Your Birth Bestie: The Pregnancy Podcast

I am a certified nurse midwife and childbirth educator in Waukesha, WI. I am a passionate advocate for informed choice and bodily autonomy in women’s health. I experienced a traumatic first hospital birth where I didn’t understand at the time, the magnitude of the lack of control and how unnecessarily rushed my birth was with medical intervention. The moment I was admitted into the hospital, I gave away my autonomy, I didn't know I had choices, and I was very good at being a compliant patient. My baby and I were healthy, but I still grieved the birth I deserved. 

Since then, I have worked as a labor and delivery nurse, became a certified nurse midwife, and have given birth twice more. One was a redemptive hospital water birth, and my most recent was an autonomous home birth.

It became so clear to me over the years that birth could be beautiful and not scary… and women should feel empowered to trust their bodies. But the system lacks continuous support.