThis interview was recorded on Bundjalung country on Thursday 2 April, which must be acknowledged as much is changing daily during this pandemic. In adherence to social distancing, this interview was recorded virtually, and due to the current demand on these services, there are a few glitches and technical difficulties which we apologise for.Contact information for this episode:Mamatoto Support for Birth in Crisis Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/205614144006691/Hygieia Health: hygieia.health.2020@gmail.comJane Hardwicke Collings: jane@schoolofshamanicwomancraft.comKirilly Dawn: kirilly@pbbmedia.org

Oni Blecher speaks to Helena Norberg-Hodge about her work in bringing Ancient wisdom into our future projections by moving away from globalised capital into more localised economies and how this effects mothering, family and village living

As the reality of the extent of the impact of COVID-19 is sinking in, we’re seeing our lives change in ways we never thought would happen. Many schools are closing down their campuses and reverting to online learning, or preparing to do so. So almost overnight we have seen a massive shift of our school age children to homeschooling. There’s a lot for the kids and especially their parents to navigate in this terrain while parents work out how they can continue their own work/study commitments while having the kids at home.In this show Sally talks with a very experienced homeschooling mum who has always worked at home as well.Avalon Darnesh is a mother in a blended family with her partner Brett and together they have five children aged 7 to 17. Avalon also has a free offering she created five years ago about how parents can get their own goals met while your kids are at home: https://www.blossomingwoman.com.au/blog/get-shit-done Also mentioned is Motherhood Mentor, Marion Rose: www.marionrose.net.First aired live on 99.9BayFM in Byron Bay, Australia on 30 March 2020.Produced and presented by Sally Cusack for PBB MediaGuest: Avalon Darnesh www.blossomingwoman.com.auAll rights reserved.www.pbbmedia.org+++++++++++This episode is sponsored by MooGoo Skin Care. www.moogoo.com.au.For a limited time our listeners can get a 15% discount on online purchases by quoting the code PBBPODCAST.

Circus aerialist and mother Moira Campbell shares with Sally her unique life journey full of vital lessons, from joining the circus, to meeting her husband Alex, packing up their life in London and moving to Byron Bay, healing from chronic illness and raising her 11 year old daughter. Moira's biggest lesson yet: that her body has an innate ability to heal itself.So much in this conversation! Enjoy.Moira can be found at: ascensionbyronbay.com.auProduced and presented by Sally CusackCopyright PBB Media and Sally Cusack 2020www.pbbmedia.orgFirst aired on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay Australia on 30 January 2019.Produced and presented by Sally CusackCopyright PBB Media and Sally Cusack 2020www.pbbmedia.org

In this episode of Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond, we are speaking with Farah Cleret, mother of two, Functional Nutritionist and recently diagnosed with cervical cancer. Post treatment, Farah went into medically induced menopause. Farah has a Degree and honours from Manchester University in Philosophy and Psychology and trained in Nutrition at the Institute of Optimum Nutrition in London, UK qualifying in 2002. She spent many years in private clinics and also at Higher Nature, a well known and highly respected UK supplement company advising clients on Nutritional Protocols, designing Practitioner Education Modules and contributing to the development of new products and formulas.You can find out more about Farah and her work on www.farahcleret.netYou are tuned to Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond - Contemporary Conversations where Stories, Science, Traditions & New Ideas meet. Our show is coming to you from the studios of BayFM in Byron Bay and is broadcasting across Australia on the Community Radio Network, you can find us on iTunes, Spotify and Spreaker and through your favourite podcast providers. First aired live on 99.9BayFM in Byron Bay, Australia on February 17th, 2020.Produced and presented by Annalee Atia for PBB Media Guest: Farah ClaretAll rights reserved. www.pbbmedia.org+++++++++++This episode is sponsored by MooGoo Skin Care. www.moogoo.com.au.For a limited time our listeners can get a 15% discount on online purchases by quoting the code PBBPODCAST.

Sheree Stewart is an Aboriginal speaker, midwife, doula, published author, transpersonal art therapist and now a hot air balloon pilot! She is also a mother to six children and is the manager of the Koori Maternity Service at Sunshine Hospital in Melbourne. Sally was lucky enough to speak with her recently about her work advocating for the best possible maternity care for Aboriginal families, in the lead up to her appearance at the Doula Conference in Melbourne later this month.References:Galingera Maternity Service, Sunshine Hospital, Melbourne Vic:http://www.westernhealth.org.au/Services/Womens_and_Children/MaternityServices/Pages/Options-for-pregnancy-care.aspxwww.shereestewart.com.auMe and White Supremacy www.laylafsaad.comProduced and presented by Sally CusackCopyright PBB Media and Sally Cusack 2020www.pbbmedia.orgFirst aired on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay Australia on 09/03/2020.+++++++++++This episode is sponsored by MooGoo Skin Care. www.moogoo.com.au.For a limited time our listeners can get a 15% discount on online purchases by quoting the code PBBPODCAST.

Sean Tonnet, Psychologist, father and contributor for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond speaks to his experience as a father so far with deep psychological insight. Sean was once the prime ministers bodyguard before moving from the city to the Northern Rivers twenty years ago. This move offered him a journey of self discovery and an introduction to mindful relationship with self and eventually with children. Sean has an 11 year old and a 13 year old.Produced and presented by Oni BlecherCopyright PBB Media and Oni Blecher 2020www.pbbmedia.orgFirst aired on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay Australia in December 2019.+++++++++++This episode is sponsored by MooGoo Skin Care. www.moogoo.com.au.For a limited time our listeners can get a 15% discount on online purchases by quoting the code PBBPODCAST.

For more than two decades Dr Robin DiAngelo, a white mother, childbirth educator turned racial and social justice educator and author of White Fragility from Seattle, Washington in the US has been examining how from her birth onwards, she subconsciously played a role in perpetuating racial inequality in her society. When she stepped into a new job in the mid ‘90’s she embarked on a massive learning journey to discover that she, as a vegetarian, yoga practising, liberal minded femininist, had a lot to learn. In this show we will be examining the most fundamental of our social fractures, racism, racial inequality, your role in it, and what you can do as a parent or someone who spends time with children can do about it.Note: Robin participated in this interview from her home in Seattle, Washington and acknowledged the traditional owners of that land, the Duwamish people. She pays rent to the Duwamish people under this scheme: https://www.realrentduwamish.org/References:www.robindiangelo.comMe and White Supremacy www.laylafsaad.comIbram X Kendi, PhD: https://www.ibramxkendi.com/ Racial bias in pain assessment and treatment recommendations, and false beliefs about biological differences between blacks and whiteshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27044069Bias at the intersection of race and gender: Evidence from preschool‐aged children https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/desc.12788 Resources for parents and more: https://robindiangelo.com/resources/Produced and presented by Sally CusackCopyright PBB Media and Sally Cusack 2020www.pbbmedia.orgFirst aired on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay Australia on 03/02/2020.+++++++++++This episode is sponsored by MooGoo Skin Care. www.moogoo.com.au.For a limited time our listeners can get a 15% discount on online purchases by quoting the code PBBPODCAST.

Zenith Virago is a woman grounded in the gifts of understanding the nuances of humanity and the basic need for people to mark important times in their lives with sacredness. Zenith serves those traveling through birth, marriage and death. Highly respected for her guidance and presence in the Byron Shire and beyond, Zenith is a jewel, a wealth of embodied knowledge and deep reverence for the human experience. Zenith is the founder, EO and Deathwalker Trainer for the Natural Death Care Centre, a Byron Bay based charity. Zenith is also the creator of The Vagina Conversations, a performance of local women expressing empowered vagina stories. 
Today, I look forward to speaking with Zenith about the relationship between birth and death. With one of her roles as a deathwalker, Zenith is attuned to the transition between living in this physical body and ‘the other side’. We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we speak and listen on particularly on the 26th and 27th of January, a day of mourning.Interviewed guest: Zenith ViragoProduced and presented by Oni BlecherCopyright PBB Media, Oni Blecher and Zenith Virago 2020First aired on 99.9 BayFM Byron Bay Australia on 27th January 2020.This episode is sponsored by MooGoo Skin Care. www.moogoo.com.au.For a limited time our listeners can get a 15% discount on online purchases by quoting the code PBBPODCAST.www.pbbmedia.org