Description:
In this episode, Tabitha talks about the importance of intentionally surrounding yourself with specific people during your birth, what it was like for her to deal with her son’s emergency airlift transfer to Seattle Children’s Hospital, and what her personal struggles were with postpartum depression.
Disclaimer: This podcast is intended for educational purposes only with no intention of giving or replacing any medical advice. I, Kiona Nessenbaum, am not a licensed medical professional. All advice that is given on the podcast is from the personal experience of the storytellers. All medical or health-related questions should be directed to your licensed provider.
Resources:
- The Red Tent-By Anita Diamant: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/4989
- Faisa Farole-Global midwifery Services:https://www.globalmidwiferyservices.com/
- Global Perinatal Services: https://www.globalperinatal.org/
- Open Arms Perinatal Services: https://openarmsps.org/
- Perinatal Support of Washington: https://perinatalsupport.org/
- Postpartum Support International: https://www.postpartum.net
Definitions:
- Unassisted Birth/Free Birth
- Kangaroo Care/ Skin-to-Skin
- Intravenous line (IV) options for newborns
- Nipple Stimulations During Labor
- Heart Arrhythmias in Newborns
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Transcription of Episode 40:
[00:00:00] Kiona: Hello, and welcome to Birth As We Know It. I am your podcast host, Kiona Nessenbaum. I have experienced birth as a doula, a student midwife, and as a mother of three amazing children with my husband and high school sweetheart by my side. After attending over 130 births, including my own, I’ve realized that each birth experience is truly unique.
So make sure you subscribe and join me every week as we are guided through many different birth experiences through the lens of the storyteller. Please be aware that some of the stories can be triggering to hear, so feel free to pause, take a breath, and come back and listen whenever you’re ready. With that said, let’s prep ourselves to dive deep and get detailed about what really happens in the birth space.
As a reminder, this podcast is intended for educational purposes only, and has no intention of giving or replacing any medical advice. All advice that is given on the podcast is from the personal experiences of the storytellers. All medical or health related questions should be directed to your licensed provider.
As usual before we dive into this episode, I wanted to share another podcast review with you. This review was written by Anni_rld. And it’s titled the perfect addition to the birth podcast space with a rating of five stars.
It says “Kiona’s podcast adds a refreshing and engaging new voice to the world of birth stories. There’s no better way to prepare for birth than hearing stories. And I loved the variety of experiences shared here all without judgment. Kiona is engaging and insightful without getting in the way of the storyteller and their chosen narrative. I recommend listening for anyone wanting to learn more about birth or preparing for their own.”
Thank you so much, Anni_rld for leaving this review. I’m so happy to hear that you’re enjoying it. All right. Y’all let’s dive into the episode.
Hello, everybody. And welcome back to the Birth As We Know It podcast. Today, I am excited to have Tabitha Milian on the podcast today. She is a mom of a wonderful four year old and the owner of Ancestral Roots Childbirth Education. And she also provides lactation education, postpartum support for former clients, and she is a former birth doula.
She has been doing birth work since 2010. So welcome, Tabitha. Thanks for coming on today.
[00:02:36] Tabitha: Thank you. Thank you for having me today. Appreciate it.
[00:02:40] Kiona: Yeah, I am super excited to just dive into your story. Of course, I just love hearing birth stories and especially when they come from birth workers, because I feel like there’s a little bit of a different lens that they bring to their birth. and so why don’t you go ahead and just start this interview off with telling us a little bit about yourself and who’s in your family?
[00:02:57] Tabitha: So I’m Tabitha and, I am a single parent. I co parent as well to my little four year old kiddo. my mom lives in Washington State. I have a very small family and we’re all kind of spread out. We’re from, um, Cuba on my mom’s side. I’m first generation in the U. S. and my dad is from Morocco.
I have more connection to my Cuban side, but we’re also Dutch and Spanish and Canary Islander, so we live in very diasporic way and have been for some time. So yeah,
[00:03:33] Kiona: Awesome. That is beautiful. I love the blend. I just love All that comes with you as a person, I think that’s so amazing and I’m excited to hear how all of this plays a part in how your pregnancy and birth went. So, before we dive too deep into your birth, let’s go ahead and talk about your conception journey with this little one.
Did it take a while? Was it quick? Was it planned? All those good things.
[00:03:57] Tabitha: so I had, met somebody and, many years ago thought I wouldn’t have kids because I gave a cutoff to myself at 35. And so here I was, I think 38 at the time or 37, and I had met somebody and we connected and clicked and. Really, I could see, that this person would be, a really great father.
They are already a father of, four other kids, he started, yeah, his youngest kids were, he was still young as well, just barely 20s, so he had had a lot of experience with children, really loves children, and I just, had always said that it’s not necessarily like, I would see myself being with somebody forever, cause I, I don’t actually quite believe in that, but, The person I would like to have children with needs to be a good parent.
and that was more important to me than anything else. so we, both talked about children and, he was in agreeance with if we had a child together that that would be okay. And, So, we just kinda went with the flow and enjoyed our courtship. And pretty quickly, I became pregnant and we were very excited for that.
so, we always, we still joke about, our baby is a Halloween baby. He was conceived on Halloween. It’s what we both suspected. And yeah, so it was, definitely intentional and there was, consent on both sides to create this life, which, yeah, I never actually had thought that that would come about in that way.
So yeah.
[00:05:43] Kiona: That’s so beautiful. Just like a little blessing in disguise, you know, of just living your life and realizing that you had to cut off for yourself, but then you felt like you met the right person and had a conversation and really thoroughly intentionally talked about the possibility of bringing life into the world.
That’s so amazing because not many people actually get the chance to have that conversation. And because of the fact that your conception was very intentional. I feel like that brings so much more peace to the idea of bringing a child into the world. I also love that they were conceived on Halloween.
Halloween is a very fun, holiday that’s celebrated here in the U. S. And I think that. I, maybe I just have a super awesome, fun connection to Halloween now because my niece was actually born on Halloween last year. So she just turned one and it’s a lot of fun to just realize that Halloween is also a day and not just a holiday.
You know what I mean? Life comes and goes on Halloween. So.
[00:06:45] Tabitha: It is my favorite holiday of the year. I wish it were like Christmas. I would replace it in a heartbeat.
[00:06:54] Kiona: Yeah, like, loved as much by others. There are a lot of people that do truly enjoy Halloween, but I feel like there’s so much meaning behind it outside of just costumes and candy. There’s so much more. I can’t say that I am aware of all of the depths of Halloween, but I know that there’s so much more than what is seen at the surface.
[00:07:14] Tabitha: I agree. I agree. Yeah, it’s kind of like the opening of the veil to like our ancestors, being more around that time of year, so it definitely. I feel that also I like the spooky stuff, but,
[00:07:28] Kiona: yeah, yeah. A little fright here and there is kind of nice. Yeah. So before you ended up giving birth yourself, did you ever attend a birth? Were you a doula prior to becoming pregnant?
[00:07:41] Tabitha: yeah, the first birth work that I got into was doula work, and that was something that I definitely felt a calling to. I had never in my life before, like 2008 ever heard of a doula or whatever that was. And then I had met one in Seattle and it was just kind of like, oh, huh, that’s interesting.
It like planted a seed and then years later, I read The Red Tent and something just clicked. I was like, Oh, like ancestrally, we’ve always supported one another. during this time and how important it was in that connection with one another. It just felt really right. And I was like, okay, I, fundraised and I was able to go to, a birth doula training. I was at Bastyr. I was like the only BIPOC person aside for a couple of Asian folks. You know, it was just a very different time in the birth world, honestly. And what I learned wasn’t really quite applicable to me. It was applicable to like middle class. To like upper middle class white women with partners and, other income.
It wasn’t like, aimed at single people that, had, um, Never been rich and actually always been poor in money wealth so my learning curve was different and how to be to actually act as a birth doula in community and Yeah, so my first birth was in 2010. I have mostly been of service to, a lot of Native folks from Turtle Island, had a lot of connections with folks in the community.
And was honored that they trusted me, to be present in their birth. I’ve, been at births at hospitals, at home, birth centers, yeah. And I just, the work is so, it’s transformative for everyone. And it really helps parents to have the confidence to know that they can be a good parent and be the kind of parent that they want to be.
It was all about empowering people so that they weren’t having to shuffle through a disempowering birth experience, which has like lifelong consequences. so yeah, I got to see lots of beautiful babies get born in many different ways. I’ve seen little tiny people birth 10 pound babies with giant heads. And I’ve seen cesarean births too. It’s all birth in the end and it’s all difficult. so it’s been, yeah, really a blessing to, to be a part of that really sacred ceremony of life coming into the world.
[00:10:34] Kiona: Yeah, and I mentioned a lot that being in a birth space is such an honor and to be able to be accepted into that space with hope and trust and love by sometimes complete strangers, like they meet you maybe once or twice prior to birth. Sometimes I have supported clients that I had never met before and you just go into their space and you bring this energy with you that is nothing but passion and love and giving.
It makes such a huge difference in the outcome of that birthing person as well as yourself as an individual. Going back to your doula training where you said you took your doula training at Bastyr, I, I also took my birth doula training at Bastyr, my first birth doula training, and I had a very similar experience where I was one of the only BIPOC people, all instructors were not people of color, and the information that they were teaching was also very much geared towards their own experiences, which is totally fine, because that’s how people educate, people educate from their own experiences and the knowledge that they personally absorb.
So, I think it is a good birth doula training, but I feel like every single training that is out there is kind of geared towards a specific community. And sometimes, with it being , a university of that size, like Bastyr is a private school, they have more resources than an individual, their training is more accessible and more,kind of more umbrella effect kind of thing of like, everybody can be a doula.
Here, let’s train everybody in this. But I will also say that over the years of getting training and you can also, I’m sure that you might be able to relate to this is when you realize the people that are training in the communities that you serve, that are people that look like you, the training is completely different.
The training has a different meaning behind it, a different cultural presence, a different, just a different energy that’s given out because of that connection and because of that relatability to the people that you’re serving and to actually be able to bring something from your training and directly pass it through you to the people that you serve.
Does that make sense?
[00:12:55] Tabitha: Yeah, no, it totally makes sense. And if that was around back then, I would have totally taken it in a heartbeat, but there really wasn’t. And I’m so happy that the birth world has changed so much, especially in the Northwest, that there’s so much access to very specific trainings, for where you feel most comfortable learning and can connect and it’s just really exciting to see all that and you don’t even have to go in person anymore you can do it all online and that’s makes it so much more accessible besides like cost but you know.
[00:13:29] Kiona: Right, right. Yeah. And I agree with that. And, I also am happy about where the birth community is going in the Pacific Northwest. There is still tons of work to do, of course, and I feel like there will still always be tons of work to do. There’s a lot of educating happening from BIPOC folks to people that are not BIPOC, that are doing these trainings.
And… serving these clients and serving this community. So lots of work is happening, but it’s going. It’s we’re trying to move in the right direction. And I am really happy to say that with the people that I am personally connected with in the Pacific Northwest, there are more BIPOC folks actually doing the trainings, which is a phenomenal difference in the outcome of what you leave your training with.
and what you can intentionally use in the communities that you serve. So, so yeah. Okay. Let’s get back to you. Let’s get back to you. Let’s go ahead and talk about, how your pregnancy was with your little one. did you have any symptoms? How did you feel? How was all the things when you found out you were pregnant?
[00:14:35] Tabitha: oh my gosh, this is Thank you for asking that. As a birth worker, I tend to not actually talk about my, my pregnancy and birthing experience as much as I would like to, just because, my pregnancy had very little symptoms, very little nausea. I never threw up. I actually had a very healthy and very, As much as it can be, like simple, pregnancy, aside from gross heartburn.
Yeah, my first trimester I just got a little nauseous, I was tired, but I only really got nauseous in the car. And so I, it was really pretty easy, all the way. And I, I do admit I had a really privileged pregnancy. I didn’t have to work all the time. I did do birth work until I was like, three months pregnant, three or four.
No, no, no. Actually, I think six months pregnant, I stopped working. I was doing birth work and also doing some child care. But I didn’t have to work all the time. I was being supported by my partner at the time. So I really could just be very intentional and focused on growing a baby. At the time I was living on five acres on the Olympic peninsula, it was like well water that was super clean tasting and beautiful.
Like my baby was growing on well water and there was a lot to forage just on the land there and we grew food too. And of course, most of our food came from the store, but I’ve always been very focused on like organic foods and, just being as healthful as I could eating simply and just try not to stress.
I’m a bit of a worrier regardless, but it was nice to just, go on my little walks around the land and enjoy the trees and the fresh air and the calmness and that’s what I got to do and it was really amazing and I feel like my child has that connection with the land so intensely because of not only his, early years being there all the time, but his gestation as well, it’s just a part of him, and the land is on traditional, Quinault land, not their reservation, but it would have been their traditional territory.
So I just want to acknowledge that beautiful Quinault land out there.
[00:17:07] Kiona: I love that. I really, really do love that. And I love the fact that you just said you can still see the connection that your son has with this land and you were doing your best in being able to access and utilize the resources that were around you, both natural and just reachable and obtainable.
So I think that’s awesome. I’m happy that you had a good pregnancy experience. And, I would also say that birth workers tend to err on the side of not mentioning their story because they don’t want their personal pregnancy or birth story to impact the way that their client sees them supporting them. What I mean when I say that is, if I had a super awesome home birth, but my client is having a planned cesarean birth, how would they perceive How I’m supporting them. That information, if they don’t want it, like, if they ask for it, cool, of course, you’ll give that background, but if they don’t want it, it could really impact the way that they feel like you’re going to support them best, because some people will feel, oh, you had that kind of birth, maybe you’re judging me on knowing that I’m having a planned cesarean, that kind of thing.
[00:18:19] Tabitha: Yeah, I definitely think of that. I don’t want,while I teach childbirth education, I teach it all from hospital to home, but, you know, I do have my biases. I did have a home birth, but, I understand that that’s not for everybody and I get that. It doesn’t, Matter like where you have your baby.
It matters how you felt during that whole experience And there is a lot of like baggage when it comes to like when you say oh, I had a home birth people think oh like hippie, crunchy, reckless, dangerous. All these things start to come up, you know based off of like my birth choice But it being a BIPOC person I really wanted to make sure that I had the experience that I wanted because that is me reclaiming birth for myself and for my ancestors. And also to just show, like, it’s not so scary that hospitals tend to make out home births as, dangerous or scary. And the statistics are out there about what is actually more dangerous. And I just hope that people’s perception changes that we’re never too far from a hospital transfer. We’re never too far from that. And… Even a home birth can be very, very safe and you don’t wait for, the red flags. You wait for the pink flags and most, midwives, don’t let it go to the most reddest of red flags before they transfer you. so yeah, I just, I wanted to make sure that I had a reclaiming story.
It was really important to me because you just don’t hear them very often from black and brown folks.
[00:20:15] Kiona: Yeah, and I also feel like when you offer that visual for people or even just the imagination of you being a person of color, having a home birth, making decisions, having agency, having a good connection with your provider, having the conversations that are necessary. When you put that out there into the community, either verbally, by word of mouth, or with, posts on social media or whatever, there’s so many responses that you’re going to get.
But when you get the responses from the people that are on the same page as you, it’s nothing but connection and community. It’s nothing but, “oh my gosh, I had a home birth too”, or “it’s so great to see that people of color can have home births as well”. “It’s awesome to see that you’re safe and healthy and that you just got to stay home”, you know, those kinds of things.
And… It’s even better, personally, in my mind, well, it’s even more rewarding when you see a person of color be at a home birth with a provider of color, with someone who looks like them, supporting them, has the training, and it’s just a community in your birth space, which makes such a big difference.
[00:21:31] Tabitha: was, that was, that was my birth. It was, yeah, I, I wanted all of that. I wanted my midwives to, I wanted to be able to relate to them. I wanted my support team to be relatable. I think there was like one, yeah, just one support person that was white. Everybody else was a BIPOC person.
[00:21:57] Kiona: Let’s go ahead and dive into that and hear about what that was like. So, let’s start by diving into… How you found your support team and how having that specific support team throughout your pregnancy was for you.
[00:22:13] Tabitha: Mm hmm. So I started getting care from at the time Rainier Valley Clinic, it was out in Renton for a little bit. Just because I had heard of them as a birth worker before that they you know, some of their Focus was,equity and had a social justice lens on birth work, which is totally what I’m down with because I don’t see birth work is just Oh, we’re just bringing beautiful babies into the world.
No, we’re like, for our communities, we’re like saving people’s lives. We’re saving babies lives. This is not, this is political. It is like against an establishment, an institution that doesn’t want us to be well, or to be empowered. So, that’s, that’s the stance I’ve always had in my birth work.
so I started going there for care while I decided where I was going to find a midwife that would serve my area. Being midwives out there, period. And a midwife of color is even harder to find and even just the, the midwives that were in the region that served my region, a lot of them were, were full, um, they, or they weren’t working at the time.
because it’s like the summer I was doing this in August and people are like taking their kids on vacation, whatever.
[00:23:46] Kiona: Right. Right.
[00:23:47] Tabitha: So they’re like, I’m unavailable. I’m on vacation. I’m like, okay. so I just kept going to care and just. I was just trying to have faith that I would find what I was looking for. I kept looking, I kept looking.
And, Faisa was my midwife or my caregiver and we just got to, know each other throughout my, appointments, and it was just so hard to figure out who I would birth with and, I really wanted a midwife there for their expertise, I wasn’t quite on the whole free birthing thing yet,
[00:24:26] Kiona: Mm hmm.
Mm
[00:24:27] Tabitha: and even that I have critiques about, but, I was even thinking about it, just because I was like, if I don’t have an option, I am a birth worker, I do have full faith in my body to birth a baby.
Will I have to go that extra step of like being a free birther? I didn’t know if that’s what I would have to do, but it wasn’t my first choice. Kept looking, kept looking. My partner at the time was working in Tacoma so he would go back and forth between where I was at the land and where he lived in Tacoma, and I couldn’t birth in Tacoma, like a home birth there, that wasn’t a possibility.
And so finally I was like crying to my midwife and the other midwife involved, the director Tara, they both decided that they would be willing to come out to the land, which is, out on the peninsula, which is like a two and a half, three hour drive from Seattle area. And. I just, I was pretty far along when this happened.
So I was like running out of options. I was looking at birth centers, maybe I was just trying to do it all. but I really knew what I wanted. I wanted autonomy over my body. I wanted a birth setting that was comfortable and not in a city I wanted. Yeah, I wanted. I wanted everything. I really did. I wanted a birth team that was, some of my closest people.
they didn’t necessarily have to be a birth worker. and I, I wanted ceremony. I wanted the understanding that what we’re doing is not just bringing a baby into the world, but we are also creating ceremony. around it and really leaning in, to like our ancestral internal knowledge and, and creating that intention.
It really did set a mood for, for that, but it really, yeah, it took a lot of effort to like meld everybody together. My birth team was, a doula friend of mine who had just become a birth doula, who is a Peruvian, descent person, first generation in the U. S. and I wanted the, to make sure that they had an experience. Of going to a home birth because going to home birth births is, not common, especially when you’re working in your own communities. so I wanted to make sure that they had that experience and could be present. And I also was just a friend of theirs for many years and I trusted them, we’re also spiritual family and we’ve done sweats together.
So there’s like an understanding of how our ancestral connection, leads us into the work that we do and how, transformative it is on a spiritual level. I also had just a tight friend of mine who is not a birth worker, who has been my roommate and a friend for like over a decade. And she’s only learned about birth through me teaching her about birth and our bodies and all this stuff.
And, I just wanted her to be a part of that process. To be able to see a birth as a non birth worker, it’s really powerful. It changes the way we, interact with pregnant people, people that have recently birthed. It’s like I said, it’s transformative. And then another really tight friend of mine who is, who is white, but also very respectful, very much like understanding the spiritual aspect and the ancestral aspect of all of this.
And it’s very good at just, doing to serve, filling in the gaps and being a very intuitive. so all these people are part of my birth. And even the folks that I had invited that couldn’t be there, they were there, in their minds, so that was really, really neat. So, yeah, it was, it became just like a community event in a way.
[00:28:37] Kiona: I truly, truly love that and I can actually relate with the, the immense intention of creating that space for yourself. I can totally, totally, totally relate to that. And I think that it’s super awesome that both Faisa Farole and Tara Mudaliar said that they would be there, present, drive two and a half hours away for you.
That is true intention, that is true community, and that’s true support. not many… I will, you might hear me say this a lot in this episode, not many people get that opportunity, get that kind of support to have a provider that cares enough about their birth outcome to go, what some people would say is out of their way to support one person, one person, because they know that that one person is going to have this one birth experience that is so.
Life changing and transformative to them and their experience that they’re walking that line between life and death and walking that line of birthing themselves as a parent, as well as birthing a child. Having a provider that sees that as an actual ceremonial event versus someone that looks at it as another number in a bed to change out is phenomenally important.
So, I think that it’s super awesome. That you had providers that supported you in that decision and made your birth possible the way that you had envisioned it to be.
[00:30:18] Tabitha: Yeah, I have so much respect and love for, for both of them. And yeah, I just, it really, I can’t really thank them enough for what they gave to me and the sacrifices that they made for that. Cause they, they were there. They had to spend the night for a couple night,yeah, maybe a day and a half they had to be there.
[00:30:42] Kiona: So let’s talk about your actual birth. I think that this is a good segue. Let’s talk about the moment you realized you were in labor, what steps you took, who you had to call, all those good juicy details.
[00:30:56] Tabitha: Yeah. So, the last month and a half, I think of my pregnancy, I was actually in Tacoma because I was, getting closer to my date and I needed so much more help. And I was honestly really nervous about like slipping in the shower and like hitting my head on something and there’d be nobody there to like, you know, help me.
SO, um, you know, you feel very vulnerable and I’m not, I’ve never had that type of experience of feeling physically vulnerable. I’ve always felt like I could like kick some ass and take care of myself. But in pregnancy, it was just so weird to be like, I need help. because my partner at the time worked in Tacoma during the week.
So I really only saw him and his kids on the weekends. So yeah, I was in Tacoma and I was hanging out with, uh, my partner at the time’s youngest girl. She was like eight at the time and we’re just chatting, chatting, and I feel like a little twinge in my side. I’m like, Ooh. And it was just quick.
And she like looked at me and was like, are you having a baby? And I was like, no, no, no. It’s not time, granted I was like over, over 41 weeks, I was like 3 days away from being 42 weeks? I was like no no no, and then it like twinged again, and I was like, huh. Maybe and so I was like, I don’t know. Maybe we should go to the land.
Let’s just go to the land It was like a Friday. So we were you know, it was fine. It was a weekend. So we all went to land and Just like kind of hung out. Told midwives that we were going there because we think maybe we’ll let them know tomorrow what’s going on a little bit more clearly. called, the birth team to let them know, what was happening and to just kind of be on standby or if they wanted to come through if they were able to. The next day, not much is really, like, happening, I’m, like, trying to walk around and stuff, I’m not, like, having any contractions that I’m, like, feeling. and so then finally my midwives come, and they, examine me, and they’re like, Well, yeah, you’re… You’re, you’re dilating. You’re more than four centimeters and it may have been six.
I don’t even remember that part, but they checked and they’re like, yeah, you’re actually having contractions. I’m like, I don’t really feel, I don’t feel them. I didn’t feel them. it wasn’t like consistent though. So they got me like. using the breast pump to try to like bring on stronger contractions. I did that for like over an hour. Still nothing. And they’re like, well let’s give it some more time. Midwives are hanging out. They like end up going to the beach because really not a lot is happening. They go to the beach, which is like 40 minutes away and go enjoy themselves. I’m like, yeah, they’ll come back. We’ll see what’s going on. And my birth team is there at that time as well. And we end up having this cute, little just ceremony of like rubbing, castor oil all over my abdomen, stomach, and just doing it under this really beautiful giant spruce tree. It’s like a huge, it’s a very old tree.
It’s beautiful. And we were just doing our thing and the midwives come back during this and they’re like, we brought back, we found this bird at the beach and it was like injured. And we’re like, Oh my gosh, this, and they had it in this box and they brought it to this like. Where we’re having this little ceremony and it’s a bird.
It’s a black bird. It’s not a raven. It’s not a crow I’ve never seen this type of bird at the at the ocean. Ever before and I’m familiar with some birds and when I’m like, this is odd Like this is not a bird I’ve ever seen at the coastlines here ever and the bird actually ends up Passing away while we’re continuing to do this like ceremony and we’re just like, huh That’s interesting.
My friend’s like, “you know, sometimes for birth to come into the world, something must leave”. and I was like, man, that’s. wild, like this, this bird was alive when it came here, but then it passed away while we were finishing up the ceremony. And that was no intention. We just had it near us. So we’re just kind of reflecting on these kind of odd things that are happening.
So then, later on, we’re like, okay, things aren’t like, kicking up, I’m like, going on walks, up a steep hill, I’m like, I’m moving, I’m doing stuff, I’m eating, I’m drinking water, I’m like, staying chill, listening to music, still not much that I’m feeling? And then finally, they’re like, okay, we’ll make you a castor oil, smoothie thing, I’m like, oh, man, okay, sure. And, yeah, we. We, I drink the thing, me and my partner work on some nipple stimulation, and then kind of all of a sudden, I have a contraction that I can, like, feel, and it’s, full on, there was no, like, gentle usher into labor, I was, like, in full on active labor, all of a sudden, it was wild, so, Now I’m just, I’m in like a, in a, like a tiny house cabin.
That’s like my own, it’s like my personal space and my team is there. And, I’m laboring in there. I’m on a birth ball. And it was interesting cause, all the ways that people were trying to support me, I rejected them.
I didn’t want to be touched. I, the only thing I needed was for people to hold my hands.
That is literally the only thing that I physically needed from the people that I had there at my labor. Like they tried to rub my shoulders. I was like, no, don’t do that. They tried to like, play with my hair. I was like, no, don’t do that. Like, I just didn’t want any of it, but I felt like holding their hands was helping to ground me.
And I literally just labored with my eyes closed 95 percent of the time. I really. Wanted to just get inside of myself and, be able to have that focus internally in my mind to be able to, to birth and to allow my baby to descend, which my baby had been descending and I had been having contractions. I just didn’t feel any of it.
Until after the castor oil and nipple stimulation, I changed settings, , so I could labor in a big bathtub, which is in the main house. So I had to like, walk, down some steps and stuff with help. But at that time I was like, I think I had. I know a lot of people don’t talk about this part, but I felt like I needed to poop.
And so the castor oil also plays a part in that, but it’s also a good sign.
And so, um, I hada little restroom out there by my My little tiny house. And so I tried using it and I, I, at that point, it’s hard to know what’s coming outta your body. So it’s like, did I poop? I don’t know. I think so and then we decided to go to, to the tub. ‘ cause I did essentially want, I wanted a water birth. that’s what I was aiming for. We wa we’re walking down there and all of a sudden I feel so nauseous, I cannot even stand it. And I just puke up the little sandwich that I ate before I drank the castor oil. And I was just like heaving and heaving and then it was done and like people are helping me get to The bathtub.
And then I get in the tub and I’m like, Oh my gosh, this is so nice. it’s very difficult to remember what things look like because I had my eyes closed most of the time, but I do remember what everything felt like. And, being in the tub really, it felt great as a, just a place to focus. I, I really believe that mindfulness and meditation techniques can really help create that, that inner focus that helps you to, well, let go and to breathe, but also to be your own, motivation your own good words of affirmation and encouragement, you need that within yourself and so those techniques really helped me a lot.
And those are just things that I’ve worked on, throughout a great part of my adult life. There was a point in the birthing, tub where I started to feel cold. And when I reflect on it now, I’m like, Oh yeah, that’s I was like shaking. I’m like, Oh, I was in transition. That’s why I threw up. That’s why even in a nice hot tub, I was feeling like shivering and cold. And so they brought some hot water to pour in my partner at the time. like boiled a big pot of water and then he just dumped it in there and I don’t know why nobody stopped him or helped him or whatever. But it made the water very hot quick and I like pretty much jumped out of that water and I was like, oh no. And, ended up, going back in the tub pretty shortly after.
And I was like, Oh, it feels nice actually. but then my midwives checked on me and my, my blood pressure was too high, probably because of the water. And they were like, we need to get you out. I could hear the urgency in their voices, the concern, I heard all the concern, throughout, I didn’t see people’s faces at this point, but, and I was like, okay, we get out, and I was like, I know about blood pressure, I can, I can bring my own blood pressure down through breathing techniques, I can breathe, and I can focus, and I can calm myself. so I just stayed calm. We moved into a bedroom in the main house and, I just breathed, because being a birth worker, you know, high blood pressure and labor is not a good thing. So I was like, I can bring this down. I’m going to birth here. I’m not going to be transferred. And I did that. I brought my blood pressure down pretty quickly.
It was awesome. My midwives were happy and we all just stayed in the house. I wanted to not birth on my back, um, and so I did try some hands and knees when it was time, finally time to push. And, I think my midwives were concerned I was bleeding quite a bit, and so they encouraged me to To actually lay on my back.
I think it was sort of on my side, ish. I had all my people around me. I was holding people’s hands for my support, for my grounding. I’m doing my pushing. My pushing is focused. It’s, it’s good. I, I’m not making a lot of like sounds more. I think grunting in between and during pushing. And then, I hear another concerned voice from my midwives of like, the baby needs to come out soon, like very soon. I’m like, okay, I’m going to push even when I’m not contracting.
And I don’t think that’s probably the best, advice my brain could have given me at the time, but it’s what I had.
It’s not something I asked anybody. It’s not, I was just like, okay, I need to get my baby out of my body to make sure my… Midwives are not concerned, and I’m not getting transferred to, um, a hospital, the Grays Harbor Hospital nearby, which does not have the reputation I would want to transfer to. so I was like, okay, I’m gonna just push, I’m gonna push, I’m gonna push, and I’m pushing, I’m pushing, and then all of a sudden, my midwife says, Okay, reach down and grab for your baby.
And I’m like, what? I was so focused on pushing and just like, I need to push and I need to birth my baby that I kind of forgot that like, oh yeah, the next thing is the baby comes out. I was surprised, I was like, oh okay, and I’m just like reach down below and they help me and I push and my baby comes out and I’m just like, honestly, I was just in shock that that had just happened.
My labor was, seven hours. It was the first time I’ve Given birth from that super point of like active Contraction strong contraction active labor to the birth of my baby was just seven hours And so yeah Skin to skin. I was just kind of shocked at how like I had a whole human Now on top of me that I grew and was so like he was Just so fragile and innocent and he was, but also so knowing, his eyes were open and he was looking around.
I opted for no goo in the eyes. I got tested and everything so that my midwives wouldn’t be concerned I had gonorrhea or something. I’m like, no, I don’t, I don’t want that, I want my baby to be able to see when he’s born. And he, he looked around. at everything that he could move his eyes to.
He was very much like observing, and to this day is a very observant child, very. so yeah, it, and, and that was, that was the birth, and And the people that I like hold dear were there to witness that. And sometimes I forget that they were there. The people. But, it’s definitely something special that we thought to share.
I got a lot out of my birthing ceremony. I wish I would have been more intentional postpartum. I did, have a concern about my baby. My midwives checked, three hours after I birthed my baby. They checked him out. and his heart rate was kind of low, which is concerning to any midwife.
and… So we opted to, transfer to, the hospital nearby through an ambulance, but we were not, that was not the end destination. My midwives called to Children’s in Seattle, Children’s Hospital in Seattle to get airlift out, to come get him and bring him to Seattle. for more specialized care. So, unfortunately we didn’t get to hang out very long at the land, postpartum and it was filled with a lot of like concern.
it, it was at that point, It was hard to think critically, about what I could have done differently, to maybe help facilitate a better rhythm for my child’s heart beat. I really believe in kangaroo care. And having that skin to skin, it helps to regulate their nervous system, and their heart rate.
So, just things that I knew that I couldn’t implement, because you can’t doula yourself, you really just can’t. so the things that I look back on that, I understand as limiting when it comes to midwives, they have liability, they have insurance. There are things that they do. They navigate in a way to, minimize their own liability.
but in my own, how I feel about birth is it’s, insurance and all that liability really constrains, the amount of like technique and understanding we have about Postpartum bodies and newborns, so yeah, I wish that could have been different. I really do. I wish I could have said I want to put my baby on my body skin to skin and see how that goes for the next two hours And then you check my baby out again Because when all said and done he got airlifted, I always talk about that’s like his first big trip was to Seattle in a helicopter, and I couldn’t be with him because it so I had to drive so you know, it create created a very not a very harmonious immediate postpartum period, but all said and done.
He was fine. he just has a runner’s heart rate just like me and his dad. he’s got a very healthy heart. Just Yeah, it’s just a lower heart rate that he can maintain. And that’s part of just who we are as people, the variance of people. So yeah,
[00:48:35] Kiona: yeah,
oh, so there’s so much to unpack there. I want to go back a little bit and then we will come back to this point because I have a question about What you had just mentioned but I I think that one, it’s super awesome that your providers got to come be with you, but also just like, go to the beach.
And I wonder how that could have potentially impacted your labor, not in a negative way, but how them going to the beach and bringing back that bird and kind of like. Bringing a separate spiritual presence in the space and for your friend to say and actually kind of just remind everybody that sometimes life has to go in order for life to come.
and I, I’m a strong believer in that as well. I truly, truly do believe that every single time someone is born, someone has passed. and I wish the numbers represented that, but I don’t think that that’s true, but it could also be a spiritual passing, like when people go into a coma or when people, go into dementia and they kind of lose their sense of self.
So. I feel like passing can happen in different layers, different levels, but that’s a whole, whole other thing. but I also liked your mention of breast pump augmentation of labor, like nipple stimulation. I think those are very commonly used among, out of hospital birthing providers because that’s one way to, Quote, unquote, naturally, augment labor.
And the reason why I put quotes around that is because, there’s so many other things like nipple stimulation is part of your body and it releases that oxytocin and that is what is intended to help your labor progress. So I think that that’s awesome that you utilize that. And The other thing that I was going to mention is, you had mentioned the nearest hospital.
How far of a drive was that, if you did have to transfer? I was just curious.
[00:50:46] Tabitha: 35 minutes and we did have to go there via an ambulance, first. From the ambulance rides throughout staying at that hospital. It was exactly, it was the, the fear of what I. expected happened. I mean, I, I was like postpartum and, and saying, Hey, the Ivy spot on my baby’s arm is bleeding for them to fix that.
And I’m literally, I’m like, at my freshly born baby, I just pushed a baby out and I’m telling these doctors, you’re not even paying attention.
[00:51:21] Kiona: Mm. Already advocating, having to go in with guards up, already.
[00:51:26] Tabitha: Yeah.
[00:51:27] Kiona: Oh. Yeah.
[00:51:29] Tabitha: not to mention. The ambulance, they’re not wholly versed in IVs for newborns. So there’s a couple options for IVs for newborns. Sometimes it’s in like the head, uh, but they opted to drill a hole in my baby’s leg for an IV port that didn’t even get used.
And it was disturbing to hear a drill on your newborn child and feel utterly helpless.
It was… I’m still so mad about that, that that’s an option, when my baby wasn’t even
[00:52:10] Kiona: mm
[00:52:12] Tabitha: Like, it was just a heart issue. And I just… And they didn’t even use the port. I was… He still has the scar, and I just… yeah, it was just very disturbing.
[00:52:23] Kiona: Yeah, that’s, that is a very challenging thing to even imagine. you saying that just, hurts my heart so bad. but as a birth worker, as a student midwife, I did have to take neonatal resuscitation, and that is one thing that they do train on.
It is not something that I have ever I’ve never seen or heard of an out of hospital midwife utilizing, but, with it being a very medicalized training, where I received my training at least, they talk about the tools that are necessary, so it’s very challenging, to hear and to… Imagine for you. So I, I feel for you. My heart hurts for you. And, the, the reason why my heart hurts even more is the fact that it wasn’t even utilized. Like the port wasn’t used, that, that’s really hard. in situations like this, of course, my first instinct is to give people the benefit of the doubt that they’re trying to do their best to support people in situations, especially as emergency responders, because you don’t have time to get all of the background.
You don’t have time unfortunately, to listen to the people as in depth as you should when you’re going to support them because things are in an emergent state. And so you kind of fall back to your training and, sometimes that training just isn’t exactly what is needed at that time.
So that’s really hard.
[00:53:53] Tabitha: Yeah.
[00:53:54] Kiona: And the question that I actually had was, you had mentioned that only he was allowed to go into the airlift to Seattle Children’s and you had to drive. I’m so curious as to how that impacted your postpartum relationship with your son. did you feel like you struggled to connect with him? Did you struggle if you decided to breastfeed or chestfeed?
Like, how, how did that impact your, your postpartum?
[00:54:22] Tabitha: Yeah. Those, uh, airlift helicopters, it’s like a hospital and a helicopter and only the, the airlift doctors and the patient are allowed in the helicopter because there’s so little space. So, we had to drive to Seattle Children’s, from Grays Harbor Hospital. And it was heartbreaking to hear that I couldn’t be with my child.
I had to just trust people. And I knew that the procedures that, and the testing that they were doing at the hospital that we had been first admitted to weren’t even going to be utilized in the next hospital. And so I felt like all this unnecessary stuff. Because they need to check off their protocol box was done to my kid and then needed to be done again and I just was really upset by that and At the time my mind just went into like, okay This is emergency mode and I know what to do.
I grew up with a sister that was epileptic and Had to be hospitalized multiple times a year. So I understand how to compartmentalize in an emergency situation. It’s what I learned to do as a child with my sister and for the rest of her life. So I just got in that mode of like, okay, my midwives are gonna drive.
my partner is going to drive too. And I rode with my midwives because they were going to get us to the hospital straight away. And my partner was going to drop off the kids. and then meet us there. So we just drove and we just kind of, processed like the ambulance ride because one of my midwives was with me during the ambulance ride.
So they bared witness to what happened. And they also felt very troubled by that. and just also how we were treated in that hospital that we went to. because Grays Harbor is a very. It’s a very open carry type of mentality. there’s a lot of like proud boys and not like white nationalist groups in Aberdeen area.
there’s a vibe there. It’s very conservative. So like we rolled up into the hospital and we’re like, trying to just get out of there as fast as we could. So, we were just processing through that whole ride and, not being with Mike. I think what hurt the most was they wouldn’t let me breastfeed until they could have sourced out the trachea and the esophagus were not fused. Which they had no basis for but I guess they just checked that. So they wouldn’t allow me to feed so he was on sugar Solution IV and it was like almost a day that I couldn’t feed him And that was actually the part that was the hardest I had to
I hadn’t taken as much lactation training at that point. So I didn’t my lactation education was very limited
and nobody Help me at Children’s Hospital right away. I, a lactation consultant, I wasn’t offered to see one right away. They just gave me a pump and luckily enough we were able to get one of the The family rooms that they have very few of at Children’s Hospital so we could stay there and not have to leave But nobody told me about hand expressing colostrum they just gave me a pump and said you should use this like every two or three hours and Some of the advice that I got from my midwives was if you’re gonna be at the hospital, Might as well try to get some rest since your baby’s hooked up to like an IV and all that and on one end I agree with that, and on the other end, I don’t agree with that because that means my child was alone, uh, without us, more than I would have liked, and, that’s another thing that I really regret, so it, it became very, hard on the heart to, try to rest, try to start healing in a hospital that doesn’t even have pads for adults.
They had to, like, Get those little air vacuum delivery things from another hospital of grown up diapers and they were like plastic diapers. They weren’t like postpartum underwear or anything. They were plastic diapers for adults. And that’s all they could offer me and just, yeah, just. Trying to process it all at once, and then speaking with the specialist, doing the EKGs, doing all this stuff to my baby, who’s just so new, and we’re not knowing what’s happening, and I’m concerned that, my child has epilepsy, because it’s in the family, you know, I’m just, a lot of, of my own traumas, being in the hospital as a kid, were brought up in this experience, but also all of that time being in hospitals taught me how to navigate in them, too. And my birth work training helped me to also navigate talking to doctors. And… The staff and the doctors at Children’s Hospital are excellent, at least the experience that I had was excellent. But I also understand quite a bit of jargon, so I do understand, my privilege in that. The effects of, it’s not like I couldn’t connect with my baby. I was lucky that it didn’t have a lasting impact in my early postpartum or my postpartum period. I could connect with my child, I did feel very connected, I still feel very connected to my kiddo. I do sometimes wonder if the impact was more on him than on me because to this day he still becomes very concerned. if he can’t see me or hear me or if he’s not going to be around me, he gets very, emotional and concerned in where I’m going to be. So I just can’t help but think is this like the impact of that initial not being around each other so much for that first like day and a half because these types of impacts do have effects on children and babies. so, I do have a little, I just wonder, would it have been different if I would have stayed by his side 24 hours a day, even though you can’t sleep in the NICU. yeah, you just kind of go over how it could have been different, but, It happened the way it happened, and I’m grateful that he is healthy, and we have a really good relationship, even when he feels, concerned about where I’m going to be,
or where I’m at, or…
[01:01:53] Kiona: Yeah… Oh, well, I’m happy to hear that you guys have a strong relationship and that he is connected to you and I 100 percent agree with you with wondering whether or not he has that impact like on his end because every single decision we make throughout our life, this is kind of really generic, but like every single decision and choice we make impacts us in some way.
And so. For him to go through that within the first 24 hours, 48 hours of him being born, that’s his, his welcome into this world and into being an air breather and, you know, actually, like, really, really figuring things out with his body. And so those traumas that he experienced as, a tiny human, a fresh human, I do think kind of stick with him, and it could even be like the phrase I’m about to say is may sound extreme, but I feel like whatever we experience as newborns literally sticks with us in our bones and like in deep into our souls, even if we don’t consciously remember them. And, that’s why I think where you birth your baby really makes a difference.
And how you birth, because you were mentioning during your, birth story that you don’t remember what it necessarily looked like around you, but you remember what it felt like. And I feel like that goes hand in hand with you remember how you were cared for and how you were heard and valued throughout your labor experience and your birth experience.
Because that is what sticks with you. Because that’s the part that is valued most. You know what I mean? and that could be that you can also get that experience in a hospital setting.
You can also get that experience as a free birther if you really chose. So it has a lot to do with who you choose to be in your space and what job they have because every person that’s in your space, I believe, does have a job and or should have a job so that they’re contributing in some way, whether that’s just being the water giver or the massager or the hand holder, all of that, having a, a job, being the person to tap the other person out from handholding so they can get a break, it all, they all play a role.
So, Yeah, and I guess I’m curious, with all of this happening in the first 48 hours, did you experience any, postpartum anxiety or depression that stuck with you throughout your postpartum period? Because I hear that you were having some, anxiety moments throughout this time of like having those past hospital experiences coming up and having those concerns.
so yeah, I’m curious if anything stuck with you
[01:04:42] Tabitha: yeah. I think, I started to experience, postpartum depression at the six month mark, when my babies started, eating foods. I breastfed exclusively. I’m proud to say even though we had a rough start, we had a really great journey with hurdles, but, easier hurdles than some. I feel like there are typical hurdles in the breastfeeding, chest feeding journey.
[01:05:08] Kiona: So when the postpartum depression came up for you around the six month time, how did you become aware of the fact that you were experiencing some postpartum depression?
[01:05:16] Tabitha: Um, it, it came out more as anxiety for me. and also the pandemic happened when I was seven months postpartum. So I had already been kind of living a very. Quarantined existence for like the previous year, with not a lot of contact with people and living pretty far out in the sticks. so I kind of felt like I was already living the COVID life, the quarantine lifestyle, but then all that did happen. the outbreak happened. I was already experiencing postpartum mood. anxiety and my anxiety just developed. I was really in a lot of denial for a while. I’ve always suffered from depression. I do not use a prescription medications because I don’t think I’m quite to that point. I can still do my daily stuff.
I can function, I can work. but it really was starting to affect. how I wanted to parent and that’s when I really started to pay attention to what it was I was feeling. Um, my sister passed away during the pandemic, not from COVID, from complications from her epilepsy. And that happened a little bit. After my child turned a year old.
so really just thinking about my own sister’s passing and how fragile life is and just examining my life and my anxiety and my unhappiness, and it just really trying to understand that I just want to be happy and is my relationship serving me in that journey?
And I felt like I had tried everything I could in that relationship, but in order for me to start moving towards a life that I wanted, I needed to leave that relationship. And so I, I broke up with my child’s father and six months later moved, away from his land. And I moved in with my mom, in the same state about an hour away. Thankfully I had that support. I lived with my mom for two years really processing my relationship in the ways that, um, I was being gaslit and I was being, manipulated in a way and that abuse doesn’t look like physical outcome. All the time. And it’s really difficult to, acknowledge abuse in its other more insidious forms of control and manipulation and emotional withholding, things like that.
And I understood that this person wasn’t going to work towards making our relationship better, so I needed to leave that, and I did. this person is a good father, just not a good partner. My child’s four years old, and I’m still processing all of this, and like, what I want, and how do I Prioritize my happiness and the things that help me to be happy.
So, yeah, making those steps, doing a lot more mindfulness and meditation. I started using the Mindful Mama’s app, which I really… It’s very gendered, but it’s very focused on parenting, and the hardships and the realities of parenting, and trying to like, help us use tools to, manage our mental health, in ways that are accessible, even if we need more than just meditating, so I’ve definitely, it’s still a journey and.
I’ve gotten a lot better at self regulating and just learning the things that we didn’t learn as kids from our parents, because our parents weren’t given those tools either. And just really trying to unlearn the parenting that I was exposed to and keeping the good parts and gathering more tools so I can be the parent that I want to be.
[01:09:40] Kiona: hmm. Mm hmm. I hear you in all of that. Preventing the generational traumas from being passed down is a very, very, very, very, very challenging thing to do as a parent, because it is so ingrained in who we are as a person that we don’t realize that we are necessarily passing them on until we have an eyeopening experience of like, Oh I remember this feeling and I can imagine what my child is feeling right now. And when those eyeopening experiences happen, that’s when you’re like, okay, I have to let my child know or remind my child that I am also human and we are working on this together. We are having conversations. We are, open to feedback from our children, because they are human in themselves.
Yes, they are young ones, but young ones are wise. And they are sponges. And they give off what they receive, so the way that they act is a huge, huge mirror of how they are treated. parenting is a whole other thing. so yeah,
[01:10:54] Tabitha: of, all of, all of these things are so connected. I mean, I’ve talked about so many different things, but I, I do find it all. It all does connect
because our lives are complicated and complex
[01:11:06] Kiona: Mm
[01:11:06] Tabitha: complex and it ripples out, all these things that happen in our lives ripple out.
[01:11:13] Kiona: Yeah. It really does. It really does. I’m super honored and happy that you shared your experience with me and all of the listeners of this podcast. Let’s go ahead and start. Closing off this interview with just a few final questions. the first question that I have is what is one piece of advice that you would give to all pregnant people as they prepare for labor birth and postpartum?
[01:11:36] Tabitha: I would say learn as much as you can about a pregnant body and how it works and then start to learn how to have faith in your body, whatever that looks like, I think that Is really helpful to know that your body knows so much and we just need to just believe it.
[01:11:59] Kiona: Yeah, I love that. And I think it’s 100 percent true. Being the experts in our own bodies is really important, especially when we are growing and birthing a human. My next question is, what is one resource that we can share with our listeners on your behalf? Like the first thing that comes to mind, maybe something you utilize throughout your pregnancy journey or something that you have become aware of in your postpartum time.
[01:12:28] Tabitha: I think, just being able to get support through the birthing experience, no matter what happens, how that looks. It’s so important to have support, to have a doula, to have postpartum support is… incredibly invaluable to your healing in the short term and also, long term as a parent. You Can reach out to lots of different orgs. Open arms is such a great resource for folks that may not be able to afford, that type of support, but they offer birth doula, postpartum doulas and lactation support that is free, for folks that qualify. But also, very soon is coming the Medicaid reimbursement for doulas for all, for the state of Washington, and it’s been long fought for, and hopefully that will expand the ability of having, culturally congruent care through your doulas.
Just reach out, get support, don’t be afraid to ask for help.
[01:13:37] Kiona: Yes, yes, yes. I love everything that you just said. That’s such a great answer, and I feel like it’s a very well rounded answer. There’s aspects from that answer that you can take individually, and there’s also aspects that talk about or engulf the community aspect of postpartum. Now my final question to you is, If you could describe your pregnancy, labor, and birth with just one word, what would it be?
[01:14:02] Tabitha: I would say autonomy.
[01:14:06] Kiona: I like that. Dive a little bit deeper into that. Why, why that word?
[01:14:11] Tabitha: So autonomy is just, it’s actually very simple. It’s, you get to decide about something, whether it be your body, an autonomous governance, autonomous structures, so non hierarchical structures. I really, these are part of my, beliefs. As like with a social justice lens, autonomy is so important, not only as individuals, but for community to have that say in, for example, in the birthing world, in our bodies and in how we want to birth and how we want our experience to feel and what we deserve in care, like our autonomy, our ability to make decisions about our own bodies or our communities is so important. It is empowering. So autonomy is very important in my own personal philosophies and how I navigate the world.
[01:15:12] Kiona: I love it. I love it so much. Love, love, love. Well, Tabitha, thank you so much for sharing your story with me. I was really honored to be a part of this journey with you and to be able to hear your perspective of what you value as a birth worker as well as an individual and a parent. so thank you. Thank you so much.
[01:15:31] Tabitha: Thank you too, for your time and everything. Thanks for having this podcast.
[01:15:36] Kiona: Yeah, of course, of course.
[01:15:47] Kiona: Interviewing Tabitha for this episode was a true reminder that birth can be ceremonial. And it also reminded me of the fact that each birth is truly unique and who you have around you can truly impact how you feel during your labor. If you put true intention behind the people that are in your birth space, it can allow you to be as comfortable as possible and feel as supported as possible, regardless of where you choose to have your baby.
Tabitha, thank you so much for sharing your story and for being vulnerable with us about your birth experience, as well as your postpartum time. Keep up the great work in supporting your local community.
For next week’s episode, I had the opportunity to interview Taylor Nosakhere. Taylor talks about what it’s like to be on the sidelines as a birth doula, as well as supporting people through their pregnancy, labor and birth through her virtual coaching business.
She is also the host of a podcast called Driver’s Seat Moms podcast. So tune in next week. Cause there’s a lot of good information in this episode and you’re not going to want to miss it.
As for you listening right now, don’t forget to leave a review. I would love to hear how the podcast is impacting you. And if you’re not already, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @birthasweknowitpodcast. All right, bye. For now.
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