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Birth Matters

The Birth Matters podcast is here to lessen your overwhelm on the journey into parenthood by equipping you on all things birth, fertility, pregnancy, postpartum & parenting. We'll interview parents about their experiences & birth pros on their expertise so that you can have an empowering, CONFIDENT journey into parenthood!

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138: A Vaginal Twin Birth, Record-breaking placenta

Jillian and her partner Danny share the story of the birth of their fraternal twin boys. Jill recounts a pregnancy full of unexpected twists — from the surprising discovery of twins, to a sprained ankle, a short cervix scare at 28 weeks, and modified bedrest — while drawing support from local twin families in Astoria and other community resources. She describes going into spontaneous labor at 37…

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137: Grace and Growth: A Dancer's Path to Motherhood

In this episode, professional dancer and voiceover artist Elisa Toro Franky shares her transformative birth journey with a depth and poetic beauty that makes this conversation truly special. Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, Elisa brings her unique perspective as a performer to the birthing experience, drawing profound connections between dance and labor. Elisa opens up about her conception…

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136: Surrender and Support: 2 Brooklyn Journalists’ Journey into Parenthood

In this episode, it's Karen Yi’s and Kristofer Rios's turn to share their story. As a public radio journalist and a producer of documentaries, they both crave education and information and it shows in their birth choices. They share all about challenges of infertility and advocating for better medical care, to the smart decision to hire a doula and the fast-paced reality of labor. They discuss the…

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135: Untangling Tongue Ties: Early Intervention & Empowering Parents with a Speech Language Pathologist

Our guest today is Rachael Rose, speech-language pathologist and owner of Creative Speech Therapy in Manhattan. We discuss the identification and treatment of tethered oral tissues (TOTs) in infants, more commonly known as tongue ties and lip ties, and their impact on feeding, speech, and overall development. Rachael explains the importance of early detection and intervention to prevent long-term…

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134: When Life Throws Curveballs: Unmedicated Birth after Surprise Layoff & Water Breaks on Babymoon

Anastasiya and Eric share their candid journey to parenthood, from conceiving after long-term birth control and facing a surprise gestational diabetes diagnosis, to navigating a sudden job loss just days before their daughter’s early arrival. Their story unfolds with an unexpected start to labor in the Poconos, a fast and empowering unmedicated birth in Manhattan, and the vital role of partner…

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133: Taylor Swift, Toilet Time, & the Truth About Labor: Jane’s & Sam’s Story

Jane & Sam, New Yorkers who met in San Francisco, share the story of their unmedicated, physiologic birth attended by midwives in a Manhattan hospital and supported by a doula. A year or so into being married, they decide to try to conceive with hopes of having a baby in the Year of the Dragon as Jane is Chinese-American. To their surprise, they get pregnant immediately after removing her IUD.…

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132: When Acupuncture Helps & Numbers Don't

Today’s birth story is shared by Aatreyi, a podcast listener who worked with a wonderful doula from East River Doula Collective. She shares her experience navigating pregnancy and birth in New York City (as is usually the case on this podcast). Aatreyi also talks about the pivotal role acupuncture played in starting her labor right before her due date, helping her avoid a medical induction. We…

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131: Joyous Homebirth, False Alarm Hospital Transfer for Placenta

In today's episode, we're joined by Priscilla and Micah, who share their deeply personal journey from miscarriage to a blissful home birth experience. They open up about the challenges of navigating their birthing location and provider and how they had their choice to plan a homebirth affirmed in several ways throughout pregnancy, including through their own research, doula, and birth class. They…

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130: Hypertension Induction w/o Pain Meds for 2nd Birth

Following Michelle’s first baby’s unmedicated hospital birth, which she shared in Episode 86, Michelle is surprised to be told at around 39 weeks that she needs to go straight to the hospital to be induced due to gestational hypertension. She advocates to go home to say goodbye to her son and grab her bag. Once she checks into the hospital for the induction, it goes much more efficiently than…

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129: White Coat Hypertension: Self-Advocacy for an Unmedicated Birth

In this episode, Liz and Kevin open up about their journey through pregnancy, sharing their firsthand experience with white coat hypertension and the challenges it brought. They discuss the pressures they faced around induction, their decision to delay an induction in hopes of an unmedicated birth, and the lessons they learned along the way. They also talk a bit about breastfeeding and how…

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