Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond

Reaping the rewards of deep preparation with Oni Blecher

Oni Blecher spent twelve years preparing for motherhood from the moment she witnessed one of her sisters giving birth.  This event led her into exploring the many facets of women's work, in particular birth, where she served as a doula, and maternity services advocate, facilitator of the Earthed to Birth pregnancy and postpartum circle, presenter for this podcast, commenced training as a midwife and practising as a cranio sacral therapist.This deep preparation is rare in these times where many women begin their preparation when they fall pregnant.This is a follow up interview with Oni after an initial interview when she was 35 weeks pregnant with her first child.  The first interview with Oni prior to her birth can be found here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/a-most-intentional-pregnancy-with-oni-blecher--68549829Now 18 weeks postpartum, Sally follows up with Oni who takes us through the last weeks of her pregnancy, her labour, birth and post partum period.  In particular we hear about:the impacts of having a big belly and contending with people's comments about ithow that shook her confidence in the last weekshow she regained her confidence prior to going into labourletting go of wanting the baby the come and just letting him choose the right timethanking her baby in early labour for the life changing experience of growing him and acknowledging their next journey together through the rite of passage of birthhow in spite of being at 41 weeks' gestation, she couldn't quite believe that she was really in labourlabour coping strategies (e.g., not saying 'No', insteading saying 'Yes' to contractions)birthing the baby in the waterbirthing the placentaher newborn's breast crawlpost partum supportclaiming the success of her birth as being in large part due to all her preparation, leaving no stone unturnedwhat she would do differently next timetips for expectant mumsEnjoy the many nuggets of golden wisdom Oni has to share for other mothers embarking on their journey.Also mentioned: Best Birth Finder for reviews of birth services www.bestbirthfinder.org.auLinks:www.oniblecher.comInstagram @earthedtobirthProduced and presented by Sally CusackGuest: Oni BlecherCopyright 2026 PBB Media and Sally CusackAll rights reserved.www.pbbmedia.org

At the threshold of birthing twins - again - with Leila Armour

Leila Armour is the Founder of Village for Mama, a project for bridging the gap in postpartum care by fostering a supportive and nourishing community for new mothers.In this episode Leila, so very generously shares her experiences of not one, but two twin pregnancies in the 40th week of her second twin pregnancy.  We hear how she navigated the complexities of navigating the maternity care system to get the level of care she wanted when birthing her first twins, while also managing to avoid the interventions she didn't want.  We explore the narratives surrounding twin pregnancies and how they're "usually" shorter and what Leila has found to be closer to the truth in her experience.  We also hear of her recommendations for postpartum with twins, importantly ensuring there's plenty of support for older children so a deep, deep dive into learning about the unique needs of two different newborns, who will want and need very different things.Leila also has a twin pregnancy and birth guide that she's very happy to share if you message her from her Instagram account.  The other resources she mentions that come with her twin pregnancy guide are a reference to the book the Holistic Guide to Twin Pregnancy, which helped inform her about the various types of twin pregnancy, as well as this episode of the Great Rebellion Podcast with Dr Stuart Fischbein: https://www.melaniethemidwife.com/podcasts/the-great-birth-rebellion/episodes/2148000895.Leila can be found at @villageformama on Instagram and www.villageformama.com.Image credit: @bennicreativeCopyright 2025 PBB Media and Sally CusackAll rights reserved.

The Herstory of Birth with Wendy Jackson

Wendy Jackson, mother and retired midwife with 30 years' experience in the UK and Australian maternity care systems, has a lot to say about the massive cultural, social and political issues that surround the world of birth. Main topics covered:the importance of honouring and protecting the postnatal period/4th trimester, also known as matrescence,women need to know the realities of the maternity system, as well as their incredible biology and how to protect its optimal functioining in the system,defensive, interventionist (and often unquestioned) practices that have evolved over the millenia, especially over the last 100 years.a resource she has developed for women navigating the perinatal period - her book "Mother Becoming".Other references mentioned:Prof. Archie Cochrane "the father of evidence based medicine" who jokingly awarded obstetrics with the "wooden spoon".Jenny Allenson "The Golden Month"Transforming Maternity Care InitiativeDr Andrew Bissets, featured in "Birth Time"Human Rights in ChildbirthDr Carol de Costa "The Women's Doc" first professor of obs/gyn in AustraliaRobbie Davis FloydCopyright 2025 PBB Media and Sally CusackAll rights reserved.

Together we can Make a Difference with Katherine Eden

A continuation of our series on the proposed ACM/RANZCOG legislation that will require that only trained registered professionals can "manage" the process of birth. https://ranzcog.edu.au/news/ranzcog-acm-call-on-health-ministers-to-end-freebirth-deathsThis time Sally speaks with Katherine Eden, doula, birth advocate and mother of two boys based in South Australia.  Eight years ago when birthing her second son, Katherine found herself freebirthing even though she wanted midwifery care, due to the climate of fear and retribution in Adelaide at the time, in large part due to this legislation and the attitudes surrounding it. She also asks whether women's choices would be better enabled through properly supporting private midwifery over the more restrictive, but Medicare funded homebirth services that run from public hospitals.After trying to sound the alarm years ago to the rest of the country with this blog article, we are now finally all ears.  Katherine's key message: when we work together we can achieve real improvements in maternity care.  (Birth intervention rates dropped during 2009-2010, a time of mass organisation across the country for improvements in birth, culminating in the Mother of All Rallies in Canberra.)Other podcasts referred to in this interview:Tessa Kowliwhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/from-south-australia-with-love-with-tessa-kowaliw--68691041Bashi Kumar-Hazardhttps://www.spreaker.com/episode/how-to-criminalise-birth-with-bashi-kumar-hazard--68410484Katherine Eden is an integrative therapist, therapeutic social worker, doula, kinesiologist, ceremonialist, rites of passage guide, professional supervisor/mentor and trauma-informed spaceholder with a background in psychology, midwifery, and event facilitation. For nearly 20 years, she has been deeply involved in the Adelaide birth community, co-founding the Adelaide Birth Network and the Doula Network of SA, both of which have grown into thriving hubs of connection. Katherine's passion lies in trauma-informed, neuroaffirming, and embodied spaceholding, with a strong emphasis on integrity, ethical practice, and the significance of rites of passage. As birth trauma statistics continue to rise, she believes in the power of intentional and conscious spaceholding as well as trauma-informed eduation and supervision to shift these patterns. Her work supports spaceholders in cultivating ethical, heart-led, and attuned practices that foster inner safety and transformation.Website: www.katherineeden.comInstagram: www.instagram.com/katherineeden_rewildingFacebook: www.facebook.com/katherineedenrewildingBlog about the SA's Restrictive Birthing Practices legislation and Katherine's personal experience with it:  https://katherineeden.com/speaking-the-unspeakable-not-celebrating-homebirth/Other people/references mentioned:Rachel Reed's article on the Future of Midwifery and Homebirth in AustraliaKelli Zakharoff, Midwife CrisisAdelaide Birth Network, private Facebook group for Adelaide based women and birth workersCatherine Bell, Founder of The Birth Map and Managing Director of Maternity Choices AustraliaCopyright 2025 PBB Media and Sally CusackAll rights reserved.www.pbbmedia.org

From South Australia with Love with Tessa Kowaliw

Sally speakes with Tessa Kowaliw (pron. ko-VAH-liyev) about birthing in South Australia since the enactment of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (South Australia) (Restricted Birthing Practices) Amendment Act 2013, which regulates who can "manage" women's births.  Tessa has 16 years a maternity services consumer advisor in a wide range of roles, but shares her views here as a well informed individual observer, and not representing any organisation.The Australian College of Midwives (ACM) and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) recently published a joint position statement calling for the rollout of this legislation across Australia. https://ranzcog.edu.au/news/ranzcog-acm-call-on-health-ministers-to-end-freebirth-deaths.We discuss: - The important role SA can play for advising legislators and policy makers with 12 years' experience with this legislation- The lead up to this law and the birthing landscape in SA since 2013- Where we are now, 12 years on- The risk of legislating and asking a broken system to apply this 'reasonably', unintended consequences- A more appropriate roadmap for offering support for women outside the maternity system with the right level of urgency, in particular rebuilding trust and strengthening consumer partnerships- Tessa and her colleagues' current efforts to compile a 'From SA With Love' info pack of their lived experiences under the restricted birthing practices law with a view to sharing this with interested consumer community leaders, advocates and decision makers interstate (due to be completed by early December)Contact can be made with Tessa either through this podcast or at tessakowaliw@gmail.com.(Book mentioned near end of the interview: Tew, Marjorie, Safer Childbirth? A Critical History of Maternity Care, Chapman and Hall, 1993.)Tessa Kowaliw is a South Australian consumer advisor who has been working with birthing women, and the people and organisations which serve them, since 2009. In the 2010s, she was Coordinator for CARES (a former South Australian not-for-profit consumer group which supported women to make birth after Caesarean choices), she assisted national efforts to activate increased access to continuity of midwifery care under the National Maternity Services Plan (2010-2015), she has lobbied Health Ministers and local services to better address women's needs, and she founded (and still runs) 'VBAC Chat South Australia' - an active Facebook group of over 1.1K members designed to educate and support women and care providers.  Tessa has been a Special Purpose Director with Women's Healthcare Australasia, was a Councillor for RANZCOG for seven years, is co-author on the standard set of outcome measures for Pregnancy and Birth developed by the International Consortium for Health Outcome Measurement (ICHOM), and has presented internationally (incl. Washington, London, Utrecht) on value-based healthcare and 'what matters most' to healthcare consumers. By day, Tessa is a Business Architect and consultant, juggling corporate work around mothering duties, and her enduring passion for improving women's health.Copyright 2025 PBB Media and Sally CusackAll rights reserved.www.pbbmedia.org