Happy Homebirth

• Ep 300: 🔥 Refinement Through Fire: Rachael Nalley’s Story of Faith and Redemption

  What happens when God uses birth — and even loss — to refine your faith in ways you never imagined? Welcome to Episode 300 of the Happy Homebirth.  Wow, 300 episodes of real, raw homebirth stories, and you’re about to meet your match with this week’s guest. This week, we’re speaking to Rachael Nalley, a home birth doula, micro-baker, and mother of four living in Travelers Rest, South Carolina. Rachael’s story is one of beauty, resilience, and radical trust. From her first birth in a hospital, to the redemptive peace of her home birth years later, her journey reveals the Lord’s hand through every high and low.  In this conversation, Rachael shares not only her powerful home birth story, but the incredible season of testing and provision that surrounded it — including how her family faced financial hardship, miraculous provision, and even the total loss of their home… only to witness God’s faithfulness unfold again and again.  I cannot warn you enough… please grab a tissue in the best way.   Rachael’s testimony is raw, redemptive, and overflowing with grace — a reminder that even in our most broken moments, God is near, and His plans are good.   Episode Roundup:   First, I love how Rachael’s faith journey and birth journey mirror one another — both required surrender, both demanded trust, and both revealed God’s sustaining grace. Through every contraction, every hardship, every loss, He was preparing her for deeper intimacy with Him. Next, I’m struck by the theme of refinement through fire. When Rachael’s family lost everything — their finances, their stability, even their home — God met them with unmistakable provision and peace. From a hundred-dollar miracle to an unexpected home that met their every prayer, the Lord showed Himself as Provider in the most tangible ways. And finally, I’m moved by Rachael’s courage to share the fullness of her story. She reminds us that our worth is not in our circumstances or our success, but in Christ alone. When everything else is stripped away, He remains — faithful, kind, and near to the brokenhearted. Friends, Rachael’s story is a testimony to what happens when we choose to trust God moment by moment, even when we can’t see the way forward.   Links:   Redeem ™ |  https://hubs.ly/Q03K0Dr90 “Click here to learn more about REDEEM HealthShare Ministry”   Restorative Roots  | restorativeroots.com (use code HAPPYHOMEBIRTH for $20 off your first order)

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• Ep 299: The Birth That Rewrote Her Story: Alicia’s VBAC at Home

  What do you do when an OB refuses to support your VBAC, and then no other local OBs will take you on as a patient because they don’t accept transfers from other OBs?  Where do you go? This week we’re speaking to Alicia Downey, a military spouse who has lived in 4 states over the last 5 years, is a mother to two wonderful daughters, and a registered nurse. Alicia is currently staying at home with her babies. She is a c-section mom, and a home birth mom, and she is passionate about sharing her birth story and the empowerment that came with choosing to VBAC at home, as we will get to hear today.   Episode Roundup:   I know that some of the mothers listening to this podcast plan to give birth in the hospital.  For any number of reasons, that may feel like the best and safest place for you to give birth.  I don’t want stories of what happens in the hospital to scare you as you ready yourself for birth, but I do hope that it serves to prepare you for what you need to do to advocate for yourself.  The unfortunate reality is that labor in the hospital does require a level of toughness and willingness to fight for your rights and desires that is not always present at home, though of course it can be.  Being prepared for this and understanding how to navigate the system is critical. Next, can we just take a moment to talk about how crazy it was that Alicia’s OB not only refused to support her in a VBAC, but essentially threatened her with zero care unless she submitted to the OB’s wishes?  You won’t be able to receive care anywhere else… and…. I won’t schedule another appointment with you unless you agree to have a c section now.  Absolutely wild.  Thank goodness this pushed Alicia right into the arms of a homebirth midwife.   Another little point– prodromal labor stinks.  It really can be such a mind game, but I do want you all to remember that it does have a purpose.  Whether it’s actually causing dilation like it did for Alicia, or it’s helping your baby reposition, prodromal labor is doing SOMETHING.  I think it can be so helpful to keep that in mind when you’re in the throes of it! And lastly, birth can be healing.  It doesn’t have to be the thing that heals you from previous traumas.  Let’s be clear about that.  I think that nervous system-based therapy like emotional freedom technique, havening, and ART or sldkfjsldk therapy are wildly helpful for birth trauma healing, specifically.  But– there is something so healing about having a new experience.  If you’ve had a traumatic birth before and you want more babies, know that your next birth can be different.  It can be beautiful, and it can be deeply healing.     Links:   Redeem ™ |  https://hubs.ly/Q03K0Dr90 “Click here to learn more about REDEEM HealthShare Ministry”   Restorative Roots  | restorativeroots.com (use code HAPPYHOMEBIRTH for $20 off your first order)

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• Ep 298: Entering Motherhood with Homebirth and Storytelling

  Hey there Happy Homebirthers, I’ve got a fun little treat for you for this week.  Instead of our usual interview setup, I wanted to share a podcast that I was on recently.  My friend Sarah at Entering Motherhood recently had me on her show to discuss homebirth and storytelling–particularly healing through storytelling.  These are two of my favorite topics, so I wanted to give you a chance to listen in.  I’ll link Sarah’s podcast and instagram, so you can follow along for more of her incredible content.  Enjoy!   Links:   Redeem ™ |  https://hubs.ly/Q03K0Dr90 “Click here to learn more about REDEEM HealthShare Ministry”   Restorative Roots  | restorativeroots.com (use code HAPPYHOMEBIRTH for $20 off your first order)   Episode 260: Homebirth Stories, Safety & Self-Advocacy with Katelyn Fusco Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify   Listen on Podbean   Entering Motherhood Website      

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• Ep 297: From Darkness to Sunrise: A Freebirthed First Baby

  If you choose to have a freebirth, you must be some kind of fearless superwoman, right?     This week we’re speaking to Charissa Blair.  Charissa is wife to Adam and mother to her freebirthed first baby, Leviticus, with a second baby on the way.  In this week’s episode, we’ll hear why Charissa decided to give birth unassisted with her first baby, how the birth unfolded, and how it has impacted Charissa as a mother.     Episode Roundup:    I love the reasoning behind why Charissa decided to fully commit to freebirth.  It wasn’t because she felt she had something to prove to others, but because she sensed that it was right for her.  She felt the Lord calling her into a specific experience– and one that made sense based on her own preferences of being alone, and especially not being at the hospital.  She felt peace over the decision to give birth unassisted.   And that leads me to my second point– Just because she felt peace about giving birth unassisted, that did not mean that 1. She wouldn’t be prepared and willing to change her location if she needed to.  She even had a bag packed for such a scenario. It also did not mean that she would have an easy birth.  Charissa experienced a sense of coming to the bottom of herself… she felt a sense of darkness and struggle that she had no choice but to move through.  But what awaited her on the other side?  A beautiful sunrise with her brand new baby, born safely in her arms at home. Birth is a transformative process.  It is not always easy, in fact, it’s rarely free of big challenges.  That’s what MAKES it transformative.  Wherever you give birth, however you give birth, this experience is designed to change you if you’ll let it.   Links: Redeem ™ |  https://hubs.ly/Q03K0Dr90 “Click here to learn more about REDEEM HealthShare Ministry”   Restorative Roots  | restorativeroots.com (use code HAPPYHOMEBIRTH for $20 off your first order)  

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• Ep 296:When Birth Becomes Unpredictable: A Beautiful Homebirth with Complications

  Homebirth is great, but if you do happen to have an emergency at home, you’ll always wish you were at the hospital, right? This week we’re speaking with Kennedy Voetberg.  At 18, Kennedy became fascinated by the birthing process and underwent training to become a certified birth doula. Almost a decade later, Kennedy is married to her husband, Deter, and together they have 3 children with their fourth on the way. She is grateful to say that she birthed all three of their children at home, and today we will hear specifically how her first birth unfolded.   Epsiode Roundup:   First of all, I wish that every teenager felt the excitement to give birth that Kennedy did at 18.  What a blessing to have such a positive outlook well before she even met her husband and decided to begin having children.  So many girls grow up with minimal understanding of birth, and often the stories they have heard are not examples of the brilliance of how the female body was created to bring forth life.  I pray that we as mothers are able to provide to our children a new outlook on pregnancy and birth– that we can use our own stories, however they unfold, to encourage our girls and excite them about what they have to look forward to.  What a gift it is to be able to grow, birth, nourish and care for our babies.   Next, what a special connection.  Kennedy had become fascinated with physiological birth and knew that whenever she gave birth, she wanted it to be at home– and she married a man who himself was born at home.  That, my friends, is what they call a match made in heaven.   And finally, let’s tie this up with the beginning of our episode.  Homebirth sounds great unless there’s an emergency… But for Kennedy, homebirth was great, even with an emergent situation, and in fact, the way that her emergent situation was handled brought Kennedy even more confidence in the process of giving birth at home.  When her baby needed support breathing, Kennedy and her midwife worked together to begin stimulating her baby, and her midwife was able to provide a full resuscitation when it became necessary. Remember.  There are no guarantees in life– not in the hospital, not at home, but we can do our part by surrounding ourselves with a supportive team, by preparing our hearts and our bodies, and by leaning on The Lord and his goodness in all situations.    Links:   Redeem ™ |  https://hubs.ly/Q03K0Dr90 “Click here to learn more about REDEEM HealthShare Ministry”   Restorative Roots  | restorativeroots.com (use code HAPPYHOMEBIRTH for $20 off your first order)

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